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The Human Dimension of Spiritual Warfare - Pastor Caleb Adams - May 24, 202 — Transcript

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0:00you. Let's go to the book of Romans,
0:02chapter 16.
0:04[Music]
0:24We'll begin reading in verse number 17.
0:30[Music]
0:32Now I
0:34beseech you.
0:37Now that word beseech there means to
0:39beg,
0:41to implore, to entreat.
0:45When somebody is beseeching you for
0:48something, it's more than just asking.
0:51There's there's an urgency. There's a
0:54almost a sense of desperation.
0:58And Paul said, "I beseech you." So what
1:00that means is that we have to perk up
1:02our spiritual ears
1:04and give extra careful attention to what
1:08he is about to say.
1:11I beseech you, brethren, mark them
1:16which cause divisions
1:19and offenses contrary to the dark
1:22doctrine which you have received,
1:26and avoid them.
1:29For they that are such serve not our
1:33Lord Jesus Christ,
1:36but their own belly,
1:39and by good words and fair speeches
1:42deceive the hearts of the simple.
1:46For your obedience has come abroad unto
1:49all men.
1:50I am glad therefore on your behalf, but
1:53yet I would have you wise unto that
1:57which is good and simple concerning
1:59evil.
2:01And the God of peace
2:04shall bruise Satan under your feet
2:09shortly.
2:11The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
2:13with you.
2:15Amen.
2:18My topic tonight is the human
2:22dimension
2:24of spiritual warfare.
2:27Now, I come to you with a word
2:32and I believe I am in this pullpit with
2:36apostolic authority
2:39and anointing right now.
2:42And I feel a mandate from the spirit.
2:46But we need for this to be more than a
2:49Wednesday night Bible study.
2:52This needs to be a a little season of
2:56revelation
2:57where we have the scriptures open and
3:00where some things are just settled down
3:03in the spirit of our whole congregation.
3:06And I want you to lay your Bibles aside
3:08and just take a moment to stretch your
3:11hands high to the Lord.
3:14Can we just ask for the presence of God
3:16and his shakina glory to settle down?
3:20Jesus, we need you
3:24on this Wednesday evening. We need you,
3:26God.
3:27I pray that you would open the
3:29scriptures.
3:31I'm asking you to anoint me these clips
3:35of clay to articulate your word. Anoint
3:38our ears to hear.
3:41I pray for the witness of your spirit
3:44in Jesus name.
3:47God bless you. You can be seated.
3:55I
3:58spent just a moment
4:01on Sunday morning
4:04and an evangelistic message
4:08explaining that our model
4:11for growing the church here
4:14is not focused on recruiting people from
4:17other apostolic churches.
4:20There will be times and there have been
4:21times when people will
4:24move from across the country and come
4:26here and we love that when that happens.
4:29That's there's a place for that.
4:31Sometimes that's needful and good.
4:34But our model for building the church is
4:38is not to try to create
4:41a better option for disillusioned
4:44Pentecostal people to leave one church
4:47and come to another church because
4:50really that doesn't do a whole lot to
4:52grow the kingdom of God.
4:54May help some isolated people, but the
4:57church is here not to recruit the saved,
5:01but we're here to win the lost.
5:04And our focus
5:06is and will continue to be reaching
5:10sinners.
5:12And with that focus and with the fact
5:15that we're doing that, that brings all
5:17kinds of challenges. It brings messes
5:21and problems and a glorious chaos into
5:24the church from time to time. I love the
5:27messes that sinners bring into the
5:29church.
5:32I'd rather have that than
5:34have have everything neat and tidy. The
5:39Bible said where no oxen are, the crib
5:41is clean.
5:43In other words, if there's no manure in
5:46the stall, that means a stall is barren.
5:49And if you got something in the stall,
5:51there's going to be some manure there.
5:54And a revival church is always going to
5:56have some messes as a result of it.
6:01But with all of the
6:04challenges and dynamics of helping
6:08people who are broken and hurting and
6:10sometimes outright dysfunctional
6:12navigate through life,
6:15one of the consequences of
6:19revival and growing and making inroads
6:23into the enemy's territory is there is
6:25an intense amount of spiritual warfare.
6:29that results from that.
6:32Satan does not give up any souls easy.
6:38Satan does not concede even one inch of
6:41his territory without a fight.
6:45And every time we take a step forward,
6:49every time vision is projected
6:52about leveling up and doing more to
6:55reach the loss, I've watched it over the
6:58years, and I know many of you have
6:59noticed this as well, but there is an
7:03inevitable
7:05kickback
7:07in the spirit world.
7:10We all feel it, but most of the time
7:13it's very difficult to put it in words
7:16what we feel.
7:18But suffice to say, Satan opposes what
7:22God is doing in the earth today.
7:25Satan opposes the church that is sold
7:29out to reach the lost.
7:32Do you know the devil hates this church?
7:36He hates any church that loves the
7:38truth. He hates any church that loves
7:42the lost. And because we love the truth
7:44and we love sinners in this church, the
7:47devil hates what we're doing.
7:49He hates what God is doing through the
7:52church. And he will stop at nothing to
7:56disrupt and discourage
7:59and get the people of God disillusion
8:02and distracted.
8:04But the devil's a liar and the truth is
8:06not in him. But let me make it more
8:09personal. The fact that you are here and
8:12that you are bought in to the mission
8:15and the vision of this local church,
8:18there's a target on your back right now.
8:22The devil is after every person who has
8:26their hand to the gospel plow and he's
8:29out to do anything he can to disrupt
8:33things in your life and get you
8:35distracted to where you are no longer
8:38engaged in the work of God. And so
8:42spiritual warfare is a reality. And I
8:45believe that this year there have been
8:48some very intense times and seasons of
8:54spiritual warfare in this church. We
8:56felt it. Um and and there's several
9:00signs of that that I'm not going to take
9:02time to get into. But I think we have to
9:05ask the question
9:07when we are in the middle of spiritual
9:09warfare. How do we know it? What does it
9:11feel like? Or put it another way,
9:16is is the devil's attack
9:19against us primarily something that is
9:23atmospheric?
9:25And by atmospheric I mean when Satan
9:29fights, is it that we just feel an old
9:32dark gloomy cloud
9:35come over our home or our congregation?
9:39Well, there are times I've felt that.
9:41Have you felt that before?
9:43Have you ever felt just a just like an
9:45old fog of discouragement, confusion for
9:48no reason whatsoever?
9:51We have had times when we come in here
9:52to have service and it usually happens
9:54after there's a good breakthrough. You
9:56come back a service or two later, it's
9:59like you dove head first into a swimming
10:02pool filled with crunchy peanut butter.
10:08It it you you can't move. you. It's just
10:11it's thick and sticky and it's like
10:15nobody can get their act together at
10:17church and you can't feel anything.
10:20Well, that is the enemy coming in like a
10:23flood
10:25trying to overwhelm and to suppress.
10:28And there are times when
10:32the enemy will fight the church through
10:35an atmospheric
10:38something that involves discouragement
10:40and disillusionment and so on.
10:44But
10:46I'm going to present for your
10:47consideration tonight that
10:51Satan does not primarily
10:55work through negative feelings or vibes
11:01being injected into the atmosphere.
11:04There's some of that.
11:07But Satan's primary
11:10way of attacking the church
11:13is to use people
11:16to do his work.
11:19You see, we are in a cosmic battle right
11:22now between God and Satan.
11:26It's been going on ever since the Garden
11:29of Eden. When Eve was put out of the
11:32garden, God gave her a promise and he
11:34said, "Your seed is going to crush the
11:38head of the devil, but the devil's going
11:41to bruise his heel." And from that time,
11:46there has been hostility
11:48between Satan and God, between the
11:54serpent and between the saints. There is
11:58hostility.
12:00And the devil uses people as pawns, but
12:05God also uses people to fight his
12:08battle. So we have on one side of the
12:12ring, we've got Jesus using his church
12:15and giving them the weapons of the
12:17spirit to fight the battle. But on the
12:20other side of the ring, we've got Satan,
12:22the old serpent. And he's also using
12:26people to do his work. And so, Satan
12:29will will work by using, get this now,
12:36the innate fallen tendencies
12:40of unsuspecting
12:42humans to carry out his work.
12:46Most of the time, the people that Satan
12:50uses to hinder the work of God are not
12:55aware
12:57that they're being used as a pawn of the
12:59devil.
13:01Most of the time the people that are
13:04resisting the church are resisting the
13:07efforts of ministry are people that
13:10think they are doing the right thing
13:13while they're in the midst of doing
13:15that. You take for example churches that
13:18happen some areas that go to uh build a
13:21church in a community and sometimes all
13:23of city hall. The whole all the
13:25officials will will just get in an
13:28uproar because a church is moving into
13:31the community and on the surface it
13:35looks like they're upset because they're
13:37losing the tax dollars associated with
13:39that property that have become tax
13:41exempt. But many times we understand
13:44what Paul said that we were not
13:45wrestling against flesh and blood, but
13:47there's principalities and powers that
13:49are behind that flesh and blood. So the
13:52real battle is spiritual. It's not
13:54people in city hall. But if you were to
13:56interview the people on the planning
13:58commission or the city council that are
14:01resisting churches being built in many
14:03places, most of the time they are
14:05sincere people who would insist that
14:08they are simply doing their job and
14:11standing up for what they believe is the
14:14best interest of the city.
14:19But unbeknownst to them, there is a
14:22spiritual
14:23something that is putting insinuations
14:27in their mind and causing them to dig
14:30their heels in and try to put a blockade
14:32to a church being built. That's just one
14:34scenario.
14:37Another scenario where this happens,
14:40and we need to understand, I'm going to
14:42take some time. And I'm going to dig
14:43into this a little bit.
14:46Almost 100% of the time, if it's not
14:49100%, it's 99.99999%
14:54of the time.
14:56When somebody comes out of the world and
14:58gets saved in this church,
15:01it doesn't matter if they've never been
15:03religious. It does not matter that um
15:07they haven't darkened the doors of a
15:08church. It doesn't matter that they've
15:10been uh just strung out in drugs and
15:14doing all kind of crazy stuff and crime.
15:16And man, we get people in this church.
15:18It's
15:20been some rough stuff.
15:23They're not the kind of people that
15:25denominational churches are after.
15:28They haven't had anybody show up and
15:30invite them to Sunday school for years.
15:34But it inevitably
15:36the week or the month after they get
15:39baptized in Jesus name in this church
15:43there will be people from false doctrine
15:46showing up at their door taking them to
15:49lunch and making a play for their soul.
15:55They will be warned. You don't need to
15:56be getting up with that one God church.
15:58You don't need to go to that
15:59tongue-talking church. You don't need to
16:01go to that church that that teaches that
16:03holiness lifestyle. Why don't you come
16:05over here because you can go to our
16:07church and do all the pleasures of sin?
16:12Now, you think that's coincidence?
16:15I don't think that at all. I think those
16:18people though that are reaching for the
16:20convert and trying to pull them into a
16:22false doctrine church, they're very
16:25sincere in what they're doing. But the
16:28fact the timing is they only show up
16:30after the Holy Ghost began to do a work
16:33indicates to me that somewhere in the
16:36picture there was demonic suggestion
16:39that got into those good denominational
16:42sincere people and said you need to step
16:44into the life of this convert to try to
16:47stop them from getting involved in that
16:49apostolic church.
16:53[Applause]
16:57We're not fighting a denominational
16:59church across town, but we are fighting
17:01the spirits that drive false doctrine.
17:05And make no mistake about it, there are
17:07demonic spirits
17:09behind false doctrine.
17:11So,
17:13Satan will stir up unsaved people to
17:16raise hell in your life to get you
17:18discouraged.
17:20Some of you are married to people that
17:22aren't full of the Holy Ghost. And when
17:25you start taking steps forward, they're
17:27going to get all kind of mean.
17:29They used to be mean, but they really
17:31get mean when you start moving forward
17:33in God because Satan gets involved.
17:38So, most of our spiritual warfare is
17:40going to have a human element to it,
17:43human dimension.
17:46But I got to examining the scriptures
17:50and this has been opening up for me for
17:52some time now.
17:56Everywhere Paul went and really the
17:59other apostles too,
18:02they they had their efforts in any one
18:05of their churches undermined
18:08by false teachers or troublemakers.
18:11I'm just going to call them
18:12troublemakers today. You can use the
18:14word false teachers,
18:17uh, hypocrites. You call them whatever
18:19you want to, but I'm just use the word
18:20troublemakers because that's kind of
18:22broad.
18:23But everywhere Paul went,
18:26there were people
18:29in the churches that he planted
18:34that came up within the ranks of the
18:37saints
18:38who actively
18:40worked to undermine
18:44the things that Paul taught
18:47everywhere he went.
18:50And the reason that many of these false
18:53teachers or troublemakers were so
18:55successful
18:58is that they were people that the whole
19:00congregation knew.
19:03They loved them. They trusted them.
19:11You know, if some stranger
19:15were to barge in this church tonight
19:20and run up this aisle and grab the
19:23microphone out of my hand and start
19:24preaching false doctrine,
19:27how successful would that be?
19:30Our security team would church him out
19:33of here in about 3 seconds.
19:37and he better be humble on his way out
19:39the door. They're going to help him out
19:40the door.
19:44People that cause trouble, it's hard to
19:46really cause trouble in the church by
19:48barging in as some unknown entity into
19:50it could happen, but most of the time
19:54not.
19:56But most of the time when trouble
19:58arises,
20:01it's going to be with someone
20:04who's had enough time in a congregation,
20:07but
20:09somewhere along the way, something gets
20:12twisted.
20:14There's there's some offenses that build
20:16up. There's feelings of low selfworth
20:20and feelings of insignificance,
20:23feelings of getting overlooked.
20:26There's some things that are warped on
20:29the inside and
20:31because of that I believe they become
20:37susceptible unknowing to them to where
20:41Satan begins to plant
20:44seeds of discord
20:46and distrust in their spirit
20:50and they become unwitting
20:53pawns. s in the hands of the adversary
20:58to disrupt what God is doing in the
21:02church.
21:05Someone says, "Well, Hams, that sounds
21:07far out there." Well, it's Bible. It's
21:10all really all through the Bible. Don't
21:12talk a lot about it because it's not a
21:13fun subject, but it's Bible.
21:17In fact,
21:19you know who had the keys of the
21:21kingdom?
21:24who
21:25Peter did. He was given the keys. He was
21:28the man
21:31God chose to preach the inaugural sermon
21:33in Acts chapter 2.
21:36But on one occasion when Jesus was about
21:39to go to the cross,
21:42he
21:44tells Peter and Peter says, "Be it far
21:46from you, Lord. Don't go." The Lord
21:49whirled around and he pointed his finger
21:52at the man
21:55who had the keys to the kingdom. The man
21:58who was to be one of the greatest
22:00apostles there ever was. And Jesus puts
22:03his finger right in Peter's face and he
22:06said, "Get behind me, Satan."
22:10Whoa.
22:12He just called
22:15the man who's about to preach Acts 2:38
22:19in a few months
22:20a devil.
22:23Well, was Peter a devil? No.
22:27But at that moment, Peter was trying to
22:30stop Jesus from going to the cross. And
22:34his words of trying to prevent the
22:36cross, they weren't his words. But
22:39unbeknownst to him, there was satanic
22:43suggestion that planted those words in
22:46his mouth. And when Peter was speaking
22:49up to try to stop Jesus from going to
22:51the cross, he was unbeknownst to him
22:55being a pawn in the hand of the
22:58adversary.
23:01Now,
23:02I want to make a very strong
23:05statement here.
23:07It may be a little extreme, but if it
23:09is, it's probably not too extreme.
23:12I would suppose if you've been around
23:14the church at any length of time, and
23:16I'm going to include myself, including
23:18myself in this, I think we have probably
23:22all
23:25been used by the adversary
23:29to cause trouble
23:33in God's church.
23:39I've said some things that were not
23:42godly
23:43and inspired of God. I've said things
23:45that were hurtful and disruptive.
23:49That was not God's suggestion. And I
23:52wonder at times was was there spirits
23:56that I was unaware of that was moving
23:58there.
24:00And without doubt, we have all been
24:03exposed to
24:05spiritual forces that planted
24:08suggestions and we did things and we
24:11said things unbeknownst.
24:15We weren't trying to cause trouble, but
24:17we did.
24:21You got to understand spiritual warfare
24:23has a human dynamic. Satan's roaming
24:27about looking
24:29for people that he can
24:32manipulate.
24:36Now, let's look here at our text. Verse
24:3817.
24:40I beseech you, brethren,
24:44mark them which cause divisions.
24:47Everyone say divisions.
24:49The visions is where you take here a
24:53congregation that should be one cohesive
24:56whole
24:57and you create little groups of people
25:01in the congregation
25:04who start detaching from other groups.
25:10I'm not with them. I'm with him. I'm
25:13with her. I'm with her.
25:16Well, I see it this way and they see it
25:18that way. And before you know it, we got
25:20these little pockets of people
25:22and there's division. The youth group
25:26thinks, man, the big problem with the
25:28church is the old people.
25:30And the old people think, man, it's all
25:32these young people. They're the real
25:33problem with the church.
25:35And we got the musicians thinking, man,
25:39the singers are really the problem. And
25:42the singer said, "If we just had some
25:43good musicians around here, we could do
25:44it." And before you know it, you got all
25:47these little micro divisions
25:52and you let enough of that start
25:54festering,
25:56the brakes are slammed on to the altars
25:59and people hardly ever get the Holy
26:01Ghost.
26:04So they cause divisions and offenses
26:07contrary to the doctrine that you've
26:10learned and avoid them. Verse 18. For
26:13they that are such serve not the Lord
26:16Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
26:19and by good words and fair speeches,
26:22they deceive the hearts of the simple.
26:24Now, Paul had two groups of people in
26:26mind right here. Number one, it was the
26:29Judaizers. These were people that were
26:31saying that you had to keep the law of
26:34Moses to be saved.
26:37So these people were going around saying
26:41Paul is not strict enough.
26:45Paul don't believe fat meat is greasy.
26:50He's a flaming liberal.
26:53Paul's the charismatic.
26:57Why? He does not believe you have to be
27:00circumcised.
27:02He doesn't believe you have to keep the
27:03feast days.
27:05He does not enforce Sabbathkeeping.
27:08And they were saying it takes Acts 2:38
27:12plus the keeping of the law.
27:15And they were undermining everywhere he
27:17went. But they were they were people
27:19that here's the key is they were people
27:20in the church
27:22that were doing that.
27:25The second group, and he deals with this
27:27extensively in 2 Corinthians, are people
27:30who said Paul
27:34does not have legitimate apostolic
27:37authority
27:39to set policy in the church.
27:43They were people that said, "Paul
27:46really isn't any more of a leader than
27:49anybody else." and and they constantly
27:53questioned whether Paul had the right
27:57and the God-given permission
28:00to do and to preach the things that he
28:03did as the leader of the church.
28:08So Paul
28:10says we need to mark these people. That
28:12means we got to note who they are.
28:16And we need to recognize here that Satan
28:21uses people in a church sometimes to
28:25hinder what God's doing.
28:31Now, where are these people? Who are
28:32they? Where do they do the work?
28:36What service
28:39are they filling the pull pit?
28:44Well, the reality is the people that
28:48create the kind of hindrance and
28:51division that we're talking about, they
28:53almost never stand behind the pullpit.
28:57But their
28:59their platform is a lunch table.
29:04Would you have lunch with me? I've just
29:06got some things I want to share with
29:07you.
29:10and you go to lunch and they start
29:12dumping on you,
29:15all of their grieviances
29:17with the church.
29:20I say, "You know what? Let's just have a
29:21prayer meeting over at my house and come
29:22on over to the prayer meeting. Let's
29:24pray." But when you get there to pray,
29:25there's not too much praying going on,
29:27but there's a lot of dumping.
29:36Come go with me somewhere. as we're
29:37riding in the car. I've just got some
29:39concerns
29:41and we Here it goes.
29:46So, it is important for us to
29:50have a good radar
29:53to recognize when Satan is using someone
29:58as a troublemaker in the church. And I'm
30:01going to go over a list of things here
30:02that I put together over these last
30:04several days here.
30:07And if anyone fits any of these things,
30:10you know, this is a person I got to be
30:12careful. I got to back up from.
30:15So here, number one, a troublemaker
30:20will cause you to question Bible
30:23doctrines.
30:29had a person just in recent times,
30:31they're not part of this church now, but
30:33just in recent times, they were a member
30:35of the church and going around
30:38telling people that things that brother
30:40Adams preaches about, you know, he
30:41preaches something from the Old
30:42Testament and we're not under the Old
30:45Testament. There's nothing wrong with a
30:47woman wearing a pair of pants.
30:51Never mind. They would be all kind of
30:53offended if I pressed up here in a blue
30:55dress.
30:59But the same scripture we use to talk
31:01about crossdressing men wearing women's
31:04clothes also talks about women wearing
31:07men's clothes.
31:09And this person was doing everything
31:12they can to go to as many of our new
31:14members
31:16saying, "I just don't know about that.
31:19Too much preaching from the Old
31:20Testament at Christian Life Church."
31:24And so people start questioning,
31:26well maybe
31:29well maybe just maybe
31:32maybe we need to re-evaluate.
31:36When people start questioning the
31:38oneness of God,
31:40questioning Acts 2:38,
31:43questioning speaking in tongues as the
31:46initial evidence of receiving the
31:48baptism of the Holy Ghost, these when
31:51people put these questions in your mind,
31:55they're being used by Satan to undermine
32:00truth.
32:02When you get around a good brother or
32:04sister that's healthy, a healthy
32:06relationship, they need to affirm what
32:08the Bible says, not try to tear it down.
32:14So, they cause you to question the
32:15Bible. Second, troublemakers will
32:19say things to cause you to dislike other
32:23people in the church.
32:27You know, when you get in the church,
32:29it's like everybody here is wonderful.
32:33Man, I'm glad to be a part of Christian
32:36life. These are such these are the most
32:38loving, wonderful, sweet people.
32:41Now, if you believe that,
32:44keep on believing it for as long as you
32:46can.
32:49Reality will slip up on you at one time
32:51or another.
32:54But isn't this something how you can be
32:55getting along with everybody, but all it
32:57takes is spending
33:00one afternoon with somebody that has a
33:02personal
33:04grudge
33:06and they start dragging out a bunch of
33:08dirt and junk from someone's past that
33:10you can't verify
33:12or you don't know.
33:15But all of a sudden, because this one
33:18person took
33:20their grieviance
33:23against the brother or sister
33:26and they filled you full of it.
33:29Now when you come to church and you see
33:31that brother or sister, you have a
33:34picture in your mind that was not there
33:37before.
33:40And
33:42as much as you don't want to do this,
33:44there is a natural
33:46drawing back from that person. There's a
33:49little bit of judgment. There's a little
33:51bit of suspicion
33:53and a micro division
33:56has just been created in the church.
34:01Now that person
34:03who vented to you,
34:07they weren't evil.
34:09They probably weren't intending to
34:11create trouble,
34:13but they just had a personal something
34:15that was stewing because maybe they had
34:17a bad business deal with that person or
34:20there was some bad deal back along the
34:21way and they just had to vent it.
34:25But in the process, it's like
34:29there's an old unclean spirit back there
34:32just chunking the little thoughts in
34:34their mind. And some people just spit it
34:36out as quick as they get it.
34:40So, I don't want to get around people
34:41that make me feel bad about other people
34:43in the church.
34:47Number three, troublemakers
34:50insinuate that you cannot trust
34:54your pastor.
35:03I started getting word here just a few
35:06weeks ago. It was going around our young
35:07adult group
35:09that we can't trust Brother Adams.
35:13I said, "What?
35:15What? Where'd that come from?"
35:18Well, it's he's busy.
35:22So me being busy
35:25means we can't trust.
35:31Or if we said such and such to him, he
35:33wouldn't understand. And so because we
35:36think he wouldn't understand, we can't
35:39trust.
35:43Well, I got on top of that. I we we met
35:46got everybody together and we got
35:49through that.
35:51But when I got to digging into it, I
35:54realized that
35:56there had been some chatter. It traced
35:58back to people that were disgruntled.
36:03There was no specifics. There was no
36:05reasons other than brother Adams is
36:07busy.
36:09So we can't trust. So we don't need to
36:12go talk to him about anything.
36:16Now
36:17everybody was thinking that they're some
36:19of the best people in our church,
36:21wonderful people, praying people.
36:24But it got in people's minds.
36:29But what do you do with that?
36:32Where does that come from?
36:35Was that the Holy Ghost?
36:39I say not.
36:42That's the adversary
36:44planting seeds of distrust
36:48in people's minds.
36:52But after people have heard it and it
36:55was going around thick and heavy for a
36:56while
36:58after they've heard it started noticing
37:01people shrink back people start avoiding
37:05people look the other way
37:08that what is going on here
37:15and so
37:16that's we're this is spiritual warfare
37:18I'm talking about here.
37:22Troublemakers
37:23insinuate number four that your church
37:27is deficient
37:30and that you need to find another church
37:33to go to because your church is not good
37:37enough.
37:43Well, how do you respond to that?
37:47The fact is, no church is perfect.
37:50This one sure isn't.
37:53We've got deficiencies here. Many, many,
37:55many, many. You don't have to go find a
37:57disgruntled person tell you that. Just
37:59come to me. I'm the pastor. I'll tell
38:00you a bunch of them.
38:03The biggest deficiency in this church is
38:04right here. The man standing in the pull
38:06pit. I'm the brother Holmes told me one
38:09time, he said, "You are the biggest
38:10problem the church has. If you ever get
38:11fixed, everything else get better." And
38:13I said, "Yes, sir."
38:15And that's that still holds true.
38:18But
38:20the
38:22whole deal that
38:25this church is not enough,
38:29it's deficient.
38:32When that starts chattering around the
38:35congregation,
38:37you mark my words, it locks something
38:39up.
38:43person in recent times said, "Pastor,
38:45I'm leaving the church." And they did
38:48because there's not enough miracles and
38:50not enough prophecy in this church.
38:54I'm going to a church that does not
38:56focus so much on the word, they said,
39:00but they're they focus on miracles.
39:07I suppose they're I don't know what
39:08they're doing, but
39:11just from the outside it don't look like
39:13there's too many miracles happening, but
39:17got to think just not enough prophecy in
39:20this church. Well, there's prophecy just
39:23about every service and it's coming from
39:24this pull pit.
39:28[Applause]
39:29And every time someone receives the
39:31baptism of the Holy Ghost, that's the
39:33miracle of miracles.
39:40This said, you know,
39:44and it chatted around for a while. Not
39:47enough miracles,
39:49so we got to find something else,
39:51somewhere else to go.
39:57troublemakers. Number five, insinuate
40:00that your ministry
40:03would really take off
40:07if you were in another church
40:10that recognized
40:13your potential.
40:16You're so anointed and called.
40:21Why aren't you being used more?
40:25Wow.
40:27You need to
40:29you just need to obey God and
40:33don't be tied down to that church
40:36because if you get somewhere else,
40:38you'll really go somewhere.
40:43Well, thing is the people that say that
40:48it's not work for them,
40:53but they still say it and it gets in
40:55people's minds.
41:01Paul said number six that troublemakers
41:03serve their own belly.
41:06What does it mean to serve your belly?
41:09It doesn't mean that you're a slave to a
41:12t-bone steak,
41:15but a troublemaker in a church is
41:17usually people who have an unfulfilled
41:21appetite
41:23for significance.
41:27It's people that
41:29they just want to be used of God.
41:33They want to do something great for God.
41:36That's a sincere desire.
41:39And when you go for a time in a church
41:43and your sense of calling and destiny
41:46doesn't seem like it's rising to the
41:50top,
41:52the real answer is you ought to sit down
41:53with your pastor and say, "What can I do
41:58to see God start elevating me?" But
42:02people that don't want to have that
42:03conversation because they're afraid of
42:04what the pastor might say, instead they
42:08think, you know what, I'll never
42:10be what other people in the church are.
42:15So a troublemaker starts to recruit a
42:18little micro following.
42:22They pick out a little issue in the
42:24church
42:26and they champion their grieviance on
42:30this one issue or two issues and they
42:33stay on it and get other people
42:35convinced. And there's a little feeling
42:37of significance
42:40and meaning that they did not have
42:43previous.
42:48The result of it, it creates another
42:49faction in the church, and it's a bad
42:53deal.
42:54Number seven, troublemakers
42:57use good words and fair speeches to
42:59appeal to your ego. When you get around
43:02someone that's always stroking your ego,
43:03better be careful.
43:06Better be careful. Jesus said, "Beware
43:08when all men speak well of you."
43:13A real honest person will be plain and
43:15honest to you about you.
43:20Number eight, troublemakers will leave
43:22you with a feeling of confusion, doubt,
43:25and discontent.
43:29You were used to be so happy at church,
43:33so glad to be here.
43:36You paid the price to be here. But now
43:42I wish I wasn't. I'm confused. I I just
43:45don't know who to believe.
43:48I just don't know what to do. I'm
43:50praying for the will of God.
43:53The will of God was so clear just a
43:56little while ago, but now it's some hard
43:59thing because the will of God cannot be
44:03for me to just dig in right here.
44:10Someone started complaining here a
44:12little while back
44:15that
44:17every service
44:20the church is pressured to shout shout
44:25shout
44:30every service it's just all about having
44:32a shout down
44:33well it sounded like a pretty good idea
44:35to me it.
44:38So, get this. That week,
44:42it comes to me that's been chatted
44:44around the same week
44:48like someone else comes and says,
44:51"Brother Adams, there's some people
44:54upset because we're singing too many
44:55slow songs and we hardly ever have
44:58shoutdowns anymore."
45:02Same week.
45:10What do you do with that?
45:15But when this kind of stuff goes,
45:19I want to make a I'm preaching strong
45:21right now. No, I know I'm digging and I
45:23know that most of you are so
45:25uncomfortable. You don't know what to do
45:26with this. But this is a dimension of
45:30apostolic revival. We must understand
45:34and we have to get what I'm preaching
45:37right now. We are about to go to another
45:40level. There's about to be some things
45:43break loose around here. But if we don't
45:46get what I'm preaching tonight, we leave
45:49the door wide open for the adversary to
45:52move.
45:57I don't want anyone to cause me to
45:59question the word of God. I don't want
46:02anyone to cause me to question the
46:05church. I don't want anyone to cause me
46:07to question my salvation. We need to be
46:10settled, rooted, and grounded.
46:14We need to be walking in unity. We need
46:17to be working together.
46:19[Applause]
46:26So, how do we handle that?
46:29Verse 17, he said, "Mark them
46:33and avoid them."
46:38If you're going to
46:41try to get me to get disinvolved,
46:45well, brother, I'm just going to get out
46:46of everything right now because I'm just
46:48I got some things I could trying to sort
46:50out.
46:51Well, let me just tell you something.
46:54You could do a lot of sorting while
46:56you're working.
46:59And if the answer to every bit of
47:01spiritual attack is devolving yourself
47:04from what you're in, it won't be long
47:07till this church becomes to a grinding
47:09standill. The best thing you can do when
47:12you're confused is get up closer in the
47:15middle of what's going on in the church.
47:18Get more involved. Don't get less
47:20involved. Say, "I'm going to double
47:22down. I'm going to get in here. I'm
47:25going to prove my obedience and I'm
47:28going to I'm going to be more attached
47:30and more connected than I've ever been
47:33before." If you've got questions, don't
47:35back up. Move forward.
47:44So, I know this has been heavy, but I'm
47:48here the mandate from the Holy Ghost to
47:51deal with this
47:52because this and I think we're on the
47:54other side of it now. I think this
47:57service is cleaning up and I've just I'm
48:00ripping the the the
48:03lid off this and a lot of you didn't
48:05even know this stuff was happening, but
48:08it's been swirling all year. We're only
48:11having about three people a month get
48:13the Holy Ghost, but we ought to be
48:15having about 30 people get the Holy
48:17Ghost every month.
48:19And and the more we let chatter and
48:22stuff swirl around, it's going to lock
48:25things up. But I think if we can bring
48:27that stuff to a grinding halt and
48:30understand that the problem is not my
48:32brother or sister that said things he
48:33shouldn't have said, but the problem is
48:35we have unwittingly allowed the enemy to
48:38get involved. If we can break out of
48:40that, we're going to see some things
48:42start breaking loose in the spirit
48:45unlike anything we've seen before.
48:48Because you see, just like Satan uses
48:52people to do his work, the reverse of
48:56that is true as well. God uses people to
49:00fight the adversary. And I'm stepping to
49:04this pullpit to preach that it's time
49:07for every member of this church to get
49:10involved in spiritual warfare. It gets
49:14time for people to say, "I'm tired of
49:17letting the devil use me to stir up
49:20discord and dissension, but I'm going to
49:22let God get on me and use me to put my
49:28foot on the adversary.
49:34Hallelujah.
49:36Put up verse number 20 of our text.
49:40The God of peace
49:43shall bruise Satan.
49:47You know what this is?
49:50It's a mat.
49:54It goes on the floor.
49:57And this is symbolic right now. Right?
50:02Satan
50:03does not belong above our minds
50:07in a position to suggest thoughts,
50:11but Satan needs to be on the floor
50:16because it's the church that's destined
50:18for dominion.
50:21It is the church that is called to
50:23triumph.
50:27And just like somebody can innocently be
50:31used by Satan by venting their
50:36frustrations over a coffee with a
50:38brother. I'm going to tell you how this
50:40works. Sometimes the most simple things
50:43that you do for the kingdom of God,
50:46unbeknownst to you, God is using that to
50:50push into the kingdom of darkness and to
50:54claim another little bit of dominion.
50:56You might not feel significant clapping
50:59your hands right now, but hand clapping
51:02is a form of worship. And a church that
51:05claps in unison takes on a degree of
51:09dominion. Your clapping right now is
51:13releasing something in the atmosphere.
51:15The place where the devil reigned and
51:18we're pushing it back. And what we're
51:20doing, we're we're putting our foot
51:23right on Satan. It's time for Satan to
51:26be bruised beneath our feet. when you've
51:30went through a week of hell, but you
51:32come on to church anyway on a Wednesday
51:35night. Come in your work clothes if you
51:38got to. But I'm just getting in the
51:40house of God, and when I get there, I'm
51:43going to put my foot on the head of the
51:46devil.
51:48[Music]
51:55Let's push in in prayer. Let's push in
51:57in worship.
52:04I wish somebody helped me. This is just
52:07a little old $12 doormat from Walmart,
52:10but I wish somebody don't stomp on that
52:13symbolically.
52:14We're putting our foot on the head.
52:18The God of peace
52:22shall ru
52:24Satan under our feet.
52:27[Music]
52:31Hey brother, this church is not going
52:34down. We might have our problems, but
52:37we're going forward. We're going up.
52:40We're having revival.
52:42[Music]
52:45We might be limping. We might be
52:47figuring it out as we go, but we're
52:50moving forward in Jesus name.
52:54[Music]
53:03Hallelujah.
53:06Hallelujah.
53:09[Music]
53:23Take back what
53:26take back what sto
53:37my feet. He's under my feet. He's under
53:40my feet. He's under my feet. Satan is
53:44under my feet.
53:51Take my voice.
53:54Take my voice.
53:58Take my voice.
54:01[Music]
54:05Take my voice over. Hallelujah. My under
54:12my He's under my feet. He's under my
54:15feet.
54:17Hallelujah.
54:20I know I'm done preaching, but I want to
54:22settle some things right now. This
54:24church is an apostolic church.
54:27This church believes in the oneness of
54:30God.
54:32This church believes in Jesus Christ
54:34with the express image of the invisible
54:36God. We believe in repenting of our sins
54:40and water baptism in the name of Jesus
54:43Christ. We believe in receiving the
54:45baptism of the Holy Ghost with the
54:48initial evidence of speaking in tongues.
54:51We believe in holiness within and
54:54holiness without. We believe that men
54:57ought to look like men and women ought
54:59to look like women. We believe in
55:01evangelizing. We believe in loving the
55:03lost. We love people. We believe in
55:06unity. We believe in getting along with
55:09one another. We believe in being in
55:11fellowship with our fellow apostolic
55:13people and other churches. We believe in
55:16the future of the church. We believe in
55:18the coming of the Lord. We believe in a
55:21literal 1,000year millennial reign of
55:24Jesus Christ. We believe there is a hell
55:27that is hot. And we believe that there
55:29is a heaven in front of us. These things
55:32are settled. They are immutable. They
55:36are not up for question.
55:41You believe that? Let's worship the Lord
55:42together.
55:48[Music]
56:02Take back what he stole from me.
56:05Take back what he stole from me.
56:09Take back what he stole from me. I'll go
56:12to the enemy's camp.
56:15[Applause]
56:16Take back what he stole from me. He's
56:19under my feet. He's under my feet. He's
56:23under my feet. He's under my feet. He's
56:27under my feet. He's under my feet. He's
56:30under my feet. He's under my feet. He's
56:34under my feet. He's under my feet. He's
56:38under my feet. He's under my feet.
56:42Hallelujah.
56:46I want to thank you for letting me
56:48preach my heart,
56:50but we're we're going to shift our focus
56:52right now to Pentecost Sunday. I want
56:54you to join up with some prayer warriors
56:56and let's pray right now that there
56:58would be a breakthrough in the spirit
57:00this week. God, start stirring up
57:03sinners and backsliders all over the
57:05city of Memphis. I pray that you would
57:08send angels to work with people to stir
57:10them up. I pray that you would stir up
57:12people when they go to bed at night.
57:15God, let people feel their need for you.
57:18I pray that there will be a divine pull
57:20and a divine draw. I pray for an
57:23anointing to come on this congregation
57:25all week long to witness, to invite
57:29people. I pray that the power of your
57:31spirit would fall on Sunday morning. I
57:35pray that the kingdom of God would come
57:38into this city. I pray that the church
57:41would burst more in the name. Come on,
57:44somebody intercede for a soul right now.
57:48Pray with authority.
57:54It's talking time in the house of the
57:57Lord.
57:59[Music]
58:12Fire
58:17God.
58:19My God.
58:21My God.
58:24[Music]
58:27fire.
58:31Oh, clap your hands to the Lord. Clap
58:33your hands to the Lord. Hallelujah.
58:37Hallelujah.
58:40Hallelujah.
58:46So, here's what we'll do. We're going to
58:48do warfare. We're going to bruise Satan
58:51under our feet.
58:53Let's go out of here praying.
58:56Let's come and pray at the church. And
58:58why don't you talk about the church
59:02growing? Talk about the souls that are
59:04coming in. Why don't you talk about that
59:07to as many people as you can this week?
59:10Talk about the wonderful works of God
59:12all week long.
59:14And let's just see what kind of life is
59:18created in the spirit of this thing.
59:21Hallelujah. God bless you. I love
59:24everybody in this building. Be dismissed
59:26in the fear of the Lord.

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