Disruptive Glory 4 - No Hold Over Me

The title for today is No Hold Over Me.

And so we talk about how God's glory is disruptive in the sense that it devastates the enemy

and it just builds us up as people.

His glory is basically his splendor, his weight, his magnificence, his power, his laughter,

his goodness.

Laughter is part of his glory.

This God isn't a sad God.

This God is just so joyful.

Which is why he hates stuff like death and sorrow.

Which is why when you finally get to where he lives at present, you'll find that there

is no death, there is no sorrow, there is no tears, there is no fears.

There's only this thing called laughter and joy.

That alone should be a selling point.

Can you imagine a life where you don't cry, where you don't have pain, where there is

no shame, no guilt, no fear?

So this is part of his glory.

The idea of his power, his laughter, his goodness, his magnificence, his weight.

That's the actual word for glory in Hebrew, kabod, or the weight of him.

And so we are saying that God's glory is so disruptive that on one hand it devastates

Satan's plans, devastates, nothing is left.

He decimates Satan's plans.

And on the other hand for the people of the earth, as in the ones he's created, us, his

power, his laughter, his weight, his magnificence, his splendor, just lifts us up into another

plane.

And that's what we've been talking about.

And so today we'll talk about how one of the things he did, and the Bible talks about it,

it says in Colossians 2, 15 for instance, the glory of Christ reached its apex, the

glory of Christ reached its apex in his obedient sacrifice on the cross.

The glory of Christ, the glory of Christ reached its peak on the cross.

That's when you realize, oh shucks, look at what he's done.

And it was devastatingly disruptive for Satan.

Devastatingly disruptive for Satan.

And if you read Colossians 2, 15, Colossians 2, 15, Colossians 2, 15, it says that, I'll

read from verse 14 onwards, it says, verse 13, when you were dead in your sins, God made

you, when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,

God made you alive with Christ.

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that

was against us and that stood opposed to us.

He took it away, nailing it to the cross, and having disarmed powers and authorities,

he made them a public spectacle, triumphing over them by the cross.

Let me read that from the message.

Colossians 2, 15.

Here's what it says.

When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God.

God brought you alive right along with Christ.

Think of it, all sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled,

nailed to Christ's cross.

He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the

cross and marched them naked through the streets.

That's what happens at the cross, where his glory is so tremendous that it absolutely

devastates every device of the devil.

That's what we're going to focus on today for the next hour or so.

If you read John 13, 31.

This is a statement Jesus makes immediately after Judas dips his bread in the bowl and

eats it and he's leaving to betray Jesus.

That's when Jesus makes his statement.

John 13, 31.

When Judas was gone, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified

in him.

If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and glorify him at once.

Complicated sentence, but here's what he's saying.

At the moment that he's going to be betrayed and he's going to be crucified, look at the

statement he makes.

At this moment, I have never been as glorified as at this moment.

As I go to the cross, you will see my glory like no other time.

This is why when you watch the movie, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, you see

Aslan, who represents Jesus Christ, lying on that slab, absolutely cold, and you see

those demonic beings dancing around him.

I don't know if you remember that scene where the white witch has just stabbed him with

that spear and he lies there dead.

The stone is kind of broken and these demonic beings are surrounding him with glee.

That was one of the most glorious moments in the universe.

In that moment was the devastation of the devil.

That's why here is Judas betraying him and he's going to have Jesus crucified and Jesus

says, now the son is glorified and the father will glorify the son.

Look at another scripture in 1 Corinthians 1.24.

1 Corinthians 1.24.

1 Corinthians 1.24.

It says there, starting at 22, Jews demand miraculous signs.

Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews,

foolishness to the Gentiles, but to those whom God has called both Jews and Greeks,

Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Read it from the message.

1 Corinthians 1.24.

Here's what it says.

While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go for philosophical wisdom, we

go right on proclaiming Christ the crucified.

Jews treat this like an anti-miracle.

Greeks pass it off as absurd, but to us who are personally called by God himself, both

Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped in one.

And so at the end of the day, the reason Paul kept saying, hey, listen, focus on Christ

crucified is simply because it's the most glorious moment in the universe.

Any questions on that before we go on?

So if he's devastated the works of the devil, then we don't have to labor under it, and

that's perhaps where we want to go today.

So here's a question I have.

Turn to John 14.30.

Can we get to a point where we can say this?

John 14.30.

Here's what it says.

The prince of the world, as in Satan, is coming.

But I love the next thing.

But he has no hold over or on me.

The King James Version says he has nothing in me.

This is where I want all of us to get to.

John 14.30.

I will not speak to you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming.

He has no hold over me.

He has no hold over me.

I want us to come to a place as a church where we can say this.

He has no hold over me.

No hold over me.

Because if Jesus has dealt such a devastating blow on the cross to the works of the devil,

why is it that we need to continue under it?

He has no hold over me.

It's very hard to minister freedom to someone if I am wrestling or struggling with the bondage.

So if he has no hold over me, then I can then set people free from situations where there's a hold on them.

He has no hold over me.

How do we get to a place where we can say that?

So let's start with who Satan is.

Very short.

He was a serpent in the garden.

And you see that in Genesis 1 and 2.

He's called the devil, and the devil means slanderer.

He's also called Satan, which means accuser.

He's also called the deceiver, which means he deceives obviously.

He's got some other problems too.

He's a rebel.

He's set on a course of self-exaltation, as in he loves exalting himself.

That's what got him into trouble in the first place.

He wanted to exalt himself beyond God, above God.

And he also is set on a course of self-determination, as in I determine my future.

And that is at the heart of Satanism and witchcraft.

Satanism and witchcraft thrive on the simple premise that we self-determine our paths,

that man is a self-determined creature.

What I call good is good. What I call evil is evil.

Morals are relative.

Self-determination lies at the heart of Satanism and witchcraft.

Witchcraft is actually being an authority unto oneself.

In its simplest core form, witchcraft is being an authority unto oneself.

He's a liar.

Jesus said that in John 8, 44.

He said Satan's a liar.

And every time, Jacob, you lie, you are following in the paths of your father.

He wasn't talking about his father. He was talking about Satan as a liar.

These are characteristics then.

If you want to live a life that is free of bondage,

and you want to begin to live a life where John 14, 30 is something you and I can say,

that he has no hold over me.

One of the simplest places we can begin at is if we decide not to live,

we need to share in these characteristics.

It may not happen overnight.

It's odd how kids learn to do this by the time they're three years old.

Kids slander, kids accuse, kids lie, kids deceive, kids rebel.

And so sometimes this is not possible to overcome it overnight.

So what if every time I slander, or I speak ill of you, or I gossip,

every time I accuse you, every time I deceive you, every time I lie,

every time I rebel against order or what is set in place,

every time I self-exalt myself, every time I take over the reins of my life,

every time I lie, what if I decided I wouldn't participate in these characteristics?

I get to a place where he will have no hold on me.

That's a great place to be, not just for yourself because it benefits others.

The moment you get to this place where he has no hold on you,

you begin to set others free, easily.

Any questions?

Hate these, hate these characteristics with a passion.

Hate it. Every time you see yourself aligning under these, hate it.

Like I said last week, hate is the only way to get rid of some things.

Anything that you don't hate, you will tolerate.

Any questions?

Okay.

So what was the disruptive work at the cross?

What was the disruptive work at the cross?

Because if we can identify the disruptive work that happened at the cross,

then we can make sure that we never labor under it again.

And here, what is it?

Here was the disruptive work at the cross.

It's in Colossians 2, verse 16.

Colossians 2:16

It's brilliant.

And I pray that you and I never labor under it again

and every time we get caught in it, that we,

break free, saying, I know what Jesus did.

I am going to go under that yoke.

Colossians 2, verse 15.

Colossians 2:15

And having disarmed the powers and authorities,

he made a public spectacle of them,

triumphing over them by the cross.

Verse 14.

Having canceled the written code with its regulations,

that was against us and that stood opposed to us.

So here's the thing about the disruptive work at the cross.

It's a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very,

very, very, very, very, very, very, very,

very, very, very, very, very, very,

very powerful, powerful, powerful act stood opposed to us.

So here's the thing, guys, when Jesus said that he disarmed powers at the cross,

when Jesus said he disarmed powers at the cross,

what he was really saying was that he took away

hold me or hold anybody to the debt of their sins.

That's what he did.

Spend some time here.

Hey, when you do harm to somebody and you know you're wrong and that they were innocent,

you struggle with the guilt of it.

Hey, you feel obliged to now make it up.

You try to get back into the good books of people.

Meet your husband, your wife, your father, your mother, your friend.

With God it is the same thing.

For a people who are restored and forgiven, I'm talking about those that have given their

lives to Jesus Christ, for a people that are restored and forgiven, we labor under sin

way too much.

And let today be a day when we are forever set free from laboring under it, as in carrying

it around for a day or two, walking in the sense of not being sure whether it's taken

care of, whether I'm fully accepted or not, whether I have to be a good day or two, whether

I have to promise him stuff.

Now, one of the things that Jesus did at the cross when he disarmed the powers at the cross

was to disarm Satan's power to hold the debt of sin against me.

And Satan used to have the legal right to do this.

You must understand that.

Let's write that down and we can talk about it.

Satan used, Satan used, Satan uses the legal standing he had in wielding the law to separate

us from God.

I know these are unnecessarily complex sentences, to separate us from God.

So here's how it is.

It is that I set a law.

The law is you cannot breathe for the next 20 seconds.

He breaks the law.

He starts breathing.

Now that he starts breathing and doesn't not breathe for 20 seconds, I come around and

say, hey, you've been breathing for the last 20 seconds.

Because you've been breathing for the last 20 seconds, I have the legal right to do you

harm.

Because you've been breathing for the last 20 seconds, and it's God's law that you're

not supposed to breathe for the last 20 seconds, God is going to punish you.

Because you've been breathing for the last 20 seconds, God is not happy with you.

Because you've been breathing for the last 20 seconds, you will now have to make sure

you don't breathe for 40 seconds so that you can make up for the sin you committed.

Because you have not breathed, you are no longer qualified to stand there and breathe.

Because you breathe for the last 20 seconds, you need to read the Bible a little more,

sing a few more songs.

Because you breathe for the last 20 seconds, show me that you're actually repentant.

How do you show it, man?

It's a condition of the heart.

Or because you breathe for the last 20 seconds, you have to spend at least two days following

everything that God has specified to the T before you can say, oh, God, use me again.

We make ourselves so separated from God, so unused of God, so guilt-ridden, so unforgiven,

till we work our ways back into God's good books.

Why?

Because this is our human experience.

Our human experience is when I disappoint you, you disappoint me.

When I do you harm and you do me harm.

We have to now begin to make up before we can get back into people's good books.

There's always fear involved.

There's always a sense of penalty involved.

There's always a sense of not fully accepted involved.

God wants to say to you, you're fully accepted.

Right from the day you were born, regardless of where you've been, regardless of the different

homes you've spent time in, regardless of how others treated you, God wants you, Marisa,

to know that you are fully accepted.

Fully accepted.

You don't have to do a thing.

What I'm saying to Marisa is what applies to all of us.

Fully accepted.

All the time.

I have to stop letting sin become anything that prevents me from approaching God.

I've got to stop it.

Just make up your mind today that one of the things that happened on the cross that

was so disruptive was Satan lost the power to use the debt of sin to separate you, keep

you away, make you unacceptable, make you unusable.

He completely lost that power.

How does he perpetuate it now?

By enforcing a lie, sometimes through pastors, sometimes through Christian circles, sometimes

through parents, sometimes through Sunday school.

Our kids are taught right from when they are born that you do something wrong, God's going

to punish you.

I know this is old stories being rehashed again and again, but this is the truth.

We in this church, we in many other churches, we as Christians are supposed to be a restored

forgiven people, but we do not walk as restored forgiven people.

Make up your mind today.

I made up my mind a couple of days ago that it is impossible for me to live without sinning

for the next 50 years.

But every time I sin, I will go to God and say, I messed up again.

And then I will not labor under the debt of trying to earn my way back, of trying to

be restored, of trying to be forgiven, of trying to be good, of trying to work my mind

around, will God use me?

Will I be effective?

I'm done with that.

You got to decide today that you are done with it.

But Jacob, does that mean that I can keep on sinning because by feeling guilty, I perhaps

don't sin?

If you are forgiven and you choose to sin, that's your problem, man.

When someone loves you like crazy, you begin to change the right way, not the wrong way.

We cannot put guardrails for people.

Love is the only guardrail we have.

God loves you so much that it should begin to change my heart to the point where I hate

sinning and that I like him too much.

And the only reason I stop sinning is because I like him too much.

That should be the only guardrail.

The only guardrail in a Christian's life must be, gosh, he likes me too much.

This church must decide that we will never labor under the shame, the guilt of sin again.

It was one of the most glorious things that happened on the cross, taking away the power

of someone, to use a weapon that was actually forged by the Old Testament.

You do this, you will be punished.

First Corinthians 1556 says it, the sting of death is sin and sin is given its power

by the law.

The sting of death is sin and sin is given its power by the law.

As in, God said, don't do this, don't do this, don't do this.

You do that, now you sin.

And if you sin, you die.

And that is the most glorious thing that happened on the cross.

He took it away.

How?

By taking on the sting of death and dying.

The law was forever fulfilled.

Any questions?

Teach your kids differently.

Teach your kids differently.

Why are we the way we are?

Because all our lives we've been told otherwise.

A heart that is truly broken before God is forgiven instantly.

A heart that is in the process of breaking is seen at a distance and you are forgiven

instantly.

Case in point, Prodigal Son.

He's planning a speech, man.

I've got to get back to my father, I've got to tell him, treat me as a servant, I'm really

sorry for what I did.

The father sees him at a distance, the guy hasn't even launched into his speech and he's

already taken care of.

Why?

Because God sees repentance at a distance.

God sees a turnaround at a distance.

He doesn't wait for it to complete even.

What kind of God is this?

I mean, at least wait to see if it is real.

Nah, he looks at the heart and he says, Jacob, that is real.

I don't even know if you can, God knows whether I can really walk in it or not, but he sees

such real turnering around that he says, don't say a word.

You had me at the Tom Cruise line.

Yeah.

You had me at hello.

It's a, yeah.

That's how this works.

This is what Satan has used for centuries, man, and he'll continue using.

There's only two reactions to this from the world.

Either they feel terribly guilty and they don't want to approach a holy God or they

say to heck with you.

I can't labor under this.

We Christians are caught somewhere in between.

We are guys who have been forgiven, but don't walk in it.

Set people free from this, man.

But how can I set people free from this if I'm not free myself?

Religiosity, religion, tradition is exactly this.

Work your way back into the good books of God.

A, I only occupy one book and it's a good book.

I'm always on that page.

I'm always present before the father.

The only way I will disappear from the presence of the father is if Jesus disappears from

the presence of the father.

It's the only way I'm getting out of there.

The only thing that happens now when I sin is that I am unable to relate to him like

I need to.

That's the only thing that happens, guys.

When I sin, I'm unable to relate to him the way I need to.

And when I'm unable to relate to him the way I need to, I start making mistakes.

And in those mistakes, cause and effect happens.

Repentance is actually saying, I know I'm forgiven, but I want relationship.

Forgiveness is not enough anymore as a Christian.

Can you believe that?

Look at what we are saying.

The world is hungering for forgiveness.

Christians must be hungering for relationship.

The world needs forgiveness.

Give them Jesus Christ.

Tell them, here is a man who paid for your sins and therefore can forgive you.

But to Christians, that's not the message.

1 John 1, 9 wasn't written to Christians.

If you will confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you.

That wasn't being said.

What if someone says he does not have sin?

You cannot be a Christian if you say that.

It was being written as a message to people outside saying, hey, if you confess your sins,

Jesus Christ will forgive you.

But for us Christians, it's not that I'm looking for forgiveness anymore.

I'm looking to be restored back into relationship because I was forgiven and the debt can never

be imposed on me.

It can never be said of Jacob that you are separate from God.

It can never be said of Jacob that you don't have his favor.

It can never be said of Jacob that you will now have to work your way.

You're not usable.

You have to show great repentance.

He sees my heart at a distance and he says, there's my boy.

He's coming back again.

All I want now is relationship.

Now that I'm forgiven and restored, give me back the sweetness of my relationship with

you because I hear your voice.

What's the next line?

I hear your voice.

Sorry?

You have led me through the fire.

Next line?

You have...

And then the next two lines.

I know you as a father.

I know you as a friend and I have lived in the goodness of God.

That's all I'm after.

Show me to the joy of your fatherhood because I have gotten so used to it that I hate sin

because it doesn't allow me to relate to you like I normally relate to you.

You know, that's the thing with good friendships.

Why do we go back and want good friendships?

Because it breaks your heart not to be able to walk with your friend like you used to.

Why do people pine about a broken heart, a lost love?

Why?

Because you miss.

You miss it.

Draw me close to you.

Come guys.

Let's just get back into the place that we are located in.

Yeah?

Sing this song and I will continue.

Yeah.

Let this be a milestone in our lives.

Do you guys want to sing?

Just me or you want them to play?

We'll change the words around a little.

We are saying draw me, you draw me close to you.

You never let me go.

Yeah?

Just put you in it so that you're telling him who he, how he is to you.

You're not asking him this.

We are forgiven.

We are restored.

We are saying from now on we will not labor under the guilt, the shame, the making of

the obligation, the all that stuff is done.

We are desperate after relationship.

We know you do this so here we are.

You draw me close to you.

You never let me go.

Lay down.

Lay down again.

Beautiful father.

Just to hear you say that I'm your friend.

You are my desire.

No one else will do.

Nothing else can take your place.

To feel the warmth of your embrace.

You'll help me find my way.

You bring me back to you.

One more time from the beginning.

You draw me close to you.

You always do father.

And you never let me go.

I lay it all down again.

To hear you say that I'm your friend.

Beautiful.

You are my desire.

No one else will do.

Nothing else can take your place.

To feel the warmth of your embrace.

You'll help me find my way.

You bring me back to you.

And you're all I want.

And you're all I've ever needed.

And you're all I want.

I know that you are near.

I know that you are near.

You're all I want.

You're all I want.

And you're all I've ever needed.

You're all I want.

I know that you are near.

Hallelujah.

I know that you are near.

Help me know you are here.

So thank you Holy Spirit that today,

right now at this moment in this place,

you have begun the work of setting us free

from laboring under the guilt and the shame

and the fear and the penalty

of separation, of sin,

of you being unhappy, of favor being withdrawn,

of a father with a frown,

of having to work again.

We are tired Aba.

And this was not a tiredness caused by you or the Word.

We have listened to lies.

We have listened to the Word today.

We will miss relating to you every time we sin.

Our hearts should be powerful enough to draw us back to you.

Thank you for seeing our hearts,

knowing repentance at a distance.

Not only do you run to meet me,

you then embrace me and kiss me seven times.

Then I bow to my knee and it says in Psalm 2,

I kiss the sun.

Not because he's angry,

because my heart leaps towards him.

As the deer pants for the water,

so my soul longs after you.

You are all that my heart desires

and I long to worship you.

You alone are my strength, my shield.

To you alone may my spirit yield.

You are all that my heart desires

and I long to worship you.

Bless you Father.

Thanks James.

Remember he's an accuser.

Accusation is his chief activity.

Be wise to that.

One of the most powerful weapons of the enemy is accusation.

He's an accuser.

He's been doing this.

He did this to Job in Job chapter 1 and 9.

Job 1 · chapter mention

He did it to Joshua and Zechariah 3 and 9.

He did it to Jesus.

He did it to...

It says in Revelation 12, 10 that he does it to believers,

that he accuses them day and night.

But here's a statement I want you to remember for the rest of your life.

He cannot bring a successful charge against you.

Romans 8, 33.

He accuses Job, he accuses Jesus, he accuses Joshua in Zechariah 3

where Joshua is a high priest and he says,

and every time these things happen, God has always come and rescued.

And then it says in Revelation 12, 10 that he accuses the believers, the saints, day and night.

But here's the cool thing.

He cannot bring a successful accusation or charge against me.

Why?

Because it says in Romans 8, 33.

Romans 8, 33.

Here's what it says.

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?

If God is he who justifies, who is he that condemns?

Listen to it again.

Who will bring any charge against Jacob who God has chosen?

If it is God who has justified Jacob, who is he that condemns?

Not a successful charge for the rest of my life against me.

Even when it is true, it's taken care of because of what Christ did.

And then he checks my heart to see, okay Jacob, so what do you want to do about this?

Very often repentance should be preceded by conversation.

Write that down.

Very often repentance should be preceded by conversation.

When repentance is just confessing your sins, you are slowly beginning to drift into religion again.

Your madras will come and I can be your Catholic priest for a while.

Or you go through a series of things that you say and I forgive you.

Or God forgives you and you just come to me.

Repentance must be preceded by conversation.

Talk to God about what you did, why you did it, how you felt.

Talk to God about how you feel right now.

If you don't feel sorry about it, talk to God and tell him that you don't feel sorry about it,

that you need help feeling sorry about what you did because you really don't.

Go ahead, Dana.

Very often it should be preceded by conversation.

When I know that I'm just trying to get rid of my sin,

every time I try to get rid of my sin, I must realize that I'm not interested in a relationship.

I'm just interested in getting my slate clean.

I'm living in the Old Testament.

David was a man after God's own heart because instead of confessing his sins, he would write a song.

Psalm 51. It's a result of a relationship.

It's not a result of confessing of sins.

There were special prayers for confessing of sins, special rituals you could do for confessing your sins.

Oh my God, David had this ability to go into the detail of it.

I can't bear this. My bones are drying up. If I don't speak, it won't work.

You've got to take care of my inequity. Then he goes,

Inequity isn't enough. You've got to take care of my transgressions.

That ain't enough. You've got to take care of my sins.

That ain't enough. You've got to take care of my unrighteousness.

Wash me with hyssop.

If you wash me with hyssop, I'll be clean inside and outside.

I know you desire truth in the inward parts.

Can you do something inside me?

But let me tell you why I want this.

I want this because I want the joy within me restored.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

He was hardly interested in sin.

He was so interested in relationship that God after him doing the things he's done,

keeps saying, here's a man after my heart.

You know you're stepping into religion when you find out that you're only interested in getting rid of your sins.

One of the ways we know repentance is when very often repentance is preceded by conversation.

Long for this, guys. It's the only thing that's so worth living for.

And then you become a blessing to others.

We must transmit relationship, not just proclamation of the gospel.

Proclamation of the gospel, any herald can announce it.

Sons convey their father.

And once the father is conveyed, people will want him.

Once you convey the father, people will want him.

You think listening to what I'm saying now, if someone who does not know Jesus hears this, they won't long for it.

They can shut it down, but they will long for it.

They can shut it down, but they will long for it.

If only I could relate this way to the God of the universe who made me, who's waiting for me.

What are the demonic assignments that have worked against you in the past?

Let's deal with that now and over the next 15 minutes or so and then we can conclude.

What are the demonic assignments that have worked against you in the past?

Because if you look at these characters, they had certain things that they kept making mistakes in.

Noah, Abraham.

With Noah, it perhaps was drunkenness.

With Abraham, it was lying.

With Moses, it was perhaps his anger.

With David, it was wrong place, wrong time.

Lust.

Where in your life do you see demonic assignments against you having unusual success?

I've been looking at my life in the areas where Satan seems to have quite a lot of success in tripping me up.

Those traps seem to work.

I might have three good weeks and then I end up doing the same thing that I know I should be much smarter at.

What is it in your life?

Because what Jesus said in Luke 22, verse 31 or thereabouts applies to you.

Luke 22:31

Nick, Nick, Satan has demanded or asked me permission to sift you.

You think Satan does not want to sift Marcus, Derek, me, Matt, Diana?

He wants to sift you. He goes ask you for permission.

And Jesus didn't say, I don't give you permission.

Jesus said, after you fall, you will rise up and you will be strengthened and you will be a benefit to your brothers.

What are the areas in your life where he seems to sift and have sufficient success?

Sometimes Jesus can do it himself where he comes and helps you with it.

Sometimes Jesus, even though he can do it himself, deliberately has me depend on you to help me with my area of weakness.

It's a deliberate thing. He can wave a wand if he had a divine wand.

And all your hair gets restored and everything becomes normal.

But that is not how it works.

Sorry, Tony. Bad joke.

I could have left it alone.

He could have done it that way.

But one of the things he does is makes me dependent on you where you need to help me with my area of weakness.

That's not fun. I would prefer that he deals with it.

Because now I'll have to go and tell you about it.

But this is where we come back to what she started with when she said, you cannot do this life that is together alone.

You cannot. And if you try to, you will not succeed.

You will not succeed. Why?

Because Jesus Christ can be pretty stubborn when it comes to certain things he does.

Is there scripture to back this up? Yeah.

James, confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed and restored.

There are more.

That one comes immediately to mind.

Here's another area that you and I need to check.

Where am I blind? Where am I blind?

How do I know my blindness?

I know my blindness by recognizing that a certain way of thinking is still there.

I know that I am blind.

I know that I am blind.

I know that I am blind.

I know that I am blind.

I know that I am blind.

I know my blindness by recognizing that a certain way of thinking is still persisting even though I've heard that it is not true.

I keep thinking that way.

And how is my thinking made obvious in the way I behave?

That needs to be drawn.

Here's how it works, guys.

See, 2 Corinthians 4.4 is addressing unbelievers, but the scheme is the same for believers or unbelievers.

In 2 Corinthians 4.4, it says, Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers.

While it is referring to unbelievers, let me also say to you that Satan tries the same trick with believers,

which is why believers have strongholds in their lives.

Strongholds are fortresses, vales, walls, towers, Jeremy, that are so strong that they become a certain pattern of thinking.

So he blinds.

He blinds.

How do you know an area where you're blind?

You think a certain way.

You think a certain way even though you've heard it otherwise a hundred times.

But it's almost like there's a dullness.

How do you know what you think?

What you think shows in how you behave.

This is another method that, this is another thing that I have to try and destroy because of the disruptive glory of God that can help me.

So I don't take some, just stick in the mud ways that I have that doesn't change even though people have told me otherwise,

even though the Bible says otherwise, even though I've been taught otherwise, even though you preach to me and tell me otherwise.

It doesn't change and I've got to change this.

One of the easiest ways to find this out is Jacob, where are you stuck?

Why haven't you been able to progress for years on end in some areas?

Why? Why are you stuck there?

Examine it yourself.

There may be many external physical reasons, but why are you stuck?

Let me assure you, as I look around, and you can look at me, as I look around, most of us are stuck in some area or the other.

Do you really want to take this into 2022?

No, man.

I remember this Turkish guy who gave his life to the Lord and I asked him,

So what do you feel? And he said, I feel like a bird.

That's what you should feel like in 2022. I feel like a bird.

I've also told you about this bird in South Africa. It's like a vulture kind of a bird.

And so hunters go after these birds and they wait. Why?

Because these birds are feeding on dead animals and these birds eat more than they should.

They eat more than they wait.

And when the hunters come, they flap their wings and they cannot fly because they are so full that they cannot take off.

Stuck in the mud is exactly that.

You've eaten so much of the same way of thinking that your stomach is so full that even if you flap your wings, you cannot fly.

I want to be free of that in some areas of my life.

I didn't say some one area of my life, some areas of my life.

I plead with you. Examine it.

That's when strongholds break. That's when strongholds break.

That's when you tear down walls and towers in your life, veils.

2 Corinthians 4 says, Satan blinds our mind.

2 Corinthians 4 says, but the light of the knowledge of the glory of God comes and breaks it.

I want to end a few minutes early so we can destroy some of these things.

Let me end with this last line, which has 6 parts as usual.

You know, when I'm making these notes, I think that if I can stop before the page ends, it's short.

So I crowd 6 points into one line and I feel like, oh, it's only one page. This is a short sermon.

But then when I come here and speak, the one page goes on forever, man.

And trust me, I'm only here right now.

But don't worry, we'll stop here and the rest we can do another time.

The another time never happens, still about 6 months later.

But it is what it is. These are stuck in the mud things.

When it comes to certain demonic assignments against you,

and so what do you mean by demonic assignments?

I'm saying that Satan knows patterns in your life and my life.

Some of them are based on the culture we come from, the traditions we come from,

the background we come from, the environment we grew up in,

the problems we are dealing with, our physical situations.

And he uses these to keep assailing us with it so that we don't make progress quickly,

so that it takes forever to get anywhere.

And we have valid excuses, valid reasons.

And remember, I'm saying valid for saying, but this is my situation.

But these are demonic assignments.

And in a church like this, demonic assignments are not abnormal,

because if this church can be slowed down, the world can be less affected.

I say that with absolute modesty.

So when it comes to these demonic assignments, here are some things you should do.

One, expose them. And by expose them, as in call them, name them.

Call them, name them, confess them.

As in these are the things that are happening.

You keep a demonic assignment in secret within your heart.

I assure you its roots will continue growing.

Guaranteed. It's biblical.

The light must shine there.

Second, resist them. Resist it.

Resist it. Resist it with hate. Resist it with hate.

You know, this morning I was thinking of a certain area in my life where

for the last 38 years, see I remember the 38 years the devils always tried to

trap me in this sin.

And I was thinking of it this morning and I, immediately my mind flipped to

a man at the Pool of Bethesda who for 38 years had lay there.

And there was nobody to help him.

I began reading the scripture from John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

I was telling the Lord this morning that today will be the last day of my life

that this trick will ever work against me.

I will never be discouraged by it. I will never be trapped by it.

I will never succumb to it. I will never bend to it.

Because I know that you are asking me today, do you want to be healed?

And my response is, yes.

And I have the simple faith to believe that God will take care of it again from here on.

What is it in your life?

The older you are, the more you can claim things like 38 years.

Some of you can't claim 24 years.

Can you imagine 38 years is 14 years away for you?

Resist. Pardon?

Resist. Resist evil.

That these assignments.

Third, in some cases it might be situations where you are trapped in a situation

not because of your own doing, but because of your environment, your surrounding, your present condition.

Endure. But endure in a way that resists.

Endure in a way that is not succumbing, but able to rise up and sing, O barren woman.

It's that kind of enduring. Endure.

Endure. Sometimes certain things that happen to you are not your fault.

But it is pressing on you. It is trying to crush you.

Endure. And one of the ways you endure is to go to Isaiah 58.

And you must sing if you want to endure.

You must sing if you want to endure.

That sounds like a very simple thing. Oh, just sing and you'll be fine.

No, not really. What I'm trying to say is read Isaiah 58 and you'll get an idea of it.

Fourth, escape.

As in, change your situation. Escape. Change your situation. Get out of it.

It'll mean relocating. It'll mean changing things, changing your job, changing situations.

Some evil things will continue till I actually escape.

Next one, hate. Hate what is happening to you.

I was telling my brother-in-law yesterday that he was talking about this right arm of mine that keeps freezing up.

And so I can lift it this way, but I can't lift it this way.

It begins to ache here. And it's a frozen shoulder.

And some days it's fine, some days it doesn't.

But one of the things I hate is that I'm learning how to live with it.

And I hate that I'm learning how to live with it.

You must hate something so much that you begin to say,

Now, this won't do. It must go up like this.

Hate it.

Like I said before, if you don't hate it, you will tolerate it.

And then the last one is overcome.

Overcome.

As in, sometimes evil with good.

Sometimes evil with weaponry.

Which we have talked about in the past,

where you use what God has given you to combat that which happens or comes against you.

Evil with good, evil with weaponry.

We'll stop there.

We've got to get into this new year as a people who will be a benefit to others.

I've got to go into the next year with less of this.

So that...

Any questions?

Any questions, guys?

Sorry, say that again.

I can't hear you. You might have to pull up your mic.

Sometimes promises that have been given to me.

Sometimes promises from the word.

Sometimes truth that opposes a lie.

Sometimes the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed and that Satan is fearful of.

Sometimes the name of Jesus Christ that makes him so fearful that the hair on the back of his neck stands.

Sometimes the word of God used as a sword to...

To cut off the hair on the back of his neck.

Sometimes the word of God used as a sword to cut down things.

Sometimes prayer.

There's such an amazing array of weapons that I can use.

And we talked about this when we talked about the prevailing church.

Any other questions?

Okay, so one of the things I want us to have end in our lives is any torment that comes in the form of...

Certain ways of thinking.

Be it...

Like what she said earlier that...

I want to be independent. I want to be alone. I can handle my own problems by myself.

Or certain forms of torment which are not so much about the way I think.

Or certain forms of torment where you go into your own form of sadness or...

Some form of being depressed or sad or alone.

Ways of shame and guilt that crop up because of something you did that keeps being brought up again and again.

An inability to sleep at night because of tormenting spirits that bring back thoughts.

Past thoughts of doing yourself harm or taking your life that keep coming up.

Conditions of shame that have sunk so deep into my soul that the enemy now begins to use it against me.

Tormenting spirits.

That is one thing Jesus wants us to say to him, come deal with it today.

So how do I best define torment? And we'll sing this song, I speak Jesus.

And you don't necessarily have to sing it.

Just listen to the words and as the words are being sung, receive your healing.

Because I really believe something will transpire over the next 10 minutes in this area.

The best way to describe torment is...

It's obviously not from God. God doesn't torment.

It is something from my present or past or some fear from my present or past or future.

That is being used to hobble me, cripple me, hamstring me, slow me down, separate me from God, doubt him, be suspicious of him.

It's constantly being used.

Where I can't trust, where I can't sleep, where it keeps coming back up, where it resurfaces.

It's like a huge shovel being sent right into the bottom of the ocean where things are buried and digging it up so that it churns up murkyly to the surface.

And I'm caught in the muddiness of it again.

I want it to be there.

I'm going to ask Jane to come up.

Try not to sing it the first time around.

Free yourself from it.

It's a very hard thing to do.

But you can do it.

You can sing it.

You can sing it.

You can sing it.

You can sing it.

Don't free yourself from it.

And if you are not someone who is affected by it, free someone else from it.

Torment can lead to habits.

Torment is medicated by habits.

Torment is medicated by habits.

Torment is medicated by habits.

Habits from watching porn to getting drunk to taking some form of thing that will make you feel better, indulging in things.

Just to take away the pain of torment.

Obviously my words are not going to remove this.

Jesus is going to remove this.

And I'm just saying to you in a very non-dramatic, non-sensational fashion that Jesus wants to do it for us today.

And if it isn't something that you are struggling with, think of someone else who is struggling with it.

And receive it for them.

But know that this is sheer work of the Spirit.

And I want to make it so non-dramatic that it will have to be the Holy Spirit.

And no ra-ra.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

Over every heart and every mind.

Because I know there is peace within your presence.

I speak Jesus.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

So every dark addiction starts to break.

Can you put up the words please?

Declaring there is hope and there is freedom.

I speak Jesus.

I'll go back to the beginning.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

Once you've surrendered it to Him, feel free to sing.

Over every heart and every mind.

Whatever torments you.

Because I know there is peace within your presence.

I speak Jesus.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

So every dark addiction starts to break.

Declaring there is hope and there is freedom.

I speak Jesus.

Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is light.

Hallelujah!

Breaks every stronghold and shines through the darkness.

It burns like a fire.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

Over fear and all anxiety.

Thank you Father for your presence right now.

Every soul held captive by depression.

I speak Jesus.

One more time.

Jesus I thank you for setting us free.

Sing that one again?

Yeah.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus.

Over fear and all anxiety.

Every soul held captive by depression.

I speak Jesus.

Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is light.

It breaks every stronghold and shines through the shadows.

It burns like a fire.

Your name is power.

Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is light.

It breaks every stronghold and shines through the shadows.

It burns like a fire.

Shout Jesus.

Jesus from the mountains.

Jesus from the streets.

Jesus in the darkness over every enemy.

Jesus for my family I speak the holy name of Jesus.

One more time.

Shout Jesus from the mountains.

Jesus in the streets.

Jesus in the darkness over every enemy.

Jesus for my family I speak the holy name of Jesus.

Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is light.

It breaks every stronghold and shines through the darkness.

It burns like a fire.

Your name is power.

Your name is healing.

Your name is light.

It breaks every stronghold and shines through the shadows.

It burns like a fire.

Father, we bless whoever wrote this song.

I mean now we speak the name of Jesus over our lives.

Together we voice it right now.

We speak the name of Jesus.