Taking It Back

Genesis chapter 14 and verse 14 reads as follows.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,

he armed his 318 trained servants

who were born in his own house

and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

He divided his forces against them by night

and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them

as far as Hobo, which is north of Damascus.

So he brought back all the goods

and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods

as well as the women and the people.

It says he brought back his brother Lot.

Now just as a notation there, it says the word brother

but it's more of a familiar or family relational term

but indeed Lot was actually his nephew.

It was his nephew.

And I wanna preach today for a few moments

this word the Lord gave me on taking it back.

Someone say taking it back.

We're gonna pray right now.

This message is a very important one

as we seek to take what God wants for us

and as we seek to progress further into his kingdom,

the revival, everything that we have experienced,

God wants to do something greater in our midst.

Let's pray.

Father, we love you today.

We thank you for your goodness, your mercy,

the way that you have dwelled in this place

for surely Lord, the Lord is in this place.

God, we know that you sit enthroned

in the praises of your people.

And now God, I pray that you would anoint our hearing,

open up our understanding

and I pray that we would receive your word Lord today

with gladness and not only with gladness God

but that we might put this word in action in our lives.

In the name of Jesus, we pray everyone say amen.

You may be seated in God's presence.

It was in June of 1967, the world watched in shock

as Israel, a tiny nation surrounded by hostile enemies

faced the fight of its life.

It was called the Six Day War and it began with an attack.

Egypt, Jordan and Syria had massed their armies

determined to wipe Israel off the map.

Outnumbered, outgunned and outflanked,

Israel seemed to have no chance of survival.

In fact, the prognosis was so strong

prognosis was so bleak that over 40,000 coffins

were prepared for the expected casualties.

That's how bleak the outcome appeared.

But what happened next was nothing short of miraculous.

In a stunning preemptive strike,

Israeli forces took to the skies,

crippling the enemy's air forces

before they could launch their assault.

And in just six days, what should have been

Israel's defeat became one of their greatest

military victories.

And you know, they didn't just defend their land.

It went beyond that.

They actually reclaimed what had been stolen.

On the third day, Israeli paratroopers and troops

stormed into Jerusalem, retaking the old city

for the first time, talking about all the city

in almost 2,000 years.

And it was such an epic milestone,

such a powerful moment that soldiers,

when they reached the Western Wall,

they wept as they reached the wall.

As they touched the Western Wall,

which was the last remnant of the old ancient temple,

they could not help but become overwhelmed with emotion

as they hugged these walls, thanking God

that they were not only able to defend themselves

but take back what was rightfully theirs.

And the victory that day was more than just about winning.

It was about reclaiming what was theirs.

And this page from history has always stood out to me.

It's a powerful, and there are many other miracles

that were documented, recorded, that took place

during the Six-Day War, and it stands as a testimony

that you ought never to mess with God's people.

Amen.

Never to mess with God's people.

And with God's help, they took everything back

that belonged to them, and I couldn't help but wonder,

as I was reflecting upon the text before us,

if these brave Israeli soldiers, the whole nation of Israel,

did not think back upon various patriarchs

and heroes of faith in their own history

who took great steps to do the will of God and to fight back.

And one of those is in our reading today.

It is the father of faith, who his name was Abraham.

And Abraham declared war on those

who captured Lot and all that was associated with him.

And I want to, for a few moments,

just lay a brief foundation for us to see

this historic moment in the life of this patriarch, Abraham.

It is an interesting fact for you Bible students and readers,

those that like to dig into the deeper details of scripture,

an interesting fact that this text records

the first war ever mentioned in the Bible.

It doesn't mean that there weren't other wars

or conflicts in human history,

it's that this was the first one recorded in scripture.

And I think that there are many reasons for that,

probably because it has more to do

with just a diplomatic crisis, it was a spiritual crisis.

And if we use the law of first mention,

the law of first mention is a theological approach

to reading scripture and what it tells us

is that the law of first mention establishes

a concept's foundational meaning so that we can understand it

all throughout the word of God.

And so whenever something is mentioned for the first time,

generally speaking, there are some foundational principles

that we can learn from.

And so since this is the first time that warfare

is mentioned in the context of God's people,

there are some powerful truths that we can uncover today.

And the first or the really foundational truth for us,

and this is what I'm gonna be building upon here today,

is about spiritual warfare.

And it is this, that all spiritual warfare

is about reclaiming what rightfully belongs to God's people.

I want you to understand that spiritual warfare

is what I'm gonna be preaching about today,

but in its entirety, if you were to sum up

all spiritual warfare, which is something

that every Christian, every believer

needs to be engaged in, it is our call, it is our purpose,

but it is all on the basis of repossessing

or reclaiming something that belongs to God's people

at the foundation.

Now, there may be different motives

or different incentives or different things

that we focus on while engaged in spiritual warfare,

while praying, while believing, while expecting,

but it all comes down to reclaiming something

that belongs to God's people, whether it's territory,

whether it's dominion, people even,

or the blessings of God, the things of God.

It's really that simple.

It's really that simple.

It's about reclaiming what belongs to us.

And if you can just settle that in your mind today,

settle that in your heart, that this is what it's all about,

because indeed, we read in Ephesians 6 and verse 12,

for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against principalities, amen,

against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Someone say amen today.

Amen.

These strongholds that we are called to war against

exist for a particular reason.

I don't have time to get into all of the particulars today,

but basically, they exist, these strongholds,

these principalities, these powers, rulers of darkness.

The reason why they exist in the first place

is because way back in the beginning,

man who was Adam forfeited the dominion

that God had given him in the garden because of sin.

Man was given complete dominion over all of the earth,

every creature, everything.

Man had complete dominion over it all.

But because of sin, man lost that dominion.

He lost domain and ownership and authority over all of that

because of sin.

And so ever since then, there has been conflict,

spiritual conflict between God's seed or God's people

and the enemy over reclaiming what God originally intended

for us to have.

Are you following me so far?

And so because man forfeited that,

now the God of this age, the ruler of wickedness, Satan

and all of his cronies and his kingdom, his minions,

they now seek to establish control in different areas,

in different families, and even in our own lives.

But the good news is, hallelujah,

that Jesus came to give us the ultimate key.

Jesus came to reclaim that which was lost.

He said, the Son of Man came to claim

and to take that which was lost

because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross

by shedding his blood for our sins

and raising three days later from the grave,

he took the keys of hell, death and the grave

away from the enemy.

And now you and I are benefactors of that.

Somebody ought to give God some praise today.

Hallelujah. Jesus is victorious

and all power in his hands.

However, there is still going to be a fight.

And the fight is between us

and the repossession of God's things for us.

And we look at Abraham today,

and Abraham is a model for the believer.

He is the father of faith, Scripture refers to him as.

He is the prototype that we're looking at.

And when Abraham felt like the enemy had come against him

and did him wrong by taking his nephew lot

and taking him away,

Abraham did not just sit back

and just wait to see what was going to happen.

Abraham did not just, you know,

kind of like just wait around

to figure what was going to take place.

He jumped into action

and he begins to show us some things that we must do.

And the first thing that we see today

that I want to impart to you

about what exactly we're dealing with here

is that number one, like him,

we must understand that there is a lot at stake.

Someone say there's a lot at stake.

Hallelujah.

I'm getting just a little bit of feedback

in this monitor here, brother, if you can help me out.

There is a lot at stake.

Now, what I think is interesting here

is that Abraham literally had a lot at stake

because he had a nephew named Lot.

And so it was literal for Abraham.

He definitely had a lot at stake.

But for us, there is a lot, figuratively speaking,

there is a lot at stake, a lot at stake.

There's much to be concerned about.

There's a lot.

We're not just fighting just because.

There is something at stake.

There is a prize.

There is something to be gained.

And for Abraham, this hit very personal for him

because, again, Lot was his nephew,

but he wasn't just his nephew in the sense

that if you have nieces or nephews in your life,

like I do, you love them and all that,

but when it's time for them to go home,

they gotta go, hallelujah.

Yeah, I don't have my nephews, praise God.

Hope you're not watching, hallelujah.

But they got a whole tribe of them.

You know what I'm saying?

So I'm kind of past that stage.

I don't know what I'm talking about.

They got a bunch of little ones, and I love them to death,

but when it's time to go home, it's time to go home.

It's like, you can't stay here.

You can't live here.

Hallelujah.

But Abraham and his relationship was not like that.

In fact, Lot was more like a son to him

because Lot lost his father early.

His dad died early in life.

And so Abraham stepped in as his surrogate father.

He became a father figure in Lot's life,

and he practically raised him,

and he loved him like a son.

And so this was more than just a nephew or relative.

This was like a son to him, and he loved him that way.

And you see it all throughout the story of Abraham and Lot.

He just constantly was interceding for him

because he loved him so dearly.

And so when Lot fell into enemy hands as a POW,

as a prisoner of war, it was very personal for Abraham.

He took it so personal.

And it also just wasn't just about Lot.

It was about everything that was connected to him,

his possessions, his family members, his future.

Because in Abraham's mind,

Lot represented the next generation.

He represented tomorrow.

He represented legacy and destiny.

And so Lot was very symbolic of all the things

that Abraham was believing God for in his own life.

And so if Abraham didn't do anything,

a lot, a lot would be lost.

Let me tell you something

about what the enemy's main objective is today.

You see, when the enemy attacks,

he's not just coming for one thing, brother.

You understand what I'm saying?

He's not just coming for one thing, sister.

That's not, no, no, no, no.

That's just the beginning.

The enemy's not just coming for one thing.

He's coming for everything that's connected to it.

Everything that's connected to it.

He's coming for all of it.

He wants all of it.

And so the devil, let me show you today,

has a three-stage strategy for taking what is ours.

This is a no-good character today.

This is a terrible character today, the enemy.

And we're not gonna glorify him,

but we need to expose him for what he is.

And so Jesus said in John chapter 10,

John 10 · chapter mention

and verse 10, if you could put that up,

here is the three-stage strategy of the enemy.

Jesus said the thief does not come except to,

help me out, steal and to,

and to, this is the enemy's objective.

But notice how he starts.

It doesn't, it's not the other way around.

It's not, he doesn't come to destroy, kill, and steal.

No, he ultimately wants to destroy,

but it starts at the stealing stage.

The stealing is important because he wants to steal

what doesn't belong to him.

And once he steals it, you know what he wants to do?

He wants to kill whatever life is left in it.

And then once he kills whatever life is left in it,

then he wants to destroy it.

You know what I mean?

He wants to wipe it off the map.

He wants to cut the bloodline.

He wants to cut off the blessing for generations to come.

He wants to eradicate it

and wipe it from the face of the earth.

This is how he wants to work.

This is his whole objective.

And so before we talk about even the killing

and the destroying, the most critical stage

in this process is the stealing.

Someone say the stealing.

This is the most critical stage

because if Satan can steal something from us

without a fight or worse, without us even realizing,

if he can rob us of something right under our nose,

if he can steal something from our lives,

from our purpose, from our family, from our death,

if he can steal something and then, and do that,

then he could kill or even destroy it

with very little resistance.

Oh, hallelujah.

So what I've come to inject in your hearts today

is at the stealing stage is the most important.

We cannot allow the enemy to steal something

and then just sort of let things play out.

No, we've got to have a militant in the spirit mindset.

We gotta have the attitude of a warrior.

We gotta have the attitude of a soldier

and say, I'm not willing to just allow the enemy

to steal whatever he wants from my life.

If he steals something, then you gotta know,

devil, that shots have been fired

and I'm not just gonna sit back and let you do

whatever it is that you do.

I've got a witness in the house of God today.

Oh, that's why you can't say, pastor, it's only my joy.

I'll be okay.

No, you better take back your joy

because if you don't, tomorrow it'll be your strength.

Hello, somebody.

The Bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength.

If you don't fight for your joy,

tomorrow it'll be your strength

and then by that time you won't have any strength left

to fight him back.

Don't you say it's only my peace.

I can do without peace, no, because today

it might be your peace, but tomorrow

it'll be your whole mind.

Somebody shall fight.

Don't say, well, brother, it's just one soul.

There's plenty of more souls out there.

The devil is a liar.

It might just be one soul to you today,

but that soul is connected to many other souls

and many others.

There's a whole generation that the devil wants to wipe out,

but the people of God are here today

and we've got faith in our spirit

and we're ready to fight the good fight of faith

and say devil, not on my watch.

Somebody ought to lift up your hands.

Somebody ought to thank the Lord today.

Yay!

Say this, say not on my watch, devil.

Come on, with some power, say not on my watch, devil.

This is where it ends, right here.

And the enemy tried to steal and Abraham said,

no, no, no, I ain't having this.

I ain't having it.

And you know Lot wasn't no perfect character either.

Lot had flaw, it wasn't like he was going after,

you know, a saintly person.

Lot had made a lot of mistakes,

but you know, but that's the heart of God.

Even if something isn't perfect,

even if something isn't pristine,

even if something isn't exactly the way we want,

but it has value in the eyes of God.

And so the Lord says, you need to go and get that.

What has the enemy taken from you?

Is it your joy?

Is it your love?

Is it your peace?

Is it your purpose?

Is it a loved one?

I'm here to tell you that the stakes are too high.

Stakes are too high.

They're too high.

And so whatever it is that we gotta get,

we gotta get over, get over ourselves,

get over whatever it is so that we can get back

to reclaiming what belongs to us.

But let me bring you to point number two.

And man, there's so much I wanna preach about.

I might have to make this a series in a couple of weeks,

come back to this, but hear me on this next part,

because this is so important.

And it has to do with the attitude that we have

in getting what belongs to us.

And it's this, that winning, someone say winning,

it starts before the war.

Oh man, I need to take a jook of water, praise God.

Before the war, can I tell you something?

If you start getting ready in the fight, it's too late.

Imagine what a soldier's gonna do when he starts going,

you can't go through basic training while you're in battle.

And the reason why some Christians are getting whipped

by the enemy is because they're not prepared.

You step outside of your house

and you don't got the armor of the Lord on you.

How are you gonna fight him?

Amen, somebody.

In fact, you ask most anybody

whether it's professional sports, boxers, athletes,

really, if you think about it,

the war or the fight is won, not in the ring,

it's won in the preparation.

Because it's when what's an opponent

doesn't respect his enemy and he doesn't prepare himself,

doesn't matter how talented, how gifted, how athletic he is,

he'll get knocked down in the ring, why?

Because he wasn't prepared.

He just steps in there and say,

hey man, I got the stuff.

What about the preparation?

Abraham, he was a man of peace

and we talk a lot about the peaceful nature of Abraham.

He was, but can I tell you, he was prepared for war.

He was prepared for war.

The Bible says this, what's this?

Abraham, I've got new,

you're gonna have new respect for Abraham today.

You're not just gonna see Abraham today

as an altar builder and a covenant maker,

you're gonna see him as a bad warrior, watch this.

Because in verse 14, if you could,

I don't know if I have that, if not, that's okay.

In verse 14, the Bible says that he armed his 318 trained

servants behind the scenes in the midst of making covenants

and building altars.

We think that Abraham is just like a tearful worshiper.

He was training up an army.

He was equipping an army, preparing an army

with uniquely qualified skills.

These were unique servants.

I mean, I have an appreciation for the way

that these men came up under Abraham.

They were unique.

I'll tell you one reason why they were unique.

They were a dual threat.

They were a dual threat.

They were not what some might call like a one trick pony.

They didn't just do one thing and do it really well.

And if that's the case, nothing wrong with that.

But these people were like ambidextrous.

They could do a little bit of everything almost.

They could serve with one hand

and then they could fight with the other.

Reminds me a lot of Nehemiah's men

as they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, right?

Because the scripture says that with one hand they built

and with the other hand they held a sword.

So these were very much like that.

They could tend the flocks by day

and do the service and the work within the house of Abraham,

but wield the sword by night.

These were specially trained servants.

And I believe that this pictures the kind of versatile,

hear me today, the kind of versatile church

that God is wanting to raise up in this hour of spiritual

hostility.

God wants to raise up men and women of faith

in the church today that can tend the flock by day

and wield the sword by night.

God wants people in the house to God today in the church

that not only conserve, but engage in spiritual battle.

Oh, what would happen if we like these trained servants

in the house of Abraham?

They not only lend their talents, they lend their giftings,

but they also were engaged in spiritual battle.

I wonder what would happen in the church today

right here in this place.

If there were a people that said, you know what?

I'm not only gonna lend my gift to God,

but I'm gonna be active in spiritual warfare.

I'm gonna get into my prayer closet.

I'm gonna seek God.

I'm gonna win a lost person for Jesus.

I'm gonna see the power of God release in my life.

I wonder if there's somebody here today,

people who can really worship, people who can really pray,

people who can really speak the name of Jesus.

Clap your hands and let's give God some praise, hallelujah.

This is what it's gonna take.

And the revivals that we've experienced,

the revival that we just had last Sunday,

praise be to God for that.

But let's make sure it's not just an experience.

Let's make sure it becomes a lifestyle.

The Bible says the weapons of our,

for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,

but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.

There are strongholds that need to come down

in the name of Jesus Christ.

Can I preach like I want to here today?

Hallelujah.

There are strongholds, someone say strongholds.

There are strongholds and a stronghold sounds exactly

or is exactly like how it sounds.

It's a place of strength that's got a hold.

And there are certain places,

some might be in our own lives, amen.

It might be in our own little worlds

or they might be in the world around us.

There are footholds and there are strongholds,

territories that the enemy has tried to claim as his own.

And he's gonna sit there until a person of faith,

full of the Holy Ghost and understands the power

of the name of Jesus,

tells that guy that he's got 30 seconds to get out of there

because if not, he's gonna regret it.

He's got to deal with people of faith

that are willing to put the devil in his place,

in the spirit and start claiming things

that belong to us.

I don't know if I'm talking to somebody here today

that's got some things that you need to reclaim

for the kingdom of God.

Oh, you got some things you need to reclaim for the Lord.

Things in the spirit.

Well, the Lord sent me here today to tell you

that you are armed and you are dangerous,

but you've got to use it.

You've got to prepare yourself for battle.

If we could have these weapons, that's wonderful.

We can attend church and that's wonderful.

But let me tell you something, coming to church,

getting involved with the church,

whether it's on Sunday, whether it's midweek

at the school of discipleship,

whether it's in a city group, praise be to God,

whatever those things are,

it's not for the purpose of us just being fed.

No, it's for us to be trained.

Whoo, hallelujah.

So that we can go about and carry out the work of ministry

in our lives.

And be the hands, the feet of Jesus Christ.

It is not, too many people choose

what church they're gonna go to.

Is it, they're gonna feed me.

And the problem is, is that people are not growing

spiritually, they're just getting spiritually fat.

Oh, I can't say that, I'm sorry.

We don't like hearing that, but it's true.

How many sermons, how many things are we gonna hear?

How many things are we gonna hear?

We said, why should God give you more

if you haven't done anything with what he's given you now?

If you don't like the word fat, okay,

we're spiritually out of shape.

Something you rolled your eyes when I said that,

it's all right.

We're spiritually out of shape.

We're spiritually not conditioned.

And so why should God give us more?

I wanna go to the next,

when's the next revival gonna be, Pastor?

Why, what did you do with the last revival?

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

Who are we, who are we talking to?

What things are we claiming?

How have we changed since the last time?

Let me tell you something.

Passion, zeal, I'll just be a few more moments, hallelujah.

Passion, zeal, that's great.

It's great when you can come to church

and get excited and get passionate.

But let me tell you something,

your zeal, your passion is not gonna help you

in the battle.

You will always default to your level of preparation.

You'll always default to your level of preparation.

You'll always fall back on your level of prepare.

From, they came up under Abraham.

And so for them, this mission was personal.

They were loyal.

They were dedicated.

And they, and you know what they were?

For hell or high water, through thick and thin,

they were Team Abraham.

The reason why some are struggling to get the victory

in areas of your life is because your allegiance

is on shaky ground.

Oh my God.

You're never gonna get the victory with a partial commitment,

with a partial, oh, hallelujah.

Woo, my God.

The Bible says they were from his own hand.

You know what that tells me?

They had no ulterior motives.

No secret agendas.

Hmm, my God.

Everyone worrying about who's gonna get the credit

and who's gonna get,

they were just, they were Team Abraham.

They were in it all the way.

Some are struggling to take back what the enemy has stolen.

Not because you don't love God.

Not because your salvation is in question.

But perhaps because there is some wavering.

You cannot claim victory if you haven't chosen a side.

You can't claim victory saying,

I'm just gonna have it one foot in and one foot out.

These men, they were so committed.

They were just waiting for Abraham

to give them their orders.

Abraham, just tell us where to go and we'll be there.

Tell us where to show up.

Tell us how you, give us the marching orders.

Tell us what the vision is.

Tell us where we need to go, Abraham.

And we're ready to fight.

We're ready to fight.

We're not just servants, but we're warriors at the same time.

And we're also trained.

We've been working in the gym.

We've been polishing our swords.

We've been practicing these skills.

And we're ready to get into the fight.

So just tell us where to go.

And then at the moment that Abraham gathered

his 318 men together, they say, now it's time, gentlemen.

Let's go and reclaim what God has.

Let's go and get our lot back.

They said, let's go into battle and let's get a lot back.

Let's go wherever we need to go.

And let's reclaim the things of God.

I've come to tell somebody here today

that if you want to see a breakthrough in your life,

if you want to see God reclaiming

of whatever it is in your life, God is revealing it right now

when the Holy Ghost.

Oh, rabba, bai, yash, shah, shah.

He's revealing it right now when the Holy Ghost of those things

you need to reclaim in your life.

He's revealing it right now.

And this is the last thing that the Lord wants me to say,

is that you've got to take the fight to the enemy.

Oh, what I love about Abraham.

What I love about Abraham is that he went all the way.

He went as far as he needed to go

to take back what the enemy had stolen from him.

Oh, he traveled many, many miles, upwards of 120 miles.

Him and his skilled, trained men went with him

and they went inside of the border.

Let me tell you something in the Holy Ghost right now.

There are some things that God is going to give to you,

but you've got to be willing to go beyond

whatever border, whatever line.

You see something, my God,

we have this thing in our head and our minds that tells us,

and every one of us today has one.

We said, this is as far as I'm willing to go.

But what if I told you that your breakthrough

and your miracle and your victory

was right on the other side of how far you're willing to,

you're not hearing me here today.

Some of you say, I will not praise him any louder than this.

What if I told you if you praise him a little bit harder

and a little bit louder,

you might see the miracle in your life.

Oh my God, if I go a little further,

would you stand with me this afternoon?

Ba-da-ba-ba-yai, what would happen?

If I go a little further, you say, but pastor,

I mean, this all sounds nice and great and wonderful.

You know, I took a few notes, that's all great.

That's cute, what a cute message and all that.

But I don't know if I'm ready to go to the next level

because I've already made an agreement with God

that this is what I'm gonna give this year.

This is what I'm gonna do this year.

This is as far as I'm willing to go.

Well, then you may not get what you've been believing, God,

to give back to you.

But if you're willing to go as far as Hobo,

oh my Lord, as far as Hobo.

He said, I'm not gonna stop within the predictable place

that I always stop.

Some of us are so predictable.

You pray the same prayer all the time.

You worship the same way all the time.

You praise the same way all the time.

You give the same thing all the time.

And God is saying, I wonder why, I hear the Holy Ghost,

would you try me?

Would you put your foot out there?

Would you, mm, you say, why do I gotta do that?

Because until we go into the enemy's camp,

we may not take back what belongs to us.

Come on, help me out, musicians.

Ah, until we go all the way, until the enemy's camp,

all the way.

Someone give God some praise right now.

Come on, somebody magnify him today.

I feel the Holy Ghost in this place right now.

I feel the Spirit of God in this place.

And there is a push in the Holy Ghost

to go further than where we've gone before.

There is a push in the Holy Ghost

to press beyond our predictable norms.

There's a push in the Holy Ghost

to look past whatever it is that we see

as our typical and normative experience with God.

And the Lord says, if you're willing to go beyond that,

oh, if you're willing to push beyond that,

you're gonna find a lot.

You're gonna find what the enemy

is trying to take from you.

Oh, I feel like somebody is about to break free.