Understanding God’s Purpose in Opposition: A Biblical Perspective

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
The message today is called, You're commissioned to opposition.
[00:00:02] You're commissioned to opposition.
[00:00:05] You pray against the enemy, but the enemy has been commissioned to serve your purpose.
[00:00:12] You
[00:00:13] I know this, I like it because Christians have three levels of development.
[00:00:19] We have the one where we just get to know our relationship to God and we love Jesus and then when you get a little bit more mature in spiritual things you begin to get engaged in spiritual warfare.
[00:00:30] And a lot of us are at that level, that's level two, where we engage in spiritual warfare and we deal with the works of the enemy.
[00:00:37] and we talk about the destruction of the enemy and that's all important but the level three the deepest prophetic level is knowing that your enemy serves your purpose satan serves your purpose demons serve your purpose everything serves your purpose when you are in the will of god because you have been designed for his purpose and romans says that
[00:01:00] all things work for good for those who are designed for his purpose and so there's not a thing in your life that isn't designed for your good and sometimes we're praying so hard against our enemy we're not seeing the purpose that they're serving in our relationship with God let me tell you something there is no victory that the enemy can attain over you there's only lessons that he's designed to teach you are y'all with me
[00:01:25] This is a kingdom message.
[00:01:27] We have not left the kingdom series.
[00:01:30] Fundamentally, the message of this year is to teach you that the kingdom of God is within you and that you are to manifest it.
[00:01:37] And one of the ways that you manifest it is in understanding your opposition.
[00:01:43] There is real demonic opposition.
[00:01:45] There are real things that are trying to destroy you.
[00:01:47] There are real things that are trying to hinder you.
[00:01:49] And you must deal with those things, but you must also recognize the purpose of those things.
[00:01:56] What if I told you that your enemy, whatever it is you're facing, and I know some of your situations, I know some of you in this place I could go into are really, really difficult situations.
[00:02:09] I mean, there's people, all of us have problems.
[00:02:12] But I could expose some problems that some people are facing here that would blow your mind.
[00:02:19] The enemy is active.
[00:02:21] and He seeks to destroy.
[00:02:22] We know He seeks to kill, steal, and destroy, but He's also been commissioned by God to show you the source of your victory.
[00:02:31] He's to show you the source of your victory.
[00:02:33] So your enemy is not simply here to kill and destroy.
[00:02:35] He's also on assignment to teach you.
[00:02:38] He's also on assignment to teach you.
[00:02:40] And I think I want you to understand that.
[00:02:41] Let's go to John 13, 26 through seven.
[00:02:45] John 13, 26 through seven.
[00:02:48] It says, Jesus answered,
[00:02:50] He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it.
[00:02:56] And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
[00:03:01] And after the sop, Satan entered into him.
[00:03:08] Then Jesus said, That thou doest, do it quickly.
[00:03:13] Let me read that again.
[00:03:15] Jesus answered,
[00:03:16] talking about who's going to betray him they're at the passover seder he's getting ready to go to the cross he said it is the one to whom i shall give a sop when i have dipped it when he dipped the sop he gave it to judas iscariot there's flesh and blood there's the man there's the betrayer the one that manifests the betrayal of god but we see that not only is the flesh and blood there but it says and satan entered him so we see both the material enemy
[00:03:45] and we see the spiritual enemy there is never a distinction between the material enemy in your life and the spiritual enemy in your life there's not a difference between the two if you're dealing with somebody you're dealing with with flesh and blood many of you face flesh and blood problems people who oppose you who are actively working against you but they're always inspired by something outside of them here we see that Satan entered
[00:04:14] Judas and so it's interesting in this verse that Jesus does not condemn Judas he does not say Judas don't do this he does not say Satan depart from me he says do it but do it quickly
[00:04:29] Do it.
[00:04:30] Do what you have to do, Judas.
[00:04:32] Do what you have to do, Satan.
[00:04:35] But do it quickly.
[00:04:36] Now this is the third level of prophetic maturity that I was talking about.
[00:04:40] Christ told Peter, get thee behind me, Satan, because he recognized that Satan in that instance
[00:04:46] was designed to infiltrate and disrupt his plan because Peter was going to take him a different route.
[00:04:51] But here, Jesus doesn't say, Satan, get thee behind me.
[00:04:55] He doesn't say, Satan, depart.
[00:04:56] He doesn't say, Judas, get out of here.
[00:04:58] He says, do what you need to do.
[00:05:00] Just do it quickly.
[00:05:05] And sometimes we're so actively praying against the devil that he would stop doing what he is doing, that he would depart, that he would flee, when really we need to shift our prayers and say, you know what?
[00:05:16] Do what you have to do, just do it quickly.
[00:05:19] I'm not going to keep praying that this situation ends.
[00:05:22] I'm going to pray that whatever this situation was designed for would happen in an expedited manner so I don't get stuck
[00:05:28] and the place of betrayal so I don't get stuck at this dinner so I could move on with my destiny because I know what God has on the other side of this betrayal.
[00:05:37] I know what God has on the other side of this assignment is so much greater than if I didn't have the assignment at all.
[00:05:43] Without the Judas, without Satan, there would be no cross, and without the cross there would be no resurrection.
[00:05:50] There would be no conquering of death.
[00:05:51] Sometimes we have to shift our mentality to say, you know what?
[00:05:55] I'm in this situation.
[00:05:57] There's got to be a reason that I'm in this situation.
[00:06:00] I'm facing not just a moment about myself, I'm not merely facing opposition, but I'm facing a birth of the kingdom of God from inside me,
[00:06:08] to an external force in this world and so you know what God why I'm in this situation I don't need to know all the details I only need you to expedite the matter and shift my seasons I know I have to walk through this I can't end this thing I have to stay here but let's do it quickly
[00:06:26] Let's not waste too much time.
[00:06:28] Let's not live in the wilderness.
[00:06:30] Let me understand why you put me here.
[00:06:33] Follow this thing through and devil, fulfill your assignment in my life.
[00:06:37] Finish your Job moment.
[00:06:39] Do what you have to do because I'm ready to get to the other side of this.
[00:06:46] Lord, let this finish quickly.
[00:06:51] I begin to learn that many of the things I face I've even shifted as I've matured in God to where I go you know what I have to walk through this I have to face this opposition I have to face demonic opposition I have to face the opposition from people I have to there is no changing it because it's not about what they have it's not about what they can do it's about revealing what's inside of me when I lock into faith in my relationship with God and if I didn't go through this I would not
[00:07:20] So I must go through this because on the other side of this was God's plan all along.
[00:07:28] Are y'all with me?
[00:07:31] Let's get into the nitty gritty of it, the theology of it.
[00:07:35] Today's gonna be scripturally heavy, so if you're taking notes, please write down these scriptures.
[00:07:40] We know when I say evil, when I say the enemy, I see them as synonymous.
[00:07:47] So sometimes I'll say evil, sometimes I'll say the enemy.
[00:07:50] When I say an enemy, I'm talking about the Judases in your life.
[00:07:55] I'm talking about Satan, I'm talking about demons, I'm talking about their spiritual reality of demonic forces and evil.
[00:08:01] But I'm also talking about evil as a concept.
[00:08:05] And you need to understand what that evil is and how it plays a role in your life.
[00:08:11] So we can say evil, we can say enemy, we can say devil, we can say Judas.
[00:08:14] All of those things are part and parcel of people
[00:08:18] who operate outside of the will of God who are then used by forces designed to oppose the will of God.
[00:08:25] You understand what I'm saying?
[00:08:28] We know that God hates evil.
[00:08:31] We know that.
[00:08:35] Habakkuk 1.3 says, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst look at iniquity.
[00:08:44] Romans 12 9 teaches us to abhor what is evil.
[00:08:47] Why do we abhor what is evil?
[00:08:48] Because we are one with Christ.
[00:08:51] Our nature is to be more like our Father, so we are to hate what He hates, to love what He loves, and Scripture teaches us to abhor evil.
[00:08:59] And if it teaches us to abhor evil, that means our Father also abhors evil.
[00:09:04] He despises that which is evil.
[00:09:07] Psalms 4-5 says, For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness.
[00:09:16] Thou hatest all works of iniquity.
[00:09:19] Let me sit there for a second.
[00:09:20] Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness.
[00:09:26] God takes no pleasure in wickedness.
[00:09:28] God takes no pleasure in evil.
[00:09:31] So we can establish and firmly say, would you agree that God hates evil?
[00:09:35] We know that, right?
[00:09:37] That's a pretty firmly established fact and we could all say that with confidence.
[00:09:42] But then we get into a deeper realm where God allows evil.
[00:09:49] We kind of know that.
[00:09:50] We say allows, but we're afraid to take it a lot further.
[00:09:56] We're afraid to take it that extra logical step.
[00:09:59] God does not only allow evil, he shapes evil.
[00:10:04] He crafts evil.
[00:10:06] Do you think evil can operate outside of the purpose of your God?
[00:10:10] Do you think that there is a separate entity that can compete with your God?
[00:10:14] We are not dualists, folks.
[00:10:16] We are not Zoroastrians.
[00:10:17] We do not believe that there are two entities competing eternally.
[00:10:21] We do not believe that God has competition.
[00:10:23] Our God is all in all.
[00:10:25] He is sovereign.
[00:10:26] He is complete.
[00:10:27] He is in control.
[00:10:28] And there is nothing outside of Him that can take Him by surprise.
[00:10:32] It did not surprise him when man fall.
[00:10:35] It did not surprise him when Brad screwed up.
[00:10:37] It did not surprise him when I stumbled.
[00:10:40] It did not surprise him when you made that mistake that you thought disqualified you.
[00:10:44] It did not surprise him when you went through the trial that you thought your enemy designed to destroy you.
[00:10:49] None of that takes God by surprise.
[00:10:51] God doesn't look at your life and say, you know what?
[00:10:53] This one caught me off guard.
[00:10:54] The enemy got me here.
[00:10:55] He won.
[00:10:56] You know what?
[00:10:56] I don't know what to do about this situation.
[00:10:58] Let me come up with a solution.
[00:11:00] God meticulously sat back and said, you know what?
[00:11:02] Let me work with this thing that I hate to shape something that I love so that I can have more fruitfulness in the things that I love.
[00:11:11] Isaiah 45, 7, we know that.
[00:11:16] I've been quoting it a lot lately.
[00:11:18] The Lord makes peace and creates evil.
[00:11:23] The Lord makes the day and the night.
[00:11:26] I the Lord do all these things makes peace Asia and creates evil wow makes day and night I the Lord do all these things Amos 3 6 says shall there be evil in a city and the Lord has not done it go back to Isaiah 45 7 so I don't think I'm making it up because I got some funny looks on that one go back to it
[00:11:57] Y'all read it for yourselves.
[00:12:03] I the Lord do all these things.
[00:12:05] I form the light and create darkness.
[00:12:07] I make peace and create evil.
[00:12:08] Who do you think you are to think that there's something outside of me that can affect you in a way that I have not designed?
[00:12:14] Who do you think you are that there's something outside of me that I did not anticipate about your life?
[00:12:18] You're so worried about your enemy.
[00:12:20] Worry about knowing me.
[00:12:25] Worry about who you are in me.
[00:12:28] Thank you, sir.
[00:12:30] Go to Amos 3.6.
[00:12:39] Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?
[00:12:46] Your God
[00:12:48] is in control but this can be confusing to people because they're saying well then what is the nature of evil because God has no shadow he casts no shadow as James says there's nothing inside of him that is evil so what is evil and there's been a lot of theological work on this concept and the one that makes the most sense and the one that aligns biblically is that evil
[00:13:13] is not a separate force in reality.
[00:13:16] It is not something that competes with God.
[00:13:19] It does not compete with his character.
[00:13:21] It does not compete with his design.
[00:13:23] But evil is the privation of God.
[00:13:25] It is the absence of God.
[00:13:28] In much the same way that darkness is the absence of light, that cold is the absence of heat.
[00:13:35] Cold is the absence of heat, meaning that when heat is absent, you feel cold, right?
[00:13:40] When light is absent, you see darkness.
[00:13:43] But it's the absence of something even though you have those felt effects.
[00:13:48] So in that absence you feel something.
[00:13:52] You experience something.
[00:13:55] And what I truly believe is that God has created a negative space, so to speak.
[00:14:02] A negative space where his absence is felt.
[00:14:06] In this fallen world we exist in what we would call a negative space.
[00:14:11] There is an area, think of it like Genesis 1.
[00:14:15] He comes and he hovers over the what?
[00:14:18] The darkness.
[00:14:20] He hovers over the void.
[00:14:22] He comes into a negative space and he begins to create out of it.
[00:14:26] And in our reality, there is a negative space where evil is not a rival force, it is a room where the lights are turned off.
[00:14:38] You understand what I'm saying?
[00:14:40] Evil is not some kind of material reality that can work against you in a significant way.
[00:14:48] It's you in a room with the lights turned off thinking that darkness is the reality.
[00:14:54] And the only solution to the darkness that you're experiencing is to turn the lights on.
[00:15:01] And so when you're in that space you think this is real.
[00:15:05] I'm blind I can't see this this is what reality is this must be real this must be something I'm experiencing so therefore it is my reality and the reality is it's just the absence of the light and all you have to do is flick on the switch I got three applause y'all right y'all with me did I lose you
[00:15:34] I can never tell with you guys.
[00:15:35] You're all a hard bunch.
[00:15:38] Darkness hovering over the face of the deep.
[00:15:43] Satan lives in this space.
[00:15:45] You need to understand that.
[00:15:46] This is Satan lives in this space.
[00:15:48] Demons live in this space.
[00:15:53] What I mean by that is we know that Satan was once called Lucifer.
[00:16:00] We assume that based on Scripture.
[00:16:04] That he convinced the third of the angels to rebel against our God.
[00:16:08] But he did not do so from the same perspective that we are in.
[00:16:12] We were born into a negative space.
[00:16:17] We were born into a fallen world.
[00:16:21] We were born into depravity, chaos.
[00:16:24] We were born with the inclination of sin.
[00:16:27] We were born into generational curses.
[00:16:29] We were born into iniquity as David said.
[00:16:32] We were born into these things, but Satan as we now know him was not.
[00:16:37] He was in the presence of God.
[00:16:39] He sat next to God.
[00:16:42] He had a role to play in heavenly places.
[00:16:44] There was no darkness.
[00:16:47] If we assume that Lucifer's situation was like Revelation's situation for us, that there was a flowing river and a throne and God's brightness lit up everything eternally and everything was warm and there was no absence of God.
[00:17:01] He was in the fullness of his presence and yet God
[00:17:03] God loved him enough to let allow him to worship him freely and at some point Satan said you know what it's not enough for me to worship God it's not enough for me to value God it's not enough for me to appreciate God I want to be God and God said if you want to be God go try it's really quite that simple if you want to be God have at it but you can't do it here
[00:17:37] I don't share my throne not only do I not share my throne but it's impossible for me to share my throne because I am I simply was when we talked this is the amazing thing about sure one of those confirming things about scripture minister Greg is when they said what should we call he says I am God just says I am I just always was I am I shall be I'm just me and everything comes out of me
[00:18:05] You want to be God?
[00:18:06] Have at it.
[00:18:07] I think God is so loving that if he had the capacity, he'd say, try it here.
[00:18:13] Just do it here.
[00:18:14] The reality is he can't because he is all that he is.
[00:18:21] And so if you want to try to be something that he is not, the only way to do that is do it outside in a different space.
[00:18:28] And God even says, you know what?
[00:18:29] I'm going to create the negative space for you to operate.
[00:18:35] Go ahead.
[00:18:38] Do your thing, Lucifer.
[00:18:41] He cast him out of heaven and all of a sudden he's in this negative space because what does the Bible say about the devil?
[00:18:48] It says he steals.
[00:18:49] It says he lies.
[00:18:51] It says he destroys.
[00:18:52] It says he takes.
[00:18:53] One thing it does not say about him is that he creates.
[00:18:58] Everything that the enemy does operates out of deception, operates out of theft, operates out of distortion.
[00:19:03] He has no capacity to create.
[00:19:06] We fear his creations.
[00:19:07] I know the occult.
[00:19:09] I've seen it.
[00:19:09] I've seen fetish priests in Ghana.
[00:19:12] I know how they operate.
[00:19:13] I know that they can distort and make the perception of power.
[00:19:16] I know that they can do things.
[00:19:17] I know that witches are real.
[00:19:19] I know that altars are real.
[00:19:20] I know that chaos magic sometimes works.
[00:19:22] All it is is a distortion of what God already created.
[00:19:28] Do you know how occultism works?
[00:19:31] It steals from those who have been allotted in eternity.
[00:19:35] That one went over your head.
[00:19:37] Occultism works, witchcraft works, fetish priests work, not by creating something, but by convincing people who have something to give that something up to them.
[00:19:52] That's why that woman wanted to sleep with me in college.
[00:19:54] When she looked at me she said one day Brad I know I'm gonna see you and you've got a light about you and you do this and I was thinking I see you right now girl.
[00:20:04] And I didn't realize I wasn't spiritual at the time Rachel.
[00:20:08] She needed something from me that she did not have for herself.
[00:20:11] God allotted that thing to me in my house and my wife and here I was giving up my goods for a night of pleasure.
[00:20:20] The Bible says you become one.
[00:20:21] We think that you become one when you walk them down the altar.
[00:20:24] You become one when you enter them.
[00:20:28] That's marriage folks.
[00:20:30] Sex is marriage folks.
[00:20:32] I won't even go there.
[00:20:36] You give up your goods to these things.
[00:20:38] The devil can't do anything.
[00:20:39] All he can do is deceive you.
[00:20:41] All he can do and he's operating out of a negative space.
[00:20:43] And his mind is not capable, his power is not capable of producing, of creating.
[00:20:50] All it is capable of is stealing, lying, and destroying.
[00:20:55] And the further one moves from God into this negative space, the more warped their consciousness becomes.
[00:21:04] I could tell you visions that people have had that I know.
[00:21:10] Dreams that people have had where they've seen into realms and they've seen some of these entities.
[00:21:17] One of the most interesting ones came from a good friend of mine one night when he had this vision of this entity that was beginning to approach him and he was paralyzed with fear.
[00:21:30] There's a reason I'm bringing this up.
[00:21:32] He was paralyzed with fear and all of a sudden this thing like recognized him and began to approach him and he was caught in between two worlds because this is not the only world this world is a layer upon a layer upon a layer y'all realize that right you could just open your eyes right now and see what's really around you he was caught between two worlds and this thing began to approach him and all of a sudden the light came in and disrupted it and pulled him out
[00:21:58] Now the reason I bring that up is because I said I was asking was like what did this entity look like I was curious he said well it was fiddling with a bowl of blood and it had garments that looked like they used to be white they looked like they were white but now they were stained they were dirty it seemed like a very very powerful entity
[00:22:23] and on it was wearing medallions and crosses that were going not crosses but medallions like that were crossing and spinning and different things like like it was trying to manipulate and figure out time and it was fiddling with things and it was trying things and its garments were dirty as it approached me and it approached me with with like a ferocious hunger now i understand what that is that's an entity that has been cast out
[00:22:50] The Bible talks about us being restored with white garments.
[00:22:55] We dip it in the blood of Jesus and it doesn't make it red, it makes it white.
[00:22:58] That we walk in purity of presence.
[00:23:00] And when you're cast out of that presence, there is no restoration of your garments.
[00:23:04] And so I really believe that these entities, once they've been cast out, their desire is to get back
[00:23:10] they're fiddling with you they're trying to somehow manipulate the system to get back to where they came from and the only way that you can restore your garments the only way that you can walk in purity is through the blood of the lamb his name is Jesus Christ and so you have a power and a purity and what makes you special what makes you special is that you've done it from a negative space you've done it in the midst of brokenness
[00:23:39] something inside of you God's wonder about his creation with man and the reason that Satan hates you so much is not only will you go to where he was but you'll do it from a lesser place you'll do it from a broken place you'll do it from a fallen world you are such a son and daughter of God that the living flame inside of you cries out for where it came from and in the midst of darkness in the midst of chaos in the midst of destruction in the midst of sin in the midst of perversion in the midst of lies in the midst of
[00:24:08] Everything you say there is something greater inside of me and I want to go back to that place and I want to connect to that place and I want to return to where I come from I might be sitting in the midst of darkness but there is a light inside of me and I can feel it and I got to turn the lights on in this room Romans 1 21 through 28 it says their foolish hearts were darkened that God gave them over
[00:24:39] In other words, they were operating in such a space of darkness that their minds began to warp.
[00:24:50] They began to see that as their reality.
[00:24:53] And once they pressed into that reality, God says, that becomes your reality.
[00:24:58] God gives you over to that darkness.
[00:25:03] John describes people working against Christ as lovers of darkness.
[00:25:09] Y'all with me?
[00:25:10] Lovers of darkness.
[00:25:12] Ephesians 4.18, Paul says, Darkened in their understanding, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God.
[00:25:25] Connect those two things, Derek.
[00:25:27] Darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God.
[00:25:31] The further away from His presence you get, the more distorted your mind gets.
[00:25:38] This is what operates with Satan.
[00:25:41] This is what operated with Judas.
[00:25:43] Think about this.
[00:25:44] Judas who sat in the midst of Christ did not know him.
[00:25:50] It did not contaminate him.
[00:25:52] It did not infect him in the best way possible.
[00:25:55] It did not overpower him.
[00:25:58] The reason I'm saying that is you think because you're in church you're good.
[00:26:02] You think because you hear the name of Jesus, you're good.
[00:26:04] You think because you're hearing the preacher preach, you're good.
[00:26:07] But if Judas can sit in the midst of Christ and betray him nonetheless because he was so far from his presence, how much more should we be aware that just because we're showing up to a building, just because we're saying we're going to the house of God, just because we're saying we're following some rules, we can still be far from his presence.
[00:26:25] Because the kingdom of God is not locked up in this podium.
[00:26:31] I can't produce the kingdom of God for you Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you and it's my job to provoke to instigate to preach the word so that it touches something you says you know what I know who I am and I know what I carry and something rises up inside of you that says no more darkness no more distortion no more lies I'm a child of the light and the light will fill my room the light will fill my house the light will deliver me
[00:27:04] Distance from God is not simply spiritual separation, it's cognitive decay.
[00:27:16] You begin to crave what destroys you and resent what could save you.
[00:27:21] This is why the world operates the way that it does right now.
[00:27:25] This is why the Bible says in the end to become lovers of self.
[00:27:28] Because the further it gets from God, the further it diminishes and embraces darkness over light, the more the mind is distorted and mirrors Satan more than God.
[00:27:41] It begins to mirror and in that state the only thing that can operate is depravity.
[00:27:46] The only thing that can operate is lies, perversion, wickedness.
[00:27:50] And all that is is a disorder.
[00:27:52] When I say a word like perversion, I'm not talking about sex.
[00:27:54] Sex is amazing.
[00:27:55] Sex is beautiful.
[00:27:56] I like to have it a lot with my beautiful wife.
[00:28:00] Our church sex shame culture is ridiculous.
[00:28:03] I'm married.
[00:28:05] It's intimate.
[00:28:05] God created it.
[00:28:07] It's not perverse for me to love my wife.
[00:28:09] I adore her.
[00:28:11] Physically, I just... Perversion is the taking of that thing and... God made that, baby.
[00:28:24] God made you for me, girl!
[00:28:26] God made you for me.
[00:28:30] God made that woman for me, and guess what?
[00:28:33] Fellas, He made me for her, too.
[00:28:37] But you know what?
[00:28:39] The enemy wants to distort that.
[00:28:41] He wants to pervert that.
[00:28:42] He wants to break that up.
[00:28:44] And that's all he has.
[00:28:45] This thing that was made for her and this thing that was made for me, he wants to get us to believe it was made for others.
[00:28:51] And God says, that's not my design.
[00:28:54] That's all he has.
[00:28:55] He can't create nothing new.
[00:28:57] He can't create a new way of procreation.
[00:28:59] He can't create a new way of intimacy.
[00:29:01] He can only distort what already existed.
[00:29:04] Y'all with me?
[00:29:07] And so the more distant you are from God, that's why when societies, that's why even though I believe that you cannot implement a system of religion, you can't, that gets people to change.
[00:29:20] I'm glad that we're going to put up the Ten Commandments in Louisiana if it's allowed.
[00:29:23] That's wonderful, right?
[00:29:25] The reason I like that is not because it's righteous in and of itself.
[00:29:28] but it's a framework to provoke people to remind them about their God to remind them about the order that he designed to them it's not it's not a solution in and of itself it's a framework it is a path to say there is a way that is better than the way of darkness there is a light that you should call upon there is something that you were designed for and that's our job is to remind people of that
[00:29:53] and when a world gets too far away from that you can see it and how they perceive things you can see it and what they care about you can see it what they act about their minds become distorted and they begin to call love that which is not love they begin to call hate that which is not hate they call order hate they called distortion love and everything gets messed up because they confuse the darkness for reality and their minds begin to get warped
[00:30:24] That's how Satan blinds the mind according to 2 Corinthians 4.4.
[00:30:29] Sin is not a behavior simply.
[00:30:35] This is one of the biggest problems that churches have is we say, oh, the behavior, if you do this, we externalize sin to say, if you do this, then God's mad at you and blah, blah, blah.
[00:30:46] Sin is what produces the broken lens.
[00:30:50] The consequence of sin is internal.
[00:30:53] Sin distorts reality.
[00:30:56] And the more you press into sin, the more you're inviting a distortion of who you are.
[00:31:03] I don't commit adultery because I want to be a son of God.
[00:31:09] That's not why I don't commit adultery.
[00:31:11] I don't look and say, I'm not going to cheat on my wife because I want to be in right standing with God.
[00:31:16] I don't cheat on my wife because I'm in right standing with God.
[00:31:20] Because I am a son of God.
[00:31:22] This is why Revelation says, no liars, no witchcraft, no adulterers, no murderers, these things don't enter the kingdom of heaven because how can they?
[00:31:30] The kingdom of heaven is sustained by the nature and presence of God and these things aren't part of his presence and it is not my desire to have that presence that doesn't get me to cheat on my wife, it's my knowledge that that presence is in me that makes me lose the taste for it in the first place.
[00:31:50] I'm not an adulterer.
[00:31:51] I'm not a murderer.
[00:31:52] I'm not a liar.
[00:31:53] So those things don't have a place in my life.
[00:31:57] Even when I was an addict.
[00:31:59] Even when I was a junkie.
[00:32:01] I'm not a junkie.
[00:32:02] I'm the son of the Most High God.
[00:32:04] And so who I am will fundamentally match
[00:32:11] My behavior and where it comes from, it doesn't come from discipline.
[00:32:15] Let me just discipline and flagellate and convince myself that if I do these things, God has me.
[00:32:20] It comes from a deeper place to say, you know what?
[00:32:23] That does not match who I am and it's a distortion of who I am.
[00:32:27] And that's why the enemy loves shame so much.
[00:32:29] He wants to commit sin not to disqualify you from God.
[00:32:33] He wants you to sin not to get you to break a relationship with God and God judge you.
[00:32:37] He wants you to sin so that you break off the relationship with God, so that you pull away from God, so that you're distorted about who you are and then you begin to shut God out of key areas of your life.
[00:32:54] I can't tell, Rach.
[00:32:55] This church is awfully quiet except the front row.
[00:33:05] Judgment is two things.
[00:33:11] God will judge you.
[00:33:14] God judges His sons and daughters because He loves them.
[00:33:18] If you persist in a darkness, He will bring something to your attention to try to get you to recognize His authority in your life.
[00:33:27] Speaking of Israel, this is why God constantly can judge Israel but not abandon Israel.
[00:33:33] We see that.
[00:33:34] We see the prophets constantly railing against the wickedness in Israel.
[00:33:37] We see them saying that God's going to bring you into Babylon, captivity.
[00:33:40] He's going to destroy this.
[00:33:41] He's going to do that.
[00:33:43] But we never see God abandon His promise to them.
[00:33:46] We never see God abandon what He says to them.
[00:33:48] And the most important way, we see the same thing with us.
[00:33:53] God will say, you know what, if you love this darkness so much, the only way I can get your attention is to crack the bell.
[00:34:00] I need you to wake up I need you to see what it's doing to you son you're distorted it's like I talk about my son my son carries me in him he carries my DNA and the worst possible thing is that he could start doing something that doesn't look like me that then convinces him he's not mine y'all with me and at some point I might have to grab him and say boy
[00:34:25] You're mine.
[00:34:26] You've got me in you.
[00:34:27] This is not what we do.
[00:34:29] This is not who we are.
[00:34:30] You look like me.
[00:34:31] You are me.
[00:34:32] And I'm doing this because I love you.
[00:34:34] And that's the kind of judgment that we should fall on our face and thank God for.
[00:34:41] Then there's an eternal judgment.
[00:34:45] The eternal judgment, we often think of it in terms of punishment.
[00:34:50] But God does not simply punish.
[00:34:52] He says, so be it.
[00:34:55] So be it.
[00:34:57] And what it is, it's the locking in of your chosen alignment.
[00:35:01] It's the locking in of your reality.
[00:35:04] C.S.
[00:35:04] Lewis famously said, the doors of hell are locked from the inside.
[00:35:09] I love that quote.
[00:35:11] Final judgment is less about wrath and it's more about closing the doors to his presence for eternity to those who rejected it.
[00:35:21] It's about closing the door.
[00:35:22] There has to be a day.
[00:35:24] Revelations, one of the verses that always confused me in Revelations was says the martyrs cry out, when will you, when will you deal with those who shed our blood?
[00:35:38] And I always thought that there was a cry for revenge.
[00:35:41] I never understood that.
[00:35:42] How could you be in the presence of God and seek vengeance or lack forgiveness?
[00:35:48] But there's a deeper context saying when will you bring iniquity to an end?
[00:35:53] When will you bring this wickedness to an end?
[00:35:56] And there has to be a day that God comes and says enough of the negative space.
[00:36:00] enough of the wickedness my chosen cannot suffer any longer we're bringing an end to it that's why the bible says he wipes away all of our tears and we enter his presence and there shall be no more crying there shall be no more weeping there shall be no more pain no death no anything because god has to bring it to an end and when that day comes those who have chosen to embrace darkness those who have fallen more in love with the lies than they have the truth will be stuck with those lies
[00:36:29] and we think that that punishment that that condition is created for us but the reality is this if the devil sat in his very presence and could not receive his love and grace and mercy without the desire to become God then the only place that he can retain and remain is in that negative space and in that negative space is a total absence of God so all there is is torment y'all following me
[00:37:02] that's what evil is that's what the that's what what it is it's a negative it's a darkness but there is a deeper there is a deeper message for the elect and i don't like to preach on election because i think that message has been distorted i think that that it it it's been too externalized it's been too presented as though god has a sorting machine who says i like elder asia rachel but brad's on the edge and so that he pre-sorts us and says you
[00:37:29] and there's elements of truth in that there's elements of lies in that and I think it's beyond our understanding and so I go I don't like to preach about election but there is something about being elect and what I mean by that is there is something about in what is inside of you recognizing where you came from you hear what I'm saying there's something about about being a son and daughter of God that you did not choose the moment that you confessed you did if you chose to be a son of God when you confessed
[00:37:59] Then you would have the capacity to save yourself through your confession and you don't have the capacity to save yourself.
[00:38:06] Only God can save you and God is all in all and the reality is everything good about you is merely a reflection of Him and since that's the case that's the deeper lesson of election is that you are a son of God and always were.
[00:38:19] You are a daughter of God and always were and there is nothing that you can do to change that.
[00:38:25] You simply must recognize that.
[00:38:30] And that's where evil for us is used to drive us toward Him.
[00:38:36] For us, evil operates in a different state.
[00:38:40] Some people might experience evil and they press into it.
[00:38:42] When I experience evil, I say, I need something else.
[00:38:46] and its stead.
[00:38:47] I need something to replace this pain that I'm experiencing.
[00:38:51] I need something to replace this loss.
[00:38:54] And what that means is fundamentally if evil is the absence of God, then that absence makes me crave His presence.
[00:39:02] You following me?
[00:39:05] If evil is the darkness because the light's turned off, then my blindness makes me crave the light.
[00:39:13] And this is the mystery of election.
[00:39:16] Sons and daughters know they come from the light and they miss it.
[00:39:20] They miss it.
[00:39:21] And the thing is that light is not simply a force.
[00:39:24] It's not simply the good.
[00:39:25] It's not simply the benefits.
[00:39:26] It's the presence and nature of God Himself.
[00:39:29] So when we turn away from evil, the only thing that we can turn to is our God.
[00:39:34] and so that evil those that enemy that that chaos that destruction that thing that you're facing is not designed to destroy you because it cannot destroy you if you don't allow it it's designed to make you press into your god and when you press into your god you're pressing into your reality of who you are and what you carry i am a temple of the most high god i carry god within me jesus and the father are one and i am one in christ
[00:40:04] The Orthodox call this theosis, and it's a scary expression because some people go, whoa, because they love distance between them and God.
[00:40:12] But the Orthodox say, God became man so that man can become God.
[00:40:17] And we think, oh, but the reality is what that means is that if Jesus and the Father are one and you are in Christ,
[00:40:25] What do you lack in terms of the fullness of God within you?
[00:40:29] You'll never have His essence.
[00:40:30] You'll never have His ability to be... Oh, I'm sorry, buddy.
[00:40:34] We'll never have His ability to be God.
[00:40:36] We're not a deity in and of ourselves, but He has bestowed upon us His image.
[00:40:40] He has bestowed upon us His sonship.
[00:40:42] He has bestowed upon us His daughtership.
[00:40:44] And what does that make you if not one with your Father?
[00:40:50] The biggest problem is that we create obstacles of separation between us and God.
[00:40:55] And the reality is God says, I don't want anything to separate you from me.
[00:41:00] I died on a cross so that you wouldn't be separated from me.
[00:41:03] If I wanted you separated from me, I would have left you in that negative space.
[00:41:06] I would have left you there all along.
[00:41:07] I just would have cast you out and never had a plan for redemption.
[00:41:10] I want to be one with you.
[00:41:12] I want you in my presence.
[00:41:13] You are my son.
[00:41:15] You are my daughter.
[00:41:16] Wake up to who you are and realize that this world is a lie.
[00:41:20] That world is reality.
[00:41:21] And you need to rise up and embrace what I am inside of you.
[00:41:25] Rise up and embrace who I've called you to be.
[00:41:27] I'm almost done, guys.
[00:41:37] What the enemy produces in us, we know Romans 8, 28.
[00:41:40] All things work together for good, that for them that love God, for them who are called according to his purpose.
[00:41:44] I love Psalms 23.
[00:41:47] The imagery is amazing.
[00:41:48] He prepares a table in the midst of mine enemies.
[00:41:53] Think about that for a second.
[00:41:56] It doesn't say he delivers me from my enemies so that I can have a banquet in private.
[00:42:01] It says that in the midst of my enemies, God comes out and sets up the plate, prepares the table so that you can sit down with the confidence of who your God is, that you can eat that turkey leg, that chicken,
[00:42:17] Whatever it is you like.
[00:42:18] My wife tried to make some jollof.
[00:42:20] I don't know how that went.
[00:42:22] It's terrible.
[00:42:23] Whatever it is, God prepares it so that you can eat in the midst of them.
[00:42:28] And this is not for you to see anything about your enemies.
[00:42:32] It's for you to see the power of your God.
[00:42:37] He prepares a table for you in the midst of your enemies.
[00:42:41] The absence makes us crave presence.
[00:42:43] The attack makes us crave shelter.
[00:42:46] The pain refines our tastes and desires, and it's through our enemy that we see the authority of God.
[00:42:51] It's through our enemy that we see the authority of Christ.
[00:42:54] 1 John says, For this purpose the Son of God was made manifest to destroy the works of the devil.
[00:43:00] That's not about the devil.
[00:43:02] The devil's role in that verse is to show us the authority of Christ.
[00:43:11] Without the devil, we wouldn't see the authority of Christ.
[00:43:14] If this purpose, the Son of God, was made manifest, then the enemy's purpose is to reveal the Son of God.
[00:43:21] If this purpose, the Son of God, was made manifest to destroy the works of the enemy, then you need the enemy to see who the Son of God is and the authority that he carries.
[00:43:28] In other words, for this purpose, you had to go through what you're going through, Derek and Shay, so that when the time comes, you can see the authority of your God.
[00:43:36] and recognize who you are to Him.
[00:43:38] You had to go through what you're going through.
[00:43:40] For this purpose, the enemy was designed to try to destroy you so that you could recognize the authority of Christ in your life.
[00:43:48] And it is only when you recognize the authority of Christ in your life that you recognize the God that loves you, craves you, desires you, calls you son, calls you daughter.
[00:43:56] When you recognize who He is, you recognize who you are.
[00:44:09] It's the enemy that shows us that we are the true sons of God, and this is why 1 Corinthians 6, 3 says we will judge the angels.
[00:44:18] You thought you had us.
[00:44:20] You thought I would be defeated by my problems.
[00:44:24] You thought I'd be destroyed by opposition.
[00:44:27] I persisted.
[00:44:28] I persevered.
[00:44:28] I knew who I was.
[00:44:31] I didn't do it by fighting the darkness.
[00:44:33] I did it by turning on the light.
[00:44:36] And now it's my turn.
[00:44:39] to judge the angels.
[00:44:41] Now I'm sitting in my place of final authority.
[00:44:48] You'll never overcome your problems, those things that you are going through, by fighting them in this realm.
[00:44:56] You won't beat them by tackling them, by thinking them.
[00:45:01] God will not allow you to out-think your enemy.
[00:45:05] God will not allow you to out-calculate your problems.
[00:45:09] If you're a child of God, your problems will utterly defeat you until all you have is Him inside of you rising up.
[00:45:19] Because they're designed to teach you who you are.
[00:45:25] I'm not smart enough for the demons that I have to fight.
[00:45:28] I'm not smart enough for the problems that I have to face I'm not equipped enough I'm not educated enough to overcome these obstacles all I have is the fire of God inside of me that when I'm facing them say you know what rise up and overcome based on who I am not based on what they are the only solution to the dark room is to turn the light on
[00:45:54] I want you to think about that every day this week because that verse, that is another way of saying that the kingdom of God is within you.
[00:46:05] In closing, Jesus is the son who learned through suffering according to Hebrews 5.8.
[00:46:14] Hebrews 5.8 says he learned obedience by what he suffered.
[00:46:20] In other words, you only suffer because of the enemy.
[00:46:22] You only suffer because of this world, this condition, the God of this world who's created this environment in which this negative space makes God seem absent.
[00:46:35] And it says that he learned obedience through what he suffered.
[00:46:38] And that sounds...
[00:46:40] Good, okay, he learned obedience, and we just think this is a guy who just learned to do what God told him, but the reality is that obedience has such a deeper context, and there's such a deeper context to what this is saying.
[00:46:51] Hupakoe, which is to hear under, it implies, that word obedience implies apprenticeship.
[00:46:59] He learned to be like his father.
[00:47:03] There's a reason that Jesus was a carpenter.
[00:47:11] It was to show us about the spirit realm.
[00:47:15] Joseph wasn't his daddy.
[00:47:16] The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary.
[00:47:18] That was his daddy.
[00:47:19] But in this realm, Joseph was called his father.
[00:47:23] And what did Jesus do?
[00:47:24] Jesus shadowed his father.
[00:47:27] He apprenticed his father.
[00:47:28] His daddy was a carpenter.
[00:47:29] He spent most of his life being a carpenter.
[00:47:32] And that wasn't to teach us simply that he worked with his hands.
[00:47:34] It was to teach us that there was an underlying principle that he had to do things that looked like his father.
[00:47:39] and the purpose of his walk was to emulate his father and so what we see the purpose of his suffering was to reveal his father to him and him and his father so that he could overcome that suffering by being one with daddy and that's the same principle that applies to you you the adopted sons and daughters
[00:48:05] You're called to, you have to suffer.
[00:48:09] You have to face the problems that you face.
[00:48:12] One of the ways I know this is a prophetic church is because of the problems that we face.
[00:48:18] I used to get so discouraged with them, but now I've matured to the point where I realize that is the mark of a son of God.
[00:48:25] That is the mark of a daughter of God.
[00:48:27] We face these problems so that through them we learn to become like our Father by saying, I can only overcome the darkness with the light.
[00:48:36] I can only overcome hate with love.
[00:48:38] I can only overcome judgment with mercy.
[00:48:40] I can only do this, and in doing that we're becoming shaped, we're becoming forged.
[00:48:46] Alright, here's the practicals.
[00:48:51] Number one, don't always pray to remove it.
[00:48:55] Don't always just pray to end it.
[00:49:00] Be wise enough to pray to let it finish quickly.
[00:49:05] Read John 13, 27 and let yourself absorb it.
[00:49:09] Some of the things you are fighting right now that you want to end so badly are designed to make you understand who you are.
[00:49:17] They're designed to make you more like your daddy.
[00:49:21] Number two, don't ask, why me?
[00:49:23] When you face these obstacles, this opposition, these problems in the world when it looks like everything you've pursued is coming to a dead end and prophecy isn't fulfilled and all of these things are happening, you don't ask, why me?
[00:49:36] You ask, what are you forging in me?
[00:49:40] What am I to learn in this?
[00:49:43] What idol do I need to let go?
[00:49:46] What part of my heart do I need to let you in?
[00:49:48] What area of my life am I holding on to?
[00:49:51] I'll stay in this season until the work is complete.
[00:49:54] Complete the work in me.
[00:49:56] Not why me, I've been so good, I've obeyed God, but what are you forging in your Son that I might learn through this darkness how much to love your light?
[00:50:08] The third and final thing,
[00:50:11] Y'all alright?
[00:50:12] I'm finishing, it's alright, it's all good.
[00:50:15] That's my wife's way of saying, that's my wife's way of, oh, I got you.
[00:50:19] My wife's way is like, get off the stage, boy, I got something to do.
[00:50:24] Number three, and this is it.
[00:50:25] I'm gonna preach shorter next time, guys, I promise.
[00:50:29] No, I'm serious.
[00:50:31] No, that's not me playing games.
[00:50:32] Number three, this is it.
[00:50:34] Presence, God's presence is the only solution to your problems.
[00:50:38] I mean that.
[00:50:40] God's presence is the only solution.
[00:50:42] What do you have?
[00:50:45] Like the devil, you cannot create independent of God.
[00:50:50] You cannot solve problems independent of God.
[00:50:54] God makes us stupid for a reason.
[00:50:56] I love it!
[00:50:57] All my philosophy, all my theater, my women's and gender studies minor, all of that stuff, and God made me stupid for a reason.
[00:51:05] So that I could just be like, you know what, I can't solve these problems, I have no capacity, I don't know what to do, but I know what's inside of me.
[00:51:13] And I need your presence to do what I can't, because that is the only solution to my problems.
[00:51:22] presence is the solution to your problems dig into presence don't look for outsiders to rescue you don't look for superman to save you don't look for somebody smarter somebody richer because you have the owner of a cattle on a thousand hills living inside of you you have the creator living inside of you you have the healer living inside of you you have the spirit that resurrected christ from the dead living inside of you stop looking outside of you for solutions stop looking to your pastor to lay hands on you again
[00:51:52] Stop looking for another reason, another church conference, another apostle, another prophecy, and recognize that everything you've ever needed is locked up inside of you.
[00:52:02] And all you need is to blow on that flame and recognize, oh, there's nothing that can overcome what's inside of me.
[00:52:11] Death itself can't take what's inside of me.
[00:52:18] Come on Rach, I'm done.
[00:52:19] God, I thank you for your presence.
[00:52:21] Let us be a church and a people of presence.
[00:52:23] Let us carry power and authority within us.
[00:52:26] Let us recognize who we are.
[00:52:28] Carriers of the sacred flame.
[00:52:31] Sons and daughters of God.
[00:52:33] In Jesus' mighty name.