Sermon

No Weapon - The Reigning Church

Anchor Faith Church

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. So anyway, I appreciate Pastor Marshy ministering the word

  2. while we're gone. Amen.

  3. And I know you received, obviously, it's always good to

  4. hear the good testimonies, but it's good to be back in the

  5. house today with you. And so today I'm going to

  6. continue on our the reigning church theme.

  7. I'm going to probably bring this in multiple times.

  8. There's going to be a lot of messages that are centered

  9. around the church because the reality is there is nothing

  10. outside the church. And until we we understand that,

  11. then you're never going to be as successful as God intended you

  12. to be. That's like saying I can live

  13. for God without him. You can't do that.

  14. All right. And so, you know, that's like

  15. saying I can live for with God without the church.

  16. Well, you can't do that. I said you cannot do that again,

  17. The world tries to live for God without being born again.

  18. They do. They have an attempt.

  19. And for most they feel like they're doing a really good job

  20. because the Bible says there's a way that seems right to a man.

  21. But the end is and they think some of them think I'm doing a

  22. better job then the church. I remember 1 pastor in this

  23. community. I don't believe they're here

  24. anymore. But I was at a little pastors

  25. meeting and he had made this statement that just shocked me.

  26. You know when I say shocked, I mean I'm not shocked but I was

  27. just like really. He had some, some, some, some

  28. people in his church that were in a sexual sin, OK?

  29. They were in a sexual sin. And he knew they were in a

  30. sexual sin, OK. And then you know what?

  31. People come to church that are in sexual sin.

  32. I get that. Because people have got to grow.

  33. You said, Pastor Earl, would you not let people come here?

  34. They have sexual sin, They can come because eventually they're

  35. going to repent and move on with God.

  36. If they don't repent, they're not going to be able to stay

  37. anyway, OK, because you're going, you're, you have to rise

  38. up to the level and behavior of the Kingdom by the Spirit

  39. because our spirit man wants to live that way.

  40. But they were in sexual sin, OK. And and so he talked about the

  41. this couple that he had in sexual sin, knowing they're in

  42. sexual sin, but they helped serve the church, let them serve

  43. and said they serve better than the ones that were born again.

  44. Now what they were doing is they were putting forth a committed

  45. effort and they were doing things externally that the

  46. Church should do from an inward position because they weren't

  47. obviously serving better than the Saints because it's

  48. impossible for them to do so because if you're instinct

  49. because they were not born again, the sexual sin they were

  50. in, they were not born again. However he looks to that

  51. external and this is what can happen as a believer is we can

  52. neglect the precious gift we have and someone who doesn't

  53. have it but isn't to them they're like, well, the Bible

  54. says you should serve. The Bible says, and then they

  55. are in their own efforts are doing a more committed effort

  56. than the Saint that has accepted Jesus Christ our Lord and

  57. Savior. But because they do not value

  58. the church, they only value their personal salvation, not

  59. the Church of which Jesus values.

  60. OK. And so we need to value the

  61. church because the church is amazing.

  62. Look at this in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18.

    Matthew 16:18

  63. You know it, it says this and Jesus says, I say also to you

  64. that you are Peter. And on this rock I will what

  65. build come on my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail

  66. against it, right? So who's building the church?

  67. Jesus. Not pastor, not apostle, not

  68. prophet, not teacher, not evangelist.

  69. It's not happening. Now, if one of those five fold

  70. ministries is acting like they're doing it, they're off.

  71. But there are those that are under that five fold ministry

  72. recognize I'm not doing this. It is the Lord.

  73. I'm just doing my part, OK? And I understand there's a

  74. plethora of churches out there and there's plenty of them that

  75. have challenges and issues. In fact, Jesus himself addresses

  76. seven of them in the Book of Revelation that he says where he

  77. is. And seven of his churches, of

  78. those five had problems, some serious problems of which the

  79. head of the church was correcting in grace.

  80. Under the grace dispensation. He was correcting those

  81. churches, and he was even warning them that if they do not

  82. make these corrections, that he would pull their lamp.

  83. That's right. Now, in this dispensation, the

  84. head of the church, he is micromanaging the body.

  85. I'm going to say that again. Jesus Christ is micromanaging

  86. the body. Now, how do we know this?

  87. Because not one idle word goes unnoticed.

  88. Everything you're doing and everything you're thinking, He's

  89. taking note of. Now that should get you excited

  90. and I'm going to deal with your negative mindset soon enough

  91. because unfortunately, everybody defaults to I'm in trouble

  92. mindset instead of glory to God. God gave me some information

  93. that releases who I really am. This is exciting because it is.

  94. I'm glad that there's nothing that goes without his notice

  95. because he'll never miss my faith.

  96. He'll never miss it, which means that he'll never not double

  97. negative. He will not withhold from me the

  98. blessing 'cause he sees it all. It does not escape his notice.

  99. And I'm glad he's micromanaging my life so much so that he's

  100. like, whoa, hold on, son, you don't want to do that.

  101. It really it it, it can hinder your potential.

  102. You're greater than that, man. I put much greater things in

  103. you. I'm so glad he's so detailed.

  104. I mean, again, we have no problem with this when it comes

  105. to athletics, when it comes to jobs, when it comes to your own

  106. personal budgets, you will have every bit of your money down to

  107. a penny. You will allow some send your

  108. child to some sports program where they will analyze even

  109. their stance and their nutrition.

  110. I mean talking about having someone control your life.

  111. Yet we subject ourselves, we'll have professionals come into our

  112. businesses and critique for what?

  113. So we can make more money. Please tell me what I'm doing

  114. wrong. And we don't say like, don't you

  115. come up in here and tell me what I'm doing wrong?

  116. No, please show me what I'm doing wrong so I can make more.

  117. And I'm like, Lord, come and show me what I'm doing wrong.

  118. So I'll show more glory. Show me what I'm doing wrong so

  119. that I can release more me. Amen.

  120. So really, Saints already do this and everything else.

  121. Let's get over here and do it in the church.

  122. I said, let's do it in the church.

  123. Praise the Lord. So Jesus is building his church

  124. and the gates of hell shall not prevail against what the church.

  125. Now, the first thing we need to get rewired on and that is this

  126. individualistic mindset of I am the church.

  127. You are not the church, you are in the church, you are a part of

  128. the church. There is no individual that is

  129. the church. So when this scripture says the

  130. gates of hell will not prevail against, that's not speaking to

  131. you personally, it's speaking to you in the church.

  132. This is why I say Jesus Christ did not come for humans as much

  133. as He came to fulfill God's word.

  134. And when He fulfills God's word, guess what?

  135. It includes humanity. Now He came to die for every

  136. human being. Why 'cause I'm here to actually

  137. fulfill the vision God had. I was sent for this purpose,

  138. which means it includes you. However, if you reject me,

  139. you're not getting in. So I'll do the vision whether

  140. you accept me or not. So it's really not about you

  141. personally as much as it is about fulfilling the will of

  142. their Father. But it does include you.

  143. So when the gates of hell will not prevail against the church,

  144. if you're in it, then the gates of hell can't prevail.

  145. It cannot prevail. It cannot prevail.

  146. Hallelujah. We need to see ourselves in the

  147. church, and this is not technically popular preaching.

  148. I get that, but it doesn't matter.

  149. I love the Word and I'm just going to stay with the Word.

  150. I don't care what's going on in the culture.

  151. I'm in a different culture. It's the Kingdom of God.

  152. I am not compromising this word for that purpose.

  153. I'm not going to do that. So we are the church because all

  154. of us are together. And when you're together and you

  155. see yourself not independent of someone, but I'm fully

  156. dependent. I'm an individual, I have my

  157. purpose. God has something just designed

  158. for me for the purpose of connecting with someone else in

  159. the whole body. That's why.

  160. And when you are releasing that, then guess what?

  161. There's a hedge of protection around you that no weapon formed

  162. against you could prosper. Can't happen, I said.

  163. It can't happen again. The Passion translation gets

  164. this right, he says. I give you the name Peter, a

  165. stone, and this truth of who I am will be the bedrock

  166. foundation on which I will build my church, my legislative

  167. assembly, and the power of death will not be able to overpower

  168. it. The the rock that Jesus builds

  169. his church is the revelation. He is the king, He's the Christ

  170. and he is King of the Kingdom of which I am a child of The king.

  171. He's the king of not the king of a king, He's the king of kings.

  172. And so we are jointed and fitted together to do something

  173. amazing. Look what it says in John

    John 10:27–30

  174. chapter 10 verse 27 to 30. We can preach 3 hours since the

  175. food trucks are going to be here.

  176. So I'm really excited he says this.

  177. And John, no, I'm just kidding John, because some of you had

  178. already checked out and I can, I can lose you in one verse as it

  179. is. So you know, I need you to stay

  180. focused. John chapter 10, Amen. 27 to 30

    John 10 chapter mention

  181. says this. My sheep hear my voice, and I

  182. know he does not have a flock of one.

  183. I said he does not have a flock of one.

  184. All right, He says, I know them and they follow me and I give

  185. eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one, no

  186. one will snatch them out of my hand.

  187. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no

  188. one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

  189. I am the father are one. Now this verse here has been so

  190. mistranslated on so many occasions because the ones who

  191. mistranslate this one preaches this other passage of Scripture,

  192. OK? And so we need to make sure that

  193. we are moving in the right direction, OK?

  194. Are you ready for this? The Kingdom of heaven is like

  195. this shepherd who has 99 He won, leaves.

  196. He goes after leaves the 99. He goes to get the one and

  197. brings them back. When he finds the one we

  198. rejoice. OK, notice in this past says no

  199. one would be able to snatch you out of Jesus's hand or the

  200. Father. How did 1 sheep leave the 99?

  201. Come on let's preach this thing. How did the one if if it can

  202. never be snatched out of Jesus's or the Father hand?

  203. How in the world did that shepherd lose 1?

  204. Well, he didn't lose it, it wandered off itself.

  205. So make no mistake about it God, God is not letting go of you,

  206. not a devil in hell, a trial, a tribulation, a famine.

  207. Anything in this world can pull you away from the love of God or

  208. his hand. But you slap, can walk yourself

  209. wandering away. You can stretch yourself right

  210. back into the world. I'm done with this church stuff.

  211. I made Jesus the Lord of my life.

  212. I don't need that junk no more. I'm going to go do my own thing,

  213. my own ministry, my own stuff out all by yourself.

  214. Amen. Now she's filming right here.

  215. So if we can't get the angle, we can get hers and we can crop it

  216. into our YouTube. Hallelujah.

  217. Are you hearing what I'm saying? You can walk out of the church

  218. and try to claim you are it. Now notice in today's theology,

  219. you would think that Jesus prefers to leave the 99 and go

  220. hang out with the one with as much stuff out there attacking

  221. the church. There's so much information out

  222. there attacking the church, the institution of the church, the

  223. assembling of the church. There's so much attack.

  224. And obviously the enemy would attack because why?

  225. If he can get you off by yourself, then the wolves can

  226. begin to corral you right Now, what I love about the 99 that we

  227. don't preach on enough is that apparently there's enough

  228. strength in the 99 that the shepherd can leave them in a

  229. field by themselves and go look for the One.

  230. Which tells me that when the shepherd leaves the 99, the

  231. unification of the 99 is so powerful that a wolf won't even

  232. try to come into the fuck. When the shepherd's gone, glory

  233. to God. Why?

  234. Because when the 99 are unified, they are like the shepherd.

  235. Whoo glory to God man, we need to unify.

  236. We need to be jointed and fitted together.

  237. This should be your most exciting time of the week when

  238. you come here, not laying up on your couch watching your TV or

  239. even watching your YouTube of your favorite person who

  240. preaches Get me to the 99. Come on, get me to the 99.

  241. Because there is power in the flock.

  242. I said there's power in the flock.

  243. But notice when the the shepherd goes after the one, we rejoice.

  244. Why? Because if it stays out there,

  245. it will surely die. It will surely die, surely die.

  246. And so he picks up that sheep and he brings it back to the

  247. flock. There's no implication that when

  248. he finds it, he's like, I didn't like the 99 either.

  249. I'm so glad you left. I was ready to leave myself.

  250. You just gave me a reason to live.

  251. Leave now just sing to me a little bit.

  252. You know, just me and you like like all up in your house and

  253. you don't you aren't actively involved in a local body church

  254. and connected to other believers like you worshipping God by

  255. yourself and you think he's up there just thinking this is

  256. amazing. Know what he's saying is well,

  257. that sounds good. It sound better if you were in

  258. the church, sound better if you get ahead and get get together

  259. with a local bot with another flock, get with a flock.

  260. It would be even greater because all the while the Good Shepherd,

  261. the great shepherd, the chief chef, the chief shepherd is only

  262. doing this. Get back in church.

  263. Get back in church, Hallelujah. Come on, say Hallelujah in

  264. Isaiah 5417. The context of Isaiah 54 is not

  265. to an individual, it is to the nation of Israel.

  266. So when he says you, he's not saying to one person, he's

  267. saying to the nation. So this says no weapon that is

  268. formed against Israel or the nation or Zion will prosper.

  269. Every tongue that accuses the church in judgment you will

  270. condemn. This is the heritage of the

  271. servants, plural of the Lord, and their vindication is from

  272. me, declares the Lord. Do you want God to clear your

  273. name? Be in church.

  274. You want to be in the place where no weapon formed against

  275. you will prosper? Notice it doesn't say in church

  276. you'll never have a weapon formed against you.

  277. Never says that in life you're going to have weapons formed

  278. against you the minute you leave the domain of darkness.

  279. And coming to the Kingdom of his beloved son, the devil only

  280. wants to drag you back. He only comes for one purpose,

  281. to kill, steal and destroy. Now you may be out of His

  282. Kingdom, but he sure does do not, does not want you to know

  283. who you are in Christ with a group of people unified in a

  284. community that then you would run down His gates of hell.

  285. You would storm darkness as a group and change a community.

  286. He don't want that. He wants disunity.

  287. He wants your carnal minds to fight with each other.

  288. He wants you to gossip back, bite, get offended, not walk in

  289. forgiveness. He wants you to drag in all of

  290. your junk into the church when all the wild gods trying to

  291. strip that out of your mind so you can walk in unity as a

  292. believer. And he does this because all the

  293. while he is constantly forming some weapon to try to take you

  294. out. But when you stay with the

  295. church, it will not prosper. I said it will not prosper.

  296. And I can tell you right now, there are people in this room

  297. right now that you've had seasons away from the church and

  298. you know that it is not profitable.

  299. It was not. And all the while on the inside,

  300. all those years, you kept hearing, man, I should get back

  301. in church. But then the devil wants the

  302. weapon he formed against you. Well, you know, there's really

  303. no church out there. They're all just a bunch of

  304. liars. You can't really find one.

  305. Da, da, da. All these excuses just to keep

  306. you out. Well, you're imperfect.

  307. Why is it that everyone should accept your imperfections in

  308. church, yet you can't accept anyone else's imperfection as

  309. we're working them out? I mean, all of us are like

  310. wrinkled clothes, right? Amen.

  311. Our minds are like wrinkled clothes.

  312. I mean, God's Word is like the iron got the steam and it's

  313. working out those wrinkles, right?

  314. He's pressing us. He's trying to get us nice and

  315. sharp looking. Well, all of us have got a

  316. wrinkle somewhere that the iron of the Word just hasn't come

  317. over and pressed that thing out. Amen.

  318. Well, let him work on all of us. When you find somebody's

  319. wrinkle, go. Oh, OK.

  320. Well, let me pray for that. Lord.

  321. I think of the steam's coming. I'll be patient because I know

  322. you are. Man, you sure worked that

  323. wrinkle out in my life. I said you worked that wrinkle

  324. out in my life. Amen.

  325. So there's no weapon formed against the church that is going

  326. to prosper. Look what it says in Deuteronomy

  327. 28, because again, I'm using these examples because again,

  328. people say, wait a minute, now you're in the old covenant.

  329. Listen, the Bible's about a king, his Kingdom and his royal

  330. offspring, and that hasn't changed.

  331. This is why I love the passions actual translation because if we

  332. translated it as the original Greek has church or ecclesia

  333. then we would see it is a legislative assembly.

  334. Because we are in a government not a religion.

  335. The government will rest on his shoulders.

  336. Isaiah chapter 96 says not the religion of Christianity, but

  337. the Kingdom of God, of which we are citizens of that Kingdom.

  338. So the reality is, is whether I'm in the old covenant or the

  339. new, it is a national emphasis. We are dealing with a nation.

  340. We are a holy nation in the new covenant.

  341. The church is like the embassy of God's Kingdom where his

  342. ambassadors collect upon the same place to receive

  343. instruction from the home country of heaven that we are to

  344. legislate our our to our to demonstrate and communicate down

  345. here in the earth. OK, so in Deuteronomy 28, again

  346. in the realm of national, he says this now if now it shall be

  347. if you diligently obey the Lord your God.

  348. Are we supposed to obey God in the new covenant?

  349. Yes, under grace doesn't mean you do not obey the Lord

  350. Actually under grace means you in your spirit can and wants to

  351. wants to your spirit's like we can do this.

  352. Your Spirit's like screaming at you by like, come on, man, we

  353. can do this, We can do this. Quit holding me back.

  354. Let me do this. Release me.

  355. All right. So now it shall be if you

  356. diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all his

  357. commandments which I command you today.

  358. The Lord your God will set you what?

  359. How? Above all the nations of the

  360. earth is the church above it all.

  361. He's coming back for the church. OK.

  362. All these blessings will overtake you and will come upon

  363. you and overtake you if conditional statement you obey

  364. the Lord your God. Now jump down to verse 6.

  365. Blessed you shall be when you come in, and blessed shall you

  366. be when you go out. And that doesn't matter what's

  367. coming against you when you come in, or what's coming against you

  368. when you go out. I don't care what attacks

  369. happened this week before you came in, you're blessed.

  370. I don't care what attacks waiting for you when you go out,

  371. you're blessed. Why?

  372. Because verse 7, the Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up

  373. against you to be defeated. What before you?

  374. You're going to watch it. You're going to see them fall

  375. apart. Now.

  376. It's not because you want it to happen or you're like please let

  377. it happen. You're praying that it doesn't

  378. happen because you pray for your enemies.

  379. However, if they do not relent to pursue you, to destroy you,

  380. then God will defeat your enemy before you.

  381. They will come out against you. What one way?

  382. And they will flee before you, cause no weapon formed against

  383. the church will prosper. He sets a table before you in

  384. the presence of your enemies. Everything the enemy says you

  385. cannot have and cannot do. God sets the table and says, oh,

  386. you don't think they can? Are you talking that they won't?

  387. Are you trying to scheme so they can't?

  388. Are you trying to devise plans so you hinder it?

  389. Let me just go ahead and pull out the tablecloth.

  390. All right? Let me pull some plates in.

  391. Let me bring out the goblets. All right, I'm gonna start

  392. pulling in the food. What'd you say they couldn't

  393. have? Here's healing.

  394. Here's prosperity. Here's joy.

  395. Here's happiness. Here.

  396. Here's the fruits of the spirit. Here's the miraculous.

  397. And you're sitting there eating while they're watching

  398. Hallelujah. Because no weapon formed against

  399. the church is going to prosper. Can you say Amen?

  400. Look at Second Corinthians chapter 2, verse 11.

    2 Corinthians 2:11

  401. We're doing good this morning so that no advantage would be taken

  402. of us by Satan. We are not ignorant of his

  403. schemes. God no longer wants you to be

  404. taken advantage of at all. I said He doesn't want you to be

  405. taken advantage of. Now if we got strict in context

  406. here within this thing, that passage is talking about the the

  407. attack of a fence and he's like, don't be ignorant of him

  408. attacking you to get offended with someone.

  409. So I previously thought you're going to forgive people because

  410. you were forgiven. Don't you bite hold of that trap

  411. because it take you out again. The enemy just wants to once you

  412. get offended because see, when you start getting offended, the

  413. person you become offended by, there's nothing they can do that

  414. you don't see something wrong. Look at the way they're looking

  415. and they don't even know you're in the room, right?

  416. Get that smirk. I know what they're thinking.

  417. Have you noticed how they got they have people now that you

  418. watch on news they are they are able to describe people's body

  419. language. I mean, that's pretty

  420. presumptuous. No one knows the mind of the man

  421. except the mind of the man. Now unless God literally gives

  422. you insight by the Spirit, it's easy for us to misinterpret body

  423. language. And here's the thing, if they

  424. are a born again child of God and you're seeing you're trying

  425. to put something on your brother that you should be just praying

  426. for them, you're of the wrong spirit.

  427. When we're doing that. However, in a general sense, no

  428. advantage would be taken of us, of Satan, for we are not

  429. ignorant of his schemes, plural. He has more than one scheme of

  430. trying to have to get you offended.

  431. OK, the amplified classic, I'm going to do a few translations,

  432. says it this way to keep Satan from getting the advantage over

  433. us. We are not ignorant of his Wiles

  434. and intentions. The easy standard version says

  435. this or English standard version says this so that we would not

  436. be outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs.

  437. Another translation instead of saying outwitted says

  438. outsmarted. So we are to not be outsmarted

  439. by Satan. He he has been around way longer

  440. than us. He is well versed in his

  441. tactics. But when you yield to God and

  442. know his word, then it will divulge the plans of the devil.

  443. You'll be able to understand intentions because sometimes the

  444. devil will try to pull you out through prosperity.

  445. Your company comes to you and says, man, you have been doing

  446. such an awesome job. You know what we want?

  447. We want to transfer you. We want to take you to another

  448. another part in the nation. And we're going to give you a

  449. big raise because you're amazing.

  450. And if you don't watch out, you don't understand the intention

  451. behind that, that the devil will give you prosperity to take you

  452. out of the church. And there are many Saints that

  453. take promotion and and and there's no church to go to.

  454. You understand, the US, we make high assumptions anyway.

  455. And the assumptions are I've got my Congo sweat on.

  456. We make high assumptions that because again, we live our

  457. church life so individualistic or really independent.

  458. Well, you know what, I can find a church anywhere.

  459. Can you? We're going to be preaching on

  460. finding your fit more. We'll address that question

  461. because again, God can prosper you from any location.

  462. Now, that doesn't mean anyone who moves is wrong.

  463. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying if you're moving

  464. without understanding the body you are to be planted in and you

  465. see that you're a part of that actual vision, not it will

  466. accommodate us so that we can be promoted and make more money.

  467. All right, Hallelujah. I'm not of this world, so I

  468. preach this way because I'm not of this world, you know, so

  469. there's nothing that this world can offer me that would Take Me

  470. Out of the plan and purpose of God or the place He's planted

  471. me. Praise the Lord because he's too

  472. big, so I'm not outsmarted by the devil.

  473. Praise the Lord. I mean, the devil, when he first

  474. tempted Jesus, appealed to his flesh to something that would

  475. help Jesus feel better. Bro, you must be hungry.

  476. You must be hungry. Yeah, I'm hungry.

  477. I'm with you. You know what?

  478. It's obviously that your Father cares for you.

  479. I mean, we already know that the Scripture says that you can turn

  480. stuff. Why don't you turn that bread,

  481. this rock into a bread man? Feed yourself.

  482. I mean, obviously your daddy would want to feed you.

  483. What do you think Jesus says? Do you think that if, if a son

  484. asked for a loaf of bread, would he give him a right?

  485. Like we got something going on different here.

  486. He's appealing to things that he can identify with and the devil

  487. will try to identify with your humanity just to pull you off

  488. Hallelujah. Yes, good word.

  489. The good news Bible says it this way in order to keep Satan from

  490. getting the upper hand over us for we know what his plans are.

  491. Amen. I mean, when it, you know, when

  492. people testify, bless them. I understand.

  493. And again, I'm, I'm not, I am addressing things.

  494. The, the role of the fivefold ministry is to equip the Saints

  495. man. If we can't address things, then

  496. we have become extremely handicapped.

  497. And again, I am here to help you.

  498. And so in order to help you, you're, you have to involve your

  499. mind. You, you do not need to believe

  500. anything I say because I say it. You need to search the scripture

  501. for yourself. I mean, we really have to

  502. continue to address things for us to grow as a body, because

  503. you understand if we do not the the the independent thinking is

  504. just ashes into my heart and save me.

  505. And when I die, I go to heaven. The rest of the stuff works

  506. itself out. And then you never really mature

  507. and the devil whips you all the time.

  508. Now, yes, you can go to heaven. I get that, but that's not the

  509. point. That's not the point of the

  510. Bible. The point of the Bible is to

  511. help us grow, develop and strengthen us.

  512. OK, so at times, you know, I have to address certain things

  513. in order for us to, you know, overcome stuff, you know, so

  514. when people are like, man, the devil, you know, he's just

  515. running me down, right? Well, yes, he's run trying to

  516. run everyone down. The The thing is, is find out

  517. what His plan is. How do you find out what His

  518. plan is? You don't talk to Him.

  519. Now, Devil, what you think you're doing to me, I demand to

  520. know I have authority over you. You're not supposed to talk to

  521. him. Just shut up and come out.

  522. Shut up and come out. OK?

  523. Jesus is not asking you to get into a conversation with Him at

  524. all. OK?

  525. You ask your heavenly Father what's what is going on here?

  526. Is there something behind the scenes I'm missing?

  527. And He will reveal to you that plan instead of us just

  528. accepting that we're being ran after.

  529. We know we're being ran after because first Peter 5/8 tells us

  530. Hallelujah. Be of what sober spirit, be on

  531. the alert for your adversary. The devil prowls around like a

  532. roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

  533. So know this, the day you made Jesus the Lord of your life, it

  534. did not stop the devil from wanting to destroy you.

  535. In fact, the devil's Wiles or schemes are so tactical that I

  536. perceive that he gets into a layer of joy even if you get

  537. born again because he to him he won't see it so much as lost as

  538. a tactical advantage to get you off later.

  539. I perceived because he's not omnipresent that once you get

  540. born again he leaves you for sure.

  541. And I'm not even saying he was around the day you've got born

  542. again. You understand.

  543. It's not like he's just following you people out like,

  544. you know, some of y'all, some people out like they have a

  545. personal attachment to Satan that he like follows them.

  546. It's like always there. No, he's one being that cannot

  547. be everywhere and brand new believers are not raising the

  548. gates of hell, not trying to knock them down, they just

  549. excited they're born again. OK, is he, could he, can he be

  550. aware through the communication of his principalities and

  551. powers? Yes.

  552. However, I would surmise he's like, leave him alone and let

  553. you grow so that he can come attack later.

  554. Because once you start telling everybody how you're different

  555. because you are and the joy you have and you're insured because

  556. you know how many people in the world have this testimony of

  557. believers? Oh, well, just wait.

  558. They'll get out of it. It's just a matter of Tom, you

  559. know how many people have been here that went to church?

  560. They're not even going anymore. They'll be the same.

  561. So your zeal means nothing to them.

  562. Your zeal doesn't even make an impression in their life because

  563. they've had too many be zealous like that once they were born

  564. again. But only at the first trial.

  565. And how do we know there's going to be a trial?

  566. Because of the seed of the word, The seed of the word.

  567. The parable of the seed of the sower is that it goes into the

  568. ground. That seed turns into a plant.

  569. That's called conversion. But because it has, it's on the

  570. rocks and has no firm root to itself, right?

  571. Or to the wayside, which wayside is the one that he grabs

  572. immediately? There's no firm root in that

  573. plant. What happens?

  574. It gets plucked out When the first trial and tribulation they

  575. abandoned their walk. But in the abandoning of their

  576. walk, they have reinforced in others why they should not

  577. follow Jesus. But if you pass the first trial,

  578. then he will go after you with the second.

  579. And the second is prosperity, the deceitfulness of riches, the

  580. cares of life. Man, you're doing so much for

  581. the church. My gosh, you served there all

  582. the time. You've been doing this for 10

  583. years. Don't you think you need a

  584. break? Let somebody else do this.

  585. I mean, pat yourself on the back.

  586. Seriously, go ahead and deny planning center and tell them

  587. you know you want to go back to less because you know you got

  588. other things going on now. Oh, don't shout me down.

  589. Amen. Now again, the only person who

  590. gets offended with that statement is someone who is

  591. dealing with this challenge. I'm saying this to encourage you

  592. don't get caught in that walls. Stay connected with the flock

  593. because no weapon formed against the and the church has two

  594. things they do. The church has an inward

  595. function and an external function, an inward function and

  596. an external function. And if the inward function is

  597. not properly, then the external 1 is not functioning right at

  598. all. In fact, if you do not have an

  599. internal function, I would liken you to a person who is a

  600. fornicator and is getting people pregnant all the time.

  601. But you won't take the responsibility to father the

  602. children that you're getting pregnant.

  603. You just want somebody to be born and then you abandon them

  604. and go on. And you're like, well, the Lord,

  605. the Lord is supposed to bring on.

  606. He wants you to bring them to church.

  607. They're supposed to become disciples, not converts.

  608. Go into all the world and make disciples, not converted babies.

  609. Amen. I would say it this way.

  610. Don't whore around with God's Word, Connor.

  611. Do not use that as a real. Hallelujah.

  612. You're not going to see that as a real, it's not going to

  613. happen, Amen. The most of the stuff I say is

  614. for us as a church, you know, and I'm, I'm, I'm excited about

  615. that because you're the most important people on the face of

  616. the planet to me is who God gave to me to help oversee for him.

  617. Amen. But man, the enemy's out there.

  618. And the good news is it doesn't matter.

  619. I said it doesn't matter. Isn't that amazing?

  620. God's not intimidated with an anointed cherub that he kicks

  621. out of heaven. He and he doesn't even tell.

  622. He doesn't even tell Adam. He just says Adam, don't eat the

  623. fruit, keep the garden. That is enough for him to

  624. overcome the Wiles of the devil. That's enough.

  625. You know what, you have enough word in you to overcome every

  626. scheme against you right now, every scheme.

  627. And you need to be more of a critical thinker when you make

  628. decisions in the spirit realm. You need to start actually

  629. examining these thought processes you have.

  630. It says you are to take captive every thought.

  631. We are raising up a generation of no one thinking.

  632. God did not save you to make your mind nothing.

  633. He saved you to actually give you a mind, Amen.

  634. So that now we can yield to the Spirit and overcome.

  635. All right, Psalms chapter 2, we're going to press on and be

    Psalms 2 chapter mention

  636. finished. Psalms chapter 2 is to look at

    Psalms 2 chapter mention

  637. verse one. This is good news.

  638. Say this is good news. It says, why are the nations so

  639. angry? Why do they waste their time

  640. with feudal plans? The kings of the earth prepare

  641. for battle. The rulers plot together against

  642. the Lord and against his anointed. 1 Let us break their

  643. chains, they cry, and free ourselves from slavery to God.

  644. Verse 4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs.

  645. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them,

  646. terrifying them with his fierce fury.

  647. For the Lord declares, I have placed my chosen king on the

  648. throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.

  649. Hallelujah. The king proclaims the Lord's

  650. decree. The Lord said to me, You are my

  651. son today I have begotten you. Now before I read verse 8, know

  652. this, that Jesus Christ is that son and Jesus Christ is that

  653. king. But that king died for you and

  654. me and he laid his seed in the ground.

  655. And because he he died and went in the ground and his seed went

  656. in the ground, he's able to produce after his own cod.

  657. Which means now you are a child of God.

  658. You are the son of a king. You are the king of a king.

  659. He didn't die for himself, He died for you, and he didn't die

  660. for just you, he died for us all.

  661. So again, we are kings of the earth under the King the

  662. Anointing 1. And no matter what the nations

  663. are doing to form weapons against us, they will not

  664. prosper. Only ask and I'll give you the

  665. nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.

  666. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay

  667. pots. Now then, you kings, that's us.

  668. Act wisely, right? These kings are not us.

  669. Excuse me. Now then you kings, that's the

  670. ones of the act wisely. Be warned, you rulers of the

  671. earth, meaning you scheming, you need to quit.

  672. Serve the Lord with reverential fear and joy.

  673. Rejoice with trembling. Submit to God's royal Son and He

  674. will or He will become angry and you will be destroyed in the

  675. midst of all your activities, for his anger flares up in an

  676. instant. But what joy for all those who

  677. take refuge in Him. Man, when you take refuge in

  678. Him, guess what? You have His protection.

  679. You come under the shadow of His wings, you run into His strong

  680. tower, and you are saved. Glory to God.

  681. Hallelujah that there's nothing going on in your life that God

  682. has not already caused you to triumph in.

  683. This is why the church is the triumphant church.

  684. The church that Jesus is building does not know what it

  685. means to be defeated. It does not know what it means

  686. to lose ground. It does not know what it means

  687. to be overtaken. It it it, it deals with trials.

  688. It suffers an onslaught of things to come after it, but it

  689. knows how to stay in the position of victory because we

  690. stay united together. I didn't have this verse, but

  691. put this one up. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 16.

    Ephesians 4:16

  692. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 16. It's so important we see this

    Ephesians 4:16

  693. before we jump over to the 6th chapter in closing, because man,

  694. when the church stays unified, it's a powerful force and Jesus

  695. Christ is coming back for the church.

  696. And this church is raining. It is not suffering.

  697. It's not beat down. It's not barely holding on.

  698. It is running. And the power of the Spirit,

  699. from whom the whole body, say whole body, being fitted and

  700. held together by what every joint supplies according to the

  701. proper working of each individual part, causes the

  702. growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

  703. So, ma'am, when we stay with the flock, there's such power that

  704. He has given us. We are His Church.

  705. I never want to be the One. Let me just say this way, you

  706. know how selfish the one is that is willing to pull the shepherd

  707. away from the 99? Because it's not like you're

  708. going to be more in the Shepherd's presence.

  709. Oh, y'all don't want it? You're not more in the

  710. shepherd's present because you wander off.

  711. I remember Dean Hawk who was a youth pastor with Rhema and and

  712. he shared this particular, I believe it was him.

  713. It could have been Brent Bailey and Keith neighbors.

  714. So one of those youth pastors. So please forgive me.

  715. I don't know which one it is specifically.

  716. Now one of those former youth pastor of Rhema that is correct

  717. would send balloons to students at school when they miss service

  718. to remind them, hey, we missed you.

  719. They just wanted them to know, hey, we missed you.

  720. Then they stopped doing that after a season because they

  721. began to realize that students intentionally did not come

  722. because they wanted the individual attention when in the

  723. group they were investing in them.

  724. I mean, is God not ministering to you now?

  725. Now you're going to have a long time, don't get me wrong.

  726. But that alone time is not so that you only are alone.

  727. It's so you can bring your supply.

  728. I mean, if you're alone, to be alone, just to stay alone, to

  729. keep your own alone so that you can be filled up alone.

  730. The Bible never says for you to keep your supply, you're

  731. supposed to bring it. You're supposed to bring your

  732. supply, which means you should overflow that not only do you

  733. have enough, you have enough to give away glory to God.

  734. So be close with this passage of Scripture in Ephesians chapter

    Ephesians 6:10–13

  735. 6, verse 10 to 13, you're ready to shout.

  736. You're ready to just go ahead and put your flesh down and jump

  737. up for joy. Anyway, when I was in when I was

  738. teaching on Kingdom economics to the school there in Congo, one

  739. particular session when I was dealing with faith is the

  740. currency of the Kingdom. OK, and they that my interpreter

  741. got so excited and and she was holding herself, unlike my my

  742. brother there. He was like when he got to

  743. Revelation, he'd go and then he'd release it.

  744. We couldn't film every woo. It was awesome.

  745. Amen. And so she was.

  746. She got so excited about what she had not seen before.

  747. Let me tell you, she was so excited.

  748. She came to me after in tears because she was the one who

  749. interpreted the forest in French for us.

  750. She came to me in tears and she said, Pastor Earl, will you

  751. forgive me? I was like, why?

  752. I was the one that was tasked with translating your book and I

  753. allow things to get in the way. And I delayed because I didn't

  754. bring it. I didn't have it quick enough to

  755. produce it, to take copies. And she realized that her

  756. tardiness cost that word in written form to be released into

  757. her nation. And she was in tears.

  758. She said, forgive me. I should have stayed diligent to

  759. get that thing accomplished. And I said, I forgive you.

  760. We're going to get it done, and we're going to get it sent here.

  761. It's coming to the Congo. It's coming, OK?

  762. Because you know what? We all have places that God

  763. wants to deploy what He's given us to others.

  764. It's not for me. It's not my understanding of

  765. God's word. It's for all that wants to hear.

  766. OK, so it's very important. And she got so excited.

  767. She said I just wanted to jump and shout.

  768. I said, well, go ahead and do it then.

  769. So she just went crazy on the platform and just began to

  770. shout. And everybody out there,

  771. students like, what in the world just happened, right?

  772. Because we were done. I mean, we had finished and we

  773. were on a break. And that's when she just let it

  774. go, shouted, danced, jumped around.

  775. I danced with her. Right now, I didn't have a

  776. dance, but I sure wasn't going to let an opportunity of someone

  777. who was doing something with the Lord to pass me by.

  778. So I just yielded anyway. Are you ready to yield on this

  779. last scripture together? Look at this in Ephesians

    Ephesians 6:10–13

  780. chapter 6 verse 10 through 13. I'm going to read it out of a

  781. translation called The Remedy. This is awesome.

  782. Finally, stay strong. Are you hearing me?

  783. Now listen, we just read in first Peter chapter 5 that we

    1 Peter 5 chapter mention

  784. are to stay sober in spirit. To stay sobered in spirit

  785. implies that you can get intoxicated in your spirit.

  786. The number one way that the devil intoxicates your spirit is

  787. that he convinces you to chase after many voices.

  788. Even in the church. Not every overseer is for your

  789. ears. There are powerful truths.

  790. In fact, I was had a conversation with some ministry

  791. leaders concerning prophecy and they said one reason why they

  792. did not release prophecies in their ministry is because a lot

  793. of times when that prophecy went, it was for the meeting

  794. they were in more than beyond. And they said you have to have

  795. discernment that is that prophecy something beyond.

  796. Again, when we hear stuff, a lot of times we just try to take it

  797. for us. And most of the time we take it

  798. without the examination. OK.

  799. The the the weapons the enemy uses are not just blatant sin

  800. where you're like, oh, that's obvious.

  801. You know, like for a man, you walk around the corner and some

  802. lady, you know, takes all their clothes off real quick.

  803. You know, well, that isn't God. That's going to be pretty

  804. obvious, right? OK.

  805. I mean, you would hope you would figure that out, you know,

  806. right. Or, you know, someone comes as

  807. the Lord told me to get you so we could go on this bank and rob

  808. it. You were going to help me today,

  809. right? I mean, surely you would know.

  810. Nah, that's not it. OK.

  811. No, the enemy comes in other ways and tactics to try to get

  812. you so saturated with voices, especially those that aren't

  813. even supposed to speak directly into your life in the season

  814. you're in. So you have to have some

  815. discernment there anyway. Finally, be strong in your

  816. connection and devotion to the Lord and His mighty power.

  817. Arm your minds with God's complete set of armor so that

  818. you can join the ranks of Christ's soldier and stand

  819. successfully in the face of the devil's schemes, right?

  820. You can stand successfully, right?

  821. Verse 4 For our struggle is not say, is not against flesh and

  822. blood. Do not be mad with another human

  823. being. Other human beings become tools

  824. by which the enemy uses to say things to you and even in the

  825. body. But they are not your problem.

  826. They have unfortunately entertained the wrong thought

  827. and are acting on it. Pray for them, forgive them, and

  828. you keep doing your assignment. Do it, because that can't stop

  829. you anyway. Can't stop you.

  830. It will if every time you see them you're mad.

  831. All right, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, with

  832. man made weapons, but against all individuals, entities and

  833. powers that misrepresent God and darkened minds, and against

  834. Satan, the originator of lies about God and his cohorts who

  835. have misrepresented God in the heavenly realms.

  836. Therefore, arm your mind with God's full set of armor so that

  837. when Satan's grand deception comes and it seems the heavens

  838. are about to fall, you are able to stand.

  839. And when you have done everything to present the truth

  840. and expose Satan's lies, don't falter.

  841. Stand, stand. You stand.

  842. You stand because no weapon formed against the Church can

  843. prosper. You present the truth, You stay

  844. with the truth. You don't come off the truth,

  845. and you stay with the flock. Woo.

  846. Nothing can defeat you cannot be defeated.

  847. We are stronger together than we'll ever be isolated.

  848. Can't happen, can't happen. Then again, for some you're

  849. going to be connected with some a little more than others in the

  850. body. Again, my shoulder sure hangs

  851. out with my collarbone a lot more than it does with my leg.

  852. Now it doesn't mean they don't meet because when I go over and

  853. stretch they get pretty close, but he hangs out here.

  854. But it doesn't say I hate my legs.

  855. No, they're like, thank God for the legs because the legs took

  856. us over to the cabinet so I could open up the cabinet and

  857. get some food. Hallelujah, Amen.

  858. So we need each other and all the more as we see the day

  859. approaching. So stay with the flock, stay

  860. with the church because it's not the individual that the gates of

  861. hell don't prevail against. It's the church which includes.