The Ark At The Gates - Part 2

So last time we talked about the arc of the gates. Can we have some more lights? Oh, it's

going to take time. Okay. And we talked about Numbers 10.35. And in Numbers 10.35, we said

that every time the arc would leave the camp, Moses would say that, Arise, O Lord, may your

enemies be scattered, and may those who hate you flee from you. I'm just recapping. So

every time the arc would go out, it was—sorry. Yeah. So the recap is every time the arc would

go out, Moses would say, Arise, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered. And the arc would

go out first, and with it would go out the people, because there were cities that were

given to them as inheritance, but they knew that the only way to get these cities was

to go with the presence of God. Then we talked about Psalm 24. This is just a recap for us,

and we'll then talk about something else today. The second thing we talked about was Psalm

24, that Psalm 24 was the victorious return—Psalm 24 was the victorious return of the divine

warrior king to the city, of the divine warrior king to the city. And so every time they would

come back to the city, it would initiate a ritual called the Gate Liturgy, which is the

same thing we talked about last time, the Gate Liturgy. And what was the Gate Liturgy?

Someone would say from within the gates, who goes there? And then there would be this announcement

saying, the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, the Lord God Almighty is strong in battle, the

Lord God Almighty is strong in battle, he alone is Lord. And when that announcement

would be made, the gates would be swung open and the king would enter. We talked about

this last week. I'm assuming you remember? A bit? Jeremy is trying, but eventually it

will come back, Jeremy. But the point is this, Psalm 24, who shall ascend the hill of the

Lord? Lift up your ancient gates, let the king of glory come in. Who is this king of

glory? He is the Lord, strong and mighty in battle. We talked about that. So Psalm 24

was the return of the divine warrior king to the city and then there would be this voice

from within the city. And so we are now in a situation where, for instance, in Richmond,

we get to call to the city saying, hey Richmond, open up your gates. And being part of the

city, on one hand we say to the city, open up your gates, on the other hand, because

we are part of the city, we open the gates for him to enter. And we talked about how

to open the gates last time. Off the city so that he can enter. It's both, we do both.

Guys, this is important that we don't just bypass this. So let me call out Joshua and

Tooni if you can come up. And these are the city gates of Richmond. One is inside, one

is outside, and so facing that way. And so we come to the gates of the city of Richmond

and he says, I'll be the king of glory for now. He says, who goes there? Please say.

And what do you reply? Open up the gates. And your question is again, who goes there?

Then you reply, the king of glory. And then you get the option of opening the gates and

say, come in, oh, king of glory. And then we both walk in and it's a divine warrior

returning to take a city. I want, why do this silly thing with Joshua and Tooni? I want

this to be impressed in our minds forever, how it works. City after city after city across

the globe can have the same thing effected again and again and again. If you go back

and look at your notes, you will see how we open up the gates. There were eight or nine

points, so you'll have to go over them. But in every city, including Richmond, there is

a voice from within which says, who goes there? And a voice from without that says, it is

the king of glory. And you being part of the city as a believer, now have the privilege

of opening the gates to the king of glory and he enters in. But Jacob, why can't God

do this on his own? He can, but he decides that since the battle is between the devil

and man, it is man who will triumph over the devil. Always remember that the battle is

not between God and the devil. The battle has always been between God and man. It is

Adam who lost his regency to Satan. It is Adam, the sons of Adam, that will regain the

regency that belongs to them, that was given to them in the Garden of Eden. The battle

is always between man and the devil. This is why Christ had to come down as man to defeat

the devil. Because if he can do it as God, it would have been very easy. Revelation 21

ends with a blast of his nostrils and that's the end of the devil. So this idea of being

in the city and being outside the city is important. On one hand, we have the marvelous

privilege of saying, hey, open up the gates. And then from inside, you can say, yes, we

are opening up the gates because the King of Glory is here. If anyone asks who is here,

tell them. Evangelism is the ability to tell people who this King of Glory is. Witnessing

is to tell people what this King of Glory has done in your life. Witnessing is telling

people what the King of Glory has done in your life. Evangelism is telling people who

this King of Glory is. And you open up the gates and he enters. Very simple, guys. You

take your family. Who opens the gates of a family to God? You think God is going to burst

in? You think God is going to overrun your will? No. How does God enter Justin and Shireen's

family? Justin being first among equals and Shireen being equal with him have to say,

come into our home. How did you become a believer? Christ came and knocked. I stand at the door

and knock. Who is there? I am Jesus Christ who died for you. I stand at your door and

knock. If anyone opens the door and lets me in, then I will come and eat with them. My

father and I will come and sup with you. The opening of the door is always from the inside.

Therefore God puts believers in every city. Every city there are believers. There is not

a city in the world that does not have believers. We may not have them in statistic roles, but

every city on earth has believers. You can go to North Korea. You can go to the darkest

Amazon jungles. You can go to any part of India. In every city there are believers.

How many do you need to open a door? One. This is not theory. This is not imagination. This

is not Old Testament or New Testament history. This is present day reality. Do you have any

questions on that before we go on? This image has to settle in your heart. It takes one

or two in a city to end up changing the whole concept of the city, which is what the Proverbs

and Ecclesiastes talk about. There was one wise man in a city. Just one wise man. Rehab

opens an entire city. Anyone that day who would have run into Ahab's house could have

been saved. Anyone. Anyone who could have run into Ahab's house. Ahab's house could

have been saved. Ahab's house, no. What a difference a letter makes.

Okay. So that was a recap. Now we go into what we are talking about today. See, guys,

on one hand, this is my father's world. You might sing that song at the end. On one hand,

this is my father's world. But here's the other thing that we have to hold in tension.

Christianity is divided into people that don't want to talk about the devil because we don't

want to give him too much focus. And then you have another side which only talks about

the devil. Both have to be held in tension. So on one hand, this is my father's world.

On the other hand, this cosmos is hostile. This cosmos is hostile. There is an unseen

world. Brandon, do you want to fix this? Please? There is, on one hand, oh, it's happening.

You just walk and stuff begins to happen, man. Thanks. Just start walking if it goes

wonky. Yeah. So this is a hostile, we live in a hostile cosmos and there is an unseen

world of, of, of thrones and there is an unseen world of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of, of,

of kingdoms, of rulers and authorities. So go to Colossians 1.16. You can read it from

the NLT or NIV. Just go to Colossians 1.16. While I realize that my words are not being

dressed as on upside down. Colossians 1.16, I'm going to read from the NLT, the New Living

Translation, but you can pick any version. Colossians 1.16. Here's what it says. For

in him all things were created. NLT. For in, for through him God created everything in

heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't

see such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world. Everything

was created through him and for him. These things actually exist. I'm not coming up with

this. It's just simple scripture. Let's look at Ephesians 6.12 and just so you get the

sense of it, which is why I showed the movie too. Ephesians 6.12. Can you try the living

Bible? The living Bible. These are paraphrases so I'm not suggesting you use them as a book

for study. But just to convey what it actually is like. Ephesians 6.12. Try and see if you

can pull out the living Bible. TLB. It'll get you a sense of what we're, what we mean

when we say we live in a hostile cosmos. Ephesians 6.12 from the living Bible. Here's what it

says. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons

without bodies. The evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great

evil princes of darkness who rule this world and against a huge number of wicked spirits

in the spirit world. It puts it very raw. Every other virgin says the same thing. I

just wanted you to hear it. This is the world we live in. So that's the hostile environment

we at present occupy. Even though it is our father's world. The next thing I want to look

at is the fact that Jesus was assailed by these very hostile forces. Jesus was assailed

by these unseen forces. The reason I showed you the clip from the Chronicles of Narnia

is it gives you an idea of the assailing of Jesus by these forces. You're talking about

the entire cosmos of thrones, kingdoms, rulers, authorities, persons without bodies, evil

wicked rulers assailing one man. One of the things that is not conveyed sometimes in the

way scripture translates in English is this thing called he was crucified and then he

died. He was killed. You saw the killing. It is very different when you go from crucified

and died to the son of God being killed, assailed by a cosmos of forces and then killed. You

can see Aslan lying there, the dagger coming through, piercing and then he dies. He's killed.

Someone is killed for you. Crucified, died are so alien that it doesn't convey anything

to us. There's a reason I was showing you the clip. Yes, it may have been done through

the hands of Romans, but you're talking about all these things we've read out in Colossians

1.16 and Ephesians 6.12. He was humiliated and killed. He was humiliated and killed.

And who are we talking about? God. Crazy. When you read 1 Corinthians 2.8, it says if the

powers or the rulers had known what was going to happen, they would not have done what they

had no idea. Though he looked weak, and he did, though he looked weak, what happens on

the cross? He masters them. Like a dog is mastered, he masters them. Who? The very things

that we spoke about in Colossians 1.16. Thrones, kingdoms, rulers, authorities. The ones we

spoke about in Ephesians 6.12, who are listening right now and who know that what is being

said is like a sentence being affected about them again and again and again and again.

Ephesians 6.12, persons without bodies, evil rulers, wicked powers, depraved powers, all

of them being mastered. He masters them. Then he strips them of armor and weapons. And then

he displays their helplessness. And then he displays his unvanquished strength. Where

is this in Scripture? In the Bible, it says, in the Bible, it says, in the Bible, it says,

in the Scriptures, go to Colossians 2.15. Colossians 2.15. Let's look at Colossians

2.15. Reading from the NIV. Starting at verse 13. When you were dead in your sins and in

the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our

sins. Having canceled the charge of our legal indefiniteness, which stood against us and

condemned us, he has taken it away, nailing it to the ground. He has taken it away, and

he has taken it away. He has taken it away. He has taken it away. He has taken it away.

Listen to the next verse. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public

spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. The picture you have to again imagine

is a king returning from battle. As he returns from battle, he rides a chariot that's right

up front. Only this chariot in the case of Christ has a cruciform shape. But he still

rides a chariot. When kings would return from war, behind them would be prisoners.

Princes, kings, generals of the defeated army. They'd be manacled and they'd be dragged behind

the king's chariot. It was in effect showing the city that he belonged to. Look at them.

Beggarly elements. That's what it says in Colossians. Stoichia, weak and beggarly. And

they would trail behind the chariot. And that's what Paul is trying to say through Colossians

2.15. That listen, this Christ has triumphed over the cross. And look at the people behind

this chariot. Put on a public spectacle, as a public display. That's what's happening

here. These are pictures that are created for us to understand what actually transpired

and is still visited upon the enemy when believers begin to understand and stand in faith. Faith

cannot exist without the knowledge of the truth. And the knowledge of the truth comes

in words and images and a knowing in your spirit. Three things that make the knowledge

of the truth happen. Three things. One, faith. No, sorry. Faith is what makes it effective.

But to have it, you have to have knowledge of the truth, as in a knowledge of what happened.

Two, you have to have words or you have to have pictures to imagine it. Otherwise, you

won't get this. What happened? There was a great deal of confusion. And I think that

there was great power in resurrection. You saw that scene, right? Where he comes alive.

There was great power in resurrection. What happened at the resurrection? One of the scriptures

that I found recently, which I didn't know before, even though I've read it, is Christ

in his resurrection, Christ in his resurrection is designated, is designated son of God. And

in power. Go to Romans 1, 4. Son of God in power. It's like, it's not even Son of God.

Once he rises from the dead, he is Son of God in power, as in everything he has power

over. Nothing can dare say, I am not subject to you. Nothing. Romans 1, 4. So what do you

mean Son of God in power? What was he before that? He was always Son of God in eternity.

But now, to being Son of God in eternity, he's also reigning Lord and the only one with

all power. And he is present here right now. Right now. And he is the only one with all

power right now. Today can be a day where every demonic power, every disease, every

form of torment, every sin that entangles your feet, every spiritual force that has

been at work in your life to keep you trapped, to keep me trapped, can be broken because

of the one who is the Son of God in power here. I'm talking about diseases, damage,

devil, decay, death. Being broken up by the one who is here because he is the only one

who has power. I will pray that today. Romans 1, 4. Romans 1, 4.

He says, regarding his son who as to his human nature was a descendant of David and who through

the spirit of holiness was declared to be, was declared with power to be the Son of God.

Here's what happens when he becomes Son of God in power. He can now rescue anyone who

calls on him. He can rescue anyone who calls on him. Resurrection marked the triumph over

all the forces that keep men and women in bondage. He can now rescue anyone who calls

on him. He can rescue anyone who calls on him. Resurrection marked the triumph over

all the forces that keep men and women in bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on

him. Resurrection marked the triumph over all the forces that keep men and women in

bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on him. Resurrection marked the triumph over

all the forces that keep men and women in bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on

him. Resurrection marked the triumph over all the forces that keep men and women in

bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on him. Resurrection marked the triumph over

all the forces that keep men and women in bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on

him. Resurrection marked the triumph over all the forces that keep men and women in

bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on him. Resurrection marked the triumph over

all the forces that keep men and women in bondage. He can rescue anyone who calls on

him. Resurrection marked the triumph over all the forces that keep men and women in bondage.

Resurrection marked the triumph over all the forces that keep men and women in bondage.

Any questions?

I want to talk about dethroned and subservient.

These hostile forces have been dethroned, have been incapacitated. You know what they

used to do to horses when an army would attack another army and they would grab all their

horses. People would be killed but there are still people in the city. You know what

they would do to the horses? They would go and cut the hamstrings of the horses so that

the horses would hobble for the rest of their lives. You could only use those horses for

labor, to grind the mill, to pull logs. That's all you could use the horses for. All war

horses would be hobbled by slipping or just cutting the hamstring, by hamstringing them

basically. That's what would be done. The word incapacitated brings that image. Christ

has incapacitated the enemy, dethroned him, incapacitated, hobbling. I'm deliberately

painting images so you know what happened. This is relevant to all of us. There's nobody

here who is not struggling at some level with either a sin or a habit or attacks or sickness

or disease or behavior that seems to plague you for years on end. Or someone we know.

Do we have a role to play in it? Yes. But let's, like Jane said in the beginning, oh

God, you're the one who does it. Another thing God did, and I spoke about this briefly, that

these forces now trail behind his cruciform chariot, as in his chariot that is shaped

like a cross, cruciform chariot. And what do they look like? They're manacled. They

are impotent. They are weak and beggarly. You'll find that in Galatians 4.9 when Paul

talks about the elemental forces of the world. In the KJV, it calls them weak and beggarly.

And better still, with all this, they have to keep confessing Christ's superiority.

They have to keep confessing Christ's superiority. This thing of every knee shall bow and every

tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, we're not waiting for the end days.

We saw that when Jesus approached a demon-possessed man in the Gadarenes. What happened? The man

immediately went down on his knees and he started saying, have you come to torment us

before our time? Oh, holy one. The bowing of the knee and the confessing of his name

has already started. It is just the ignorance of his followers that sometimes leaves us

unaware of the reality in the unseen. Obstacles to your work, obstacles to your marriage,

obstacles to progressing, obstacles to getting to your destiny, some of it, not all of it,

but some of it is again the work of hostile forces. They trail behind this cruciform chariot,

manacal, impotent, weak and beggarly, confessing Christ's superiority. Christ is Lord. We know

it. As long as they don't recognize it, it's okay. I'm hoping that for some of us at least,

this thing will be the key insight where when you stand before someone, you know that there's

plenty of authority to do what needs to be done for that person so that they walk free.

Christ was like this with compassion. Can you be like this with compassion? Not with anger,

but with compassion. Why is it that sometimes there are people in the church who can sit under

a teaching for years and yet have such dullness that it is impossible for them to move on?

Where does that come from? Sometimes it's a religious spirit. Sometimes Jesus called it a deaf

and mute spirit where it's impossible. You listen and listen and listen and the Bible says

nothing happens. How is that even humanly possible? You would have been a rocket scientist by now

if you spent 40 years in a church, a church of rocket science, because there's a dullness that takes

over. Take a moment, you're attributing everything to hostile forces. Yes, I run the risk of that

when doing a teaching like this, but I'm not going to now work my way to try and balance the other

side. Things have to be held in tension. Any questions? Yep. I can't hear you. You'll have to speak

louder. How do you know that you have dullness? One of the best ways to find out whether you have

dullness is to, and I said this to the young adults a couple of nights ago, the way to expose

dullness and mediocrity is to spend time with those that are passionate and sharp. When you spend

time with those that are passionate and sharp, it always exposes your dullness and mediocrity. I might

think I'm something until I end up spending time with someone and I realize, oh my God, what I

learned was so old, I haven't changed. So one of the best ways to disguise dullness is to make sure

that you always hang out with people who are exactly like you. That way you'll never be exposed.

Go ahead.

Yeah, and tunnel vision is not just a denominational problem, it's my problem. Like where I can develop

tunnel vision if I don't associate with people that are better than me. We always look for people

that are just like us. And therefore we don't improve. These powers have been emptied, these powers

have been emptied of vitality. Vitality. As in, it's like kryptonite. Jesus' cross and his work on the

cross is like, it takes away their vitality. They aren't strong. They are subdued. They are subservient.

They are subdued. They are subservient. I want you to remember these words. They are compelled to submit.

They are unable to resist. If you came to my house, you would see papers lying all around with these words.

Once God begins to show you something that you're supposed to focus on, write it down in words. You'll find one

paper lying under the table, one paper lying over the table, one on my phone, one in my notes. These simple words

Because this is not how we think of the devil or we think of the demonic. Subdued. Subservient. Subservient is not even

a servant. Subservient is like licking your boots kind of servitude. Unable to resist. Goliaths always frighten us,

guys. Goliaths are physical structures that are meant to paralyze my thinking and my feeling. Where meeting the same guy

for 40 days and 40 nights after I offer my morning and evening sacrifice, out comes this ten-foot guy who says,

who will come and challenge me? I've just worshiped God and he comes up again. You keep looking at this Goliath and it

hollows you inside. Therefore we need words that come from scripture. And all these words are from scripture. Subdued, subservient,

compelled to submit, unable to resist, unable to resist. It would be like putting Elion against Pavan. What hope does Elion have?

Elion will be subdued. Elion will be subservient. Elion will be compelled to submit and he will be unable to resist till

Sharon and Dennis show up. Both will have to come if they want to do anything to Pavan. But the point is being this. That at the end

of the day these are the words that you have to begin to ponder on, chew on, ruminate on so that it becomes part of how you think.

Guys, words are how you think. They are compelled to submit, unable to resist what? They are unable to resist not what. In Christianity

every what is a who. In Christianity every what is a who. Unable to resist what? It is unable to resist who? Who? The risen Christ.

Not even Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus who died on the cross, the risen Christ. He is who we are talking about. Unable to resist. What do you do

when you beat somebody and you kill them and you expended everything you have on the person and the person rises up again and now the rest of the world is free?

What do you do? How do you take care of that problem? He is here. I was going to say worse. Better still, this risen Christ is the one who lives in me

which brings us to another point which is that we need to think of ourselves in terms of resurrection and life. Because if he is the risen Christ then he imparts resurrection life to you.

I can only give you what I have. Silver and gold have I? None. But such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. You can only give what you have.

What does Christ have? He has a life that is not a Jesus of Nazareth life. It is a life called resurrection life. That is what he gives you. What does resurrection life feel like, sound like?

His life, this might be hard to believe but it is true, his life is impervious to sin. It is impervious to sin. We must conclude today that we sin because we can.

Not because we have to. There is nothing in me, there is nothing in Jacob that needs to sin. Nothing. The life I possess inside me, because this body will do whatever I tell it to.

I can either go shake her hand because my body is an instrument of righteousness or I can hit her because my body is an instrument of wickedness. The body is neutral.

The life I possess is risen life. It is impervious to sin. I do not need to sin. Let that sink in because it is the truth.

The power of sin is no longer something that has any command over me. I can sin and I can choose to afford to, want to but I do not need to. I am impervious to sin and so are you.

Any questions on that? You know what he has done, he has created a new species man. That is better than what Adam was. Because Adam could sin. We can sin too but Adam did not have what we have.

He did not have the life of the risen Christ. It is impervious to sin and here are some other things that we need to know about the life that you have. Even though it is invisible to others, here is the thing about it.

It is a life that defeated death. You will defeat death. It is a life that overcame decay. Jesus says that even while he is Jesus of Nazareth, he says, oh God, you will not let my body see decay.

Even though I may be cast into Sheol, my body will not see decay. Christ had to exert faith too.

Overcame decay. It can overcome the devil because Jesus did. It can overcome damage done to you because you can still bear the scars but my God you can overcome damage.

And it can overcome disease. I am not talking about your soma, your flesh. I am talking about a life that you possess. Talking about the life that you possess.

A man is what he thinks. And when a man thinks along the lines of the truth that God has spoken, a man becomes what God has said he is.

Thinking takes time. Thinking is not memorizing something. Thinking is God directed self thought. God directed self thought. That is what meditation is. God directed self thought.

Any questions before we go on? This is the kind of life. Go to Colossians 3, verse 2 and 3 from the message. Colossians 3, verse 2 and 3. Just so you know the kind of life that you and I have. Colossians 3, verse 2 and 3. Colossians 3, verse 2 and 3.

Colossians 3:2 Colossians 3:2 Colossians 3:2 Colossians 3:2

Let's start from the message. Let's start from the verse 1. Chapter 3, verse 1. So if you are serious about living this new, beautiful life, it starts off with what we are talking about.

If you don't have a Bible, let me know. But if you have a Bible, open it. Or if you don't have a Bible, there is a Bible in the pew. But look at scriptures. It helps to look at scriptures. Our minds in a long teaching like this, if you haven't been in this church long enough, will wander.

Cool. Colossians 3, message. So if you are serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you.

Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ. That's where the action is. See things from his perspective. Now listen to this guys. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life, even though invisible to spectators, is with Christ in God.

He is your life. When Christ, your real life, remember, shows up again on this earth, you will show up too. It's crazy what he is saying there. Go to John 14, 20. John 14, 20.

John 14, 20.

I am in my father. And then he goes on to say, you are in me and I am in you. It's the only life we have, guys. I know it's hard to understand this from any reasonable standpoint, but who cares? This is reality.

Any questions before we go on? At this very moment, Christ is in the father. At this very moment, I am in Christ and therefore I am before the father. At this very moment, Christ is in me.

Right now.

Christ is in the father. I am in Christ. He is in me. Colossians 2, verse 9. The fullness of God delighted to dwell in Christ. And the fullness of Christ delights to dwell in us. Delights to dwell.

Colossians 2:9

It's crazy, man, the math here.

By the way, there is no hold on you, eh? There is no debt you have to pay. Christ paid it. There is no tormentor or loan shark or tyrant you are indebted to. It's all been paid.

There is no guilt, nor are you under the power, not under the power of sin or its hold. There is no condemnation.

None of this applies to me.

What kind of freedom is this? Thank God I know you're buffering, otherwise I should hear a thousand hallelujahs. What kind of freedom is this? No debt to pay. I owe nothing.

I don't owe anything in terms of I've got to do penance. I've got to get back into good books. There's only a good book. There are no bad books.

I have no debt to pay. I have no tormentor that I'm indebted to. I'm not a vassal to anybody. I'm not indebted to anybody saying you have to meet these requirements, otherwise this, this, and this. No tormentor.

I have no guilt. I refuse to live under guilt. If I feel guilty, I can go to him immediately and present him my guilt. He took it and I must have that conversation with him.

There is no condemnation. Every time I feel condemned, I must go immediately to him who said, therefore there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ.

Especially if you, Jacob, are someone that does not walk according to the flesh, but walks according to the Spirit. And I am a man who walks according to the Spirit.

How dare I labor under the Spirit of God and condemnation? Choose one, Jacob. You can't have both.

This is the kind of freedom we have.

Then as it says in Colossians 2.9, it's for the church. It says in Colossians 2.9, the fullness of the Godhead.

As in the fullness of God. As in imagine how enormous God is. The enormity and the wholeness and the fullness and the infiniteness of God dwelt in Christ.

And then it says the fullness of Christ dwells in us. Go to Ephesians 1.22 and 23. Beautiful.

It says Christ has been placed above all rulers, all authorities, all powers, all dominions.

Everything has been placed under his feet. And he fills the church with himself and did this for the church.

We have a mandate from God to set people free from the tyranny of thrones and kingdoms and powers and authorities.

This is our mandate church. And we will grow into it. People deserve an encounter with this living God.

It is for the church. Read it in Ephesians 1.22, 23. It says so. It says so for the church.

You think a couple of disappointments is going to stop you and me?

When we have one who never disappoints, Romans 5.5, who fills our hearts with hope by the Spirit.

Pawan's changed into his birthday outfit thinking I'm going to end.

No such luck today, Pawan. It's a night wedding.

I want you to beware of Trojan horses. We'll end with that. Beware of Trojan horses.

As I say this, I'm going to tread on people's pinkies and it will hurt a little.

Beware of Trojan horses. What are Trojan horses? Why are we talking about this?

Because if we have no debt to pay, no tormentor that you are indebted to, no guilt, no...what's this word?

Not under. Not under the power of sin and no condemnation. If that's the case, then one of the things we have to make sure is that we don't have Trojan horses

that are outside our gates that will breach our gates because we let our guard down.

Beware of Trojan horses. Trojan horses are forms packaged attractively.

They have some side benefit, some side benefit in terms of fitness or medical help.

They are nowadays espoused or encouraged by postmodern Christians as in postmodern Christians are basically ones who are postmodern.

They are espoused by postmodern Christians who are ignorant of the spiritual and that have deep roots.

They have deep roots based in other religions, other philosophies, impersonal forces, antithetical to Christ.

So they are left at the gates of your life. They are left at the gates of your life.

Just like Troy left that horse, they are left at the gates of your life.

And because we are sometimes ignorant, it breaches your life and home.

And in a home that cannot be broken into is breached by these Trojan horses, breaches your life and home.

So I want to show you a list of snares. We had done this in 2021. I felt it was time to visit it again.

Mr. Coxon. I'll just run through it and then we'll pray and end and then start again. I mean the wedding.

Okay, just go to the next. Yeah.

Here are some snares of Trojan horses that we particularly in the Western world are struggling with.

Submission to rituals, Eastern exercises and therapies from acupuncture to taekwondo to yoga.

Stepping into territory that is dedicated to other gods without actually being sent there by Christ or his church.

Effective magic through items worn, eaten, adorned, rings, family heirlooms dedicated to other gods.

Accursed items, masks, idols, artifacts, objects, blankets, sometimes given to us by friends who spent quite a lot of money to buy you that.

Mind blanking techniques where you give over the control of your mind. Hypnosis, altered states of consciousness produced by demons.

Opening the mind and the soul through meditation, mantras, objects, astrology, palmistry, games, transcendental meditation.

Returning to bondage through choice, habitual sin, lack of knowledge which then spawns consequences in body and soul.

Any questions on the first one? Go ahead.

Yeah, so there are games that are presently available that open our minds to forms and powers that you know as soon as you get the game that it is.

Some of these gaming that we do and some of the games we play are games that need to be withdrawn from.

Sometimes video games. I'm so old I don't even know what's the latest.

Just so you know about one of the common things that's played around this taekwondo, I want you to know that the the spirit behind it is called Baikjul Bulgul.

It simply means the indomitable spirit.

And what does this word mean? This word means I can be broken a hundred times.

And this word means.

But I will not bend to anyone.

I will be unyielding.

And I will be unbreakable.

It hardens your soul, especially souls that are innocent and young.

It hardens your soul.

Its ethics come from Confucianism.

That doesn't mean confusion. Confucianism like Confucius.

Its ethics come from Taoism.

And its ethics come from this thing called Wan Han, which is a circular method of fighting.

Anyways, I'm just touching on that because this is becoming common in churches now.

Sometimes all of them, sometimes some of them. I'm not able to. I don't have info on all of them, but I would be careful.

The next one on the screen. Can you go back Brandon?

Astral travel, out of body experiences through meditation and drugs.

If you or I have, you know the strange thing that there's not one item in this that I haven't been part of and that I had to turn from.

Not one item.

Astral travel, out of body experiences through meditation and drugs.

Oaths, pacts, curses entered into or spoken on behalf of or by parents or self.

Illegitimate or dysfunctional covering that percolates downwards where you're involved in a cult and take on the covering of the cult leader and begins to affect everything you do.

False spirits of divination in the church that work through people and is actually witchcraft.

Engaging demonic for the knowledge of the future through mediums or through weedy boats or through water-witting.

Role-playing costumes and familiar spirits. Happens often during Halloween.

Conversations with demons or spirits of loved ones who've died.

Next one.

Eating blood.

Sensitivity to the spirit realm because of environment, ancestry or upbringing that is preyed on by demons through books, practices, characters, imagination, seen and created.

Entering into secret pacts or societies.

Freemasonry being a prominent one.

Consequences of becoming one flesh with a person other than your spouse as in having sex with someone else.

Sinful parental traits, anger to adultery, learnt or just plain sin nature.

May also be the work of spirits given and don't worry about that one.

Any questions on any of these before we just ask God to help us get over this and then we'll pray.

Any questions? Yep.

Just speak a little louder.

If it's been broken through prayer, can it resurface again? I would say no.

Unless I go back into old ways of functioning. No.

Because Christ is a bondage breaker, right? Once he breaks it, we're good.

Yeah, but if I go back into this, then it's a problem.

Yeah. Any other question? Yep.

Yeah. So some Asian cuisine has blood. I remember being in a certain country in Asia and I was with a group of pastors and just as I was going to eat, the pastor next to me said, Jacob, do you know what you're eating?

And I said, no. And he said, that's pork blood with congealed pork blood pieces.

And it was a really good restaurant and it is highly sought after.

So my point here is not to critique a culture. My point here is the scriptures say do not eat blood, period.

So yes, some cuisines I'll have to avoid, not because it's a cultural offense, but because the Bible says so.

So I put that aside because I had no idea and I ate everything else happily.

I thought it was curry, by the way.

Yeah, we can make this fine thing where it's what about this thing here or that thing here?

Basically, the Bible says do not eat blood and so period.

Things may get in, things may stay out, but we are not the Pharisees.

So we're not looking for gnats and grasshoppers.

Any other question?

It's packaged attractively and Os Guinness, probably dead by now, he wrote a book called Future Shock.

And in that there was a statement and the statement was this.

Today, if you want to westernize your kids, you have to give them an Eastern experience.

As in it's almost like Christianity has become so devoid of any value or substance because of the way it has been practiced

that we go looking for some spiritualism in religions, philosophies that have nothing to do with Christ.

But unfortunately, Christ is not being presented as the one who is the ultimate distraction or attraction in the universe.

Do you think that the Satan, or whatever he is, he's your access to power?

I don't think so because the Spirit of God actually lives in me.

See guys, one of the...

I'll tell you what the good father is trying to teach us. The good father is trying to teach us, Jacob, can you stop operating from your soul?

It's a soul that craves the five senses that touch the feeling. It makes things attractive.

We are spirit men and women. We operate first from the level of the spirit.

That's one of the things we were trying just now when we began worship.

Can you worship him with your spirit? If Jane is a lousy worshiper, if Tooney plays guitar all wrong, can we still worship with them?

The reason Satan is able to seduce people is because what is offered is always attractive to the five senses.

That is why it is attractive. We haven't learned how to do things from spirit and truth.

At the moment we learn that, Christ becomes super attractive and then he begins to satisfy my soul, satisfy my body, satisfy my mind.

Everything is satisfied, but he is spirit. God is spirit.

Idolatry thrives because you give man something to touch, feel, look at.

Satan thrives because he knows how to present himself as grotesque when necessary so that it scares you.

Why are we scared of the night?

About? Acupuncture.

Acupuncture is based on a simple principle of meridians in your body that are made up of a positive and a negative force.

When it comes into balance, pain goes away and health flows.

And the reality is the pain does go away.

But it is the balancing of yin and yang, two forces that are absolutely impersonal to bring you into harmony of a singular impersonal force called Qi, spelled Qi.

It has nothing to do with Christ. It actually helps. People have pains disappear like this.

But the fact still remains.

When you have an impersonal force invited into your body, regardless of whether it's a pastor doing it or a Hindu priest doing it, it doesn't matter who does it.

When an impersonal force begins to heal your body, then know that with the going away of the pain will come other spiritual attacks that have nothing to do with the original pain,

but leaves you in a place that is far more demonized than you first started.

So let's pray. I know you've taken photographs.

I know. Yeah.

So go to the next one.

It's very easy.

I love first Peter five seven. It's a solution.

It's a key to so many things.

What does it say? Submit Jacob.

Submit yourself to God.

Don't start with repentance.

Start with submitting yourself to the one who loves you.

Submit yourself to God.

It's not even a forced submission.

Submit yourself to God.

Submit yourself to God.

Submit yourself to God.

Submit yourself to God.

It's not even a forced submission.

It's like a child running to the father, unable to do what he wanted to accomplish with an owie.

And you run into the father's hands or the mother's hands and you submit to their love.

Submit to yourselves to the Lord.

Acknowledge his mastery and then resist the devil with words, with words.

And he will walk away? No.

Run away? No.

Flee is something else.

Flee is what happens when a vicious dog is chasing you.

Or a vicious cat.

Yeah. So submit yourselves then to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

So can we do that first?

Let's do that across this room.

Let's do that across this room.

Father, there are still things that I struggle with that I want to be free of.

There's still opposition I face, obstacles that I want to overcome.

There are still attitudes, approaches, fears.

But I'll put that all aside.

I just come running like that child into your arms to submit myself to God.

I pray, Holy Spirit, that you'll help everyone here, even those that are tired and are almost tuning off.

Please, O God.

And now we actively resist the devil.

So Father, I'm going to turn off my mic.

I'm going to speak, resisting the devil in different areas of my life right now.

If you can hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can't hear it.

I'm going to speak, resisting the devil in different areas of my life right now.

If you can hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can hear it.

If you can't hear it, the devil can hear it.

Thank you.

Let's go on to the next one.

If you have any pacts, any oaths, any pledges, any dedications you've entered into, break them.

Break them right now.

Anything that you know of.

Nothing comes to mind?

Just wait for a minute before we move on.

That you have dedicated yourself to, you have dedicated your children to,

you may have been dedicated to, break it.

Next one.

If there are words that keep coming to mind that people have spoken over your life

that always bugs you, that keeps coming back up, cancel it.

How do you cancel something?

Saying simple words like, I cancel the effect of this on my life.

Your words matter.

Your words matter.

Your words are an expression of your will.

Your will cannot be violated.

Your will is not violated by God, and it cannot be violated by the devil.

Use words.

That's all I have.

That's all I have.

I think that's all I have.

I think that's all I have.

Do you think you have indulged in any of those practices that we mentioned?

If you choose to, then tell God.

Did it in ignorance?

Did it in enthusiasm?

I now turn my back to it.

Turn my back to it.

I had to do it with Transcendental Meditation.

I had to do it with yoga.

I had to do it with a few other practices.

I grew up in India.

I had to do it with yoga.

I had to do it with yoga.

I grew up in India.

I had to do it.

Use your words.

We either do it in ignorance or enthusiasm.

Use words to turn your back on it.

If there are things in your homes, it may cost you a lot.

Sometimes the things that we do costs us.

And then to take it and throw it away when it has gold on it, it's pure gold, it's 24-carat,

or that you spent a lot of money on, gosh, man, why pay for it?

Why do you spend so much money on it?

Why do you spend so much money on it?

Or that you spent a lot of money on?

Gosh, man, why pay for evil?

Do not covet the silver and gold you may have spent or that is in your possession.

Get rid of it.

If I had time, I'd tell you stories for three hours.

But we have a wedding.

Let's pray.

Okay, so let's pray.

Here's what we're doing, and we're trusting God that, you can grab a mic, man,

we're trusting God for this, eh, that as the Spirit of God shows,

we'll call out different things that apply to us, yeah?

And as He does, we'll drive out whatever power has caused it,

and we will trust that the Christ we talked about earlier will set us free, yeah?

So let's just pray.

Father, the first thing I come against in this church is people that are having

nightmares or dreams that disturb them at night.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I declare in the name of Jesus Christ

that we preached about, who is so powerful.

I can't go over it, Father, but I remember the Christ, subdued, subservient,

unable to resist Him.

Those are the words that we said about you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I come against the torment that comes at night

through nightmares.

Doesn't matter whether the person is a child, doesn't matter whether the person

is grown up and old.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we say to those forces that cause these

nightmares to occur again and again, bringing torment and disturbed sleep

and tired days, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bind you and say,

you cannot continue, you shall cease, and in Jesus Christ's name,

we shall hear report after report of nightmare-free sleep in the lives of

children, men and women in this church, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah.

The name, the beautiful, powerful name of Jesus Christ.

Thank you, Abba.

Father, we end torment.

There are people here that begin to hear things, hear voices,

are attacked by thoughts, just continuous cycle of being attacked by thoughts

and sometimes hearing voices.

And they struggle because they love you, but they don't even know whether

it's you or whether it's the devil.

And today, in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the life, the truth,

the only way, I declare that I establish a plumb line in lives today that ends

voices, ends the torment of thoughts in Jesus Christ's name, ends suicidal

thoughts in Jesus Christ's name, ends thoughts of self-harm in Jesus Christ's

name.

I say to powers that come to torment and do damage to physical bodies,

you do not have a right in Jesus Christ's name.

I rebuke you and drive you out of the church.

Drive you out of the church.

Father, I pray that any fear of loud noises, noise-induced fear, I end today.

I say it shall not continue.

In the spirit of men, women and children today, I declare that there shall be a

new recognition of what is harmful and what is not harmful.

And so in a second, in the name of Jesus Christ, we end the fear of noises in

the lives of people right now.

No more getting up in a start in Jesus Christ's name.

I drive that spirit of fear.

Father, we go against the spirit of fear in every life.

The spirit of fear in every life.

You will not stay today.

There is victory in this house.

There is victory in this house.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I command the spirit of fear, you ancient spirit,

in Jesus Christ's name, get out.

Like a serpent, you crawl back into your hole.

I end the spirit of fear and its tyranny over lives in this room in Jesus Christ's

name.

Father, we shall see results.

There shall be testimonies of who Christ is.

This can be done in a whisper.

It's just that I'm excited.

Even in a whisper, the spirit of fear can be.

It's not the shouting that causes it to go.

In the name of Jesus Christ, the spirit of fear leaves.

But this is not how you talk to a dog that has to be chased out.

You don't say, dog, leave.

You speak a little louder.

But you don't have to shout.

Father, I come against the famine in the lives of people when it comes to finances.

Blight and mildew striking our finances.

Oh, God, in the name of Jesus Christ, I come against the spirit of poverty that

sometimes is endemic in our lives.

So many lives in this church plagued by poverty.

Sometimes duped into coming here and not realizing that things are not easy.

But I come against that spirit of poverty.

It brings with it a spirit of abandonment that God doesn't care.

And so today in the name of Jesus Christ, I break the spirit of poverty right from

my head on to every head in this church that, oh, God, the feeling of abandonment

that comes with a lack of finances ends today.

Had we look up to the hills from where comes our help, it comes from a father who

has the ability to take care.

So in the name of Jesus Christ, I come against spirits that begin to affect our finances.

We will learn how to be good stewards.

We will be generous.

But, oh, God, this must end in Jesus Christ's name.

We end, oh, God, the continuity of poverty in this house.

No more, oh, God.

Father, we speak against and we end cycles of things breaking down.

Just when things start to go well, something breaks down.

We come against it in the name of Christ Jesus.

We are the people in whom Christ has taken up residence.

It means that the ark of God, the presence of God is in our lives.

It then means that prosperity comes with him.

Where he is, there is prosperity.

And so we say this to all lives here and to our families, that any cycle and all cycles of things breaking down continuously,

following through and it happening again to a point where there is a hole in the wallet, hole in the purse, we say stop.

We say end it. It is done.

No more in Jesus' name.

We draw a line in the sand and we say that time is behind us.

That time is for gone.

No more forever in our lives.

Those things have no role, no room at all forever dealt with by the power and presence of Christ.

Hallelujah.

Father, I come against the deaf and dumb spirit.

Sometimes you call it the mute spirit that brings spiritual dullness in my life.

That makes me religious or legalistic in the name of Jesus Christ.

Just as Jesus went up and cast out the deaf and dumb and mute spirit across this room, starting with my life in Jesus Christ's name,

I end dullness.

I say to the deaf and dumb and mute spirit that brings religion into our life,

be gone in the name of Jesus Christ who is here right now so that our minds, hearts and our spirits open up to the living God and the Holy Spirit who is here in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

Father, sorry.

Go ahead, Derek.

In the name of Christ Jesus, we come against addiction.

It doesn't matter what type of addiction it is.

We believe that there is one who has won victory over addiction.

So in the name of Jesus Christ who is so real, present in this place, we speak the name of Jesus over you.

And we say addiction stops.

Addiction stops.

Praise God.

Addiction stops.

Praise God.

We name those addictions in the spirit realm and we say you have no hold over people's lives anymore.

We say end and be gone in Jesus' name.

Yeah.

Replace those things with self-control.

We replace those things with perseverance in the spirit of God.

We replace those things with endurance in spirit of God.

And we say addictions end and break away in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

I come against the spirit of lust in any of our lives right now.

We decide today as a church that we will not tolerate lust in our lives.

It is not affordable.

We do not tolerate lust in our lives.

So I come against the spirit of lust across this room in the name of Jesus Christ.

And I say to this spirit of lust, be gone in Christ's name.

I break you off the head of every man, woman, and child.

And we invite the Holy Spirit right now to descend in our lives, upon our lives, so that there'll be pleasure in holiness.

Pleasure in holiness in Jesus Christ's name.

We come against the spirit of infirmity.

Certain sicknesses and diseases people have gone to the doctors often can't find out what's wrong.

It just continues.

The Bible calls it the spirit of infirmity.

The spirit of infirmity and of affliction.

That's what the Bible calls it.

It says an afflicting spirit was sent on Saul and it bothered him.

It brought him anxiety.

It brought him fear.

It brought him jealousy and bitterness.

In the name of Jesus Christ right now, we come against the spirit of infirmity that plagues bodies here.

And we bind you and we drive you out and set bodies free in the name of Jesus Christ.

We come against the spirit of affliction that torments the mind and afflicts the body.

And we break your hold upon this church.

This church belongs to Jesus Christ.

He is the head.

We are the body.

In the name of that Jesus Christ.

Get out spirit of affliction and the spirit of infirmity in Jesus Christ's name.

So that people in this church will have bodies that are whole.

Hallelujah.

Shukrabayi Sikhiarabba Kafaa.

Hei Siyarabba Kosha.

Sayyarabba Kosha.

We come against anxiety.

We come against depression.

And we look at those things right now.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

There is one who has already won the battle.

And whatever weapon the enemy uses to bring anxiety and depression,

we say enemy you have already been disarmed.

You have already been disarmed.

And by the power of the living God,

by the power of Christ we speak this truth in this room that the enemy has already been disarmed.

So any thought that we have already that depression will continue on,

that any thought that we have already that anxiety may linger on ends today.

Because the enemy has been disarmed.

And because he has been disarmed, we now have victory.

We now have victory.

And I say this, the rejoicing that comes from Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone

fills our spirit, fills our body, fills our soul right now.

And we go out of this place today and forever in our lives

like joyous people who have now experienced the reality of this presence inside of us in Jesus name.

Yeah. Hallelujah.

Father, I remember a song that I was taught when I first became a Christian.

As Shantil actually taught me that when she was a little girl.

It went, I command you Satan in the name of the Lord to pick up your weapons and flee.

For the Lord has given me authority to trample over thee.

So thank you for the trampling authority that you have given us.

You said everything is under your feet.

We stand on your feet and trample the things that used to trample us on our head.

We trample under our feet today.

Right now in the name of Jesus Christ.

You were the word at the beginning.

As we sing this song, think of us surrounding his chariot and singing this song.

But also look behind his chariot and see some of the powers that have been stripped

and are now manacled and are beggarly and weak and are being pulled behind.

Some of the things that have fallen off from your life, some of the things fallen off from other people's life.

But occasionally look back as you sing this song.

You were the word at the beginning.

One with God the Lord most high.

Your hidden glory in creation.

Now revealed in you are Christ.

What a beautiful name it is.

What a beautiful name it is.

The name of Jesus Christ our King.

What a beautiful name it is.

Nothing compares to this.

What a beautiful name it is.

The name of Jesus.

You didn't want heaven without us.

So Jesus you brought heaven down.

My sin was great. Your love was greater.

What could separate us now?

What a powerful name it is.

What a wonderful name it is.

The name of Jesus Christ my King.

What a wonderful name it is.

Nothing compares to this.

What a wonderful name it is.

The name of Jesus.

Death could not hold you.

The veil tore before you.

Silence the boast of sin and grave.

The heavens are roaring.

The praise of your glory.

For you are raised to life again.

You have no rival.

You have no rival.

You have no equal.

Now and forever God you reign.

Yours is the kingdom.

Yours is the glory.

Yours is the name above all names.

What a powerful name it is.

What a powerful name it is.

The name of Jesus Christ my King.

What a powerful name it is.

Nothing can stand against.

What a powerful name it is.

The name of Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Thank you for what you did here today.

Thank you for the lives set free.

Thank you for the reports that will come back.

Reports that will come back.