Tag, You're It!

We're going to read verse 7 in Mark 6. And so

I'm inviting you. Thank you for those of you

that were able to make it on this past Wednesday.

And I am urging, I am calling upon everybody

to join me again this Wednesday night at 730.

Because what we're doing is we are extending

the message on Sundays through mentoring. And

I'm going to be mentoring you more on what God

is leading us through. Amen. Let's get to the

verse. It says this way. And he called the 12

to himself and began to send them out two by

two. Someone say two by two. And gave them power

to overcome unclean spirits. Now, verse 12 says,

so he, or so they went out. and preached that

people should repent. And they cast out many

demons and anointed with oil many who were sick

and healed them. Amen. I'm going to preach today

on the thought, tag, you're it. Someone say tag.

In fact, if you got somebody standing next to

you, you can go ahead and tell them. You can

just touch them and say tag. You're in. You may

be seated in God's presence. I invite you to

watch this video now, and I pray that you're

blessed by it. Praise the Lord. My name is Susanna,

and I'm currently a member at City Light Church,

and I've been baptized for almost 10 years. The

first time that I had an encounter with Christ,

was what you would call a soul. I had red hair

and I had a small understanding or I can't say

understanding, a small notion that God was real

but truly never believed it for myself or had

any foundation that he was real. And so I was

at a service and I had asked for prayer and Before

the pastor could even begin to start the prayer,

a sister came up next to me and she just placed

her hands on her shoulders to pray with me. I

remember it was the first time that I had truly

felt so much love and care from a complete stranger,

from someone who had no idea of my story or what

I have been through. And it was also the first

time that I truly felt the presence of God. That

was the moment that led to me to have a bigger

hunger and desire to seek God. And a few months

after that, I actually was baptized. It's also

a big example of how God will come to meet you

where you're at and that you don't need to be

perfect or you don't need to go so far out of

your way. to be able to meet or experience God.

It's also through my own relationship with God

that I was able to see or I was able to help

bring my mom back to Christ and be able to see

her be restored and to see her final years of

life be filled with His love, His mercy, and

His grace. And just a quick backstory of my mom.

She had struggled. with substance abuse. So to

see her final years be filled with sobriety and

to see her restored is even more of a bigger

example of what can happen when you truly open

your heart to Christ and allow him to just heal,

to restore, and just allow him to love you in

the ways that he's truly designed. So anybody

who may feel just... lost or broken or discouraged

because you don't find yourself in a place where

you think you should be. Just know all it takes

is for you to open your heart and God will meet

you exactly where you are and he will come to

you. God bless you. Let's give God a hand of

praise. Susanna, thank you for sharing that beautiful

story with us. And these stories, like the one

our dear sister shared, they matter. All of our

stories matter. Amen? They matter because behind

every story like that, someone behind the scenes,

someone was living on mission and reached us

where we were and loved us, prayed for us because

none of us got here on our own. We are here because

somebody invested. us in one way or another and

led us to Christ and showed us not just through

theory or through knowledge but through experience

that this God that we serve is real. Amen. And

that he wants to do a work in our life. He wants

to save us. That's why these stories matter.

And I want to remind all of us again about who

we are here at City Light. Our vision. Our vision

here is to be a loving place where people can

belong, believe, and become disciples of Christ.

That's who we are. And that's what the vision

of this church has been and what it will continue

to be. And apart from that, or in addition to

that, we have our mission. Our mission is what

we do. And we are called to love God. Amen. To

love people. and to make disciples. Our first

and foremost calling is to love God. You should

love the Lord your God with all of your heart,

your soul, and your strength. And then second,

to love our neighbor as ourself. This is what

Christ has called us to do. And so with God's

help, in each message in this important series,

I want to remind you and I want to embed... our

mission and our vision into your hearts so that

you will live each day, not just as a member

of City Light Church or as a member of this faith

community, but so that you will understand that

you have a mission from God, a mandate. Every

one of us has been divinely chosen and called

by God to reach the world for Christ. Why don't

we give God a hand of praise for that? Amen.

The more we understand this, the more we will

embody it. Otherwise, we become just another

church that gathers on Sundays. Jesus commissioned

us in Matthew 28, 19. Go, therefore, and make

disciples. Somebody say, make disciples. Let's

say that again. Make disciples. Of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and

of the Son. and of the Holy Spirit. This is the

mandate that Christ gave the church. He didn't

give it to the preachers. He didn't give it to

the apostles only. He didn't give it to those

clergy members, ordained ministers, or leaders.

Every member of the body, every believer, every

follower of Christ is given the same equal mandate.

It is all of our commission. It belongs to every

one of us. And every Christian, every believer,

every Holy Ghost -filled, tongue -talking, believing,

apostolic Pentecostal, amen, has been given this

assignment. Most believers understand what we

must do, but many don't understand how to do

it. We aren't familiar with the method that Jesus

deployed to reach... Lost souls, the pattern

of evangelism that he modeled for us by sending

out teams of two to represent his mission to

seek and to save those who were lost. This is

the strategy. This is the method that Jesus gave

his disciples. And it's one that still works

today. It has not gone out of style. Amen. It

has not become antiquated. It is not. It is just

as relevant today as it was the day that Jesus

gave it to his disciples. We don't need, amen.

Getting just a little bit of feedback up here,

brother. We don't need another program. We don't

need to reinvent the wheel. We don't need another

church program. We don't need another invention.

What we need to do is simply get back. to what

Jesus commissioned us to do at the very beginning.

You know what I believe we need? We need a Mark

6 moment. I'm going to not just preach to you

today. I'm going to instill. I'm going to transfer

something from the heart of your pastor to you

today. We need a Mark 6 moment at City Light

Church. What is a Mark 6 moment? Mark 6. is when

Jesus turned followers into laborers. When he

turned learners into laborers, followers into

fishers of men. Mark 6 moment is the moment that

Jesus turned those who were simply students of

the word to becoming teachers of the word. Those

who are mere hearers of the word to doers of

the word. Those who are simply a part of. Jesus'

movement to becoming advancers of his movement.

We need a Mark 6 moment. And I believe that...

Hallelujah. Through the power of God, through

his grace and his mercy, through the leading

of his spirit, this moment, this time that we

are investing into regrouping ourselves and reassessing

and reevaluating our commitment to Christ and

his mission for us. We're looking at what it

means to live on mission and be ambassadors in

this world. Amen. That we need to have a Mark

6 moment. At the time. that the disciples were

sent out in these tag teams. They had already

been walking with Jesus for about two years or

so. Scholars are not exactly sure how long, but

anywhere between a year and a half to two years,

the disciples had been walking with Jesus. And

up to this stage, they were mostly observers,

watching Jesus in action, both privately and

publicly. They had a front row seat. They had

an eyewitness account of the life and the ministry

of Jesus Christ for these two years. And that's

important. We should not gloss over that. We

should not rush through the fact that these men

indeed spent time with the Lord Jesus Christ

in a relationship -building season of their life.

That was very important. It was a season of learning.

and ascertaining and gleaning from the Lord.

It was a time of being under the tutelage, under

the stewardship of Christ, under his ministry

and his mentorship. They were watching Jesus

not only teach it, but live it out in daily life.

It was important, those couple of years that

they had observing. So by the time of their commissioning,

they were not just filled with... head knowledge,

but they had actually seen with their own eyes

the ministry of Christ, loving people and having

compassion on the lost, the hurting, the disenfranchised,

the discouraged, those that were in despair.

They saw with their own two eyes how the Lord

Jesus Christ met people in their time of need

and not only forgave them and not only healed

them and raised them up, but gave them the most

essential thing, which was hope of salvation.

This was important for them. It was about walking

with Jesus in relationship. And this sets up

the basis for the, for the first point I want

to transfer you today, today church. And those

that might be watching this, members that were

not here today, amen. You're gonna, you're gonna

have to watch this message. First thing is that

we are called before we are sent. Someone say,

I am called. But the thing that we must understand

is that we are not simply called to something.

We are called to someone. We are not just called

to perform a task. We are called to know the

Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Mark, in

verse six and seven, that he called the 12 to

himself. He said, come to me. Let's gather together.

Ministry does not begin with movement. It begins

with a relationship and a calling to the Lord

Jesus Christ himself. You see, these disciples

walked with him before they ever worked for him.

They listened to him before they preached. They

followed before they led. And this is the key

to anything that we want to do for the kingdom.

This is the key. The key is that we are called

to him before we are called to do anything for

him. They were called to know Christ, to live

with Christ, to sup with him and dine with him,

to know him intimately, to be submitted to him,

totally submitted and surrendered to Christ as

their Lord and Savior to provide all their needs.

according to his riches and glory, to be the

primary, foremost pursuit of their life, to be

with him everywhere that he went, and to be up

under his governance, his rulership, his authority.

And for those few years, they lived... under

the direct covering and authority of Jesus Christ.

Why is that important for us to understand today

before we even get to how to be a witness to

the lost and minister to those that are up under

oppression is because no sickness and no disease

and no devil will be subject to a man who is

not first subject to God. No sickness and no

disease and no devil will be subject to a man

or a woman who is not first totally submitted

to God. This is the key. The Bible tells us,

even in your own personal victory, that in order

for the devil, it says to resist the devil, it

says submit therefore to God and resist the devil

and he shall flee. So there is a direct correlation

between us being fully submitted and fully connected

and fully in relationship with God and seeing

result and fruit in our ministry. Or else we

will be like when the enemy said to those seven

sons of Siva, he said to them, Jesus, I know,

and Paul, I know, but who are you? That's what

the enemy told those men. Who are not submitted

to God. Hear me. The power of your mission is

not in your ability. It's in your relationship

to Christ. And if there's something that I need

to drive home today. And the onset of this message.

Is that we must be completely submitted to Christ.

And intimate with Christ. And know Christ. And

be connected to Christ. And everything that we

do. Jesus said. Apart from me. You can do nothing.

Can't do anything without him. You cannot win

a soul without Christ. Your first calling is

unto Jesus himself. I don't want to be like those

whom the enemy says, Jesus I know. Paul, I think

I've heard of that guy. He's got a reputation.

But you, I've never heard of you. Could it be

that the reason why some have not seen the results

they want to see in their ministry, in their

kingdom work, is because the devil don't even

know who you are? He doesn't respect you when

you step into a space. Because you don't bring

any power or authority. But if you spend time

in the presence of God. And if you are anointed

with the Holy Ghost. When you step into a situation.

Come on now somebody. When you step into a scene.

Every devil that's there is put on notice. That

a Holy Ghost filled submitted child man or woman

of God. Has stepped on the scene. And I don't

come in my own name. But I come in the name that

is above every name. The name of Jesus. Jesus.

Somebody give that name glory today. Hallelujah.

When I walk into somebody's life, I don't come

in the name of Jacob because the name of Jacob

can't save anybody. But I come in the name of

Jesus. But it cannot just be a name. It's got

to be a relationship. Because let me tell you

something about the name of Jesus. The name of

Jesus doesn't work like a magic potion. The name

of Jesus is not the magic word that you use and

try to get something, get a result. The name

of Jesus is not simply a formula. The name of

Jesus is directly connected to who he is and

our relationship with him. And so that when we

declare that name, my God, I feel the holy. When

we declare that name, that's when demons will

tremble. We come in the authority that God has

given us. Hallelujah. You've got authority in

Jesus. And this is what happened with the disciples

as they went forth. Hallelujah. They were connected

to God. It happened in Acts chapter 3. A tag

Acts 3 · chapter mention

team, Peter and John, went up, the Bible says,

in verse 1, together to the temple at the hour

of prayer. As you get connected with the person

that ultimately you will be, maybe you don't

know who that person is yet, or maybe God is

already showing you who you can work with, who

you can team up with. But as you team up with

that other like -minded and co -laborer in the

body of Christ, in the church, then you have

to do so in prayer, prayerfully. It's not just,

hey, we're going to work, you know, we're going

to schedule some time to go do some things for

the Lord together. No, it's we are going to be.

we're going to be prayer partners together. And

so Peter and John, they went up. to the hour

of prayer, hour to the temple to pray together.

And it was on their way to prayer, on their way

to encounter the Lord that they encountered a

lame man that was at the temple gate called Beautiful

who was asking for alms, begging for money. And

the Bible says that they ministered to this man

by offering him something greater than what money

could ever buy. They said silver and gold, Peter

said, when he said, look on us. Silver and gold

I do not have, but what I have I give you. In

the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up

and walk. And the Bible says that he took him

by the right hand and he lifted him up on his

feet. This is what evangelism looks like, my

friend. It's not simply handing somebody a track

or an invitation to City Light Church on Sundays

at 2 p .m. It's not simply sending somebody a

message through Facebook or Instagram. It's not

simply telling somebody Somebody about the church

that you go to, evangelism looks like reaching

out to somebody who cannot get up on their own

and saying, I know a man that can do miracles.

Hallelujah. I know a man that can save you, that

can restore you, that can deliver you. I know

a man that's greater than your sickness. Surely

you know somebody who's sick. Surely you know

somebody who's down on their luck. Surely you

know somebody whose marriage or whose life or

whose family is suffering. Hallelujah. And we

are not simply just to send them an invite. No,

we are to be the hands and the feet of Christ

and to say, look, I don't have the money to give

you. I can't buy your way out of this problem,

but I've got something greater than that. I've

got the name of Jesus. And if we will seek the

Lord with all of our, the picture I'm trying

to paint for you, I hope you're getting it. Hallelujah.

The picture I'm trying to paint for you today

is that this encounter in Acts chapter 3, which

Acts 3 · chapter mention

was a turning point in the early church, would

never have happened if two men, a tag team, Peter

and John, had not committed themselves in pursuit

of God to go to pray together. It was on their

way to prayer, on their way to pursuing God greater,

on their way to greater worship that God put

somebody in our path that they might minister

to. You see, the problem is not that there are

no hurting people. The problem is It's not that

there aren't people who need Jesus. They are

all around you every single day of your life.

But only when we get committed to God in prayer,

God will begin to open our eyes to those people

that are hurting. They may not be sitting by

the gate called beautiful, but some of them are

sitting in the cubicle down the row in your office.

They may not be asking for alms, but they are

in other ways asking for help and crying out

for help. And it's not if they are not crying

out. They are crying. The problem is that many

of us don't hear them because we're so consumed

and wrapped up in the own affairs of our own

life. We are struggling ourselves to get to church

and no wonder why we can't reach the people.

I feel like I'm hitting on somebody right now.

It's the Holy Ghost. It's not me. Don't get mad

at me today. But if we would get closer to God

and get more committed to God and say, God, I'm

going to serve you like I've never served you

before. I'm going to pray. like I've never prayed

before. I'm going to fast like I've never fasted

before. You watch how God will start exposing

you to people in your life that need the gospel

of Jesus Christ. Why don't we clap our hands

and let's give God some praise today. But pastor,

I don't know anybody that, yes, you do. The problem

is that we don't see them. We've got tunnel vision,

but if you ever get closer to God, if you submit

yourself to God, God, have your way in my life.

I want more of you. God will transfer a heart

and a burden and a compassion on you that you

will start to see people differently in your

life. You won't just see them as a neighbor who

you cross paths with day to day, but you'll see

them as a soul that's on their way to hell, that

if they don't hear about Jesus, they're going

to be lost without him. You will not. You will

see people. You'll see your boss differently.

You'll see your coworkers differently. You'll

see your friends and your family members differently.

I feel this in my heart today. And this is what

God is saying. Come. to me. Get closer to me.

And when you get closer to me, I'll show you.

You're going to see in the process of getting

closer to me those that I want you to reach.

Hallelujah. Somebody say amen today. Amen. I

feel this in my spirit. Amen. Hallelujah. How

many of you feel God working in your heart today?

How many of you feel the pulse of the Holy Ghost

today? Amen. But this example only highlights

another key, which is that you must live. Point

number two, you must be teamed up before you

go. The Bible says that he began, Jesus began

to send them out two by two. This is the concept.

This is the model. This is the strategy of tag

teams, two by two. And there is a lot of wisdom,

much wisdom in this. Jesus never designed ministry

to be done alone. He could have easily sent out

the 12 individuals and covered a lot more geography

that way. Imagine, they could have reached twice

as many cities had he sent them all out as just

lone participants, lone ministers and preachers.

But God understood in his wisdom the power of

teamwork. And so instead of sending everybody

out on their own, say, well, it's every man for

himself. No, that is not the plan of God. He

chose six teams of two. And these tag teams went

forth in the authority that Christ had given

them to reach the people with a message of repentance,

with the gospel message. And this wasn't just

so that they would have a buddy, you know, somebody

to talk to along the way, although that's nice.

It wasn't just about keeping company. There was

real world benefits to working in pairs. I'm

going to point out these benefits to you. So

the next screen are the benefits. I want you

to see how working together with somebody else

in ministry for the kingdom of God provides some

very real benefits for us. Some of the words

might be a little hard to see from far, but bear

with me. Number one is strength. Somebody say

strength. The Bible tells us, this is the wisdom

of the Word of God, that two are better than

one because they have a good reward for their

labor. One might hesitate by him or herself,

but two move in confidence together because the

one looks at the other, and the other looks at

the one, and they say, we're in this together.

Amen. Your success is my success. So I'm not

going down and I'm not going to let you go down

or vice versa. We're going to have victory together.

Strength. Amen. Two are better than one. Amen.

That's what I say about pretty much everything

in life. Two patties are better than one patty.

Hallelujah. Two tacos are better than one. I

mean, it works that way. Hallelujah. Two are

better than one all the time. Some of you say,

but three. Okay, hallelujah. Calm down. Number

two is support. Can somebody say support? Again,

the word of the Lord, the wisdom here. For if

they fall, one will lift up his companion, but

woe to him who is alone when he falls, because

no one is there to lift him up. This is one of

the clearest examples of teamwork in Scripture.

When one falls, the other lifts up. Guess what?

As we are, like we all have, every one of us,

in our own efforts to reach somebody, When we

experience rejection, discouragement, we get

more discouraged when it's just us. Man, we feel

like we blew it. I failed. I messed up. Something

I said, something I did. And it takes a lot longer

to build up the courage again to then go out

again and reach somebody else. But when you're

working with somebody in a team, amen, one can

lift up the other to encourage. Say, hey, we'll

get them next time. Let's work together. And

then the morale begins to rise. Ah, we can do

this. It's teamwork, right? Amen. Number three

is agreement. Agreement. This is powerful. Agreement.

This is what the Lord said. If the two of you

agree on earth concerning anything that they

ask. Amen. You got to ask. I'm going to say ask

for it. You've got to ask. You've got to ask.

But if you would ask in agreement with your tag

team partner, amen, it will be done for them

by my Father in heaven. Jesus is giving us a

powerful formula for prayer. He said individual

prayer, that's beautiful, that's wonderful, keep

doing it. But united prayer, whoo, that's powerful.

Oh, my God. Individual prayer, beautiful, wonderful.

God can do a lot through a single prayer. We

see that in Scripture. But what the Lord is telling

us, but if the two of you would come together

and agree on something, my God. God said, I'm

going to roll up both sleeves for that one. There's

something that moves the heart of God when he

sees his people coming together in agreement.

So when you agree with a partner in prayer and

in purpose, it unlocks supernatural blessings

from heaven. Number four, accountability. Well,

this is kind of a no -brainer, but I've got to

say it anyway. As iron sharpens iron, so a man

sharpens the countenance of his friend. It's

harder to give up when you've got somebody who's

texting you and calling saying, hey, we said

we were going to go. Oh, oh, yeah. See, you can

talk. When it's just you, you can easily talk

yourself in and out of things that you committed

yourself to do. You wake up that morning, oh,

I don't feel like doing it today. I gave myself

permission to take this day off. And you ask

yourself, and guess what? Yourself agreed with

you. You deserve it. Oh, thank you, self. You

know. But accountability is a lot harder to then

break the commitment that you made with so -and

-so. sister or brother say, hey, we said we were

going to do this and be there. It's like, now

I'm letting them down. So it's hold your feet

to the fire. So now I got to be there. He said,

but is that the, no, that's a good thing. Because

it means now we're going to be people of our

word and we have somebody that's going to hold

it. Hey, we said we're going to pray. And so

that accountability, iron is sharpening iron.

We're going to do this together. Somebody say

together. All of these things I'm preaching to

you, I'm presenting to you, are going to get

presented in more detail in our mentoring sessions

and training down the road. This is just the

very beginning. We're just beginning to open

these things up right now. But there's a lot

more that God's going to show us about these

things. Number five, compliment. The Bible says

that there are diversity of gifts, but the same

Spirit. Amen. Differences of ministries, but

the same Lord. So the beauty of working with

somebody else is that that person thrives or

is gifted in an area that you're not. They are

stronger in an area where you're weaker and vice

versa. You got one who's a talker and the other

who's an introvert. Well, I think it's going

to work well because y 'all both can't be talkers.

Amen. Come on now, somebody. What happens when

you put two chatty people together? Everybody

wants to talk and no one's listening. You're

talking over each other. Watch this. One of you

is better at explaining. The other is better

at praying. So you know what? You talk to them

and I'm going to sit right here in the background

and while you're giving that Bible study or you're

talking, I'm going to be rebuking devils back

here because I know how to just, I can just pray.

Woo, all right, now we've got teamwork. And then

it works the other way. Someone can be gifted

in certain things, and they can explain certain

things. If someone asks a big question, man,

those questions scare me, man, when people start

asking big theological questions. But maybe somebody

on that team is comfortable talking that way,

that you let them talk. You just work in tandem

together. helping each other, and one is gifted

here, and one is gifted there. You know, I can't

explain those things, but I know how to bake

cookies, so the next time we're there, I'm going

to win them with chocolate chip cookies. Just

gave somebody a blessing right there. I found

my ministry, Lord. Hey, that's your language.

Use it. God can use that to win a soul. He said,

oh, but it's just chocolate chip cookies. Yeah,

but if the other person is breaking down Acts

2 .38 and telling them how to be saved, and you're

just saying, hey, you want another cookie? Just

give them more cookies. And then they'll just

be like, man, I got to accept this. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. It's all about, there are diversities

of gifts, diversities of ministry, but guess

what? There's only one that gets the glory. I

wish I had a witness today. I said there's only

one that gets the glory. It's the same spirit.

It's the same power that's working within us.

Hallelujah. As I get ready to bring this to a

close, let me give you the final thing to say

today, which is that when you form your team,

you will be empowered before you reach. Someone

say power. Jesus did not just send these men

out without. Giving them the power to overcome.

The Bible says he gave them power over unclean

spirits. Unclean spirits. Can I have just a few

more moments of your time? Amen. In the case

of reaching souls, this is something that we

all must be very clear about. We must be clear

and understand that what we are contending with.

Jesus did not give them power over crowds. Over

politics. Or even over nature. He gave them power

not to win arguments. He gave them power over

unclean spirits. This reveals our true battlefield.

Let me tell you something about winning souls.

Winning souls is not a social mission. We're

not just out to, you know, to make friends just

so that we can have a larger social network or

social gathering here on Sunday. It is not a

social mission. It is a spiritual mission. And

oftentimes what we think is the obstacle is somebody's

personality. Oh, they just don't have the right

personality. Their attitude, they're cold or

they're standoffish. They're busy. They're skeptical.

All of those things are surface level issues

and symptoms of a deeper problem. In reality,

many are spiritually bound, oppressed, or blinded.

if the musicians can prepare themselves. Let

me tell you, not every chain is visible. You

know they say, don't judge a book by its cover,

right? You can't always tell from the outside

what's really going on. And not every chain is

visible. So what we see, what we are interacting

with on an emotional level, intellectual level,

social level, hear me, I'm talking about your

unsaved people that God puts in your life, the

souls. It's not on that level. It's on the spiritual

level. Okay, it's on the spiritual level. Those

are just symptoms of a deeper problem. Those

are symptoms of something much more serious.

A smiling person can be tormented. A successful

person, my boss has got here, you know, they

drive a nice car, they live in a nice neighborhood.

A successful person can be bound. An educated

person can have more degrees than a thermometer

and be blind. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians

4, 4, the God of this world had blinded the minds

of them which Believe not. You know, there's

a blindfold over the unsaved. There's a blindfold

over them that they can't see it. Even if you

put a big whiteboard. It's all laid out. There's

blindfolds there. The God of the, who's the God

of this world? Little g. God, little g. Satan,

the devil. The God of this age has blinded the

mind. There's a covering. And so what you and

I must do, hear me today, this is it. This is

it right here. You cannot afford to miss this.

We are called into spiritual warfare over the

souls that God wants to save to pray that God

would remove. The blindfolds. Because, my friend,

you can love them, serve them, treat them, give

them all the cookies I talked about you want.

But until the blindfolds come off, it's just

going to sound like another message that's being

communicated. It's going to sound just like anything

else. So we've got to get into it. with your

prayer partner. He said, we're going to pray

until the blindfolds come off. And we've got

to remember that everything else we do is secondary.

It's got to be done in the spirit primarily.

Since this battle is spiritual, our weapons must

be spiritual. For the weapons of our warfare,

the Bible says, are not carnal, but mighty in

God. For the pulling down of strong. There are

strongholds that have got to come down. It's

somebody's life. Blindfolds have got to be removed.

Like Saul of Tarsus on his way, like Saul was

on his way to Damascus when the bright light

shined. Like scales, the Bible says, his eye,

he was blinded. And so what happens is that sometimes

God has to blind them a little bit from the way

they've been living and then open their eyes

again to see the truth and the light of the gospel.

God wants to open their eyes. The devil is not

just going to roll over and play dead. The devil

is not going to, just because you have a desire

and have a desire, the devil is not just going

to roll over and just play dead and let you have

whatever you want. Every soul know the devil

is going to hear me today. The devil is going

to fight tooth and nail for every soul that you

want to win for God. He's going to fight tooth

and nail. Because every soul matters to the devil.

You know that the devil is also a soul winner.

In fact, hell has some of the best soul winning

strategies that the church needs. The devil is

a soul winner. Except he's winning them to hell.

But God put us here in this church and in this

city and in your world so that we might win them

to heaven. But it's going to be a spiritual battle.

You see, sometimes us, you can stand with me.

Sometimes us, we Pentecostals, you know, we get

mad. We jump on the devil. Jump on the devil,

you know. He's under my feet. Satan is under

my feet. You know. He is. But let me tell you

something. I think sometimes what we do, we underestimate

him. The Bible never said that the devil didn't

have any power. If he didn't have any power,

he wouldn't be the God of this world, the God

of this age, the prince of the power of the air.

The Bible never tells us the devil doesn't have

any power. If he doesn't have any power, then

why is God going to eventually, in the millennial

future, bind him up? Why do you have to bind

somebody and chain somebody in a pit that doesn't

have any power? He has power. Satan does. I'm

not glorifying him today, but you need to understand

what you are up against, what we're fighting.

This is why Jesus said in Mark 3, 27, the last

scripture I'm going to read today. No one can

enter a strong man's house and plunder the goods

unless he first binds the strong man. This is

what we've got to learn how to do as a church

as we grow up in faith. I believe this with all

my heart. As we mature and establish and grow

up in the Lord as soul winners, as servants of

God, we've got to learn how to bind the strong

man. And then he will plunder his house. Let

me tell you something. The devil, he is strong.

But God is stronger. I wish I had a believer

in the house today. The devil has got power,

but God's got more power. The devil has got strength,

but God's got more strength. The devil has got

my God. He's strong, but how many of you know

that God is stronger? Greater is he that is in

you than he that is in the world. If you believe

that your God's got more power, I dare you right

now. to worship him. I dare you to lift up your

voice and your hands and your praise unto God.

Oh, hallelujah. I've got the authority. I've

got the power. I've got the power in the name

of Jesus. I've got the power of the Holy Ghost.

I've got authority to tread on serpents. To lay

hands on the sick and see them recover. I've

got authority to preach repentance without fear

and with boldness. And God's going to give somebody

boldness today. You know where boldness comes

from? Boldness does not come from just becoming

a loud mouth. No, we're not telling you to become

a loud mouth. No, we're not preaching for you

to become an obnoxious person in your workplace,

to become a, to be preaching at everybody all

the time and telling them, everybody, you're

going to hell. No, no, that's not how we're going

to do it. God's not calling you to boldness by

just becoming louder than everybody else. No,

you know where boldness comes from. comes from

like that little kid on the play yard when the

bullies start coming against him and he feels

like he's going to be overwhelmed and overcome

and he's up against and he's outnumbered and

he doesn't know how he's going to win and he's

getting ready to fight. Boldness comes when the

little brother like I was saw his big brothers

coming behind him and put their arms there and

say if you're going to get through him you got

to get through him. us first and all the sudden

that little kid starts believing that he can

do anything he says come on bring it on is there

somebody here that knows that you've got a God

in heaven that's got your back that'll back you

up in the name of he'll back me up he'll back

me up wherever I Jesus' name. I go in the name

of the Lord. I go as a witness. I go as a disciple.

I go in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've

got my, how many of you got your backup today?

How many of you got your backup today? That's

where boldness comes from. Little guy there overwhelmed,

got bigger people. He said, hold on, let me call

some backup. You need to call your backup. right

now. Right there where you are. I feel God is

moving in this place. I feel boldness coming.

There's a divine exchange of boldness. There's

an impartation of boldness that God wants. If

you want some of that boldness, I want to pray

for you today. Go ahead and play something there.

I feel something about to happen in this place.

I want you to come. Listen, I want you to come.

I want you to extend your hands to God. I want

you to lift up your hands to the Lord. to deposit

in you a level of boldness that you have never

experienced before god's about to impose it deposit

in you a level of courage that you have never

felt before he's about to deposit in you a level

of faith that you have never walked in before

a kind of faith watch me now when you step foot

into the hospital room you don't care about what

the doctor's report is you don't care what the

diagnosis is. You don't care what the prognosis

is. You step into that hospital room. You step

into that sick room with the authority and the

boldness and say, cancer, you have met your match

today. Oh, diabetes, you've met your match today.

Depression, the pill couldn't solve you, but

there's something greater than an antidepressant,

something greater than an anti -anxious. Oh,

it's And so right now, as we lift up our voices

unto God,