Bible Seminar Vol. 2 Day 2 (Contending for The Faith)

One thing is sudden.
If you stick to the Word, you will come back with a testimony.
What God wants to give in your life is not a healing.
What God wants to give in your life is not a job.
What God wants to give in your life is not money.
What God wants to give you is the Word of God in your spirits.
It'll make you what it talks about.
And you are shining, and you are shining by the power of the Holy Ghost.
You are shining by the power of the Holy Ghost.
You are shining and nothing can stop you.
It is your season.
It is your time.
Nothing can hinder you.
This is your time.
This is your hour.
Labor is yours.

In the month of October, into November 2011, was the second edition of the Bible study seminar with Pastor Chris at the Love for Conference Center, Lagos, Nigeria.
It was a life-consuming seminar, just like what the Bible says, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for a proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, under all good works.
Receive these words and watch your life move from one level of glory to another.
God bless you.

Hallelujah.
Praise God, praise God, praise God.
Do you love the word of God?
We're going to read a portion of the Bible that will help us get an understanding of the mind of the Master.
OK?
Turn into your Bibles and looks gospel, chapter 18.
We'll read from verse 1.
Go ahead, want to go.

And he's spakeable onto them to these ends.
That means the purpose of the parable was to teach them that
Men are always to pray and not to faint.
That means not to give up.
He says, men should pray and not give up.
When things go hard, get difficult.
He says, men, humans should not give up but pray.
mean not always to pray and not to faint.
From the second verse, he starts the parable.
He says, there was in a city a judge which feared not God neither regarded men.
And there was a widow in that city.
This is a wonderful Jesus gives the story in such clear terms.
Verse three, and there was a widow in that city, and she came on to him saying, avenge me of my adversary.
And it would not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself, though I fear not God nor regard man.
Yet because this widow troubled me, I will avenge her lest by her continual common, she weary me.
And the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge says.
Is this, can you hear that unjust judge?
in verse 7, and shall not God avenge his own elect which cried day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
He says, if this one just judge would give justice to this woman because she'd been troubling him, wouldn't God do such a thing even faster?
See that, he says, and shall not God avenge his own elect which cry, day and night unto him, though he bear long with them, though he bear long with them.
I tell you that he will avenge them, speedily.
Nevertheless, and here is the key to what I want to talk about.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comets shall he find fate on the earth.
Now, Jesus brings in a balance.
He's teaching about being, and protonating prayer.
And he's saying, don't give up.
Keep asking.
Keep asking.
Keep pressing.
Don't give up.
Then he says, even though I'm teaching you how to keep asking.
When you haven't received how to be persistent, he says, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith in the earth?
Because the principle of faith is different.
You see that?
When he taught on faith, he taught to ask once and to receive once
that you believe in your heart, you got it.
You don't come back to ask again.
That's the way he taught about faith.
But then he teaches on persistence.
And he's saying, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith in the earth?
Are the people still going to be walking by faith?
Because you see, he said, men shouldn't give up.
The reason being that he realized that they were going to go through difficulties, challenging times and such challenging times that would require that they keep asking and that they should have the hope that God would respond even though it seems to be long.
This is he'll respond and to God it's still speedily but
with all of these seeming delay and persistence in asking.
And you trust in God and it doesn't happen in a week, it doesn't happen in a year.
Not even in two years and you're still asking.
He says, it's good to keep asking.
But when the Son of Man comes, shall he find faith in the earth?
Or will faith have gone out the window?
What's your life like?
Are you still walking by faith?
Or are you used to asking and not receiving quickly, immediately, that it has changed your way of life?
Has it changed your thinking?
Has it delay or seeming delay in answering your prayer?
Changed your faith life?
You don't believe anymore?
You don't think it works quickly anymore?
He says, nevertheless, when the Son of Man comets, shall he find faith in the earth?
Are you still walking by faith?
Do you still trust God that when you speak it comes to pass?
Or are you used to talking to your body and there's no response or you don't care anymore?
Soon as there's a pain, you hate for the doctors.
He says, what happens to you?
You look around for the drugs, you know?
You got some symptoms in your body and you're thinking, what do I drink?
What do I take?
What do I swallow?
What do I rub?
You're looking for all of these things.
Has that become your experience?
Is that what's happened to your life?
Turn to the Book of Jude.
Verse 3.
Beloved.
When I give all diligence to right on to you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to right on to you and exert you that he should honestly contend for the faith which was once delivered onto the saints.
He says for you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints.
There's a faith that was delivered to us.
There's a way of life that was delivered to us.
It tells us to contain for it because it will not just be there because you're a Christian.
Why?
Because there are forces out there in the world to help you give up your faith.
To inspire you in the wrong direction.
So there's a fight of faith.
There's a fight of faith for every one of us.
Christianity will not be that easy walk without a fight.
There's a fight of faith.
It tells us to content earnestly, content earnestly, fight earnestly for the faith that was delivered to the saints.
This is the reason we study Bible characters.
This is the reason.
because the Bible tells us that the things that were written before us were written for our learning, for our guidance, that we might be inspired so that we, through comfort of the scriptures, might have hope, through comfort of the scriptures.
We study how they lived, what they did, how God dealt with them, how they responded to God, how their faith produced results.
And we see what manner of man we ought to be, the kind of life he expects of us.
So we contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.
And it tells us it was once for all time.
He didn't bring it at different times.
No, He delivered that faith to the saints once.
And it's that same faith.
So the Bible says, we have in the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken.
We also believe and therefore speak.
It says the same spirit of faith as they had, as David had, as Samuel had, as the prophets had, as the apostles had.
the same spirit of faith.
We didn't come into something new.
It's been there.
And it's been proved to be infallible.
No one ever walked this road and failed.
No one ever walked this path and lost.
No one ever did.
And it will not start with us.
Amen.
Amen.
Yeah.
All who put their trust in Him were fulfilled in victory, in success.
They dominated their world.
They dominated circumstances.
They overwhelmed their adversaries.
It's the same for us.
Because we have the same spirit.
Same spirit, same spirit of faith.
Hallelujah.
So you put your trust in the Lord and be convinced by His Word.
Be strengthened by His Word.
You can only have problems when you really don't trust His Word.
That's when you have problems.
When you really don't believe Him, if we believe like they believed in the Bible, and respond like they responded in the Bible, we will get what they got.
We'll get what they got.
So, you see, you can always be a success.
And remember, success is at different stages of your life, okay?
Don't wait till you're 90 before you know whether or not you're a success.
You are the particular stage in your life right now.
Are you gonna be a success?
You choose.
You choose.
You gotta make that choice.
You gotta make that choice.
Hallelujah.
All right, now we'll move to another important thought, in the same direction.
Did you ever think about this?
Sometimes you're going through some difficulties and you're wondering, but I give my tithes, I win souls, I'm always in church.
Why is this happening to me?

I tell people, remember bad things happen to good people.
So just because you're good doesn't mean bad things will not come.
Bad things do happen to good people.
The question is not what happens is what you do with what happens.
It doesn't matter that something bad is happening, what are you going to do about it?
So bad things do happen to good people.
So you're thinking, but where have I gone wrong?
Does God, does God bless us because we haven't done something wrong?
Is that why we are blessed?
But that's the mistake many believers make.
They make the mistake.
When they try to examine themselves, they say, where have I gone wrong?
Why is this happening to me?
I do this, and I do that.
I do the other one.
And they're looking for, where did I make a mistake?
What have I done wrong for this to be happening?
Because they figure, if I'm doing everything that's right, things ought to work out for me.
So they have backsliding in their hearts because they've gone to that area again where
unconsciously they're thinking when everything was going right subconsciously they figured out it was because they're doing all the nice things they're doing all the right things so things are going on well because they're doing all the right things so now that things are not going on right they're thinking maybe I'm doing something wrong you get it so they're back sleeping in their hearts
When things go wrong, don't start out in your life looking for what you did wrong.
Because things didn't go right because you were doing things right.
The first thing you should think about is there is an enemy out there.
And you are going to put him where he belongs.
That's it.
You start out with that.
Don't start looking at yourself, what have I done wrong?
God doesn't bless you because you haven't done anything wrong.
He doesn't bless you because you've done everything right.
Your blessed cause you are the seed of Abraham.
And if something is going wrong, look for the corporate.
It's that devil.
Stand out with him.
If there's anything that's not going right in your life, you and God will fix that.
But I can tell you that's not the reason
You're not having the blessings you want or you're going off the blessings.
That's not the reason.
That's not the reason.
You were blessed before you were born.
You're an heir of God.
It's got nothing to do with your works.
So, if you mess things up, Satan can come in.
and you've got to do what you've got to do.
I mean, if I leave my door open, if I leave my door open, and some scoundrel comes inside, I shouldn't blame myself for leaving it open.
I should blame him for coming inside.
It's my door.
So, I'll start out with him.
Instead of blaming myself about the dog.
So when I'm through with Him, then God and I can discuss the door issue.

Otherwise you find that even though you're Christian, you're suffering the same things like non-Christians.
You're struggling to make your life beautiful when He's already made it beautiful.
you're fighting to get what is already yours.
Can we just read a little story here?
In the same book, same chapter, it looks gospel, already earlier, chapter 18, this time from verse 9.
You ready?
And he specked this parable often to certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
Do you see that?
They trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
Jesus began talking to them.
He says, two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
The Pharisees stood and prayed thus with Himself.
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortionists, unjust, a daughter us, or even as this publican.
Both of them were in the temple to pray.
And His brain over here and the publican's brain over there.
And He's saying, God, I thank You.
I'm not like other men, including this publican over here.
He says, I fast twice in the week.
I give tithes of all that I possess.
You see, he's talking to God.
You see?
So if things go wrong, what do you think it's going to do?
It's going to say, Lord, I mean, what's gone wrong?
I fast twice a week.
I give tithes of all my possessions.
What have I still done wrong?
Why aren't you working for me?
See?
Let's read about the publican now, verse 13.
And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me, Asinah.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
For everyone that exalted now want to notice, want to notice,
He's dealing here to get this scripture towards us what his focus was.
So he's not trying to tell us how to pray as sinners.
He's dealing with truth.
Truth is humble.
Have you ever noticed, let me finish reading this.
I'll tell you that.
is that for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbled himself shall be exalted.
You know, people who don't tell the truth, they love to be believed.
They're always very offended when you don't believe them.
People who don't tell the truth.
You don't believe me?
Whenever someone's acting like that, just know he's lying.
Why doesn't you believe me?
Don't you believe me?
Don't you believe me?
It's lying.
Those who tell lies always want to be believed.
Trust me.
They want you to believe them because they are lying.
When you tell the truth, if someone doesn't believe you,
You don't care.
Because if he don't believe the truth, he's in trouble.
Because he's gonna make a decision on the basis of falsity.
Because you've told him the truth and he doesn't believe it.
What else are you gonna do?
He's the one who's gonna make a mistake.
Because you're told him the truth anyhow.
So, if he doesn't believe it,
He doesn't want to believe me, believe me.
No!
Those who tell the truth don't worry about being believed.
Because once you've told the truth, it's to the advantage of the one who's hearing it.
Because you already knew the truth anyway.
You can't use it more than you've used it.
Can you see it?
Because it's your possession.
Truth is with you.
And when you tell the truth, you've given out something.
And it's for him to use.
And if he doesn't believe it, he can't use it.
Truth is a gift.
But when you're lying, you're offended.
You start crying that they don't believe you.
The truth is, you lied.
You try that, God, they don't believe me.
You don't believe me?
Okay, why are you crying?
Because I'm telling them that the truth, they don't believe me.
You are a liar.

No need to cry.
You know, I've dealt with people many years, and I've found this to be consistent with those that don't tell the truth.
Very consistent with them.
They're always the same.
They're trying to make you believe, and they're crying about not being believed.
Ask him what's the problem, says.
I told him I didn't believe.
You don't believe me.
When was the last time you acted like that?
You see, you didn't really tell the truth.
When you tell the truth, you don't care that they didn't believe you.

Okay, so did you notice this, this Pharisee in this public end?
And Jesus said, the one who humbles himself shall be exalted, but the one who exhausts himself shall be abased.
Don't trust in your own righteousness.
Don't trust in your own righteousness.
Trust in the Lord's righteousness.
Trust in the Lord's righteousness.
Okay, are we moving?
Okay, so let's go to another area.
And this time, Romans will be alright.
Romans chapter number four.
Let's see something.
He in the book of Romans.
Mm-hmm.

Chapter 4 in verse 14.
You want to read it?
Okay, want to go.

For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of non-effect.
Wow!
Can faith be made void?
You realize there are people who have made their faith void and the promise of God in their lives of non-effect?
You know, Jesus said to the Jews, you have made the word of God of non-effect by your traditions.
Now he says, if those who are of the law be heirs, that means those who are of works, if they be heirs, faith is made void.
Now, the principle is clear.
What is clear there is this.
Faith is made void by trusting in your works.
As the principle he has revealed there, faith is made void by trusting in your works.
If you think that you're going to be
You're supposed to be healthy because you were saying this, this, this, this, this, because you were doing this or doing that.
You're supposed, things are supposed to be going on.
Your finances should be in good shape because you've been doing this right.
You've been saying that right.
Then fate is made wrong.
It's not by works of righteousness which we have done.
I'd like to give you a basis for your faith so you can understand the accurate basis for our faith.
I'm not going to be well because I'm saying I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, I refuse to be sick, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well.
That's not what's making me well.
If I'm trusting in that, I'm going back to works.
This is another kind of work.
I've back slid into this kind of work of thinking that I'll be healthy because I'm saying, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well, I refuse to be sick.
You know we said that yesterday.

But you see, it says, we having the same spirit of faith according as this written, I believe, therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak.
So, it is not the speaking that's the issue.
It starts with the believing.
What do you believe?
You're speaking on the basis of your believing.
So the basis of our faith is what Christ came to do.
The reason I'm saying I refuse to be sick is because He gave me health and I don't want to give up that health.
He gave me life and I don't want to give up that life.
I know what is done for me and I hold onto it so I refuse to be sick.
So faith has a basis.
faith has a basis.
I refuse to be broke.
I refuse to be poor.
I refuse to be a failure.
Not because if I say these things, I'll not be a failure.
I'll not be broke.
No!
My focus is on who he has made me.
And he told me to say it.
So I say it because he's said to say it and that this is the principle of making that which is already consummated real in my life.
You get it?
So there's a basis for faith.
There's a foundation for faith.
You know, there's a saying that we make
you know, all around the world, those of us who believe this kind of things.
And somehow it can mislead if it's not carefully understood when we say that the confessions of our lives create realities.
You see, it is a truism in certain respects, but the reality is
Those things that we are talking about were already real.
They were already real.
So, our talk will not create these realities because they are real.
You see that?
Otherwise, there's no fate to this because fate is the evidence of unseen realities.
So we're only bringing those realities from the realm in which they are real to a material world.
So they're not being created to be realities.
They were already real.
You get it?
But then I said, it has its reality.
I said, it's a truism because as sons of God, we can create new things.
that didn't exist before, whether in the spirit realm or in the physical realm, because he made us creators.
But those things don't come by confessions.
They come by Rima.
Not by the confessions.
Confessions are the speaking of the same things with God.
You're just saying what he already said.
That's why they don't create new realities because you're only saying what God already made real.
Okay?
So you're bringing that into another realm.
It's already there.
But if you're going to create something that never existed before, it's going to be Rema.
You're going to be speaking God's word or you're going to be creating a word of faith that's got nothing to do with previous existing material.
You get it?
You say it and you frame it.
You say it and it comes to pass.
Whereas it never existed before.
But when I talk about my health, I'm not creating something new.
It was already purchased for me in Christ Jesus.
When I talk about my finances, I'm not creating something new.
I'm already an heir.
It already exists.
Hey, did you get it?
Okay.
Have I read to you from Romans yet?
Okay.
So that's what we talked about, but now I'm talking about confessions.
Let me take you further into this.
Book of Hebrews chapter number four.
And we will be reading from verse 14.

Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens.
Oh, hallelujah.
We have a great high priest that's passed into the heavens.
Jesus, the Son of God.
This tells me so many things.
We have a high priest, a great high priest that is passed into the heavens.
He's gone.
Jesus, the Son of God, is his let us hold fast our profession.
Let us hold fast our profession.
The word translated profession, the O King James Version is from the Greek homologia.
which is the same as confession.
It means speaking the same things in consent, in agreement, confession.
So some new translations will render it confession.
So he says, let us hold fast seeing that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens.
Let us hold fast our confession.
But we have not a high priest's, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
But was in all points tempted like us, we are yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly onto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Hallelujah.
We have a great high priest that's passed into the heavens.
We know where he is.
Amen.
Let us hold fast our confession.
We are saying the same thing.
Confession is speaking the same thing with him.
If he has said that we are new creations, we are new creations.
I hold on to my confession that I am a new creation.
Come what me?
No matter what happens, I'm only saying what he's already said.
And he has gone into the heavens.
He's greater than this world.
And what does it tell us about this great high priest who's gone into the heavens?
Okay.
Hebrews chapter three.
Have you seen it?
Okay.
He goes straight to verse one.
Wherefore holy brethren, is this stuck into you?
Stuck into me.
stuck in the me.
Wherefore holy brethren, partake us of the heavenly calling.
Consider the apostle and high priest of our confession.
That's the word again, profession is the same homologia and that's confession.
All right.
This is considered the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.
He is the apostle and high priest.
That means he spearheaded this way of confession.
He's the apostle, the saint one.
Apostles are trailblazers.
And he did.
He set the course.
He was the saint one who set the course.
This life of faith.
This gospel began with him.
Amen.
And he showed what it was to witness a great confession, a good confession.
And the Bible says he declared before Pilate, a good confession, because he said what the prophets already said concerning him.
He said what God already said concerning him.
He just repeated it.
Hallelujah.
And he showed us exactly how to make a good confession.
He is the apostle and high priest.
So which means he's the one that does the offering, the ministerial offering over our confession.
So when we make these confessions, the Lord offers them before the Father.
He's the High Priest of our confession.
So it's so important that we are in oneness with him.
We say what God already said concerning us.
And Jesus Christ is the High Priest of our confession.
And the fourth chapter tells us that He is passed into the heavens.
Glory to God.
He's gone to the heavens.
So He functions in the most holy place in heaven.
So our confessions are brought before the Father in heaven.
So what it is you've been saying, if you've been speaking God's kind of talk, it's passed into the heavens.
But if you weren't talking God's talk, it didn't get there.
because He will not work with that.
It's like bringing the bad sacrifice.
It's only the acceptable sacrifice that He offers before the Father.
Every wrong sacrifice is ignored.
Can you see that your confessions are so important?
Say what God said.
Remember, Jesus, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of them in the day of judgment.
He says every idle word, that means words that have no power, useless words.
Have you been speaking useless words?
You say things and then you come back and say, well, I don't really mean that, useless words.
Stop talking because those who talk too much don't succeed much.
They put their energy in the wrong direction.
Look through your life when you were a student in school.
Those who were doing very well, they didn't talk too much.
It was always those who were quiet.
Of course, you know some people were very quiet because they didn't know anything.
They're very quiet, so that nobody knows they're in class.
The teacher doesn't know they're in class, so they don't ask the question.
So they are very quiet.
One teacher says, now, I want someone to answer this question.

They don't want to be asked anything.
So it's not to say that every quiet person is therefore intelligent.
No.
But you see, they're the two sides of a coin.
So you have the quiet ones who are quietly working, because they think positively, they think about their work, they think how to be more successful, they think they want to do.
And then the very quiet ones that don't have anything inside.
So let's leave that alone, okay?
Or you come to the, in between the middle,
Very noisy people.
They have no time to think.
There are two things they do with their mouths.
Eat, talk.
That's, they just eat, eat, eat, eat, talk, talk, talk, talk.
And then they fall asleep.
Once they wake up, they've started.
And the nice thing about such people, they hardly ever get sick.
Yeah, they hardly get sick.
You know why?
Satan doesn't have time to trouble them.

Because, you see, they're not making any impact.
He doesn't need to trouble them.
You know, when he's sending out his little demons every day, he says, now, you, that way, and you, that way.
They say, what about that or that man?
They say, don't mind him.
They don't mind him.
He doesn't need that demon to trouble him.
They say, don't mind him.
Leave him.
Let's not waste our resources.

So, don't think that when you have problems, it means that something has gone wrong.
I told you, the first place to look at is the enemy.
Don't stop looking at yourself.
See, focus on the advisory first.
That's what you do.
And deal with you.
Let me read something to you.
In James chapter 4, verse 7, can you read it for me?
Read, want to go.

One more time.

Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Then it says, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Submit yourself therefore to God.
Now, how many times should you submit yourself to God?
Come on.
You know who is riding to?
You know who is riding to?
Huh?
Okay, let's understand Pastor James.
I often say that I like to have some discussions with James when I get to heaven.
I have issues raised with James.
Okay, I want you to listen to James.
We're going to read from the first verse of this theory chapter.
From whence come wars?
Oh, I was going to... Okay, we'll come back here.
I'll just be read, okay?
Because we got some things to discuss here.
Alright.
From whence come wars and fighting among you?
Come, they not hands even of your lost and warring your members?
He lost and have not you kill and desire to have and cannot obtain your fighting war yet?
He have not because he has not.
He ask and receive not because he ask of me that he may consume it upon your loss.
He a daughter has an adulterousness.
See who is writing to?
See who is writing to?
Let's go.
He a daughter has an adulterousness.
No, he not.
That friendship of the world is enmity with God.
These were God's people who were in friendship with the world.
They were worldly.
You see it?
They were worldly.
And so he called them a daughter as an adulteress.
Don't you know that friendship of the world is emmity with God?
Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Do you think that the scripture said in vain, the spirit that dwelled in us, lost it to envy?
But he give it more grace.
Wherefore he said, God resisted the proud, but give it grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves there for the God.
Can you see the context?
Can you see the context?
They were worldly.
They were worldly.
So he's not writing this to every Christian.
He's not telling every Christian submit yourself there for the God.
Because we got submitted when Jesus Christ became a lot of our lives.
But if you back sleep and became worldly and carnal, then He tells you, friendship with the world is enmity with God.
Come out of the world and submit yourself to God.
Resist the devil and you flee from Him.
So that's why it's so important that you study the word of God in context.
Otherwise you run off with the wrong idea.
So he wasn't telling every Christian submit yourself to God as though we're not submitted.
And so somebody would think that every Sunday they're going to pray a prayer of submission.
Everyone now pray a prayer of submission.
Now submit yourself to God.
Otherwise, if you try to resist the devil, he will not flee.
Submit yourself.
Submit yourself.
And they're like, I don't believe.
I submit.
I submit.
I submit.
And it doesn't work.
How do you submit yourself to God by subjecting yourself to the Word?
What the Word says you will do.
That's it.
But the whole brain asks of me.
Everybody, pray of submission.
Come on now.
He have, yes, submit, submit.
Lord, I submit, I submit, I submit, I submit.
You can pray like that for two hours.
You are still not submitted.
When you said Jesus is Lord of my life, that's the day you submit it.
But if with that, you went and became worldly, then he says, submit it because you've been in friendship with the world.
Hallelujah.
Okay, did you get that?
Say, I'm submitted to the Lord.
So when I tell the devil out, he's got to go.
That's it.
So don't let the devil tell you, you know, you're not submitting to God.
How can I go?
You're telling me to go out?
I'm not going.
You say, shut up devil, out!
And don't listen to his daddy arguments.
You know, some people have this continued dialogue with the devil.
He says, come out and he says, I'm not going.
He says, hey, why are you not going?
Then he starts telling his own story.
He says, okay, okay, what do you want us to do before you go?
And then he tells them what he wants them to do before he goes and he doesn't go when they do it.
So they just remain the three hours as they're trying to cast out one devil.
No, it's no use.
That's a lack of faith, a lack of understanding.
He says resist the devil and he will flee from a Christian that has been worldly.
A Christian has been worldly.
He's been worldly.
Now, he just says, Lord, from today, I've changed my life.
I no longer want to be worldly.
Satan in Jesus' name, get out of my life.
And he says, right away, Satan will flee.
He didn't have to go and set practice in fast to be humble and righteous.
No!
He just woke up and said, now, the world behind me, the cross, the for me, praise God.
And that's it and the devil flees before you.
What about you that you haven't been submitted to the world since?
You should tell the devil out and he's got to go.
He's the worldly believer.
By just waking up can put the devil on the run.
What about you?
Why are you trying to squeeze up some faith to deal with Satan in your life?
You know, what we call a virus is what Jesus called a spirit of infirmity.
All right?
Okay, now you see spirits of different kinds.
And demonical personalities take different forms.
Now there's a group of them
that are referred to in the scriptures as spirits of infirmity.
They don't have those big shapes of fallen angels like you think.
No, they are like little insignificant things in size.
Okay?
And they have boats
living and non-living characteristics, just like a virus.
This is the way they function.
In fact, the full description of a virus, and you know there are different kinds of them, but the major characteristics of a virus
are all fulfilled or found or resident in these evil spirits, the core spirits of infirmity.
And when you have someone suffering from a flu, the doctors may diagnose one thing or the other, but you're going to know when it's a spirit of infirmity,
by how long it takes.
Usually it defies medication.
Usually it stays longer than necessary.
Just would not go.
And these are intelligent beings.
They can make you spend all your money.
So, by relieving you of the pains or of all the hurt for a while,
You spend more when they push the button again and they just keep doing it.
Then you hear that person has been having migraine headaches for five long years.
Or there's a soul that just would not heal.
It's ten years.
What he had to solve from an accident, every medication has failed.
They say it's some cancer.
It's not cancer.
There are some that will be cancer, but this one is not even cancer, but just doesn't get healed.
A spirit of infirmity.
What do you do?
You rebuke the spirit of infirmity and it goes.
Now, these spirits find their way even into the lives of Christians because they're not
They're not watching in the Word of God.
You see?
And one little thing after the other.
It's a back ache.
And then from the back ache, they can't sit anymore.
It's a problem.
Every time they sit before the computer, it hurts.
After a while, they can't use the computer anymore.
Because this thing hurts.
Back ache that they've suffered now for three long years.
But they're using medication.
And medication is failing.
Brother, sister, use your hand.
Use your hand.
Jesus, put something in your hand.
Use it.
Put your hand there, and say thou spirit of infirmity in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazar, I command you to get out of my body.
Get out of my body.
It's got intelligence.
It'll listen to you.
It's got intelligence.
Or you might even find that you're having some terrible discharge from your body.
And these things happen to males and females.
This judge can come out of any part of your body.
And the terrible thing is that it could smell, it can come out of your ear, it can come out of your nose, it can come out of your private parts.
And usually with a terrible smell, what are you going to do?
What if it defies medication?
See, as a child of God, don't start out looking for the doctor.
Don't start with that.
Because what of the day you hear what the doctor cannot do?
What would you do?
If the doctor suddenly tells you there's no cure, then you say no.
No, my faith.
No, you don't have faith.
Your faith died when you first started consulting the doctor.
That's when your faith went bankrupt.
No, you're trying to wake it up.
Most of the time it doesn't work.
See, because you are the end of your rope and you broke your faith.
Now you're trying, struggling, you're running the hard road, trying to make it work.
Why didn't you just make it work when it was easier?
Is it easier to hear that it's cancer?
When you didn't hear about it and it was just a pain, you could deal with it.
Now they tell you it's cancer, go, hey, oh God.
It's the name of Jesus, the name of Jesus.
And cancer licks you in the face.
Why wait?
Faith and fear come from the same sauces.
Words.
Words.
If you're going to have faith, you'll come because of words.
If you're going to have fear, you'll come because of words.
So why don't you just listen to the right word before you go and hear the wrong one?
And he says, where did it come from?
Where?
Where?
How could I have it?
Where?
I reject it.
like we said yesterday.
I reject it.
You went to the doctor and I said, I reject it.
No.
Learn to live healthy and strong.
Hallelujah.
Mm-hmm.
Sometimes you find blood coming out of your body continually.
You know?
There are some people that always have blood coming out of their nostrils.
So they always go with some cotton wool or tissue paper of some kind.
And every now and then they have to clean it.
Every now and then they have to clean it.
It's blood coming out.
You don't know that you've got to do something about this.
It doesn't get better.
It usually gets worse.
You say, it's even better now.
It used to be worse than this.
Let me tell you, Satan doesn't play fair.
Don't accommodate him.
If you've had that going on for a long time now, it's time to say no.
Satan, no.
I want to put a stop to this and it starts now.
It starts now.
When you feel your body and there are growths of, you know, does this swelling in your body feeling hard?
Before you start running to Dr. So-and-so.
In the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus.
You have no right to occupy this vessel.
I command you to leave.
In the same way you manifested yourself, you get out.
I didn't know when you came.
I don't have to know when you leave, but you leave now.

See, you've got to take care of your body.
Remember, you are the custodian of your body.
Your body is like your garden.
All right?
Your body is like your garden.
Who are your function?
And God put you in this body.
He gave your body to use the function for him.
You're going to have to take care of it.
Your body is your right to the earth.
If you lose it, you can't be in the earth.
Are you hearing me?
Every spirit that doesn't have an earthly body has no right to function on earth.
It must obtain its rights from one that has a physical body.
That's a spiritual law.
And it's very important.
So, you've got to take care of your bodies, your rights to this place.
If you're going to function for God in the earth, you need your body.
And he will hold you responsible for taking care of this body.
You are the legal custodian of your physical body.
So don't mess it up and say, well, I don't know what happened to my body.
This is what the body God gave to me.
Whatever body he gave to you, you take care of it.
So every time you do something to take care of that body, God is with you.
When you say, this pain cannot stay here.
God is with you for it.
You don't have to ask him, Lord, is it your will?
It's his will!
He always wants your body well, it's his will!
Because that's what keeps you in the earth, legally, spiritually.
You don't have it, you shouldn't be here.
The reason you can pray on earth and be heard is because you have a body.
You lose that body, you cannot pray here and be heard.
You see it?
Okay, James chapter four, I told you I was coming there.
James chapter number four.

And we will read from verse one.
He says,
From whence come wars and fadings among you?
Come they not aunts even of your loss that war in your members, war in your members?
He definitely not talking about the members of a church.
He's talking about the members of your body.
Look at it, that war in your members.
He lost and have not, he killed and desired a half and cannot obtain.
You fight and war, yet he have not because he asked not.
He asked and received not because he asked a miss that he may consume it upon your loss.
Okay, let me read to you from the amplified version.
What leads to strife, discord and feuds?
And how do conflicts, quarrels and faddings originate among you?
Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?
See, it's a bodily member.
He isn't talking about the members of the church, he's talking about you.
You say, it's their conflicts, inner conflicts, you see.
Okay?
Then it says, you are jealous and covet what others have.
And your desires go unfulfilled.
So you become murderous.
How do you become a murderer by hating?
By hating someone else, despising someone else.
Then it says, to hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.
You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain the gratification, the contentment and the happiness that you seek.
So you fight in war.
Now, how often do God's people find themselves in this situation?
Inner conflicts, burning within
anger.
God is saying, why don't you ask?
He says, you can ask.
Why don't you just ask?
Why fighting through this thing?
Why don't you just ask?
He says, he says, you do not have because you do not ask.
Or you do ask God for them and yet fail to receive because you ask with wrong purpose.
and with evil, selfish motives.
He says, you can ask, ask God, and He'll give you.
What if your asking says, those were asking and not receiving because they're asking wrongly, because it got the wrong motives.
Oh, dear.
Have you ever found yourself in competition with others?
This is one of the reasons people get sick.
They get sick.
You set experience in headaches because of wrong thinking.
On to you can stay in the office.
You're gonna pack your things and walk away.
When others appraise, do you get happy about it?
How you go?
Have you ever found yourself trying to argue that someone else is not really good because you don't like him?
With these kind of things, your faith will be zivowed.
Your faith will be void.
It will become empty.
It can't work.
Because faith works by love.
So you see, your faith is not working.
Imagine that we would pick on someone and say, this fellow has done excellently well.
You are not the boss.
Yet you disagree.
That one?
This is why I don't believe all these awards.
They don't know her.
She doesn't know anything.
She doesn't know anything.
I love God.
Isn't it amazing that this one that didn't know anything, God still saw it.
They say, it's partiality.
My God loves to act like that.
You see it?
So when you walk with God like that, you can understand how he thinks.
He says, God receives the proud, but it gives grace, buoyancy to the humble.

So as long as you're looking at others, like, what are they?
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, and the Lord resists you like this.
Because you're His child, you bless you, but keeps elbowing you.
And then He just keeps promoting someone else.
You say, it's a mistake.
Mm-hmm.
Look at David.
It was a mistake.
This guy didn't know nothing about war.
Huh?
Keeping sheep.
Then what did they say to Saul?
He didn't say, 100 soldiers, 1,000 soldiers came out against me and got them.
He said, a lion.
And you know, some of them were scratching their head, a lion.
And a bee.
And they're like, oh, does this boy understand what you are talking about?
This is not a lion.
This is not... They were like, oh, King, leave forever.
But can this rascal get out?
But Saul was like, you want to try?
He says, by my god, that man will be like one of them lion or bee.
By the time I'm through with you.
He didn't have the experience for the army.
It wasn't even qualified.
He saw that brothers were there.
They were more qualified.
And Elliot had looked at him narrowly earlier to say, what are you doing here?
Your eyes.
You want to see.
Who did you leave the sheep?
He said, those few sheep.
Who did you leave them for?
The few sheep.
The young lad said, what have I done?
That's what David said, what have I done?
His brother was big.
Huge.
Chesty.
And David was small.
And God made that little rascal king, king of Israel.
And we were his brothers now, who said he was not qualified to be commander in chief.
Yeah?
The day the prophet even came home, actually they brought the family.
They brought the family to him.
to the prophet because, you know, he went somewhere for sacrifice and sent for Jesse to come with his house.
You know, a lot of times we look at it like he came to their house, but the truth is they went to him.
So it makes it worse.
They didn't take him.
The family was called to the sacrifice by the prophet Samuel.
Everybody went.
and they didn't take David because he was not necessary.
If God's gonna be picking one of them sons of Jesse, it couldn't be that little red rascal outside with the sheep.
It couldn't be him, with the sheep and the goats.
It couldn't be him.
So they brought all the smarty ones that have been trained in the army who could command
the army of Isha, and lead them to war.
And the moment Prophet Samuel saw Elia, he said, the Lord's are known to these before you.
I mean, he was humbled by this guy's looks.
He looked like a king.
I wonder how you look sometimes when you think of some others, you know, you are

I have walked in and you know, Samuel was like, well, where comes that?
He must be the Lord's choice.
And as he got ready to anoint him, the Lord said, don't anoint him, for I have rejected him.
And Samuel took of his house.

He said, maybe he's the next one.
And the next one.
And the next one.
No!
He got confused.
He said, Mr. Jesse, do you have any more songs?
Have I made a mistake?
I don't know if I'll call him his son, but... I don't know.
It's one boy.
Bible scholars have said some Bible scholars.
I haven't totally agreed because...
There's not enough reason to agree with them and maybe not be enough to disagree totally either.
That he probably was born of a different mother who wasn't with the family.
In the scripture, they quote for that.
Now, remember, I said, I don't have enough reason to agree with them.
All right?
But I don't have enough to totally disagree.
And so I'm just giving you information.
Or what someone said, could be true, may not be.
You can do your own study.
So because he said, in sin, did my mother conceive me?
So they said he was born out of wedlock.
and his mother was not there.
I don't think that's what David was trying to say, but that's what his Bible scholars have said it meant.
And it may satisfy the curiosity, but I think that it was more spiritual than referring to circumstances of his birth because it is spiritually true of ever one of us who was born in the world.
You get it?
That's what I think.
Because the same preachers used that same potion to talk to sinners.
And I don't think every sinner was born in that direction.
See, so I don't have enough reason to agree with them.
But whatever it was, they came without him.
And God didn't see it like that.
He chose the boy.
and made him king.
So I'm only saying to you that when someone is honored, don't start saying there is a mistake some way, there is a mistake some way.
If there's a mistake some way, go and report it in the right quarters.
But once you're going around and maybe you and your friends as a mistake some way, you are rebellious and you are proud.
you're rebellious and proud and it's not good.
It's not a good spirit.
If there's truly a mistake somewhere and you think there's a mistake somewhere, go to the organizers, go to those that can do something about it and say, this is what I know about this situation, how I thought I should inform you.
Because you might want to look at it again.
And that will be honorable.
But if you're talking to your friends around you and say, ha, ha, ha, don't mind this.
Then you're kind of, you're rebellious.
and you're proud.
I mean, who among us cannot be honorable?
Who among us here is too stupid to be honored?
Has no one of us here that cannot be honorable?
Otherwise, we wouldn't be here.
Hey, come on, talk to me.
Yeah.
God brought you into this place.
There's a decency about your life because He already worked in you.
Otherwise, why would He want to use you, walk through you, to save other people?
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Amen.
Glory to God.
Okay, now.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord.
And what?
in the power of His might.
Say again, finally, my brethren, be strong in who?
Be strong in your muscles.
No.
In the Lord and in the power of His might.
And you put on what?
The whole armor of God.
The whole armor of God.
I'm close with the armor of God.
See, I'm cold with the armor of God.
I'm healthy and strong.
I'm sound mentally, physically, spiritually.
I'm sound.
I'm sound.
I'm healthy.
And sound.
And working for the king.
I'm on the king's business.
Making progress.
Making waves.
I'm shaking up everywhere.
Things are happening.
Things are happening.
Let me tell you something.
Listen, start using your weapons.
The Bible says, turn to the book of Revelation.
Let me read it to you.
Revelation.
Ain't chomped in number 12
I'm going to read to you.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called a devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world.
He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God, in the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down.
which accused them before our God day and nights, and they overcame Him.
Whoo!
Glory to God!
Whoo!
Our brethren, our brethren overcame Him.
And they overcame Him by the blood of a lamb, and by the word of their testimony and the love of their lives unto the death, glory to God.
How did they overcome Him?
The blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.
So what?
Testify.
You say, brother, things are happening.
Things are happening.
I'm shining in my work.
Listen, before anybody has time to start telling you, just that testifying.
Things are happening in our office.
Things are happening in our job.
Things are happening.
hey things are happening things are happening things are happening things are happening so we are making waves
And they said, tell me, tell me what's happening.
And a lot is happening.
A lot is going on.

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