Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
The Believer's Authority 2
What if you could harness a power that seems almost beyond comprehension, shaping the world around you through faith and conviction? That's exactly what we're unpacking as we explore the profound concept of the believer's authority. Starting from the foundations laid in Genesis and Matthew, we unravel how authority was bestowed upon humanity, lost, and then reclaimed through Christ.
And let's reach down and pick up our Bibles, wave them around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad. Thank you, worship team, beautiful job today. Glory to God. Let's say this together Say Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day today. We're excited to be living in this time. It's the beginning stages of revival. What we've looked for and prayed for is beginning to come to pass. We're encouraged at this time. We will not turn back. We will not bow down to other gods. We will stand up for the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We will use the name of Jesus to exercise our authority. In Jesus' name, amen, praise God. All right, wow, everybody go. Wow. All right, we're teaching you on the believer's authority. This is our second message. So let's turn to Genesis, chapter 1. And while you're turning in your Bibles, find Matthew 28 and we'll read our foundational scriptures for this teaching.
Speaker 1:And I don't apologize for teaching something over and over again, because we need to hear it over and over again Faith cometh by hearing and hearing. And besides that, we have new people that never have heard it. I mean, if the authority of the believer was taught in all the churches, you know, we'd be far above and far beyond where we are. But it's not. And I'll never forget hearing this for the first time, 40-some-odd years ago, and it changed my life. It can change your life, and you know so. This word, if you've heard it, it's just water for what you already know. Plus, you're going to get some more. How many of you already graduated and you've got your doctoral thesis already written? No, there's none of that. We all still need to know more. And then, for those of us that haven't had a lot of teaching, or maybe you've been taught wrong, it takes a lot of teaching to undo what you've been taught wrong. So, genesis 1, verse 26,.
Speaker 1:And God said it's always good to know what God said about anything that you're facing. What did God say about it? Well, god said Let us make a man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So we've got dominion over creeps. So God created man in his own image and in the image of God created he him Male and female, created he them. There's no other gender, okay, what did God say Well, god said this right here, it hadn't changed. All right. And then Matthew 28,.
Speaker 1:After Jesus had risen from the dead and he told his disciples he was going to, they didn't quite believe him. Matthew 28, verse 16. Then the 11 disciples you know there were 12, but Judas didn't make it. And the 11 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and when they saw him they worshiped him. But some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them saying you're fired. No, he didn't. Thank God, he gives us another chance. I mean, sometimes we're just don't believe like we should. Well, the, you know the, the remedy for unbelief is teaching the word of God, getting the word of God in you, correct your you know your wrong thinking. So he said.
Speaker 1:Jesus came and spake unto them saying All power. That word power there is. Exerce. It means authority, all authority in heaven. All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach.
Speaker 1:My margin says make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them again, discipling them to observe all things whatsoever. I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world or the end of the age. And so our great God and Father has given the church authority. He intended for all of mankind to have that authority. Not all of mankind has the authority. The only people on earth that have that authority is the church, the born-again ones, the ones that have given their lives and their hearts to Jesus and been born again.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, they're potentially given the authority, but their authority is not active if they're not discipled. I mean, you know, potentially, your child is going to drive on the freeway, but they can't do that when they're 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. They have to get to a certain age where they have enough ability to drive the car and a brain that's developed enough to understand the dangers associated with it. That's how it's so ridiculous that anybody could think that a child could be able to choose to have gender bender surgery without notifying the parents. I mean that's the dumbest. I mean these people are demon-possessed. Thank God they're being exposed right now.
Speaker 1:This is historic. What we're living through is historic and really it just goes back to what the Bible says in James 5, 14,. The effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous, avails much Amplified says, brings much power to bear, dynamic in its working. What we're seeing, that that prophetic word is referring to, has come about because of people knowing how to pray, not from people that beg and begging God to do something. No, the church had to do something. The church is getting to the place where it's awakening now Amen, and it's exciting. So this great authority, adam had it and lost it to the devil. We went through all this last week. I don't have time to go through and teach everything that I taught last week. You just need to get the media and get that and listen to it.
Speaker 1:And here we see that Jesus delegated his authority to the believer. Well, you know, but, pastor, this is this 11. That's all he was talking to. Well, yeah, but the but in in Mark chapter 16, he's talking, you know, and he says there, let's look at it real quick, get it in front of you so that you understand. This is for the believer, not just for the apostles in the first century AD. This is the error that people have. They try to say that healing has passed away because it was just for the apostles in the first century and when the last apostle died, then healing. That's not in the Bible anywhere. What is that? That's a theory that somebody gave you. And what is a theory? Well, you know, it's a supposition based on ignorance of the subject under discussion. So Mark 16, jesus Mark said this same event right here, this same time.
Speaker 1:Mark said it this way in verse 14 afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meeting and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed, not them which had seen him after he was risen. So that was his version of the unbelief. And he said unto them Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned or condemned. And these signs shall follow just the twelve apostles in the first century AD and after that it's all over with. He said, these signs shall follow who, them that believe?
Speaker 1:Are you a believer? Then you have authority, and the context is what Go ye, see. I mean, your authority is designed to get you into the presence of people who need what you've got. I'm going to say that again. Your authority is designed to get you into the presence of those who need what you've got. What have you got? You've got the good news. Every one of us. I mean we're able to lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover. We're able to cast aside demon powers. That's not necessarily a deliverance ministry where you get somebody to puke into a bag. I mean we have these.
Speaker 1:The charismatics brought a lot of these things into the church and the charismatics were filled with the Holy Ghost, but they weren't really majored on the Word of God and I thank God for the Word of Faith. I thank God for my foundation in the Word, because we need both. We need the Word and the Spirit. We need to be filled with the Word of God, but we also need to be filled with the Holy Ghost. But you don't just throw the baby out with the bathwater and just, oh, I'm going to cast demons out of this person. Come on, you know, like Jesus did. I mean, that's the minor part of it. He's talking about the opposition to preaching the gospel. This is what we deal with a lot on Thursday nights. We process the plan of God for this church.
Speaker 1:God told me to wake up the church. Guess, who doesn't want the church to wake up? The devil? How do you think we're able to go not only to Austin, but now? You know we've gone to Oklahoma. You know we're going to Oklahoma City and you know we've gone to, you know all the Baton Rouge and we're going. You know, right now we're in Maine, augusta, maine.
Speaker 1:How in the world could you get a door open? It's prayer and knowing who you are in Christ is go ye, and we've got authority. Everybody say authority. So authority is privilege, force, capacity, competency, strength, freedom, mastery, delegated influence, jurisdiction. I like that word jurisdiction. You know you don't have jurisdiction everywhere, universally.
Speaker 1:God gives you jurisdiction, as you're faithful, to reign in your domain. And once he sees that you're faithful over your domain see, kings, kingdom, kingdom domain. Kings reign over their domain. They don't reign over somebody else's domain, do they? Unless they want war? No, they reign over their domain. So you start reigning over your domain. We talked about what your domain is last week your body and your mind, your home, your finances and then finally your neighborhood, your business and your customers and all of that. And then your neighborhood, city, state, nation, your business and your customers and all of that. And then your neighborhood, city, state, nation. And sometimes I've seen people that weren't faithful over their own body and mind and then they're trying to rule over the nation. Well, you know, you kind of got things out of whack. You need to start where you are. You need to start in kindergarten. Hello, you don't start as a senior in high school. You don't go to school and all of a sudden you're a senior. No, you start at the bottom and you just are faithful and you pass a lot of tests, don't you? And you just keep. That's just very similar in the spirit.
Speaker 1:I think about Paul and Silas. They say to go into Bithynia, and the spirit suffered them. Not, these are apostles. Man and the Holy Ghost would let them go to Bithynia and the Spirit suffered them. Not. These are apostles. Man and the Holy Ghost would let them go to Bithynia. They wanted to go and they couldn't go. And then they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia Minor. What is that all about? Well, it wasn't God's plan for them to do those two things. So he just he said no, you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just wait and time, just wait. And thank god, they waited. I I keep thinking about what would have happened if they jumped the gun. They'd have had an opportunity to go to heaven early, but they waited until god spoke spectacular guidance with a dream, and and paul saw the macedonian man. He said come over here and help us.
Speaker 1:Oh, I tell you, god has a plan for your authority to operate and he wants to promote this church. But this church is a group of all of us. We're all individual members of this body, and so the more of you. If you don't rule in your domain, it affects the rest of us and what we can do together. That's why I teach this pretty often. I teach this at least once every two or three years, and I'm always talking about authority anyway, and when I minister to people, I minister in authority. You never hear me begging God to heal somebody. You never see me begging God, period. I know who I am, I know what my authority is and in my case, I have an office that has equipment that comes with my office, which maybe you don't have that equipment, but you have the believer's equipment. It's all you need is the believer's equipment. You don't need the equipment that's on my life. You need the equipment on your life. You got the name of Jesus. You got the name of Jesus. You got the Holy Ghost, you got the Word of God, you got all you need to rule Amen.
Speaker 1:So we got into these definitions and we mentioned last week another one is power of rule or government. So a lot of what we're facing in this country is a result of the church getting away from its rightful place and walking in a backslidden manner, even though God has sent revivals, legitimate revivals, to the church in the 20th century and even in the 21st century. He sent revival to the church at different times and yet it just doesn't seem to stick. It just kind of comes and everybody gets excited and they flow in this for a little while and then it just kind of wanes. You know he's looking for a people that's going to hold on to everything he's added in these revivals. Revivals restore what's been lost. I believe this generation is going to take everything that was lost and bring it all together in one big package and we're going to rule and reign until Christ comes and snatches us out of here in the rapture. We're going to do the job we're designed to do Amen. But it takes faith, it takes faith, it takes faith.
Speaker 1:So we talked about last week of praying the Ephesians prayers Ephesians 1 and 2, because that's all about your seating of authority, your place of authority. You know, kings sat in a throne. They had a place of authority and you had the people in the room. If you had people seated, they were people of great authority, just under the king, and if you had people standing in the room, well, they were in lesser authority. So I want to sit down in my authority. I don't want to be standing around in the room. I want to be seated on my throne. I want to be seated why? Because I'm in Christ and where is he? He's at the right hand of the Father, I at the right hand of the Father. I don't want to be standing in the outer court trying to exercise authority. I want to be seated in my place of authority. When we're praying, we need to know where we are seated, amen.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't know how to pray and they don't know where they're coming from. Their prayer is begging God. Basically, that's all they know to do is beg God, beg God. Oh God, do something. Oh God. Well, what would you have him do besides what he did? He sent Jesus. He's the last Adam. We talked about that last week. What Adam failed to do, jesus succeeded. He's the last Adam, amen, all right. And so we don't have authority over human wills, but I wanted to point out that we do have supernatural influence. In other words, if you'll use your authority correctly and you will pray correctly and speak and say correctly, you empower your angels to make the will of God very, very attractive to people who are resistant to it. And I think we just got through with an election where that happened. People had never voted Republican before and they voted Republican. Some people never voted period and they voted. They're not necessarily saved, they're not necessarily, you know, living a good life, they're not necessarily on fire for God, but they voted in the right way. That's because the church is finally beginning to wake up and occupy its place of authority Amen. And we've got more victories ahead of us.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you it's a year of milestones. I mean some of these milestones. I'm thinking about the president, and tomorrow is four weeks since he was inaugurated. I mean I keep hearing everybody talking about they've never seen anything like it. I'm talking about these veterans. I'm talking about veterans that have been around the block. You know, kind of like me. You know I'm old enough to be a veteran now, that old man I can't ever say old man anymore that old man over there oh no, I'm actually older than he is. All right, you get stuck at 21. You know, you get stuck, but anyway I hear them.
Speaker 1:They're just amazed at the energy level of this guy that's just a little bit older than I am and especially contrasted with the ones that have gone before him. I mean he is. You know, I used to just really admire Ronald Reagan, but I mean he's making Ronald Reagan look like a piker. There's no comparison. I'm sorry, I said there's just no comparison. And I know that when he got up off of that platform with blood running down his ear and he raised that fist and went fight, fight, fight.
Speaker 1:I know in my spirit that God spoke to him when he was on the ground, because when I saw him the first time after that at the at the convention, he looked different. How many remember? He looked totally different. He had something on his face that was not there before and he's been talking about it. He's been talking about God saved him to do what he's doing. See, he got his purpose from God.
Speaker 1:Is he a perfect example? Well, I didn't elect a pope. I didn't elect a, you know, a man of God. I elected a junkyard dog and what we got is a guy that's really. I mean, he is the things that he's doing. He's believed for a long, long, long time, but now he's anointed, just like this prophetic word. I mean, he's got the sword of the spirit and the word of God behind him. There's an anointing on him. If God can anoint Cyrus, the king of Persia, who was not Jewish, by the way, but he was responsible for rebuilding the temple it was his wealth that rebuilt the temple God said thus saith the Lord to Cyrus, mine anointed man, that's got to make the Jewish people go crazy when they hear that. So God can anoint who he wants to, and I believe our president is anointed to do what he's doing right now. So today I want to get over and leave the first week and let's get over into maintaining your seat of authority In Ephesians, chapter 6, let's turn there Maintaining your seat of authority, verse 10.
Speaker 1:And the book of Ephesians is one of those books that you should read. I mean, it's written to the church, so therefore it's written to you. I wish God would speak to me or read the book of Ephesians. That's God speaking to you. I wish God would speak to me. Or read the book of Ephesians. That's God speaking to you, speaking to the church.
Speaker 1:Verse 10 says finally, my brethren so he is wrapping up the previous five chapters. In other words, in summation of what I've told you in this letter, in other words, in summation of what I've told you in this letter brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, his kratos Greek word kratos. It basically means dominion and power. All wrapped up together. It's a powerful word. It's dunamis and authority mixed together, which is how it ought to be.
Speaker 1:He said put on the whole, the entire armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles, military strategies of the devil. So he says something about armor. Now he says put it on, put the entire armor. He didn't say put some of it on. He said put it all on.
Speaker 1:We're to be strong, we're to stand, not bow, we're to stand. And how Strong In ourselves. No, in the Lord. See, we're in Christ. It's so vital to know who you are in Christ and how Strong In ourselves. No, in the Lord, see, we're in Christ. It's so vital to know who you are in Christ. That message I've been feeding on that message all these years, 40-plus years. Brother Mark is real big on in Christ. That's why he comes and preaches here twice a year. It's so vital for us to keep that in our hearts, to know who we are. People that don't know who they are don't know how to change anything. They can't affect anything. All they can do is cry and moan and groan and complain. Well, no, we can change things. Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.
Speaker 1:Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the military strategies of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age World means age and against the spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand, stand, therefore. See, he keeps saying stand, stand, stand. Why? Because you're under attack. And I'm going to tell you something You'll never be more under attack than when you begin to use your authority.
Speaker 1:The devil is not going to take that laying down, he is going to fight you. He's going to try to persuade you that you're wasting your time. That authority is for pastor, the authority is for high holy Hannah over here. It's not for you. It's for holy Hannah, but not you. No, it's for you, it's for every believer. He's going to fight you that you may be able to stand, having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins, and then it gives you the armor. Having your loins girt about with truth and, uh, having on the breastplate of righteousness, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith we're able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Speaker 1:See, there's that attack on you, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the rhema of God. The word there is not logos, it's God-breathed word, it's the word that God brings off the page to you. Wake up. The church was a rhema word. This prophetic word is a rhema word. I'm about to judge. Corporate America was a rhema word in August, the 6th of 1998. I've had to take those rhema words and do battle with them. What is that? That's the sword of the spirit. God gave reference to the sword of the spirit there, in that prophetic word this morning, that these mighty men and women, they're not just in there, they're not just searching the computer file and finding billions and trillions. It's trillions of dollars. I can tell you right now it's trillions of dollars.
Speaker 1:Do you see what Trump is wanting to do? I don't know if you've been able to read between the lines. He wants to get rid of the IRS and eliminate personal income tax. That's what he wants to do, and he wants to replace it with tariffs and trade not free trade, just trade. And that's going to make this country richer than it's ever been. And we won't need to tax the citizens. The people that do business here will take care of the budget. And then, when you trim the budget down, trim all these. I don't know. They're leaving. The bureaucrats are going out the door. Some of them are getting fired and some of them left with a package, but there's still a lot more to go. He's going to trim them all down. Friday he laid off a bunch of them in the IRS. Biden increased the government by 10% in the last year. I mean, that guy is out of control. Well, he wasn't.
Speaker 1:The people behind him were, and Obama's people, the rhema, the sword of the Spirit, which is the rhema of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Well, what that tells me is that the armor is prayer armor. It's armor designed for your prayer life. It's in your prayer life and by reading the word together with both of those together, see that. That, to me, is seamless. I read and pray and you just develop your habits properly. That's how you'll pray. You'll pray and read your Bible and pray and read your Bible. And that's how you get information. That's how you get. You find out what the military strategies are of the devil and you know what he's going to do before he does it. And that way you're not always on defense.
Speaker 1:I like Trump. He's on offense every minute of every day. He is doing something that blows their mind. They're busy responding to what he did. Yesterday at 5 o'clock and this morning at 4 am he did something and they find out about it about noon and they don't know. Ah, oh, that's the devil. Just watch what the devil is doing. Chuck Toomer, I mean Schumer. Maxine Waters oh, my God, focahontas that's brilliant. I mean, that was Trump. He named her that.
Speaker 1:He's a stand-up comic, but he does his deadpan. He doesn't smile at his own jokes. A lot of times he's talking jokes, he's being sarcastic and they're writing everything down. He's saying they think he's serious about what he called her folkohanness. Faked as an Indian for years, she got all kind of free stuff. Oh, I got high cheekbones. Oh my God, these people are frauds and they're being exposed.
Speaker 1:All right, I'm talking about maintaining your seat of authority, because the devil's not going to take this line down. You've got to maintain it. You've got to be consistent and stay in the far above arena. You're seated where, far above all, principality, power, might and dominion, according to Ephesians, chapter 1. And he just showed you who it is that we're wrestling against. It's those same entities. Well, we don't have anything to be afraid of. We're far above them.
Speaker 1:However, we're no match for them if we don't have the armor, and the armor is applied with words and faith. You've got to apply it. You've got to do that. I do it every morning before I get started. I get that armor on me and then I begin to tell the devil what he can't do. I bind him. I bind him over Gladys and I. I bind him over my family, I bind him over our staff, I bind him over our church, I bind him over our missionary partners, anybody that we have anything to do with. I bind him and I forbid him and I demand you cease and desist in your maneuvers, operations and assignments, and I pound my chair with my fist, I demand. You know Smith Wigglesworth, you know he.
Speaker 1:He tells a story about the lady that had the little Fifi, little dog, you know, and she was leaving to go out, you know, one day and little Fifi came out the door and followed her out the door and was going to follow her down the sidewalk and she said, oh no, fifi, go back, go back. And Fifi stopped, you know, and kind of backed up, and then she started walking and Fifi kept following her. No, no, fifi, no, now go back, you can't go with me, now go back. And finally she got frustrated. She says, fifi, I said, go back. And Fifi went back. Fifi got back, I mean, when she stomped her foot on the pavement.
Speaker 1:We've got, you know, it's real, what we have is real power, and you've got to express that. So these verses here that we read, 10 through 18, are the keys to maintaining your seat of authority. So let's go through them quickly here. In verse 18, prayer armor, you know, we're told to watch and pray. Jesus said watch and pray, watch and pray. And he didn't say watch and beg. Watch is praying. Watching means that you're seeing something, you've become aware of something in prayer. I can't tell you how many times just praying, I mean, I wasn't even praying.
Speaker 1:At three o'clock in the morning I woke up with reckoning on me and I recognized the word. Reckoning was a prophetic word. And I, you know, I'm like you, I wake up three o'clock in the morning, not exactly awake, but I got awake enough to walk from my bedroom into my study and sit down, turn the lights on, sit down and what came was the prophetic word. But when that flowed out of me and I saw they'd been weighed in the scales and found wanting, I immediately remembered Daniel.
Speaker 1:And if you go back to Daniel, chapter 4, you had Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of Persia, modern-day Iran, who had captured by God's will. God allowed him to invade Israel and take them captive and take them to Babylon because of their sin. This was the southern kingdom, judah and Benjamin. They left. They were warned over and over and over. First it was the ten tribes. They went to Assyria and were scattered and judged, and you'd think Judah would learn from their brothers, but they didn't, and they just kept on, they kept on. They kept on until they got the curse of the law, which was diaspora, which is the scattering. And so it was God's will for Nebuchadnezzar to do that.
Speaker 1:But Nebuchadnezzar got lifted up in pride. Look at Babylon, look at what I've built. It's the glory of my kingdom. Da, da, da, da, da da. And so he got punished. He said you know, what's going to happen to you is you're going to spend seven years out there like a cow. You're going to eat grass and you're going to spend every night outside there like a cow. You're going to eat grass and you're going to spend every night outside. The dew is going to be on top of you until you know that there's a God that ruleth in heaven. And that's exactly what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven out and he was taken out, and after seven years of living outside, it says his fingernails grew into eagle's claws. Can you imagine what he looked like after seven years of living outside, it says his fingernails grew into eagle's claws. Can you imagine what he looked like after seven years of just eating grass and staying outside? It's not that nice outside in Iran. It gets cold at night. It's hot in the summertime, cold in the wintertime. Seven years he spent out there until finally one day he realized there's a God in heaven and he admitted it.
Speaker 1:So then, in chapter five, his grandson knew all of this about his grandfather and he decided to have a party. And he's having a big party in his palace. And they took the cups, the gold cups, out of the temple that the temple had in them, and they poured wine in there and they were drinking and having a party and, just you know, bragging on themselves what a great kingdom they've built, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And suddenly there came a hand and started writing on the wall we still have. Can you read the writing on the wall?
Speaker 1:See, we have that euphemism today. It comes from that, daniel, chapter five, god's hand wrote on the wall TK, TK, mene Sepharsin. No, mene Mene Tikal Eupharsin. Well, I didn't know what that meant. What does that mean? Let's find somebody. Well, daniel, daniel found out. Daniel came in.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what it means. Mine, mine, your kingdom is measured and it has come to an end. Double annunciation of God Mine, mine, verily, verily, abraham, abraham, Saul, saul. That means it's for sure, god has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. Tekel, your kingdom has been taken from you. You've been found in the scales and found. You've been weighed in the balances, which means scales. You've been weighed in the balances and found wanting. That's called a reckoning. A reckoning is when you don't measure up. A reckoning is judgment. It's another word for judgment. Are y'all with me now?
Speaker 1:So I'm talking about prayer warrior, prayer armor. I mean, we're in this realm of prayer where there is a huge amount of resistance, there is a huge amount of blowback if you don't have the whole armor of God on. So I have to teach this and get you to understand that we're not playing here. We're not just having a rah-rah time and ya-ya-ha-ha-hoo. This is serious kingdom business and this church has paid a price to be at this place of authority and influence.
Speaker 1:Everybody say the whole armor of God. So it's prayer armor, watch and pray, watch and pray. And so this is how you stay strong in the Lord is by praying and watching. You stay strong by being in contact with Him and be strong in the Lord is by praying and watching you stay strong, by being in contact with Him and be strong in the Lord and in this kratos. It means dominion, mighty power. So Jesus is the source of all that.
Speaker 1:He's the head of the church, and prayer is how you understand the devil's wiles, his military strategies. You can stand against him. If you're always playing defense, you're going to lose a lot. By the time you wake up and realize you're under attack, you've already lost some significant ground. The church has been doing that for a long time. We pray in reaction to what's already happening. That's too late, almost. I mean you can't change what they already did. You've lost ground. Now you've got to gain that ground back. I'm with Patton I don't believe in paying for the same ground twice.
Speaker 1:So each piece of the armor is a revelation of how the enemy is going to attack you. Each piece of the armor tells you here is where the devil is going to do his work, here's where he's going to attack you. This is why you need to take upon you this armor. And so let's look at it here, verse 14. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, your loins girt about with truth. Your core beliefs must be in full truth of what God's word and God's spirit say. It's got to be in full belief of the rhema word. The specific, see, god's Word is His general will. This is the general will of God for you to walk in love, walk in health, have abundant life. That's the general will of God. But there's nowhere in this Bible that said your first building, john Griner, is going to be at 6827 FM, 1960, west Houston, texas, 77066. It wasn't in the Bible. How did I find our first building? Well, it was the witness of the Spirit. And so that became a rhema. That became truth. It became truth, see, he can't make me doubt.
Speaker 1:At the same time, when we were kind of unceremoniously told to leave the church down the street, when they literally sold it out from under us for less than half of what it was listed for, listed for 6.7. The pastor said well, I'll sell you the church for 6.3. And I went, whoop-de-doo, I didn't say it out loud, I just inside me whoop-de-doo, I'm really glad. But he wound up selling it for $3 million. $3 million. And they're not Southern Baptists, they're a different Baptist, but Baptists rather than I'm telling you they did not want the Holy Ghost Church to have that building. I'm glad it wasn't God for us to have that building anyway. I'm really glad he didn't offer it to me for three. I probably would have missed God and said, yeah. The builder in me would have said, yeah, I'll take it, I'm glad we didn't. Oh, we didn't. Oh, I'm telling you. But how did I know? Well see, I had to find out what the truth was. The truth was we needed to go down the road to the seventh day. If I hadn't had that truth in me, the devil would have destroyed this church.
Speaker 1:You've got to have the truth. You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free. The truth doesn't make you free unless you know it. You have to know it. What is no revelation? Revelation is born of prayer. So again, see, so you have your loins, your core beliefs. They have to be the full truth of God's Word and God's Spirit.
Speaker 1:If you believe one lie, you're susceptible to another one. You've got to be honest with yourself. You can't lie to yourself. You can't say you're this way and you're that way. You've got to line everything up, and when you're not measuring up, you're not measuring up. You know it because your spirit is upset with something you've done Well right now, confess it and get it under the blood and get it off of you.
Speaker 1:The failure I see is sometimes people just don't wind up ever really recognizing that they're falling short, they've left some things behind and they shouldn't have done it. And they just keep saying well, god knows me, god understands me, he gets me. I always irritate. They did have a really good Super Bowl commercial, by the way. I'll give them credit where credit's due. That was a good commercial. That group that God gets me, that was a good commercial, I thought. Only one I've seen that was good, I thought. But anyway they're spending millions and millions and millions of dollars. I don't know. We'll see. They have to stand before God. I have to stand before God on what I'm doing, god. I have to stand before God on what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:So believe one lie. You're susceptible to more lies when you think about your loins. Girt about with truth. Think about when King Saul was disemboweled. That's what they did with the sword. I mean, they would run you through and you would be disemboweled. You didn't just die of a stab wound, pastor. Why are you saying that would run you through and you would be disemboweled. You didn't just die of a stab wound, pastor, why are you saying that? I'm just saying that's what the devil. He wants to eviscerate you. He wants to gut you. I hate to say it, but if you don't understand what he wants to do, I've seen him do it. I've seen him literally just gut people. Everything they ever believed is just, it's gone. No, he got a hold of the truth. We got to buy the truth and sell it not.
Speaker 1:And let's be truthful with ourselves about ourselves. That's not condemnation, that's not beating yourself up, that's just holding yourself to a high standard and saying you know, god, I missed the mark on this. I ask you to forgive me right now, please, according to your word, I believe I received my forgiveness, my cleansing. Right now, first, john, one nine, I'm free. And then you don't bring it up again and you don't talk. You don't bring it with you down the road and bring it up next week. So well you know, lord, last week, when I did such and such and said such and such, no, it's under the blood. God forgave you and he forgot it and it's over with. Learn to discipline yourself that way. Forgive yourself, but then look in the mirror. See, this is the mirror right here. Look in the mirror. All right, everybody say loins girt about with truth. Alright, verse 14.
Speaker 1:And having on the breastplate of righteousness, it's over your heart. So your faith is of the heart. Now it's not really talking about the blood pump, but it's just, it's symbolic. The breastplate protected the heart, the loins protected the guts. But now you know the heart is behind your rib cage. It's got some cartilage and bone and all that, and it's not that easy to pierce the heart, but a sword can. So what do you need? A breastplate of righteousness.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking about Hebrews where it says you know you're unskillful in the word of righteousness because you're babes. What does that mean? Well, again, it gets back to forgiving yourself and realizing that you are free of condemnation Once you confess your sin, no matter ever it was. You say now, never again. Now, lord, I'm putting that behind me. And then the righteous are as bold as the lion. We can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy, to find the grace to help in time of need. We don't have to stand around in the outer court. We can actually come back up and sit in the seat right next to the Father in Christ. See, skillful in the word of righteousness. You know you're the righteousness of God in Christ. You speak that. I say that every day. I get up with that on my lips. Oh, thank God, I'm a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Hallelujah, you've made me the righteousness of God in Christ. Hallelujah, thank you, lord. I mean I just say it every day. I say it multiple times a day when you're going down the road.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you know, just you know, you get traveling stains. In the Middle East I've been to Israel. You know a lot of. It's really rocky and dusty and everything, and you've got goats and sheep and animals everywhere. Back then they wore these sandals and stuff. They're walking through all of that and they've got dust mixed with manure. That's why they washed their feet. You don't want to bring manure into your tent. Get it all over the rug that you're going to sleep on. And so they washed their feet. I mean they had to wash. They had what they call traveling stains. I mean that's what they had.
Speaker 1:You're walking through this life. You're walking through a place filled with dirty language. I mean even these senators and congressmen are using all kinds of vile language. We've got a blank Trump. Are you kidding me, lady? I'm just waiting for some of them to kill over dead. It's just horrible. I mean, don't tell my children I said this. What difference would it make? They've heard you do it over and over again. You're doing it out in public. There's no telling how you talk at home. Phony baloney, see traveling's thing. I mean, you walk through this life and all this stuff is on you.
Speaker 1:Man, I tell you I need the blood of Jesus to cleanse me. All the time this stuff is coming in my mind, it's coming in, and you know I used to have all that language. I was horrible, I had potty mouth to the max and really that's not even the worst of it. And so when I hear that it affects me, what do I need? I need the blood of Jesus to keep me clean. I just cleanse myself, I cleanse my mind. My ears are here in that garbage. You can't even hardly turn on the television, these drug commercials, and they got men kissing each other and all of that. You feel like you need to take more than just. You need a bath in the blood. You need a blood bath is what you need, need a blood bath? Oh well, I didn't mean it that way.
Speaker 1:All right, everybody say I'm the righteousness of God and you live like it. Say you live like it. Your life is going to rise to the level of your confession. When you keep saying I'm the righteousness of God in Christ, then that's going to keep you on the righteous side of living. You're going to live righteous. I'm talking about the whole armor of God. This is where the devil attacks you. He attacks you and your worthiness. He tries to get guilt and shame. He tries to bring up your past. You know, if you're that weak to where you're always thinking about the past, don't think about the past. It's over with Old, things are passed away. That's why I say that every day.
Speaker 1:You know, gladys and I we came from a little town, refurio, texas, and they have these. You know Texas, and they seem to be addicted to class reunions. They want to have a class reunion every time you blink and we've been to our share. I was president of my senior class, so I had to run the very first one. I wasn't even saved back in those days, but then later, when I got saved, we'd try to witness to everybody. And I did have one guy that responded you know all the years I went, you know. And finally I told Glass I said look, I know you keep thinking you want I'm never going back to another class reunion. You just put it down, I'm done. I'm not casting my pearls before swine.
Speaker 1:They all know what we do. I mean, we've had, you know, we've had all the notoriety. Everybody knows we're pastors, everybody knows what we do and it's all out there on the internet, it's on Facebook. They all know and they don't care. So I don't care. Okay, I'm moving on. I'm moving on beyond that. That's my past. Old things, honey, are passed away. And then they have these multiple reunions you know class of for ten years they have. So anybody and everybody that I ever went to high school with, from my freshman year to my senior year, is included.
Speaker 1:And all of this, all these gimmicks. Praise God. No, you've got. You know. You live like you're righteous. Amen. You don't let him bring up your past. You don't let him bring up your past Because those people knew me when I was lost. So they want to talk to me about my past. They want to talk to me about what happened back when I was in, you know, 11th grade or 10th grade or 12th grade or whatever. I don't want to talk to me about what happened back when I was in the 11th grade or 10th grade or 12th grade or whatever. I don't want to talk about that. It happened but that has nothing to do with me because that guy died. I've already told them all that. I said oh no, that guy died. They look at me, I don't deny it happened. I'm just saying it didn't happen to me. It happened to the guy that used to live in this body, but he's gone Now they don't get it. They don't want to get it.
Speaker 1:All right, breastplate of righteousness. All right, verse 15. Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, what is the context of our authority? Go, ye. So your feet are ready to go, your feet are ready to go into your world and you've got good news to speak to people. You're always on the lookout for the people that need what you have and you ought to make it a practice every day. Lord, intersect me with the people that need what I have, and if you'll do that, if you're a willing vessel, you'll never have. I'm telling you, people will flock to you, people will be attracted to you that you would be surprised, and you can have an opportunity to get in the witness chair and testify about what Jesus has done for you. You don't have to preach a big, long sermon. Sometimes all it takes is just being able to touch somebody on the hand, and so would you mind if I pray for you?
Speaker 1:I had a senior in high school was with a nurse the other day that came to check Gladys and came in the hospital room right before she was dismissed. You know she had surgery Monday and was dismissed Wednesday. 48 hours is all they kept her in the hospital and the surgery was a success. I'll give you more complete, but anyway. So this young girl came in there and the nurse introduced her and said she's interested in maybe doing what we do. She's interested in the medical field, and I said, oh, you're interested in helping people that are sick. Huh, she said yes, I am. I said, well, that's fantastic, and so I let the nurse do her job and before they left I said, well, would you mind if I just prayed over you real quick? I'm a pastor and this lady here I mean she's spread healing all over the world. Right now she needs healing, but she's spread healing all over the world. Would you mind if I? No, that'd be nice and I just laid my hand on her shoulder and I prayed a little prayer, see, I mean, you know, we just spread it out, we just give it away. We give it away all the time. I wasn't expecting that, but here's a young person I got to lay hands on.
Speaker 1:Get your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel feast, ready to sit in the witness chair and testify. That's an armor, that's an armor of God. In other words, he's going to try to keep you from testifying. He's going to try to trip you up and keep you at home and keep you offended, where you don't open your mouth except to say negative things. Are you with me? Now? We need the armor.
Speaker 1:All right, verse getting anything out of this? Verse 16,. Above all, everybody shout. Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you're able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And so, above all, means that the shield of faith will take care of a lot of things. Before they ever hit your breastplate, before they ever hit your loins, before they ever mess with your feet or your head, you've got a shield that you can hold out in front and catch a lot of the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Speaker 1:One of the pieces of equipment I have in my ministry is a discerning of spirits and many times when I'm praying over people I see a fiery dart or an arrow that's been fired at them that missed their shield of faith. Maybe they didn't even know they had a shield of faith, but regardless, I mean the devil can have access to us, especially like when you're in a car wreck. This is what I've seen over the years 40 years of ministering to people, 30 years full-time as a pastor, but before that, you know, as a believer and as an associate pastor at Lakewood, without the title but as a function, and you know, I mean this gift has been on me and I see things sometimes on people. I don't see demons Rarely. I see a demon. I just soon not see one. I don't see demons Rarely. I see a demon. I just soon not see one. I don't want to see the ugly thing, but I can see what they've done a dart.
Speaker 1:And if somebody has had a car wreck, and especially if they've had the airbag go off or whatever, even if they haven't, I mean, you're in an altered state of consciousness for a nanosecond, or if you've had a bad fall, you're kind of shocked. For a second you see stars. That's when the devil can take advantage and fire a dart at you that can stick in you and create infirmity. That's real hard for medicine to get a hold to get rid of. And even you know, when we lay hands on the sick, if that thing is not dealt with then it can cause it to remain, even though you know hands have been laid, he'll, they shall be, and yet it's still there. Well, why? Because the is there. That demonic arrow is sticking in them and it needs to be what Discerned, discerning of spirits.
Speaker 1:Well, you know you can always consciously keep that shield of faith up in Jesus' name. All the darts hit the shield instead of you. Let's hold that shield of faith up. At your confession I said that's your confession. You can have what you say. If you're going to talk sickness and disease all the time, your shield is hanging down by your side. It's there, but you don't use it. And now darts are hitting you on a constant basis, talking about how much lack you've got. Well, you know the devil's having a heyday. Your shield of faith is not operating. Your shield of faith, get your confession up.
Speaker 1:Shield of faith, it quenches what All the fiery darts of the wicked and taking the helmet of salvation say, your mind protected from doubts about what all Jesus bought and paid for. We talked about casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought in captivity to the obedience of Christ. That word, imaginations, is also reasonings. Sometimes you can let your mind go and you're not disciplined in your thinking and you'll begin to reason about something that you're facing like you know, why am I broke? Well, the simple answer it could be that you're spending more than you're making. Don't complicate it. But I mean, sometimes we'll just sit around and go round and round and we'll just say, well, maybe God doesn't want me to have this. Well, maybe God doesn't want me. Well, well, maybe God's allowing me to be sick for some high purpose. You've got to cast that down. That is not God. That's reasoning. Your helmet of salvation should protect you from that line of thought. Are y'all getting this now? Well, when you put that helmet of salvation on and I suggest everybody do that first thing in the morning You're, like most people, your day is in front of you. Now, if you work shift work and you're asleep in the daytime, well, maybe you have to adjust this message according to your schedule. Everybody's got a different schedule. But I mean we need the whole armor of God.
Speaker 1:I heard a preacher one time making fun of all the people that put on the whole armor of God and he just acted like the armor was always just there. Well, no, it's not. It's by faith and it's your word and your confession is how it is. And he went through a whole lot of unnecessary trouble. I happen to know it and I thought well, you ought to change what you're teaching. That's not word of faith. What you're teaching he claims to be word of faith, but he's going against. You know what I was taught to do with our whole armor of God? I mean, I've just got certain things that I do all the time. I do it every day. It's a discipline, like telling a soldier oh, you don't need that backpack, you're just going to be gone for a couple of days. Oh, you don't need that rifle. Yeah, no, you got to be fully equipped, all right.
Speaker 1:And then, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The Word is rhema of God, which implies that this is prayer armor, and in prayer you receive more than just the logos. You'll get rhema. You'll get information for you, for your life specifically, and that becomes a weapon. That's the only offensive weapon that's mentioned. All the rest of these weapons are designed as defensive weapons. Oh, I guess it's possible you could use your.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I picture myself with my shield of faith bashing the devil's head in. I'll admit that, you know I take my shield of faith and go bam like that. But generally it's for quenching the fiery darts of the wicked ones. Hold up to quench the fiery darts, but you've got the sword of the Spirit. And the sword of the Spirit is not this long, curved, six-foot-long blade. It is really more like a dagger, which implies hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes you're going to have to get real close to the devil, close enough to smell his stinking breath, and you're going to have to jab him with the sword of the Spirit.
Speaker 1:That movie we Were Soldiers, where it was about Vietnam battling Vietnam early in the Vietnam War and they dumped those poor guys out there to fight 4,000 Vietnamese regulars. And they're hardened soldiers. They're not farmers and they've got a brilliant general that's in charge of them. They had this mountain they're living in. I don't know if you've ever watched the movie general that's in charge of them. They had this mountain they're living in. I don't know if you've ever watched the movie, but they had the sergeant, sergeant Major, sergeant Major. And Sergeant Major says gentlemen, get ready for hand-to-hand combat. And that's what they had. Those Vietnamese came through there with their bayonets. They were overwhelming in numbers. They were like 10 to 1. And it's a movie I weep in every time. I make myself watch it, because we're standing on the shoulders of people that have defended this country and when they came home from Vietnam, they were treated with dishonor and shame on these people that did that.
Speaker 1:I didn't go. I didn't have to go. I'm just grateful I had a lottery number and my number didn't come up. I was glad. I'll be honest, I didn't want to go. I knew too many that didn't come back. Or if they came back, they came back messed up and I couldn't see any real reason for it. I think that's one of the forever wars that Trump wants to end. I mean, this is when we look back on all of our history, especially since World War II. There's just been a lot of unnecessary stuff that's happened, unnecessary death and destruction that didn't accomplish what it should have. But that doesn't change the fact that they had the right heart. They went over there and they did what they could do and get ready for hand-to-hand combat.
Speaker 1:He said Mel Gibson is the colonel in charge of the troop there and if you haven't, you know it's got some words in it. You'll have to kind of, you know, ignore, get, get. You know. Sometimes you can get the edited versions of these movies and they're not as bad. But it's a real movie, it's a, it's based on a real, uh, a real story and I'm reminded when I see that movie. Hand-to-hand combat, sometimes that's what you've got with devil and demon powers. You've got to be able to wield this sword of the Spirit and it's at close range. Are you with me now? And so you can't be intimidated? Your authority is released in words and by acting, like the Bible is true.
Speaker 1:I want to close this message by just reciting one of Brother Hagen's testimonies. You know I mentioned about him that he battled in his life a number of times symptoms in his heart. He was born with a malformed heart and blood diseases I think something like eight different diseases. His red and white cells weren't right and very weak little baby. In fact his grandmother delivered him from. His mother's mother almost died in childbirth so she set the baby in the back of the garage, thought he was dead, set him on a piece of plywood, I think and came back in the house to tend to the mother, her daughter and the doctor came and she just barely survived the birth. And then she thought, oh, the baby's in the back of the garage after an hour or two and she goes back there and the baby's breathing.
Speaker 1:The brother Hagen's the baby. He's breathing, but he's, you know, he's born with all these terrible things and he was weak as a child. And then when he's 14 but he's, you know, he's born with all these terrible things and he was weak as a child. And when he's 14 he became paralyzed. Doctors didn't have anything for him. He was gonna die. He's not gonna live, you know. Told the parents just get him ready to die. I mean quit, you know, don't let him hang on to life here he. There's nothing we can do for him. He won't live another year or so.
Speaker 1:But he got a hold of the Bible and he got his healing Word of faith. He found healing in the Bible. And he didn't listen to the Baptist preacher that said healing passed away. And he didn't listen to the doctor and he didn't listen and they would say that in front of him. Talk about a lousy bedside manner. What kind of a pastor would say that in front of somebody? Anyway, even if it was true, why would you say that? And he actually said you need to accept death. I mean, he's in there ministering to this. Glad I wasn't there. Well, he's just ignorant. He's repeating the junk he heard and that's what it is junk and so. But Brother Hagin had to. You know, he was healed, it was miraculous. He got up and you know, he went on to pastor 12 years and then he got in the field ministry and was traveling, and even after that.
Speaker 1:So here he is, a man in, probably possibly in his, you know, I don't know how old he was when this particular testimony happened, but he was probably 30, 31, the early thirties and he'd been suffering symptoms, alarming symptoms in his body that you know he stood, and this wasn't the first time that they had risen up. See, sometimes we get our healing and then that thing tries to come back and we think, well, I didn't get healed. I thought I was healed. Yes, you were healed. You're still healed. See, this comes down to your truth. What do you believe is truth? Do you believe you're healed or do you believe the symptoms?
Speaker 1:And so he was sorely tempted in that area because all these symptoms came on him and he said it just looked like I wasn't winning the battle. I was getting weaker and weaker, but I kept standing. And when you cobble all of the things that he said about this one event I remembered. One time he said I set the Bible on the floor and I stood on my Bible like this. He said I'll tell you what I believe every word in this Bible. I believe I'm healed and you know God, you can smite me right now if I'm lying. I'm healed. So he was taking a stand of faith. But I mean, as far as his symptoms, they were getting worse and worse. It didn't look like he was going to make it, but he stood in the name of Jesus. Having done all to stand, he stood with his whole armor on Are you with me now?
Speaker 1:And then, one night, he had a dream, and in the dream he and another man were walking on a parade ground and when he tells a story, I think, about the parade ground at A&M right in front of the MSC. We used to practice on that parade ground when I was in the Corps. I didn't last in the Corps, I spent my first semester in the Corps and then I quit, but I did. I remember that parade ground. It was a pretty grass field and then you had a small set of stands on the side for people to watch and so we would be graded for our marching and all that. And so he's on the parade ground, not marching but walking, with this guy and they're talking.
Speaker 1:And this guy suddenly kind of turns around and says, oh look, it's lions Run. And the guy took off running and Brother Hagin turned around and here's these two lions, big, old, fierce, and they're galloping toward them. And he thought it's not going to do any good to run. I ain't out running these guys. He said so in the dream.
Speaker 1:See, in the dream he stood and he faced the lions. He refused to move. He stood and he said all the hair on my body stood on end. I mean I had goose pimples all over me. He said, man, I mean. Those lines came up to me and they stopped and they sniffed around at my feet, circled me and then trotted off and I woke up and every symptom was gone. See, he had done all to stand. See, god showed him what he risked. God showed him the devil was there to devour him. The devil has a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith. Are y'all getting anything out of this? I'm talking about the believer's authority, hallelujah, and how you can maintain your seat of authority and never lose another battle. Come on, lift your hands and receive Glory to God, hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to God. Well, thank you, jesus. Come on, let's rejoice this morning. Praise God, hallelujah. Did you get anything out of this today?