WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Train My Hands For War - Part 1 Publishing Date: 2025-11-29T02:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/train-my-hands-for-war-part-1/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Is there a way to put my stuff up there? I did. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:45.000 Okay, guys. So today we start with the series, Train My Hands for War. It's from Psalm 144, verse 1, where it says, 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:55.000 I trained my fingers for battle and my hands for war. We kind of ended last week with the stewarding the harvest, part two. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:04.000 And now we said we'd start with this idea of training our hands for war. And so I just want to pray because this is not how we think. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:11.000 And so my prayer is that we begin to think like this. Yeah? So let me just pray. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:24.000 Father, the reason I'm praying and I don't normally pray before we start is because sometimes mind shifts require tremendous help from You. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:32.000 And so part of our prayer is that we humble our minds before You because we have set ways of thinking. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:39.000 And actually that's legalistic because this is how we've taught thus far. And now we've got to shift our thinking. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:47.000 So we break any legalistic patterns in how we think of You, conceive You, perceive You, sorry. And so that's one. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:59.000 Second, Father, we want to open our minds to be able to picture, imagine from scripture and by the Holy Spirit who You really are in the context of this teaching. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:06.000 And then thirdly, Holy Spirit, can You enlighten our hearts so that we understand why this is so critical to our work in Richmond? 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:15.000 So open our eyes, open our understanding that we may behold wondrous things in Your Word and then help us to practice them. 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Put them, one of the hardest things to do is apply what we learn in daily life, individually and corporately. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.000 Could You please help us with that too? These are the things I ask for. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:33.000 We're talking about training our fingers for battle and our hands for war and the church is ill-equipped and so equip us, Holy Spirit. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Now is the time, in Jesus' name, amen. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Yeah, so train my hands for war. So some of these statements I've made before. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:50.000 Throughout scripture, throughout scripture, the kingdom of God always implies warfare. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.000 The kingdom implies warfare. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:03:07.000 And so you and I may have to wrap our heads around that statement that the kingdom cannot exist without warfare till everything is complete and we move into the new heavens and the new earth. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:17.000 As long as that hasn't happened, the kingdom of God always implies warfare and the kingdom of God cannot advance without spiritual warfare. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:24.000 So the kingdom of Christ cannot advance in Richmond except through spiritual conflict. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Will not advance. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:31.000 So if you have any questions about just those two statements, feel free to ask. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:42.000 Because we have to wrestle with this. If this is not how we think, then this series is kind of built on shallow ground. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.000 Because we have to get past this. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:54.000 There's never been a time in the history of the Bible where God's kingdom did not imply warfare. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:56.000 It was always like that right from the start. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:05.000 As soon as the fall happened or even before the fall, there was a counterfeit kingdom led by Satan who wanted to sit where God sits. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:12.000 Before Zion existed, Satan already wanted to sit in Zion. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:21.000 So, any? Yes. Go ahead. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.000 Yeah, when we talk about spiritual warfare, we are always talking about life and land. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:35.000 Yeah, life and land. Both are contested. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:40.000 One of the things that's contested is land. The other thing that's contested is life. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.000 There will always be a battle for life and land. Always. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 And whenever we say land, it's inhabited land and therefore people. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:57.000 So life and land will always be contested. It's been that way throughout the Old Testament. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:01.000 And it will be that way till the new heaven and earth come. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.000 So, is there any struggle with these two statements? 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.000 If there's no struggle with the first statement, how about the second statement? 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:20.000 And are we willing to accept it or wrestle with it till it gets so deeply embedded in us 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:27.000 that the kingdom of Christ cannot advance enrichment of that, for that matter, anywhere except through spiritual conflict? 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.000 It's not possible. Here's the thing, guys. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:38.000 All other religions and the rest of the earth that does not have an allegiance to Christ knows this. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:43.000 We're the only ones who pretend that this is not important. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:47.000 All other practitioners of every other religion know this. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:57.000 So, any struggle with this? No? 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:01.000 So, it's just a corporate thing? 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.000 Is it mostly thought? 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:09.000 Both. Both. It's both corporate and individual and we'll talk about that shortly. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.000 That it exists on both levels. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:17.000 And this is the scary part. When this is sanitized, when this is sterilized, when this is theologized, 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:22.000 that is why it is so difficult to advance into certain places. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 Take any Old Testament story, take Ephesus, take New Testament stories, take the book of Revelation, 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:35.000 take the letters written by Christ to the different churches, and this thing keeps coming up constantly. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:38.000 You don't need Greek and Hebrew to interpret it. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.000 You don't need to go to a region like Andre and Tuni to interpret this. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Okay. So, we are saying that given the fact that we've been asked to move into this city, 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:59.000 we're supposed to do everything God desires in Richmond, and that's why we moved here. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:06.000 We are saying that it is not possible for us to advance in Richmond except through spiritual conflict. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:15.000 And I look forward to the opportunity because Richmond has a highway called the Highway of Heaven 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:20.000 that has every known religion practiced in the world here. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:29.000 It's like the pride of the city to have a highway that is so ecumenical and pluralistic and accommodating. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:34.000 And into that city, we've been sent to advance the cause of Christ. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:41.000 And it's a wonderful thing because what it means is souls get saved, lives get set free. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:46.000 Isn't there anything better than that? 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:53.000 Okay. So, I've said this before again, so I'll just go through it. 00:07:53.000 --> 00:08:01.000 Okay. So, I've said this before again, so I'll gloss over it quickly. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:07.000 In the Old Testament, all conflict between kingdoms was between... 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:11.000 The battles in the Old Testament were fought over one simple thing. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Since Genesis 3, Satan knows that the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:21.000 Therefore, the intent of the serpent throughout the Old Testament was very simple. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.000 Can I destroy the seed of the woman? 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.000 If I destroy the seed of the woman, my head will not be crushed. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.000 It was very simple. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Therefore, the intent to destroy Israel did not come from some racial hatred. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 It came from a far deeper reason. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:47.000 If the seed of the woman is to crush my head, I must destroy the seed of the woman and the woman if possible 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 so that the seed is not born. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:53.000 Because if the seed is born, serpent's head will be crushed. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.000 So, that was every Old Testament battle was simply about that. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:03.000 That is, trying to get rid of Jesus, trying to get rid of Moses, trying to get rid of fledgling Israel 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:05.000 when Joseph was sent to Egypt. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.000 It's this constant story of trying to destroy the seed of the woman. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:13.000 But then the seed of the woman is born in Christ and he rises from the dead 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.000 and now he's seated in the heavenlies and now it shifts. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.000 Now the reason for battle is simply this. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:24.000 The seed of the woman has grown into a man-child, Revelation chapter 12. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:34.000 The seed of the woman has grown into a man-child as in he's grown into the one new man called the church 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.000 which now proclaims the message of the Messiah. 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:42.000 And therefore, the conflict is between the serpent and the man-child. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.000 And the reason I use the word man-child is because it's used in Revelation 12. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.000 That's why I'm using it. 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.000 Or call it the one new man. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:52.000 Regardless, the intent is can I now destroy the church? 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.000 And he knows it's a losing battle but he'll still try it. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:00.000 Because he also knows that Christ said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.000 It was spoken loudly, it was heard. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:08.000 He also knows, like we talked about last week in Luke 10, that I saw Satan falling like lightning. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.000 In a prophetic vision he sees that. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.000 So he knows the end but his battle is now against the man-child. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.000 Any questions on that? 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:26.000 You take questions every couple of lines so that this is established beyond reasonable doubt in your head. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.000 Any questions? 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.000 Cool. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:45.000 So we must understand that part of our being made in the image of God, not all of it. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.000 There are different aspects to being made in the image of God. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:53.000 But part of being made in the image of God is that the creation of man was in the image of the warrior king. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:57.000 The creation of man was in the image of the warrior king. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:02.000 In fact, it's amplified in the first command that God gives Adam. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:09.000 That's a command given by a warrior king to someone, one person, Adam and Eve, 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.000 or given to Adam saying, listen, this is what I want to do. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:20.000 Straight off the bat, Genesis chapter 1, it is go forth, which is a moving forward and advancing, 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:25.000 multiply as in populating, replenish as in restoring, 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:31.000 and then the final word which is so warrior-like, so militant, which is subdue. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.000 This lies at the heart of what we are supposed to do. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:41.000 The very first command amplifies this. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:50.000 If there's anything here you think, I'm arriving at by some kind of acrobatics or contortion 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.000 and trying to tie words together, challenge me on it. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:01.000 Right off the bat, right in the beginning, there is this attitude. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:07.000 And that then later on becomes the militant mission of the Great Commission. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:14.000 Where the Great Commission is basically go forth, multiply, go forth, replenish as in restore, 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.000 multiply, subdue. It's the same thing. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:19.000 All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.000 Therefore, go. Multiply into every nation. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.000 Teach them to observe the things that I have taught you. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.000 Baptize them into the kingdom, into the church. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:32.000 And lo, I'll be with you. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:37.000 And so then, our attitude over the next few weeks should be this attitude that says 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:43.000 that it is through warfare that we can spread shalom to God's entire creation in Richmond. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:51.000 It is through warfare that we are able to spread God's shalom, his wholeness, his wellness, his peace. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:58.000 The welfare of the very citizens of Richmond depends on warfare, spiritual warfare. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:01.000 We talked about this last week. Go ahead, Meera. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.000 Yeah. Why is it still on if he's already defeated? 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:15.000 The victory is sealed. The future is known. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:23.000 But you have an active enemy that still wants to fight till he's undone in Revelation 20, 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:33.000 where with a blast of his nostrils, Jesus completely annihilates Satan and all demonic forms and all demonic followers. 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:40.000 But till then, it is an enemy that knows his defeat, but is still active. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.000 You're saying he's defeated. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:55.000 The way I phrased it last week was, at the cross, Satan's authority was stripped, but his power was not diminished. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:14:01.000 At the cross, Satan's authority was stripped, but his power was not diminished. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:08.000 Which is why Jesus in Luke 10 says, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:13.000 and you shall step upon serpents and scorpions, and no harm or hurt by any means shall come to you. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:19.000 So his authority has been stripped. He no longer holds the position that he used to, but his power hasn't diminished. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:24.000 In fact, the scriptures say that he rages knowing that his time is short. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.000 That he knows his time is short. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.000 The scriptures also say, had he known that his defeat was so certain, 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:40.000 he would not have even crucified Christ because he didn't know the cross would be such a victory. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.000 He's a finite being who can be destroyed with the snap of a finger, 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.000 because the blast of a nostril is the same as the snap of a finger. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:53.000 Point being, that is how easy it is for God to remove him. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.000 But here's the thing, guys. The contest is not between God and the devil. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.000 The contest is between the devil and man. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:03.000 Christ came down as man, in flesh, 1 John. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:09.000 Jesus Christ came down in the flesh to do what? To destroy the works of the devil. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:13.000 The first Adam failed. The last Adam succeeds. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.000 And so the contest has never been between God and man. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:21.000 I remember sharing this just two weeks ago. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:32.000 I drew a small dot on a huge wall, and I was explaining to the church there that this small dot is the devil and that huge wall is God. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.000 There is no contest. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:39.000 When there's a fly that sits on your shoulder, you do not say, come out, I'll show you. 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:42.000 You just flick it. That's how simple it is. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:49.000 But the contest is between man and the devil, because man's vice regency was handed over to the enemy, 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:55.000 and through man, through Christ, and through the new man called the church, we get it back, 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.000 which is why it says the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.000 The one new man. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.000 The original man is called Adam. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:11.000 Yeah, is what we are supposed to live on. 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:13.000 To be clean territory. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:15.000 Lives and land. Yeah. 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:23.000 And so it's very easy at this point to say this is dominion theology, and people may have complaints against dominion theology. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.000 We are not going the route of dominion theology. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:31.000 We're not saying that man should have all the high positions that Christians should occupy the seven mountains. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:33.000 We're not saying anything of that sort. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:39.000 We're just sticking to scripture saying every time there is a word kingdom, it implies warfare. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 So we're not talking about dominion theology here. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:46.000 So do not take this and connect it to dominion theology, which is something completely different. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:58.000 So through warfare, we can spread the shalom that belongs to God. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Is it me or is it something else? 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:02.000 Me? 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:07.000 No, it's not me. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.000 Yes. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:14.000 See guys, the thing is the serpent thinks like this too. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.000 The serpent thinks like this too. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:21.000 He spreads darkness through rage, ritual and spiritual war. 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:25.000 He does this too. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:30.000 Through darkness, through rage, through spiritual war. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.000 That's exactly how it happens. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.000 Is that a hint to something else? 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:59.000 Or it wants to get changed? 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:05.000 No, I'm saying that the first part of what you said is true. 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:14.000 The second part is when someone came and preached the gospel to you and to me, suddenly we got delivered from darkness to light. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:16.000 The battle was won. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:23.000 When they said that Don and Kezia will have a child that has a heart problem, 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:28.000 there was healing and suddenly the kingdom of God won over the kingdom of darkness. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:37.000 When we give out these 10 bags or 100 bags and people receive it and they're blessed in the name of Jesus Christ, light advances. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:41.000 The kingdom of God is constantly advancing. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:48.000 In China alone, every day, 20 to 22,000 people are being born again, every day. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:55.000 And every time someone gets born again, death suffers another blow and life begins to prosper. 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.000 In that song, it says, what's it? 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:01.000 Hell has lost another one. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000 So surprisingly, the kingdom is advancing brilliantly. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.000 It's just that it can do better and it can do better in our midst. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:17.000 Wouldn't it be great if the pace that things are happening in Richmond increases four times tomorrow? 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.000 Wouldn't that be good? 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:25.000 So can we get to a place where we say this is enough? 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.000 No. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:33.000 Because I think the difference between the number of people that are born and the number of people that die is still about 26,000 every day. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:36.000 I want to bridge that gap. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.000 So the kingdom is advancing. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:39.000 It cannot be stopped. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.000 It cannot be stopped. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.000 What Christ began can never be stopped again. 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.000 This thing will keep advancing. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.000 And yet there will be people who defy it. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:58.000 The strange thing in the book of Revelation is after all that God does, there are still people shaking their fists at God, defying him, saying, who the heck do you think you are? 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.000 Strange. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:06.000 The free will that God has given man is one of the most dangerous gifts you can give. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.000 Can I have? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.000 It wasn't. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.000 No? 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:18.000 It wasn't the wire. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:19.000 It wasn't the wire. 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:20.000 So what was it? 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.000 Anus. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.000 You realize we are having a conversation. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.000 I've said so many things. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.000 And now I need new tape. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:35.000 If you wanted to be on video, there were other ways, Jonathan. 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:40.000 So there are certain things like this too. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.000 I could tell you such horror stories, man. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:48.000 But when you're teaching on a topic like this, I don't want to use anecdotal evidence. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:58.000 Right now in a country in the Far East, this is one of the critical times where there's so much activity happening. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.000 We were in Indonesia. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:03.000 Some of the things we saw there were horrible in terms of what they do. 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:11.000 You're having fun, eh? 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:20.000 Okay. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:36.000 So what if we began to think along the lines of we are a warrior kingdom? 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:46.000 Guys, this is not something where tomorrow I'll give all the men here swords and all the women here spears and... 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Sen, can it happen? 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.000 Okay. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:05.000 We're not going to give out swords and stuff like that tomorrow and go ra-ra and gaga and stuff like that. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:13.000 But for what we need to do in Richmond, we have a warrior kingdom composed of citizens who are united to the warrior king. 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:14.000 Think like that. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:22.000 We are a warrior kingdom that is united to the warrior king through faith. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.000 Begin to think like that. 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:24.000 Don't worry. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.000 We'll repeat this so many times that it'll become normal. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:32.000 And so warfare must shape our proclamation, our outreach. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.000 It must shape it. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:41.000 Because right from the beginning in the garden, kingdom warfare rages over this thing. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:42.000 Just think of this, guys. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.000 Just focus on this. 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:50.000 From the garden onwards, the kingdom has always been about one simple thing. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.000 Will humans be identified with the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light? 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.000 Will humans be identified? 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:01.000 Will humans be identified? 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:02.000 Thanks, Sen. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:10.000 Will humans be identified with the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of God? 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:37.000 Will believers in Richmond, will believers in Richmond, will believers in Richmond realize, will you realize that you are engaged in a cosmic custody battle? 00:23:37.000 --> 00:24:05.000 Will they follow the father, as in your father, or will they follow an imposter who is the father of lies and who is the father of lies and who is the father of lies? 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:15.000 And who is one who holds sway over the sons of disobedience? 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:28.000 Ephesians 2.2. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.000 So think like this when you walk around from tomorrow on. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.000 Hey, I need something else. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:35.000 Yeah. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:03.000 Yeah. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:16.000 So the question is, every time you meet someone in Richmond, the question is, will they follow the father, as in your father, or will they follow an imposter who is the father of lies and who holds sway over the sons of disobedience? 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:25.000 It is impossible without spiritual conflict or spiritual warfare to set anyone from the kingdom of darkness free into the kingdom of light. 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:26.000 I didn't say this. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.000 Jesus said it. 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.000 Ephesians chapter one talks about it. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:30.000 He says, what happened to you? 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.000 What happened to you was simple. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:35.000 You got transferred from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of the sun. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.000 Ephesians 1.13, I think. 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:41.000 Acts 26, verse 17 and 18. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:44.000 Therefore, stand upon your feet, Paul, because I'm sending you. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:45.000 I'm sending you where? 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:54.000 I'm sending you so that you can set people free from the power of Satan into the power of God, from the power of darkness into the power of light. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.000 It's impossible to do, guys. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.000 It is impossible to do. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.000 Your words release God's power. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:05.000 Your words release the activity of the Holy Spirit into people's lives because they're here and they see. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:10.000 The Bible says that the veil is not removed or the darkness is not removed till words of light enter. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.000 That's what you're doing. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.000 But it is impossible. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:21.000 None of us came out of the dominion of darkness except through spiritual warfare fought on our behalf by someone. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:24.000 There's nobody here who wasn't prayed for. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:25.000 This is a crazy thing. 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:26.000 I need some more volume, Jeremy. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.000 This is the crazy thing. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:34.000 There is not a person in this room that said that can say I stumbled upon Christianity and decided to accept it. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.000 There were people praying. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:40.000 Some were people who didn't know your face, but were praying for you because you lived in a certain locality. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:43.000 Some were aunts, uncles, fathers, mothers. 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:45.000 Some were pastors praying for you. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:48.000 That's the only way you got born again. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.000 You were prayed out and into. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:53.000 And if it was done once, it can be done again. 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:55.000 Where if you're caught in a bondage, prayer works. 00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:00.000 Part of the spiritual warfare that we engage in happens through prayer. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:07.000 This is why prayer then becomes an important weapon in the setting free of people. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:10.000 Because sin is highly enticing. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:11.000 People love sin. 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:16.000 Nobody goes into porn except because it gives you pleasure. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.000 Why else would they go into porn? 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.000 Nobody. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:25.000 In the life of a believer, sin is as active because we still have flesh. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:33.000 And so when we begin to satisfy the appetite of the flesh, that's when we walk away from God. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:42.000 It is possible to crucify the flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit who resides in us because he puts us in love with God and that then helps you overcome sin. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.000 The only way to overcome sin is to be in love with God. 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.000 And that's the only way to overcome sin. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:50.000 And that's the only way to overcome sin is to be in love with God. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.000 Because he puts us in love with God and that then helps you overcome sin. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:58.000 The only way to overcome sin is by falling in love with something else more than sin. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:00.000 There's no other way. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:07.000 So there is a cosmic custody battle going on. 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:11.000 And Christ is both warrior king and the prince of peace. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:15.000 Christ is both warrior king and the prince of peace. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:21.000 Which is why there's not going to be any new heaven and earth till the war is done. 00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:23.000 The book of Revelation, read it. 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:28.000 Chapters 20 and 21 happened after chapters 12 to 19. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.000 That is vicious war. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:35.000 And that war is not just spiritual, it is also physical. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:47.000 You think 350 little girls being kidnapped or little boys and girls being kidnapped in Nigeria is just a physical thing? 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:50.000 You don't think it's spiritual? 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:58.000 You think that in war when babies and men and women are raped and ravaged, that's a physical thing? 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:00.000 That's not a spiritual thing? 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:07.000 You think the depravity that takes over human beings like you and I, that's a spiritual thing only? 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:08.000 That's a physical thing only? 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:09.000 Look at our own lives. 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:12.000 There are people sitting here who have done depraved things. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.000 Sometimes under the influence of drugs, sometimes under the influence of rape. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:17.000 Right here sitting in the room. 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Thank God our shame is covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:21.000 But how did that happen? 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:25.000 Did you ever imagine when you were growing up that you would end up doing the things you did? 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.000 I didn't. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.000 It's crazy. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:47.000 And then there are ordinary people like you and I who now belong to Christ, who have with our words and our hearts that are being made pure every day. 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:51.000 We then play a part in setting someone free. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:53.000 Someone set me free guys. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.000 They prayed for me for years. 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:58.000 And then they came and spoke and they were rejected. 00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:00.000 They were laughed at. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.000 I threw things at them, but they kept at it till one day it changed. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:11.000 It's amazing. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:19.000 God uses the weak things of the world, weak things of the world to break the hold of the strong. 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:25.000 And so here are some simple truths that we and then we'll go to patterns. 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.000 I know it's it feels late, but it's not. 00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:33.000 Yeah. 00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.000 It's only it's only 10 to 8. 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.000 We started at 610. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:40.000 Okay. 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:51.000 The church's warfare is one Christo centric as in. 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:56.000 It focuses on Christ. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.000 The focus is on Christ the warrior king. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:08.000 By the way, Christ the warrior king is not some term that I created. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:15.000 There's enough reference to Christ the warrior king right from Deuteronomy to Revelation 19. 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:20.000 And so to be Christo centric is to be centered on Christ in this warfare. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:25.000 But the focus is on Christ the warrior king, not on powers and principalities, 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:34.000 which is what happens when we take anecdotes because the attention goes to powers and principalities, which is why I'm avoiding it. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:49.000 Two, the church's warfare is by bringing down the stronghold of heaven, bringing down the stronghold of heaven, 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:57.000 which then shatters enemy strongholds. 00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:58.000 It's downwards. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:31:59.000 We're not fighting something upwards. 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:08.000 We're fighting downwards just because of what Ephesians 1, 23 to 25 in Ephesians 2, 4 to 6 says. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:12.000 The church's warfare is corporate. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:14.000 It's corporate. 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:20.000 As in, we're supposed to learn it as a community. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.000 And if we don't learn it, we're supposed to learn it as a community. 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:31.000 And if we don't, we'll have to then begin to raise something called deliverance ministry, 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:36.000 which wasn't what Jesus actually taught in Mark chapter 16. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.000 He didn't want a deliverance ministry. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:45.000 He wanted all believers to be able to handle things that required handling. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:46.000 It is corporate. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:47.000 It is corporate. 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:55.000 It's to learn as a community what it means to war. 00:32:55.000 --> 00:33:01.000 Abraham had 318 people in his household, and all 318 were trained men in war. 00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:08.000 The Gadites, the Gadites were guys who knew how to fight with both left hand and right hand 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:14.000 and knew how to scale the mountains with ease. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:17.000 Judah was a tribe that was always on the forefront of war. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:18.000 They were picked for that. 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:27.000 There's a whole community operating like that. 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:43.000 And then the church's warfare is personal in that spirits are persons without flesh and blood 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:44.000 or body, sorry. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.000 Spirits are persons. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:57.000 Spirits are personal beings, and spirits do attack persons. 00:33:57.000 --> 00:34:01.000 And so it's not either or. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.000 It's both. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:23.000 And finally, the church has to understand that personal holiness is required to win in the battlefield of the mind. 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:29.000 The reason Jesus had the kind of authority he had, and this goes back to Mira's question, 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:33.000 why is it that we can't conclude all that is happening faster? 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:38.000 Because one of the things Jesus said is that the Prince of Darkness is coming, but he has nothing in me. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:39.000 Why? 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:41.000 Because he was fully submitted to Christ. 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:45.000 The greater your submission to Christ, the greater things around you submit to you. 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:46.000 Remember this. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:52.000 The greater your submission to Christ, the greater things around you submit to you. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:58.000 There was no question of any demon saying no to Jesus, because a man who is completely yielded to God, 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:02.000 will always exert complete authority over everything else. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:06.000 Any questions on any of these five points? 00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:12.000 We have to think like this, guys, and we'll repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. 00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:16.000 Most of the things that we have learned in this church has been through repetition. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:18.000 Go ahead. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:22.000 The last one. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:29.000 Yeah, so when Jesus went to meet the centurion, the centurion said, Jesus, you are someone under authority. 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:36.000 If you say to this person, go, he'll go, because I know how it works, because I'm under authority and I exert authority. 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:44.000 The principle to be drawn out from the story is my exertion of authority is directly proportional to my submission to authority. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:51.000 My exertion of authority is directly proportional to my submission to authority. 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:59.000 To the extent that I'm submitted to the authority above me, to that extent, I will exert authority over the people below me. 00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:02.000 And so the same principle applies in the spiritual realm. 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:07.000 So as I'm submitted to the Holy Spirit, who is the most dangerous spirit in the universe, 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:15.000 as I submit to the Holy Spirit, so I'm able to exert authority over the spiritual realm. 00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:20.000 So it's not that authority hasn't been given to us, because Jesus said, I've given you authority. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:28.000 It is a question of whether we submit to the authority structures that God has ordained. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:35.000 And to that extent, victory is tremendous. 00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:38.000 Any other questions? 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:41.000 Yep. 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:52.000 We have to learn as a community to do things. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:37:08.000 Yeah, learning as a community to embrace spiritual warfare is to understand things like this 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:12.000 and then learn how to put it into practice in our individual lives. 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:15.000 And then in Richmond, what does it look like? 00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:23.000 What if it wasn't a few select individuals, because now all 100 or 110 that I hear have the ability to operate like that? 00:37:23.000 --> 00:37:29.000 So it's learning and applying, learning and applying in small bits and increase. 00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:35.000 Because we're dealing with an invisible being that has quite a lot of power, more power than you and I. 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:43.000 The only reason we are able to thrive against this being is because we have someone in us who is the definition of power. 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:48.000 And power would not exist if he did not exist. 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:51.000 So it's a question of learning. And how do you learn this as a community? 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:56.000 You only learn it by going and fighting with a bear, then the lion, then this and that, and slowly. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:06.000 And we go, let's see if we can apply this and try this out. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:12.000 This is almost never done as an individual. 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:17.000 I'm not saying it's never done, it's almost never done. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:20.000 Any other questions? 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:22.000 Okay, so let's see some patterns. 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:28.000 First pattern, and we're just borrowing patterns by looking at the story of the Bible from the beginning. 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:35.000 And we'll go until maybe Deuteronomy. 00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.000 First act of warfare, the first act of warfare. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:42.000 Do you know what it was after the fall? 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.000 What was the first act of warfare? 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.000 Pardon? 00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:56.000 Sen? 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:58.000 Do you know what the first act of warfare was? 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:08.000 And this is important because it gives us a glimpse into warfare that we as a church and I as a pastor don't fully understand. 00:39:08.000 --> 00:39:15.000 That is, the first act of warfare was the setting up of warrior angels outside the Garden of Eden. 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:25.000 Angels with fiery sword, moving in every direction so that Eden can never be accessed again because of man's rebellion. 00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:31.000 It talks about warring angels, it doesn't talk about some sweet little thing with a Cupid's arrow. 00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:34.000 It was fierce, yeah? 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:47.000 And so the first act of warfare is God setting up warrior angels. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:55.000 We're just looking at patterns that we can expect as we begin to apply these principles and engage Richmond this way. 00:39:55.000 --> 00:40:00.000 Is God setting up warrior angels? 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:10.000 It is impossible to engage to any degree in actual spiritual warfare to take life and land without recognizing, 00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:18.000 not necessarily seeing, but without recognizing the active role of angels. 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:20.000 Here's the thing, guys. 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:25.000 Most other religions, and I'm not naming them, but most other religions have a good grasp of this. 00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:35.000 They know how to deploy angels and they know how to connect with them, they know how to work with them. 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:46.000 We don't need to do that because we are not told to communicate with angels, we are only told to communicate with God. 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:53.000 We've got to stop being at a disadvantage because of our ignorance. 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:59.000 Ignorance is only bliss to the enemy. 00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:02.000 And so that's the first bit. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:05.000 Next. 00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:08.000 What's a final victory? 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:12.000 If that's the first act of warfare, what's the final victory? 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:29.000 The final victory is seen in Revelation 19 and 20, and that is when the serpent's head is crushed. 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:38.000 This is why, if you've seen any battles between a mongoose and a serpent, you will find that the mongoose always goes for the serpent's head. 00:41:38.000 --> 00:41:41.000 It never goes for the tail, never goes for the body. 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:43.000 It's not interested, it goes after the head. 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:51.000 Because if you can crush the head, it can write all at once, it's pointless. 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:55.000 And so we have to be aware of the final victory. 00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:56.000 Why does Satan rage? 00:41:56.000 --> 00:42:00.000 Satan rages because he knows what is going to happen. 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:02.000 And what does he want to hide? 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:08.000 He wants to hide from believers that this is going to happen. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:12.000 These are not things taught in Bible college, man. 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:25.000 Because everything there will be sterilized, sanitized, theologized. 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.000 So the final victory will come through the head-crushing conflict. 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:30.000 Next one. 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:35.000 Whenever you start something like this, these are patterns. 00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:41.000 Whenever you start something like this, there's always an escalation of evil. 00:42:41.000 --> 00:42:46.000 Jesus' birth, or Jesus' arrival onto the earth, was not a peaceful arrival. 00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:52.000 Instead, it was a violent escalation of the warfare between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. 00:42:52.000 --> 00:43:00.000 Whenever something like this happens, in any situation where you begin to start this, know that there's a violent escalation, 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:09.000 sometimes against the locality, sometimes against the people that try to go down this road. 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:12.000 And how do you deal with violent escalations? 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:14.000 You go to Luke 10, you go to scriptures. 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:18.000 All battles are fought with the Word, because Jesus fought it with the Word, too. 00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:22.000 You understand that you do have authority over all the power of the enemy, 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:29.000 and no harm by any means, no hurt by any means should come to you as you trample over Serpents and scorpions. 00:43:29.000 --> 00:43:33.000 But violent escalation is not a sign of a lessening of authority. 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:39.000 It is a sign that you have just prodded the hornet's nest. 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:48.000 It doesn't have to happen, but we're just looking at patterns that often happen. 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:50.000 Next one. 00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:53.000 God provides signs to encourage you. 00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:57.000 Signs to encourage you. 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:02.000 I will see signs that will encourage our advancement into Richmond. 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:06.000 You will see it if you're looking for it. 00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:09.000 Next one. 00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:12.000 I was going to say this after worship. 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:14.000 Delivered to deliver. 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:27.000 God wants a people that can muster a ragtag but well-trained army 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:40.000 to go and fight five kings and set Lot free. 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:43.000 He always uses a church or a person. 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:52.000 A deliverer is always chosen to lead the charge, to defeat the enemy, to plunder their possessions. 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:56.000 And if that deliverer is this church, then so be it. 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:58.000 And may other churches in Richmond join. 00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:59.000 It's a net. 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:02.000 A small net catches few fish. 00:45:02.000 --> 00:45:04.000 Larger nets catch more fish. 00:45:04.000 --> 00:45:05.000 It's a net. 00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:08.000 It must be spread. 00:45:08.000 --> 00:45:12.000 Any questions before we go on? 00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:15.000 Maybe do three or four points and stop. 00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:23.000 Any questions? 00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:24.000 Okay. 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:26.000 Think of this then. 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:31.000 Do you believe that the gods of Egypt were real? 00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:32.000 They had all kinds of gods. 00:45:32.000 --> 00:45:34.000 There's the sun god Ra. 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:39.000 There's the Ammon, which was the ram. 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:41.000 There was Isis, which is the cow. 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:43.000 There's the Nile, which is the river. 00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:46.000 There's Hecate, which is the god of fertility. 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:50.000 Are these real gods or are they not? 00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:52.000 Are they real gods? 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:57.000 How do you scripturally, what would you say about these gods? 00:45:57.000 --> 00:45:59.000 Paul said they're not really gods. 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:01.000 He says this in 1 Corinthians. 00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:03.000 He talks about, in 2 Corinthians, he talks about it. 00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:07.000 And he says these are not really gods, but these are demons. 00:46:07.000 --> 00:46:08.000 He says that. 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:09.000 They are no gods. 00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:11.000 There's only one god and he is Christ. 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:16.000 These are not really gods, but these are demons that people worship as gods. 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:17.000 Okay. 00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:18.000 So here's the question again. 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:21.000 Did Egypt have gods? 00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:28.000 No, in one sense, and yet, on the other hand, there were powers that were being worshiped. 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:30.000 Pharaoh was one of the gods. 00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:31.000 He was worshiped. 00:46:31.000 --> 00:46:32.000 Okay. 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:37.000 Now we go to the, you've heard this before, but it's just to bring home a point. 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:39.000 What were the plagues about? 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:43.000 The plagues were about the dethroning of Egyptian gods. 00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.000 Ra, the sun, was blotted out of the sky. 00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:50.000 Pharaoh was a divine god and his son was killed. 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:52.000 Hecate was the god of fertility. 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:53.000 It went out of control. 00:46:53.000 --> 00:47:00.000 Amon and Moab and Amon and Isis and gods that controlled cattle all died. 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:07.000 The Nile, which was like the Ganges in India, suddenly turned bloody red. 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:09.000 Things began to putrefy. 00:47:09.000 --> 00:47:14.000 What happened with the plagues was a cosmic battle between Yahweh and the gods of Egypt. 00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:17.000 So here's another question. 00:47:17.000 --> 00:47:21.000 What do you think present day gods other than Christ are? 00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:27.000 And therefore, do you believe that there is a cosmic conflict between Yahweh today 00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:31.000 and the gods of other nations? 00:47:37.000 --> 00:47:41.000 And therefore, do you need a Moses to step up? 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:48.000 And what if that Moses is not a person but a people? 00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:57.000 Or the whole Exodus story is Old Testament and those things no longer exist? 00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:06.000 But then why do we have problems like Diana of Artemis in the Book of Acts? 00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:10.000 Why does Jesus talk about Satan's throne is here in Pergamum? 00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:15.000 So either we are in the same situation as before, only it's packaged differently. 00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:20.000 All those stories are of the past and they no longer belong in today's life. 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:23.000 Can't be, can't be both. 00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:25.000 It's one or the other. 00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:31.000 The names change, so you may not have the produced history but its veux happened in time. 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:38.360 One of the things... 00:48:38.360 --> 00:48:46.360 for this reason, another person I used to refer to is Thomas Lang. 00:48:46.360 --> 00:48:50.360 Are they still existing? 00:48:50.360 --> 00:49:00.360 The names change, so you may not have reference to the King of Tyre and to the Prince of Persia in Daniel. 00:49:00.360 --> 00:49:03.360 See, it's we who are struggling with the New Testament-Old Testament divide. 00:49:03.360 --> 00:49:09.360 For someone living in the times when this was preached, they knew the story. 00:49:09.360 --> 00:49:14.360 They knew how it worked. But in our westernized minds, it's like a divide. 00:49:14.360 --> 00:49:22.360 When actually Jesus does refer to, in the Book of Acts, it's a regional power that we are talking about when he says, 00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:28.360 look at Artemis, isn't she known for her fame throughout all of Turkey? 00:49:28.360 --> 00:49:31.360 Hasn't she held sway over this land? 00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:36.360 And these guys come to destroy the reputation of a regional power? 00:49:36.360 --> 00:49:39.360 So the names change. Guys, remember something with evil. 00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:45.360 Evil has existed since before the earth existed, because Satan was there right at the beginning. 00:49:45.360 --> 00:49:51.360 Evil only knows how to dress up differently in different cultures, in different aeons, in different times. 00:49:51.360 --> 00:49:53.360 It's the same. 00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:58.360 The same things that the Canaanites dealt with is what we deal with now. 00:49:58.360 --> 00:50:05.360 The same idols take on grotesque form. 00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:16.360 The reason Sodom was destroyed was partly because of their sexual sin, and partly because they were lazy, they were rich, they were without compassion. 00:50:16.360 --> 00:50:20.360 They treated each other cruelly when you read the rest of scriptures. 00:50:20.360 --> 00:50:22.360 It's the same. 00:50:22.360 --> 00:50:24.360 What am I trying to drive home here? 00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:30.360 That if the gods of Egypt had to be dealt with before Israel could even exit the land, 00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:37.360 why is it that we think that other gods that exist now will give a free pass to anybody who wants to exit, 00:50:37.360 --> 00:50:42.360 except through spiritual conflict, where Yahweh takes on the gods of the land? 00:50:42.360 --> 00:50:50.360 How does Yahweh take on the gods of the land, except through a display of it through his people? 00:50:50.360 --> 00:50:52.360 There must be a distinction. 00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:56.360 How do you know where to go to if there is no dividing line? 00:50:56.360 --> 00:51:04.360 At one point you cross into Syria and you know it, or into White Rock and you know it. 00:51:04.360 --> 00:51:06.360 There is a dividing line. 00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:08.360 Goshen was the dividing line. 00:51:08.360 --> 00:51:13.360 They saw in Goshen what they did not see in Egypt, and they knew these people and their god was different. 00:51:13.360 --> 00:51:19.360 And so they ran for refuge to the god of Israel. 00:51:19.360 --> 00:51:22.360 Please don't embrace this. 00:51:22.360 --> 00:51:23.360 Please understand this. 00:51:23.360 --> 00:51:24.360 This is what we are against. 00:51:24.360 --> 00:51:26.360 It is no... 00:51:26.360 --> 00:51:30.360 Distributing tracts does not get anyone out of the kingdom of darkness. 00:51:34.360 --> 00:51:37.360 Any questions before... I'll end now. 00:51:39.360 --> 00:51:41.360 Any questions? 00:51:43.360 --> 00:51:46.360 Here's the thing, guys, that really troubles me. 00:51:46.360 --> 00:51:52.360 People that have allegiance to other gods have no problem believing that their gods fight for them. 00:51:54.360 --> 00:51:56.360 I've been to these places. 00:51:56.360 --> 00:51:59.360 Every known religion, every part of the world have gone and seen it. 00:51:59.360 --> 00:52:02.360 They believe that their gods will fight for them. 00:52:06.360 --> 00:52:09.360 Why is it that we don't see it that way? 00:52:09.360 --> 00:52:16.360 We come out of cultures that God rescued us out of, but now we begin to behave like rational creatures. 00:52:18.360 --> 00:52:19.360 So what are you saying, Jacob? 00:52:19.360 --> 00:52:21.360 Behave like irrational creatures? 00:52:21.360 --> 00:52:23.360 No, behave like spiritual creatures. 00:52:40.360 --> 00:52:44.360 We'll do the rest another time. 00:52:44.360 --> 00:52:46.360 This is heavy enough. 00:52:47.360 --> 00:52:51.360 One of the things that Israel does, and we'll end with that. 00:52:51.360 --> 00:52:58.360 One of the things Israel does in Exodus 15 is Moses... 00:52:58.360 --> 00:53:01.360 First Miriam goes and she grabs a tambourine. 00:53:01.360 --> 00:53:08.360 One of the things I pray that we organize in this church is can we get a few more tambourines for... 00:53:08.360 --> 00:53:13.360 like small tambourines that aren't too loud, yeah? 00:53:13.360 --> 00:53:21.360 I watched a little video on Instagram or something where the drummer is playing and he sees a lady walking in with a tambourine. 00:53:21.360 --> 00:53:25.360 And he says, lady in the second aisle coming with a tambourine, stop immediately, stop immediately. 00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:32.360 Because if a tambourine is not played well, it can throw the entire thing off. 00:53:32.360 --> 00:53:37.360 But I'd love to get little kids tambourines, small ones, yeah? 00:53:37.360 --> 00:53:40.360 And if they get a little noisy, let them. 00:53:40.360 --> 00:53:43.360 The drummer will manage and Tuni will manage. 00:53:46.360 --> 00:53:54.360 One of the things that happens is Miriam grabs a tambourine and then they begin to sing Moses' song. 00:53:54.360 --> 00:53:57.360 And Moses' song was a song of victory. 00:53:57.360 --> 00:54:02.360 And the main refrain was very simple. 00:54:02.360 --> 00:54:05.360 He has thrown the horse and the rider into the sea. 00:54:05.360 --> 00:54:09.360 He has thrown the horse and the rider into the sea. 00:54:09.360 --> 00:54:12.360 Come on guys, he has thrown the horse and the rider into the sea. 00:54:12.360 --> 00:54:14.360 And they keep singing it. 00:54:14.360 --> 00:54:21.360 And all of Israel, you're talking about 600,000 people suddenly bursting into, he has thrown the horse and the rider into the sea. 00:54:21.360 --> 00:54:23.360 The shout of the king was in their midst. 00:54:23.360 --> 00:54:25.360 They had just seen an amazing miracle. 00:54:25.360 --> 00:54:27.360 You know what an amazing miracle is for you? 00:54:27.360 --> 00:54:33.360 When someone who is caught in darkness and is bound for eternal death, eternal hell, 00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:41.360 never seeing the light or the face of their God in darkness for eons and eons is set free. 00:54:41.360 --> 00:54:44.360 He has thrown the horse and the rider into the sea. 00:54:44.360 --> 00:54:47.360 And from it emerges a Jacob and from it emerges a Mirah. 00:54:47.360 --> 00:54:49.360 From it emerges a Nellie. 00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:52.360 And these people now begin to grab another tambourine and they start singing. 00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:54.360 We see victories every day. 00:54:54.360 --> 00:54:57.360 We are not waiting for some strange miracle. 00:54:57.360 --> 00:55:01.360 We've had exoduses happening every day by thousands across the earth. 00:55:01.360 --> 00:55:03.360 The kingdom is on plan. 00:55:03.360 --> 00:55:05.360 But greater authority can be exerted. 00:55:05.360 --> 00:55:10.360 We get an opportunity to try it out in real land, real time, real people. 00:55:10.360 --> 00:55:16.360 So when we talk about praise, praise is part of a military celebration. 00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:22.360 It's an essential part of what we do. 00:55:22.360 --> 00:55:25.360 Sometimes I think to myself jumping around here is easy. 00:55:25.360 --> 00:55:29.360 Most churches jump around now ever since Brandon Lake wrote praise. 00:55:29.360 --> 00:55:32.360 But till then there was no jumping. 00:55:32.360 --> 00:55:35.360 Brandon Lake taught us how to jump. 00:55:35.360 --> 00:55:43.360 But if for a moment you remove that aspect of just the jumping and you go into praise, 00:55:43.360 --> 00:55:47.360 you must understand that praise is a military weapon. 00:55:49.360 --> 00:55:55.360 Israel celebrates the divine warrior's victory in the Exodus, rejoicing in God's deliverance. 00:55:55.360 --> 00:56:01.360 Israel praises him as a man of war who used the waters of judgment to crush his enemy. 00:56:01.360 --> 00:56:03.360 He's a man of war. 00:56:03.360 --> 00:56:08.360 You see how he describes himself in Isaiah 57. 00:56:08.360 --> 00:56:11.360 The armor of God has been derived from what he wears. 00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:14.360 He says, and then I wore a breastplate of righteousness. 00:56:14.360 --> 00:56:16.360 I had the sword in my hand. 00:56:16.360 --> 00:56:18.360 There was nobody else who could save Israel. 00:56:18.360 --> 00:56:19.360 I stepped up. 00:56:19.360 --> 00:56:23.360 I wrapped myself in a cloak of zeal and I went into battle. 00:56:23.360 --> 00:56:24.360 Isaiah 57. 00:56:25.360 --> 00:56:27.360 That's who he is, man. 00:56:27.360 --> 00:56:29.360 He is the divine warrior king. 00:56:29.360 --> 00:56:36.360 And there is no advancement of the kingdom without an idea of spiritual warfare. 00:56:36.360 --> 00:56:38.360 And it's something a community learns. 00:56:38.360 --> 00:56:46.360 Sure, you can have Moses stand on a hill and have Aaron and Her hold his hands up while Joshua fights. 00:56:46.360 --> 00:56:50.360 But that is a few people who may have an understanding of certain strategic moves, 00:56:50.360 --> 00:56:52.360 but it is a community that fights. 00:56:53.360 --> 00:56:55.360 Deuteronomy 20. 00:56:55.360 --> 00:56:58.360 I mean the book of Deuteronomy is the book of war. 00:56:58.360 --> 00:57:00.360 They should teach that at West Point. 00:57:00.360 --> 00:57:05.360 Deuteronomy 20 talks about when you go to war, it lists the whole thing of this is what you do at war. 00:57:05.360 --> 00:57:06.360 This is how you don't do it. 00:57:06.360 --> 00:57:07.360 This is what you do with the bell. 00:57:07.360 --> 00:57:08.360 This is what you do with the stones. 00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:09.360 This is what you do with the walls. 00:57:09.360 --> 00:57:11.360 This is what you do with the trees. 00:57:11.360 --> 00:57:19.360 Just amazing how God dedicates an entire book to war. 00:57:19.360 --> 00:57:32.360 Okay, let's ask them to come up. 00:57:32.360 --> 00:57:36.360 The ones who abruptly entered the last session of worship. 00:57:36.360 --> 00:57:38.360 Let's ask them to come up. 00:57:38.360 --> 00:57:45.360 And I pray God that we understand this. 00:57:45.360 --> 00:57:50.360 I don't want to rara you with any words. 00:57:50.360 --> 00:57:59.360 Try to grasp all that we've talked about and see if you can approach this time of praise differently. 00:57:59.360 --> 00:58:01.360 See if you can. 00:58:01.360 --> 00:58:03.360 Let the Spirit of God help you imagine. 00:58:03.360 --> 00:58:05.360 Let the Spirit of God stir you up. 00:58:05.360 --> 00:58:12.360 Let him do the work because we are entering this phase for the next three or four weeks at least. 00:58:15.360 --> 00:58:26.360 And our battle as you know is not against flesh and blood, but my God it's against spiritual powers. 00:58:26.360 --> 00:58:29.360 There was a power called legion, right, in the New Testament. 00:58:29.360 --> 00:58:31.360 Kept a man bound. 00:58:31.360 --> 00:58:32.360 He would be roaming the graveyard. 00:58:32.360 --> 00:58:35.360 He would take stones and he would begin to cut himself. 00:58:35.360 --> 00:58:40.360 They tried chaining him, but he had superhuman strength and he would break those chains. 00:58:40.360 --> 00:58:42.360 I've seen it in real life. 00:58:42.360 --> 00:58:46.360 I've seen a man throw five people off. 00:58:46.360 --> 00:58:51.360 It's real. 00:58:51.360 --> 00:58:57.360 I've seen young boys who are five or six years old go into a catatonic state as soon as you speak to them, 00:58:57.360 --> 00:59:01.360 unable to bring them out of it. 00:59:01.360 --> 00:59:10.360 Seeing grotesque religions of peace operated some of the most horrendous demonic powers that you can imagine. 00:59:10.360 --> 00:59:28.360 One, they knew that Christ had the power to cast them into the abyss. 00:59:28.360 --> 00:59:34.360 And they even start reasoning saying, but it's not time yet. 00:59:34.360 --> 00:59:36.360 It's that scared. 00:59:36.360 --> 00:59:41.360 When a thief begins to argue rationally, you know that he's really scared. 00:59:41.360 --> 00:59:46.360 One of the things we need to understand is that we are not in charge of demonic traffic. 00:59:46.360 --> 00:59:50.360 We don't have to tell them where to go and what to do. 00:59:50.360 --> 00:59:52.360 It's very simple. 00:59:52.360 --> 00:59:54.360 They always go into arid, deserted places. 00:59:54.360 --> 00:59:59.360 And so Jesus wasn't going to change that either. 00:59:59.360 --> 01:00:04.360 Because at the end of the day, whether they go into the pigs or whether the pigs jump off and where do they go? 01:00:04.360 --> 01:00:06.360 They go back into dry and arid places. 01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:07.360 That's what Jesus said. 01:00:07.360 --> 01:00:09.360 So we're not in charge of demonic traffic. 01:00:09.360 --> 01:00:13.360 So when we get to a place where we have to cast out demons, 01:00:13.360 --> 01:00:18.360 don't send them to the corner of the room or into the abyss or into Abbotsford. 01:00:18.360 --> 01:00:21.360 That's not ours. 01:00:21.360 --> 01:00:22.360 Yeah. 01:00:22.360 --> 01:00:28.360 So because now Derek lives close to them, we can't send them there. 01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:29.360 Yeah. 01:00:29.360 --> 01:00:30.360 Because they'll be chased out of that place too. 01:00:30.360 --> 01:00:34.360 So we are not in charge of demonic traffic. 01:00:34.360 --> 01:00:35.360 Yeah. 01:00:35.360 --> 01:00:36.360 They were begging. 01:00:36.360 --> 01:00:43.360 All we need to take from that story is that they were begging not to be sent to the abyss. 01:00:43.360 --> 01:00:52.360 And one of the things they do when they because demons are personal beings, they like occupying flesh. 01:00:52.360 --> 01:00:54.360 And therefore, that's what they wanted. 01:00:54.360 --> 01:00:55.360 They were cast out of one. 01:00:55.360 --> 01:00:56.360 They wanted to. 01:00:56.360 --> 01:00:57.360 But it doesn't work. 01:00:57.360 --> 01:01:07.360 Jesus said and in Isaiah, it says that they go to arid dry places and we don't need to find out where that is because we're not in charge of traffic. 01:01:07.360 --> 01:01:11.360 But and so we don't drive them into certain places either. 01:01:11.360 --> 01:01:12.360 We just cast them out. 01:01:12.360 --> 01:01:15.360 Jesus just cast them out and he didn't tell them where to go. 01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:19.360 It's so wonderful that we have scripture, right? 01:01:19.360 --> 01:01:20.360 Just stick to the pattern. 01:01:20.360 --> 01:01:29.360 The problem with dealing with any of this stuff is so much as anecdotal and we cannot build real principles on anecdotes. 01:01:29.360 --> 01:01:32.360 So we just refuse to do that. 01:01:32.360 --> 01:01:33.360 Yeah. 01:01:33.360 --> 01:01:36.360 So, Father, we just thank you. 01:01:36.360 --> 01:01:39.360 Help us learn Holy Spirit. 01:01:39.360 --> 01:01:41.360 Help us stick to the word. 01:01:41.360 --> 01:01:44.360 Help us not to back off from things that need to be said. 01:01:44.360 --> 01:01:49.360 Help us not to sanitize things here, sterilize things here because of fear. 01:01:49.360 --> 01:01:52.360 Help us not to exaggerate. 01:01:52.360 --> 01:01:54.360 Help us not to build things on anecdotes. 01:01:54.360 --> 01:02:05.360 Help us so that we have the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith and the armor of salvation and the helmet of salvation and shoes that are ready to go. 01:02:05.360 --> 01:02:16.360 And because we are delivered to now speak deliverance to others and our loins girded with truth, the belt of truth and the wonderful sword of the spirit. 01:02:17.360 --> 01:02:18.360 We thank you for all this. 01:02:18.360 --> 01:02:21.360 Jesus, train us, oh God, train us. 01:02:21.360 --> 01:02:23.360 We end with Psalm 144. 01:02:23.360 --> 01:02:27.360 That was a Psalm written by David before he went to face Goliath. 01:02:27.360 --> 01:02:34.360 And he said, Oh God, train my fingers for battle and my hands for war. 01:02:34.360 --> 01:02:37.360 I pray your protection upon this church, Father. 01:02:37.360 --> 01:02:39.360 I pray your protection upon this church. 01:02:39.360 --> 01:02:44.360 I thank you that you cause your angels to encamp around those that trust in you. 01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:47.360 Thank you that your banner is unfurled over this church. 01:02:47.360 --> 01:02:54.360 I bring all these, your children and the flock that you have appointed me to. 01:02:54.360 --> 01:02:57.360 I bring them under your protection, Holy Spirit. 01:02:57.360 --> 01:03:07.360 Lord, I know and I'm fully persuaded that what I place in your hands, you will guard more fiercely than anybody else because they are yours. 01:03:07.360 --> 01:03:09.360 In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:03:14.360 --> 01:03:16.360 Thank you.