1 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:10,160 We welcome you to the We Are Zion sermon podcast. 2 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,120 We are a church based out of Chennai, India. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,800 We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,480 be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear. 5 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:24,320 Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,960 purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus. 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:33,680 The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,880 our promise. We continue our sermon series 9 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,960 called A Recipe for Revival where we look at different 10 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,360 instances in the Bible where God poured his spirit out on His 11 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,760 people leading to reformation and restoration. 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,760 We hope that through this series, God will fill you with 13 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:55,040 the Holy fire so that you are blazing for Christ in a Dark 14 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,160 World. Sir Chaja, even as we have been 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,480 doing this whole series on the recipe for revival, we believe 16 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,280 we're in a season of a revival fire breaking out. 17 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:09,600 And today's Part 3 and I've titled it as Revival battles. 18 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,320 The interesting thing is the minute we begin to prepare a 19 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:17,240 clear ground for revival, it's almost like our warfare 20 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,600 increases, like it double S up right? 21 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,000 And you, you feel like all hell has broken loose over your life. 22 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:28,720 And the reason that happens is because the enemy hates the 23 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,120 thought of revival. You know, why not the actual 24 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,080 revival, But what happens just prior to that when hearts are 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,520 surrendered, when repentance is happening, when confession and 26 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,080 and forgiveness is, you know, being is being encountered by 27 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,360 God's people when lives are opened up to his touch, when, 28 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,200 when people are completely surrendered and submitted to 29 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:55,080 their Father in heaven, It's powerful ground for the power of 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,480 God to move it. It's the perfect setting for 31 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,960 revival. And the enemy hates that kind of 32 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,440 cleared up ground. He hates that things are coming 33 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,240 together for for the Lord's people. 34 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,720 He hates that there is, you know, expectation for something 35 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,520 to change. And therefore he heightens the 36 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,280 attack. He presses in, he unleashes all 37 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,640 the darts that he knows, he unleashes his minions to really 38 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:20,000 oppress the Saints. And I want to just encourage you 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,640 today that in the season of revival, whatever you're facing, 40 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,800 if you sense it is, it's a difficult season, you sense 41 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,400 there's push back, you feel there is a, a crushing that's 42 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,360 happening, you're in good company. 43 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:34,440 Because the minute we anticipate revival, the minute we prepare 44 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:39,440 for revival, the the armed forces of hell literally take 45 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,840 their position as well. And so God is calling us to come 46 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,040 to a place of the right stance in this battle. 47 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,240 Because the truth is this, if you want to see the fullness of 48 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,680 the revival that God has got for us, we need to stand our ground 49 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,520 and push back. We have to stand our ground, not 50 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:00,760 be shocked by the warfare and run and hide. 51 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,480 But we like have to go and take our stance opposite the enemy 52 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:06,560 and say, God of Angel armies, would you fight? 53 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,520 That is where God is calling us. And today we're going to be 54 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,520 looking at Judges Chapter 4. We're going to be looking at the 55 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,240 story of Deborah. And, you know, it's such a 56 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,080 beautiful story. We're going to read it little by 57 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,840 little. Deborah is, you know, a 58 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,520 prophetess. She's the wife of Lapidoth. 59 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,160 She is a judge. In the time of the judges of 60 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,880 Israel, there was number real leader, there was number king. 61 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,960 This was prior to that, and they needed a leader. 62 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,120 So God raised up judges from within them and these people 63 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,480 provided leadership to the group of Israel. 64 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,880 It's not a large group of them. And the sad thing is when when 65 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,440 the book of Judges is written, it starts with this very sad 66 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,480 description of the climate, the the spiritual climate of the 67 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:51,280 land. There was a generation which 68 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,320 didn't have a clue about who God was or what God had done. 69 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,320 This is the same God, this the people whose ancestors had 70 00:03:58,320 --> 00:03:59,880 walked through the parteds Red Sea. 71 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,960 These were the guys whose ancestors had gone and taken 72 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,920 possession of the promised land, driven out giants and occupied 73 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,200 the land. And they were at the the end of, 74 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:10,680 you know, the possession of the land. 75 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,440 And it's very interesting because in Judges one verse 19, 76 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,240 it says the Lord was with the men of Judah. 77 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,720 They took possession of the Hill Country, but they were unable to 78 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,720 drive the people from the plains because they had Chariots fitted 79 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,440 with iron. It's interesting because God had 80 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,440 said possess all of the land, drive out its people and take up 81 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,960 your position. But the people had found that 82 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,200 the ones who occupied are already had certain areas of 83 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,720 strength. Chariots fitted with iron 84 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,960 demonstrated power, demonstrated influence. 85 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,560 Because that was not, that was not even the Iron Age. 86 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,440 There was no they had no business having iron on their 87 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,240 Chariots, And yet they did, which meant they had influence 88 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,520 beyond their borders. And because of which that 89 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,360 intimidated the men of Judah and a couple of other tribes. 90 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:54,760 And they didn't drive them out fully. 91 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,160 They coexisted eventually. Yes, they put them under their 92 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,680 thumb, but coexistence with the enemy was not the plan of God. 93 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,320 God expected them to fully obey. He expected them to trust Him 94 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:06,800 when they went against the enemy. 95 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:08,360 And yet they kind of compromised. 96 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,160 And that is the setting for Judges, right? 97 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,640 And it's in this setting that we read the story of Deborah and 98 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,720 Judges chapter 4. And we're going to read few 99 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,240 verses at a time, Judges chapter 4, verses one to three. 100 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,600 Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord now that 101 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,400 Ehud was dead. So this Lord sold them into the 102 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,400 hands of Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor Cizera. 103 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,520 The commander of his army was based in Harochett Hagoem 104 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,880 because he had 900 Chariots fitted with iron and had cruelly 105 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,880 oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. 106 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,440 They cried out to the Lord for help. 20 years of oppression. 107 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,400 Why? Because these people did evil in 108 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,000 the eyes of the Lord. It was a clear cause and effect. 109 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,800 They did something. There was consequences. 110 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,720 And the hands that they've fallen into was a Canaanite king 111 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,160 so wicked, so wicked. And it talks about these 112 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,240 Chariots fitted with iron and his cruel oppression of the 113 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,720 people, right? If you look at Joshua chapter 114 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,400 17, verses 16 to 18, the people of Manasseh and Ephraim come and 115 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,560 talk to Joshua and they're telling him, you know what, the 116 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:15,720 Hill Country that you've allocated to us is not enough. 117 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:17,960 We are a huge people. What do we do? 118 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,840 We want to go and live in in more areas, but people already 119 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:24,640 live there who have Chariots fitted with iron. 120 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,640 So this is almost a generation before where the same mindset of 121 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:30,320 oh, these people have iron Chariots. 122 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,280 I can't overrun them. But this is Joshua's reply to 123 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:35,920 them in verse 17. He says, but Joshua said to the 124 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,200 tribes of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, you are numerous and 125 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,840 very powerful. You will have not only one 126 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,280 allotment, but the forested Hill Country as well. 127 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,000 Clear it, and its father's limits will be yours. 128 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,760 Though the Canaanites have Chariots fitted with iron, and 129 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,600 though they are strong, you can drive them out. 130 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,360 Many times we look at what the enemy is throwing at us. 131 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:01,880 We see that he actually seems to have power. 132 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,960 We are so intimidated that we back down. 133 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,960 We tuck our tail between our legs like a frightened little 134 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,600 puppy, and we hide out. But here Josh was giving them a 135 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,240 clear instruction. He says, yes, they look like 136 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,960 they have great military strength, but God is with you, 137 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,800 trust him. And somehow fundamentally, 138 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,240 because they had done so much, even they had wandered so far 139 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,800 from God, God was there not their source of military 140 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,960 strength. They looked to themselves and 141 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,320 they fell short. And it's interesting, this very 142 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,600 area of weakness that they had felt they had. 143 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:34,840 They didn't have Chariots with iron. 144 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,920 The enemy had it. But God uses Deborah and Bharat 145 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,800 to deal with the same enemy who had iron Chariots back then. 146 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,440 Who's brought it in here? Right. 147 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,680 And God will use seasons of revival to pull down enemy 148 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:50,040 strongholds. Things that have been 149 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,680 accommodated and and tolerated for too long. 150 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,920 Maybe in your family generationally, infidelity was, 151 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,040 was just looked at like it was normal. 152 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,440 Maybe drunkenness and alcoholism was just looked at like it's OK. 153 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:02,920 This is just part of our bloodline. 154 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,680 Maybe brawling and anger, which is something that you've seen 155 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:08,160 growing up and you thought, well, you know what? 156 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,680 This is what I was born into. But God is saying in a season of 157 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,120 revival, when you come into repentance, you come before him 158 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,280 and say, Lord, here I am, work in me. 159 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:20,200 God is going to use you to pull down the very strongholds that 160 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,400 you thought was OK, that you thought this is, well, this is 161 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,000 something that has just been there for a while. 162 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,000 I'm comfortable with it. It's not harming me. 163 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:29,240 But he's going to call you to pull it down. 164 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,000 He's going to ask you to challenge the status quo. 165 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,799 That's what he did with Deborah and and with Barack. 166 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,760 Verse 4 says now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lapidot, 167 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,520 was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the palm of 168 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,200 Deborah between Rama and Bethel in the Hill Country of Ephraim, 169 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,000 and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes 170 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,640 decided. She sent for Barack, son of Abu 171 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,880 Noam from Kadesh and Naftali and said to him, The Lord, the God 172 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,640 of Israel, commands you, go. Take with you 10,000 men of 173 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,680 Naftali and Zebulun and leave them up to Mount Abbot. 174 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,200 I will lead Cicera, the commander of Jabin's army with 175 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,240 his Chariots and his troops to the Kishan River and give him 176 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,200 into your hands. There's not much of a huge 177 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:16,480 battle strategy that God is saying. 178 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,920 He's just saying you go, you take your position, take men 179 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,040 with you. He's giving him instruction from 180 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,960 which tribes to ask and lead them up a mountain. 181 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,880 And he's saying I will literally bring the enemy to your hands 182 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,240 because Cicera lived in a different place. 183 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:33,920 He's saying I'll actually bring them to you. 184 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,200 Verse 8, Bharat says if you go with me I will go, but if you 185 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,920 don't go with me, I don't go. Verse 9. 186 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:43,880 Certainly I will go with you, said Deborah. 187 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:47,000 But because of the course you are taking, the honour will not 188 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,840 be yours, for the Lord will deliver Cicera into the hands of 189 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,400 a woman. So Deborah went with Barack to 190 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,080 Kadesh. Debarak summoned Zebul in a 191 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,800 NAFTA league and 10,000 men went up under his command. 192 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:05,080 Deborah also went up with him. What is interesting here is that 193 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,120 you know the response that the banter between Barack and 194 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,800 Deborah. Deborah passes on the Word of 195 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,280 God. She was not a fighting woman, 196 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,000 she was a prophetess. She was a judge, right? 197 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,200 But when she gives His word to Barack, Barack must have 198 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,160 realized that he needed to hear God's military tactic more than 199 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:23,480 his. And he knew that she was the 200 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,000 voice of God. She was the the the mouthpiece 201 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,200 for God. And so he decided to keep her 202 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,720 close. Based on Deborah's reply, you 203 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,080 realize that that was not the best response he could have 204 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,200 given. Had Barack had a direct reliance 205 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,240 on God, he could have gone confidently into battle and had 206 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,880 this voice that he heard as a confirmation, as an overlay. 207 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,040 But instead, he was solely dependent on hearing God through 208 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:47,920 Deborah. And so he takes her along. 209 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,480 And, you know, The thing is, Deborah could have sat out. 210 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:52,680 If this was me, I would have said, hey, I'm just a 211 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:54,040 mouthpiece. I've done my part. 212 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,640 I'm going to stay up. But Deborah says, let's go. 213 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,480 She comes alongside him. And, you know, Deborah was 214 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:05,080 therefore called into a war that she was not originally planning 215 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,920 to enter. But as Barack was commissioned 216 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,160 for it, God had told Deborah, Barack has to lead the forces. 217 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,400 Barack was called to it. Deborah was almost, you know, 218 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,000 coerced into it. Verse 11. 219 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,080 Now Heba the Kinite had left the other Kinites, the descendants 220 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,800 of Hobab, Moses's brother-in-law, and pitched his 221 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,520 tent by the great tree in Zananem near Kedish. 222 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,080 It's a very weird interjection of information, but I want to 223 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,760 remind you of this, that the Kinites were basically the 224 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,960 Midianites. These were Moses's father in 225 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:39,480 law's family and they had come alongside and joined the 226 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,400 Israelites during the Exodus. And they were the ones who 227 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,200 showed them where the watering holes where the Oasis where 228 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:46,840 where they would, you know, get food. 229 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:49,200 And they kind of led them through the wilderness because 230 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,080 these guys were nomadic. They knew the wilderness. 231 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,160 They knew the desert well, right. 232 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,760 And so these guys had actually come alongside and now for a 233 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:02,440 time had parted ways. But this came in handy because 234 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,400 he was wife was none other than jail who's going to be featured 235 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:07,440 soon, sooner or later on this story. 236 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,280 And I want to just remind you that every person that God 237 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,120 places in our life or moves out of our life has been placed for 238 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:21,360 a season for a time to bless, to help to aid in Kingdom purposes. 239 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,440 Nothing is wasted. No one was wasted. 240 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,760 You may have regrets about certain friendships for the time 241 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,160 that it is placed in your life, for the time that they are in 242 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,600 your life. God has a big purpose. 243 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:36,000 Even when when you know we part ways, there are purposes behind 244 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,280 it. God is divine, God is sovereign. 245 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,880 Verse 12 When they told Cicera that Bharat son of ABI Noam had 246 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:48,080 gone up to Mt Tabor, Cicera summoned from Harosheth Hagoyam 247 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,680 to the Kishan river all his men and his 900 Chariots fitted with 248 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,200 iron. 14 And Deborah said to Bharat Go, This is the day the 249 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,520 Lord has given Cicera onto your hands, Has not the Lord gone 250 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,120 ahead of you? So Barack went down Mount Abar 251 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:08,360 with 10,000 men following him. At Barack's advance, the Lord 252 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,960 rooted Cicera and all his Chariots and army by the sword, 253 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,760 and Cicera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. 254 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:19,720 This is amazing. I just want to pause here for a 255 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,760 second because it says that Cicera comes with his agent of 256 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,000 intimidation, the chariot fitted with iron, and it's not just his 257 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,880 but 900 Chariots. But the beautiful thing is that 258 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,760 when God gives the command through Deborah, Barack goes 259 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,720 down the mountain and his men are following him. 260 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:43,760 But God routed Cicera. It was not Barack who did it. 261 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,200 It's interesting. They had to take position, they 262 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,760 had to be obedient. But the one who fought, the one 263 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,480 who routed the enemy was God himself. 264 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:57,480 And it says Cicera got down from his chariot and fled on foot. 265 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,600 This is the beautiful thing. You know, the very thing that 266 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,040 the enemy uses to intimidate us is the thing that God will 267 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,600 remove from him and send him fleeing. 268 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:08,960 I love these verses in the Bible. 269 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:10,760 It says the enemy will come at you in One Direction. 270 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,120 He will flee from you in seven, which indicates the panic and 271 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,360 the disorder God will create in the enemy's camp to protect his 272 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,840 chosen ones, to protect his anointed ones. 273 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,960 When God fights for us, He detrones the enemy. 274 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:25,960 The intimidation was the iron chariot. 275 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,920 But when God routed Cicera and his people, Cicera had to run on 276 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:31,760 foot. His iron chariot didn't help 277 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,880 him. Isn't that amazing when God 278 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,280 fights for his people? Verse 16 Barack pursued the 279 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,480 Chariots and army as far as Hirosheth Hagoyam, and all 280 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:45,400 Cicera's troops fell by the sword. 281 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,880 Not a man was left. Cicera meanwhile fled on foot to 282 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,160 the tent of jail, the wife of Heber the Kinite. 283 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,200 Because there was an alliance between Jeben, king of Hazor and 284 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,320 the family of Heber the Kinite jail went out to meet Cicera and 285 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,920 said, Come, my Lord, come right in, don't be afraid. 286 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,440 So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. 287 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:06,840 I'm thirsty. He said, please give me some 288 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,480 water. She opened a skin of milk, gave 289 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,720 him a drink and covered him up. Stand in the doorway of the 290 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:14,960 tent, he told her. If someone comes by and asks 291 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,840 you, is anyone in there, say no. But Jael, Heber's wife, picked 292 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:24,760 up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay 293 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,920 fast asleep. Exhausted, she drove the peg 294 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,120 through his temple into the ground, and he died. 295 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,120 Just then Bharat came by in pursuit of Cicera, and Rael went 296 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:37,560 out to meet him. Come, she said, I will show you 297 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:41,720 the man you're looking for. So he went in with her, and 298 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,400 there lay Cicera with the tent peg through his temple, dead. 299 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,040 On that day, God subdued Jebin, king of Canaan, before the 300 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,440 Israelites, and the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and 301 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,360 harder against Jebin, king of Canaan, until they destroyed 302 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,760 him. Isn't that amazing? 303 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,760 Look at these verses. Look at the way God uses a 304 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,600 simple woman who lived in a tent with her husband and his people 305 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,280 to actually pull down the enemy. It was one fell sweep. 306 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,800 The entire equation shifted. It's amazing. 307 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:17,800 I love the fact that she lured him in. 308 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:19,400 He said she just said, you know what? 309 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,120 Come in. You know, she offered 310 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,040 hospitality and you know, he had the audacity to say, you know 311 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:26,080 what? Guard the tent. 312 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,360 Tell them I'm not here. But Yale took the law into our 313 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:33,400 own hands. Now, when we look at this story, 314 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,160 what we're not asking you to do, we're not telling you you need 315 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,640 to take a tent peg and hit someone you don't like on the 316 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:39,760 head. That's not the point of this 317 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,320 whole story. The point is this, when this 318 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:45,560 happened, if you look at the last verse, it explains the 319 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,560 concept of revival. It says on that day God subdued 320 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,360 Jebin, king of Canaan before the Israelites and the hand of the 321 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,160 Israelites pressed harder and harder against him until they 322 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:02,480 destroyed him. The enemy, the enemy has to 323 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,680 become against. First of all, you know, many 324 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:06,800 times we just think that, you know, I pray one prayer and it's 325 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:08,760 1 and done. It doesn't work like that. 326 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:10,520 That's where travailing prayer comes in. 327 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,119 That's where fasting and prayer comes in because we need to 328 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,640 persist in seeing the enemy pull down. 329 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,560 We need to persist in seeing every stronghold come down till 330 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,560 the last brick is removed and we are set free. 331 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:25,920 God is calling us into that kind of warfare, right? 332 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,040 And so here when you look at it, please don't look at it 333 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,800 literally and say, OK, who can I go take the hammer and the 10th 334 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:32,760 peg to? Whose temple can I take it to? 335 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:37,080 That's not what the point is. Jail because of the fire of God 336 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,800 in her, because she knew who she was associated with. 337 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:41,240 You know, these were the people of God. 338 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:42,800 She knew that something was happening. 339 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:44,760 She was sensitive to the tide changing. 340 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,000 She was sensitive that something was going to change. 20 years of 341 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,280 oppression was about to change today. 342 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,320 Maybe you've been in a season, prolonged oppression, prolonged 343 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,600 setbacks, prolonged attacks, and you're thinking, God, when will 344 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,920 I have my breakthrough? God, I could use a win right 345 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,480 about now. Lord, something supernatural 346 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,920 would really help boost my confidence, would boost my 347 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,000 faith. Lord, it feels like my hope has 348 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,000 been deferred for so long. And you're seeing, Lord, I 349 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,000 really could use a change. This has felt prolonged. 350 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:17,120 This has felt too long. But that's when you need to be 351 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,600 sensitive to the fact that something is going to shift. 352 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:23,200 When the warfare has mounted up, when it has picked up strength, 353 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,040 the winds around you are howling, you feel like doors are 354 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,520 closed, but you know that something is going to shift. 355 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:30,920 That's when you know revival is coming. 356 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,640 And that day when the battle shifted, the one who brought a 357 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:38,800 definitive victory was Yale. When she actually took the tent 358 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,000 peg and hammered it into the enemy's head. 359 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,920 That was when she turned the battle in God's favour. 360 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,600 All of us, everyone of us have a role to play in revival. 361 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,040 But you know, before it becomes corporate, it happens within us. 362 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,240 Right before revival actually picks up fire and spreads 363 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,880 between people and changes entire communities. 364 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:03,520 It starts within us. But if revival involves warfare, 365 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:05,560 it feels scary. You're like, Lord, then I just, 366 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:07,360 I would rather not have revive. Correct. 367 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,600 But I want to encourage you that when you feel the warfare mount 368 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,520 up, you know, revival is just around the corner. 369 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:17,440 And for that, you and I, both of us, you and I need to know our 370 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,880 places in the battlefield. You remember this. 371 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,720 Deborah announced the battle plan. 372 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,760 Deborah announced that there was going to be a battle. 373 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,040 There was going to be a change. Barack was called into battle. 374 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,080 De Bora was forced to join the battle. 375 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,040 Yale knew her place. She knew that this is something 376 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,320 I had a chance to actually act on. 377 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:40,840 And that's what the fire of God will do in you. 378 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,800 The fire of God, when it when it fills you up, it leaves you in a 379 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:46,720 place where you can't stay the same. 380 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,240 You know that things are shifting. 381 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,520 You want to be part of it, right? 382 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:54,120 And that is what revival does. Irrespective of what brought has 383 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:57,520 brought the battle to you, it's time that you stand and fight. 384 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,720 Maybe it's a battle that you incurred on yourself because of 385 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,080 wrong choices. Maybe it's a battle that just 386 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,680 visited you because of the fact that you're positioned in such a 387 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,960 way with influence or family or whatever. 388 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,280 Or maybe you you just watched God train you through this 389 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,880 battle. Whichever it is, whatever your 390 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,760 circumstances are, I want to train you today to fight. 391 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,240 Because if you want revival, you have to fight. 392 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,320 It doesn't come easily. From Judges Chapter 5, we see a 393 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,000 few details that I want to get into before I really, you know, 394 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,840 give you 2 pointers as to how to take this forward from Judges 395 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,040 Chapter 5. This is basically a poem that 396 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,360 Deborah and Barack write together, right? 397 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,440 It's a song. And when you read it, you find 398 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,720 out a little more about the details of this entire battle 399 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,480 strategy and what actually happened because it's not 400 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,600 explained much in chapter 4, but in five, it gets expounded, 401 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,080 right? And this is what it says a few 402 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:56,000 of the tribes, verses 15 to 17 and verse 23, it says curse 403 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Merose. And it says what was Ruben 404 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,160 doing? What was Dan doing? 405 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,680 What was Asher doing? It talks about only 6 tribes 406 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,520 being present at the battle. Now you have to understand all 407 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,280 12 tribes were being oppressed. All 12 tribes had, you know, 408 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,040 Jebin ruling over them, oppressing them cruelly for 20 409 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,480 years. But only 6 tribes made it to the 410 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,920 battlefield. Yes, Zebulun and Afterlife 411 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,920 explicitly called, but many didn't turn up. 412 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,320 And it talks about how God honors the willing participants, 413 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,400 the volunteers, the ones who volunteered themselves, the 414 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:32,160 leaders who came forth. But God is not pleased at the 415 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,000 ones who just stayed with their flocks, the ones who just were 416 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,360 thinking for long whether they should join in or not. 417 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:42,360 And I want to ask you this, are you one of those who's been very 418 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:46,440 reticent about joining the army of God in joining and fighting 419 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,960 the good fight of faith? Have you been playing it safe? 420 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,560 It's easy to just say, well, you know, someone else is praying, 421 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:55,920 someone else is worshipping, someone else is warring in the 422 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:57,440 heavenlies. I'll just chill. 423 00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,440 I'll just, you know, kind of cruise through my Christian 424 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,680 life. God is saying enough of being in 425 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,440 this Demilitarized Zone where you don't think you need to play 426 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:06,560 a part. God is calling you into battle. 427 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:10,360 Fight for your marriage, fight for your children, fight for 428 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,360 your integrity, fight for your your being moved forward in 429 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:17,160 promotion. Don't be so laid back that the 430 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,160 enemy just takes over all your territory. 431 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,640 It's time to fight. The tribes that didn't join them 432 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,080 were called out by God, he said. I'm disappointed, but the ones 433 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,120 who were willing and volunteered themselves were honoured. 434 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:33,640 Second thing was leaders were made in battle. 435 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,160 You know, many times in our homes, irrespective of what your 436 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,960 home looks like, you could be a single parent, you could be a 437 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,240 couple with children, you could just be a newly married couple, 438 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,280 whatever. You could be senior citizens, 439 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:47,640 whatever it is. But you know, leaders are made 440 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,440 in battle. Are you battling for your 441 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,600 marriage? Are you choosing to battle for 442 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,880 generations to come because that is what sets you apart from the 443 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,400 madding crowd? Mothers, are you praying more 444 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,720 than you are planning? Are you praying fathers more 445 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,320 than you're advancing yourselves, are you interceding 446 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:11,600 for your families? Grandparents, are you relaxed so 447 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,040 much in your old age that you don't make time to pray for the 448 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:19,200 generations to come? Retired business people, what 449 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,040 are you doing in the time that you have? 450 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,640 Leaders are shaped and made in battle. 451 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:26,720 You know, Deborah could have just sat it out. 452 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,280 No one would have judged her for saying, hey, I'm not coming into 453 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,800 battle. I'm not made for this, but in 454 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,960 verse 7, she addresses herself as a mother. 455 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:36,760 She says I'm a mother. Why? 456 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,120 Because until she stepped up, no one came and followed. 457 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,080 When she stood up and said this is the word of the Lord, let's 458 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,480 do it. People rallied around and maybe 459 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,360 God is calling you into a place of saying, hey, will you stand 460 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,320 up and give voice to what I want to speak? 461 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,400 Will you be a voice for the voiceless? 462 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,400 Finally, the fire of God filled all three differently. 463 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,120 You know, you in this whole scheme of things, you can't look 464 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:02,720 down on Bharat and say, oh, what a wimp. 465 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,400 He did what he had to do. Deborah did what she had to do, 466 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,240 jail did what she had to do. And each of them were filled 467 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,640 with the fire of God to see the enemy pushed out so that they 468 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,720 could enjoy freedom. Freedom from oppression, freedom 469 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,520 from being curbed and contained, freedom to live the way God 470 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:23,880 intended them. Each of them carried a fire in 471 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,360 them and that is what brought revival in the land for the next 472 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:28,680 40 years. Isn't that amazing? 473 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,760 20 years oppression, 40 years freedom, 40 years blessing. 474 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,640 And it was interesting because the one who shifted the battle 475 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,440 was a woman, someone who others would have overlooked. 476 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,280 Or she just lives in the tents, or she's just a housewife, or 477 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,240 this person doesn't know anything, not married. 478 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,280 The labels on you can continue or they can release you. 479 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,880 Whatever your labels have been in, the fire of God comes and 480 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,000 the label falls off. You can do great things, great 481 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:01,160 exploits for the Kingdom if you allow God's fire to fill you so 482 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,720 that you can take a stand. You can, you can do the things 483 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,920 that are required of you to set free generations. 484 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,440 And so today God is calling all of us to battle. 485 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,240 Like I said, revival doesn't come without a battle. 486 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:14,920 There is a battle before revival. 487 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,840 But interestingly enough, and this is a very interesting and 488 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,440 nice fact, it's a fun fact. It's a rigged battle. 489 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,960 We are on the winning side. We are just being trained 490 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:26,280 through it. You might wonder then why do I 491 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:27,720 need a battle if I'm on the winning side? 492 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,520 If everything's already won, then why do I have to be in it? 493 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,880 Well, the truth is we are being trained through the bucket. 494 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,160 The enemy is already defeated. He's a defeated foe. 495 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,920 Picture this. We used to do this, you know, 496 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:43,960 experiments with anti venom, with snakes. 497 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:46,880 So we used to have our lab attenders get the snake. 498 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,400 It used to be, you know, cobras or the crate of, you know, these 499 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,400 venomous snakes. And they would have these 500 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,960 bottles with a, you know, a latex lid and they would milk 501 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:01,200 the venom of the snake, right? And so when they milk it, the 502 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,280 venom leaks out. They take it and then we create 503 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,080 antibodies and we create the anti venom. 504 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,680 But the truth is the enemy is actually like a completely 505 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,560 milked out snake. All the venom has been taken 506 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,080 out. He has literally has no teeth, 507 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,680 right? But he's still a snake. 508 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:18,760 He still scares the daylights out of us. 509 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,920 The problem is many of us are giving him way too much credit. 510 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,360 Many of us are looking at him like he owns our lives. 511 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:28,360 He he runs everything. But the truth is he's a defeated 512 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:29,640 4. He is under our feet. 513 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,320 Our heel is on his head. When Jesus crushed the enemy at 514 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:38,600 the cross, he enabled us to also stand in the same position 515 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,520 because we are coerced with Christ in seated in the heavenly 516 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,480 realms with us. So if it's if the enemy is under 517 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:45,760 his feet, it's under our feet technically too. 518 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:50,240 But many times we have allowed the enemy to take position here, 519 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:54,360 right about here, close to our temple, close to our mind, close 520 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:56,680 to our ears. All our senses are tuned to him. 521 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,360 So which is why many times we give in to the the needs of the 522 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,400 flesh. Many times our thoughts turn and 523 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,360 deviate into a place it shouldn't go to. 524 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,440 Because as much as I claim I have the mind of Christ, I'm 525 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:09,320 also listening to the voice of the serpent. 526 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,760 I'm also letting him twist his tail around my neck and choke 527 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,560 me. I'm also listening to him 528 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,920 putting venom between my in my veins when I think of someone 529 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:20,880 that I don't like or doesn't like me. 530 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,720 But the time has come to put the enemy where he belongs, which is 531 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,040 under our feet. It is time to crush his head 532 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,840 under our feet, right? That is what revival will 533 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,800 require. Revival will require two things 534 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,800 to remember that we face a disarmed enemy. 535 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,920 That's the first thing. Because today the battle went in 536 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,120 the way it went and the outcomes that came. 537 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,320 Cicera prided himself on those iron Chariots, but he was made 538 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,600 to run on foot like a regular human. 539 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,280 He was made like one of the Israelites. 540 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:54,720 He was equalised and maybe even made less. 541 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:56,920 He ran on foot into a woman's tent. 542 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:02,640 You and I, we face a disarmed enemy, and therefore we can 543 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:07,920 fight the good fight boldly. Enough of being intimidated by 544 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,840 the enemy. Enough of thinking. 545 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,200 He has the final say. Enough of thinking. 546 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,280 This is my lot in life. It will never change. 547 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,600 It will. It already did at Calvary. 548 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,080 You and I need to enforce that victory. 549 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,800 I'm going to be reading from Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 550 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,720 to 15 to reinforce this point. When you were dead in your sins 551 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:31,640 and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with 552 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,040 Christ. He forgave us all our sins. 553 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:37,480 Having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which 554 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,560 stood against us and condemned us, He has taken it away, 555 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,680 nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers 556 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,520 and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, 557 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,000 triumphing over them by the cross. 558 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:55,000 Look at this, He has disarmed the powers and authorities. 559 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,480 He has made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by 560 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,400 the cross. My youngest son enjoys playing 561 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,960 nerf wars, and so he recently got a nerf gun and he and his 562 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,200 uncle were playing, you know, they were playing a nerf war 563 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,840 between themselves. And you should watch how the 564 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,000 warp nerf warp progresses. Once the bullets are emptied 565 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:20,200 out, no amount of pulling on the trigger releases anything. 566 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,720 You're up for grabs. The enemy is literally right 567 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,080 now, like a nerf gun without any bullets. 568 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:28,840 He is like a nerf gun without a loading area. 569 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,480 There is no trigger. But the gun on its own is 570 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,880 intimidating, right? That's why the enemy still gives 571 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,320 us reasons to fear. But the truth is, when we look 572 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:44,040 at Him for who He really is, He is actually nothing. 573 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,040 Too many of us are giving Him so much credence that we've 574 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,120 forgotten to live in a way that gives God credit for everything 575 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:54,400 that's happening to us. We blame everything. 576 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:56,280 We blame everything on the enemy. 577 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,040 Oh, the enemy made me do that. Oh, it's all the darkness in my 578 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:00,320 life. Oh, it's because of the area I 579 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,480 live in. When are you going to put him 580 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,040 under your feet, stamp Him and walk in the authority that 581 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,840 Christ won for you on the cross? When are you going to do that? 582 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,160 The enemy has been pushed off the iron chariot. 583 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,600 He will flee from you in seven directions by foot. 584 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,240 He's no longer got anything to intimidate you. 585 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,960 And so don't let him trick you into thinking he's more powerful 586 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,560 than he is. And you have to understand this. 587 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,920 The enemy likes to take up territory that belongs to God in 588 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:32,720 you. You know, God has marked our 589 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,640 territory saying this is for my child, this is what I want him 590 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:38,800 to live his purpose out in such and such a way. 591 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,920 I want him to to, you know, have influence in this space. 592 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,600 But the enemy has come and occupy the territory and it is 593 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:48,320 important for us to know that he is already a disarmed enemy so 594 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,320 that we can boldly go in and take back the territory that 595 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,000 belongs to us. His technique and his tactic is 596 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,640 fear and intimidation. But you need to keep reminding 597 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,680 yourself, God, you disarm the powers and authorities. 598 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,760 You have made a public spectacle of them. 599 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,000 He'll keep his gun trained on you because he is the accuser of 600 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,080 the brethren. He'll say, what can you achieve? 601 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,760 I know who you are, but you say I am a new creation. 602 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:14,720 The old has gone, the new has come. 603 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,680 When you know who you are in Christ, you will also discover 604 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,440 that the enemy is disarmed. So that's the first thing. 605 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,520 Knowing you're in battle requires that you know you face 606 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,800 a disarmed enemy. The second thing is you must 607 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,640 remember this is that you must decapitate the enemy. 608 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:36,080 Many of us are content to know that the end. 609 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:37,440 This is the enemy that I'm fighting. 610 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,560 If you're in a troubled marriage, you'll be able to 611 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,400 sense there's a disruptive spirit that keeps acting up. 612 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,120 But it's time that we don't just entertain the spirit. 613 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:52,680 We actually cut its head off decapitate Colossians chapter 3 614 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,120 says this verse one on with sorry. 615 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:57,120 Since then you have been raised with Christ. 616 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,560 Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the 617 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,920 right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, 618 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,880 not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is 619 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:10,080 now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life 620 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,320 appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 621 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:17,280 Verse 5 Put to death, therefore whatever belongs to your earthly 622 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:22,200 nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and 623 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,680 greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of 624 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,040 God is coming. You used to walk in these ways 625 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:31,560 in the life you once live, but now you must also rid yourself 626 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:36,240 of all such things as these anger, rage, malice, slander and 627 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,520 filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since 628 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,120 you have taken off your old self with his practices and put on 629 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,000 the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the 630 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,680 image of its Creator. Isn't that amazing? 631 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,040 What is he saying? You have a new life in Christ, 632 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,640 right? You are living completely hidden 633 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,800 with Christ, which means that I am just Christ in me, the hope 634 00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,480 of glory. When people see me, they should 635 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,120 see Jesus. But because I'm still in the 636 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:06,200 flesh, I wrestle with the flesh. And he keeps reminding his 637 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,080 readers to crucify the flesh, to kill the flesh. 638 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,000 What does that look like? It doesn't mean I actually take, 639 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,680 you know, a piece of wood and smash my hand, which causes me 640 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,040 to steal on that. No, it's actually saying I'm 641 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,200 putting to death the deeper issues which cause me to sin. 642 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,720 And you have to understand that putting to death is a complete 643 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,160 annihilation. It's not saying well, today I 644 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,520 will not watch porn tomorrow I'll think about it. 645 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:33,000 No, it is deciding today I'm done with this and I'm going to 646 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,120 work at it. I'm going to put things in place 647 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:37,880 that keep me accountable to other people. 648 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,800 I'm going to choose to unsubscribe from such and such. 649 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:44,240 I can take a break from social media if that is my trigger. 650 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,760 It is not saying let me take each day as it comes. 651 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,040 Let me just figure this out. I don't know how tomorrow's 652 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,760 going to be. If you're struggling with anger, 653 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:53,880 you're like, I don't know, I could burst into rage anytime, 654 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,400 but we'll see. Or it's choosing to go to God 655 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:57,760 and say, Lord, I want to kill this. 656 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:01,520 Take it out from the root. It's probably doing the hard 657 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,240 yards of walking through therapy and saying, you know what, I'm 658 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,000 going to get to the root of it and pull it out completely. 659 00:34:08,159 --> 00:34:11,639 It's time to put to death the things that are killing me 660 00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:13,600 silently. It's very important. 661 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,480 Let's not kid ourselves about what we are actually putting 662 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,719 ourselves through what our families through. 663 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,960 Some some of us are going through chronic issues, but 664 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:24,960 we're just entertaining it, saying you know what, this is 665 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,000 how my mother was. This is how I've always been. 666 00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:32,719 We excuse ourselves. We give ourselves these, you 667 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,520 know, these ways out. We find a way to blame others 668 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:41,000 for the things we are stuck in. But God is saying what you feed 669 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:44,239 will grow, what you starve dies. Is that simple. 670 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:49,719 Will you kill the fleshly desires with the ferocity that 671 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,560 Jael used to kill Cicera? She could have, you know, if it 672 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,120 was US, one of us who was less, more, you know, scared of blood 673 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,360 and gore, would have just probably, you know, hit him on 674 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:00,880 the head with a mat or something and just passed him out till, 675 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,120 you know, Bharat came into the tent and then you kind of 676 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,720 restrained him till she finished the job. 677 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,160 Putting to death requires a complete commitment. 678 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:13,000 And saying I am on the Lord's side. 679 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,360 I want to live in the light. No more darkness. 680 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,120 Enough is enough. It's closing a door on that 681 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:20,160 relationship. It is closing a door on the 682 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:21,560 things that are leading me astray. 683 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:24,880 It is deciding that, you know what, no, I'm a new creation. 684 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:29,520 I want to live like that. It's so important in order to 685 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,000 see revival that you decapitate the enemy that you identify. 686 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,240 Many times we identify the enemy, but we make a table for 687 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,880 them and sit at the table and we live our lives in and in a 688 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:44,720 cahoots with this enemy. In Psalm 23, it says you prepare 689 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:46,560 a table in the presence of my enemies. 690 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:50,160 That is different from this. That is not entertaining the 691 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:52,160 enemy. It is God blessing you in in the 692 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,440 sight of the enemy. But in this case, you can't sit 693 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,240 at the table and cohabit with the enemy. 694 00:35:57,240 --> 00:35:59,880 You know the Israelites had done that for the longest time when 695 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:03,800 God said enter Canaan and push the enemy out and then occupy 696 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,240 the territory. He never said live beside them. 697 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:09,440 Because he clearly said if you entertain them, they will lead 698 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,720 you astray. They will cope, they will 699 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:14,480 intermarry, their children will become your children, their 700 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,960 grandchildren will be yours, and you will perpetuate the 701 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,720 idolatry, the the Pagan rituals, the the immorality. 702 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:25,520 And too many of us have entertained the enemy instead of 703 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,840 killing him. We have entertained the enemy's 704 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,320 thoughts, the enemy's lifestyles, the enemy's cultural 705 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,040 ideas. We have entertained it. 706 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,040 We have actually gotten intimate with it. 707 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,440 We have now inculcated it, and now we feel it's too late. 708 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:43,520 But here we have proof that you can put it to death. 709 00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,480 What are some of the things that the Apostle Paul is asking us to 710 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,120 put to death? Earthly nature, Sexual 711 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:57,360 immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, or he says this 712 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,320 is idolatry. So maybe you and I don't worship 713 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:03,560 before, you know, a, a, a big altar. 714 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,360 We don't have, you know, pictures or, you know, anything 715 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,360 of that sort. OK, But if you have these in 716 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:12,040 your life, it's idolatry. He says because of these, the 717 00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:17,200 wrath of God is coming. He says you once lived in such a 718 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,040 way, but it's time to change. I want to tell you, if you want 719 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:22,920 revival in your home, if you want revival in your children's 720 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,640 lives, you want revival in your marriage, you want revival in 721 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:30,120 your singleness, this is a must. This is a must because when the 722 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:33,080 enemy comes at you with all he's got, you need to go for the 723 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,240 jugular. You need to get him at the neck. 724 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:40,400 Because when you get the head of the enemy, the voices stop the 725 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:44,360 lies, stop the lies he's been whispering that you'll never get 726 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,160 out of it. The lies that he's been saying. 727 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:48,720 This is essential to your very existence will stop. 728 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,560 It's time to go for the head of the enemy, decapitate him. 729 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,360 Don't entertain him. One of my friends recently 730 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,840 shared this WhatsApp story and it really got me thinking 731 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,040 because I felt it's something that a lot of us have to say, 732 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,400 have to, you know, really absorb into our lives. 733 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,320 It says not everything is a demon. 734 00:38:07,880 --> 00:38:11,200 You can't cast out the flesh. Some battles don't need 735 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:12,800 deliverance, they need discipline. 736 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:16,200 Deliverance won't fix what obedience is meant to kill. 737 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,720 Crucify your flesh every single day. 738 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:24,760 You have to remember that your enemy is a disarmed foe, but you 739 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:30,200 also have to decapitate him in order that you kill your flesh. 740 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:33,640 When you know he's disarmed, he has no power over you. 741 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,960 You go for the head. You say enough is enough. 742 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,480 Jail was not compromising about the enemy. 743 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:45,080 She knew who Cicera was. She knew what he had done for 20 744 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,680 years. She saw the rampant damage all 745 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:49,600 around her. Her husband might have taken 746 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,560 them out of that setting and moved away, but she knew what 747 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,720 was going on. She was sensitive to the season. 748 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:59,600 She was sensitive to the time. And she knows this is it. 749 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:02,360 God's literally, it's like, you know, in tennis, they'll say 750 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,400 they lobbed the ball to you. So you just, you know, just 751 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,680 smash it in. God actually lobbed Cicera into 752 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:10,760 her hands and she took the chance. 753 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,200 What is God giving you a chance to reckon within the season? 754 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,000 Has He opened the doors of your addiction wide open so that you 755 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:22,400 can see it for what it is? Don't miss the timing when God 756 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,360 opens things up and reveals things in your life so He can 757 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:27,800 deal with it as only He can. You know when God deals with it, 758 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,680 it's so beautiful. Yes, it's painful when He rips 759 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:32,560 it out by the roots. Yes, it's painful when He 760 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:35,400 confronts us. But the end result is always 761 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,560 good. It's freedom in Christ because 762 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,920 the truth sets us free. It's living in the light and not 763 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:42,400 in the darkness. Because remember, in the 764 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:47,680 darkness all kinds of unhealthy things grow, but it's in the 765 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:53,560 light where things thrive. And I want to ask you, what 766 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,520 mouldy stuff have you been allowing to grow in your life 767 00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:59,840 because you have been so well cocooned in the darkness? 768 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:04,200 It's time to decapitate the enemy, the tent peg. 769 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,960 Was an instrument of destruction in Yale's hands and it brought 770 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,120 her a victory today. I believe that the tent peg is 771 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:15,680 representative of Jesus himself in Zechariah chapter 10 verse 4 772 00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:19,120 it says from Judah will come the cornerstone from him the tent 773 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:23,000 pig from him the battle bow and from him every ruler. 774 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:27,320 You know a tent peg when you if you've ever been to the circus. 775 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:29,360 My family just went to the circus recently. 776 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,320 I don't like the circus. Something about it disturbs me 777 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,920 but the circus tents are always set up in such a way that they 778 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,920 have these huge tent pegs that are you know dug into the ground 779 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:42,960 and then strong ropes are used to harness the tent to the pig. 780 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:47,680 So even if there's heavy rains or you know winds the tent holds 781 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,280 and the tent has to house hundreds of people and animals 782 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,280 and you know the performers and all of that. 783 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:58,120 The tent of our lives has to be tethered to the tent peg of 784 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:01,800 Jesus. The problem is too many of us 785 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:05,760 have built our tent pegs, have built our tents and tethered it 786 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,880 the wrong things. Our tent pegs are either sex, 787 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,920 our tent pegs are friendships. Our tent pegs is our money. 788 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:17,120 It's accumulation of wealth, pursuing of our pleasure. 789 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:19,920 The tent pegs have been placed in the wrong things. 790 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:23,240 The tent peg is sometimes the very wrongest of things. 791 00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:28,160 And God is asking you today if you would come back and if you 792 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:31,320 would make him the tent peg of your life, if you would say, 793 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:34,720 Lord, you are the the one I'm going to be holding onto because 794 00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:37,480 you remember this tent peg has a rope tethered on it. 795 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,360 And the tent of our lives, you know, the, the circle of our 796 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,440 lives, a little bubble that we have as our lives, our family, 797 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:46,720 our marriage, our children, our jobs. 798 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:51,960 If that is tethered to Jesus against all odds, against every 799 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,680 storm, it will hold. But if it's tethered to the 800 00:41:55,680 --> 00:42:01,720 wrong things, if our tent pegs are Askew, we can be assured the 801 00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:05,080 tent won't last long. You can be assured that when the 802 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,960 winds of change come in, when the the revival fire begins 803 00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:13,200 sweeping across the place, it will pull you down South. 804 00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:17,560 You have a choice. Would you live a cleansed life? 805 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,200 Would you walk in victory knowing your enemy is disarmed? 806 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,000 Would you walk in victory knowing He is beneath your heel? 807 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:26,680 He can no longer whisper those lies. 808 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:28,560 He can no longer control your mind. 809 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,520 He can no longer push you to do the things that you don't want 810 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:33,760 to do because now you have the mind of Christ. 811 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,400 Now you are being led by the spirit of truth into all truth. 812 00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:43,200 I want to encourage the women specifically today. 813 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:45,840 Today is Mother's Day. The world celebrates Mother's 814 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:48,520 Day. You know, motherhood is the 815 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,160 highest calling. I believe it sanctifies us like 816 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,360 nothing else can. With each of my children, I've 817 00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:58,920 told this to many young women. Each time I had a baby, got 818 00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:03,000 groomy in faith, but he also changed things intrinsically 819 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:07,160 wrong within me, right? But I want to encourage those of 820 00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:11,000 you who are yet to be mothers. I want to encourage you that 821 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:15,200 your journey is not over yet because you have tremendous 822 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:17,040 things ahead of you. I want to encourage those who 823 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:21,200 have birthed children that you won't be so limited to only your 824 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:24,960 children, to only your child. But you look at the horizon like 825 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:26,920 Deborah did. We don't know whether Deborah 826 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:30,800 had birthed any of her own children, but she mothered an 827 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,720 entire army. She mothered an entire nation. 828 00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:37,080 She gave them words of encouragement, wisdom, insight. 829 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:41,520 She LED them by example. She taught them to worship. 830 00:43:41,720 --> 00:43:45,360 She revived a land. And today we women play a very 831 00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:47,480 vital role in revival in our homes. 832 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:51,080 You play a vital role. Only you can fulfill that place. 833 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,280 You may not be a natural mother, you may be a spiritual mother. 834 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:56,040 Maybe you don't even consider yourself that. 835 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,960 But I want to tell you this, I want to encourage you. 836 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:02,800 From Isaiah 54 verse one to three in passion translation, it 837 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,440 says this. Rejoice with singing, you barren 838 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:09,040 1 You who have never given birth, burst into a song of joy 839 00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:11,400 and shout. You who have never been in 840 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:14,560 labour for the deserted wife will have more children than the 841 00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,600 married one, says Yahweh. Increase is coming. 842 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,640 So enlarge your tent, add extensions to your dwelling, 843 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:24,360 hold nothing back. Make the tent ropes longer and 844 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,440 the pigs stronger. You will increase and spread out 845 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:31,000 in every direction your sons and daughters with con carnations 846 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:36,800 and revitalize desolate cities. Revival belongs to you. 847 00:44:37,720 --> 00:44:41,280 Not just the men, not just the youngsters, not just, you know, 848 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,480 the experienced. Everyone of us have a role to 849 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,640 play. Mothers, women, you are playing 850 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,920 a role because the ones you will nurture and love will be the 851 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:55,480 ones who go out and revitalize entire cities, entire nations. 852 00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:59,240 Your job is so important. Don't kid yourself, don't check 853 00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:02,640 yourself out. Remember that increase is 854 00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:04,680 coming. Enlarge your tent, stretch wide 855 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:07,120 the ropes and place the tent pegs deep. 856 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:11,800 If your tent peg is Jesus, however deep he takes you with 857 00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:16,800 him, you're safe. Your tent will stand the test of 858 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,200 time. I pray that each of us would 859 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,960 host a revival within us first. You know, those, you know, when 860 00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:27,880 you read about those revival stories in the 1800s and the 19, 861 00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:31,440 early 1900s, it happened in these huge tents and people 862 00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,280 would just walk in. And when they came into the, 863 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,800 the, you know, the arena of the tent, the Spirit of God would 864 00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:40,080 fall upon them. They would, they would worship, 865 00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:42,520 they would repent, they would fall before God and such 866 00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:45,600 surrender. And I pray that each of us, our 867 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,280 earthly bodies, which are likened to tents, would host 868 00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:52,360 such a revival first, you know, before we, we start asking God 869 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:54,520 for that, you know, corporate revival which is going to 870 00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:58,200 happen. It has to begin in here because 871 00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:03,240 the enemy hits US first here. And I would pray that you would 872 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:07,000 host the revival fire within your tent and that you would 873 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:11,160 allow God to actually help you face off on this disarmed enemy 874 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:14,240 and go for the head, decapitate him. 875 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:17,320 Stop entertaining sin. Stop feeding it. 876 00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:21,040 What your starve will die. What your starve will die. 877 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:24,560 Even as we close. This is my prayer for you that 878 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:28,720 when the battle rages, you won't give up, you won't turn and run 879 00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:32,480 for the hills, but that like David, you would go out and say, 880 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:34,120 yes, I'm facing a nine foot giant. 881 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:37,920 I'm just 5 foot 7 but it's OK. I have 5 stones. 882 00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,400 I have the name of God. The Lord of Angel armies is with 883 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:43,120 me. Who is this uncircumcised 884 00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:46,200 Philistine? Know your enemy, but you don't 885 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,320 have to engage in so much conversation with him. 886 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,560 You do what you're called to do. You battle him, go on the 887 00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:56,480 offensive, take him down, decapitate him. 888 00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:59,600 Just like David hit that stone into Goliath's hell. 889 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:01,520 He fell down. He didn't leave it there. 890 00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,200 He went stood over Goliath, took his sword out, cut his head off. 891 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:09,120 God is calling you in for the violent. 892 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:13,000 Take the Kingdom by force. No more entertaining the enemy. 893 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:14,440 No more telling him. You know what? 894 00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:16,520 You're right. You have legal access to my 895 00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:18,280 life. Oh, yes, This is something that 896 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:19,800 I'm going to allow. No more. 897 00:47:20,320 --> 00:47:23,080 No more. We're going to take him by the 898 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:24,640 throat. He's done for. 899 00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:27,280 Can we just pray together? Father, we just thank you for 900 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:29,080 this time. We thank you, Lord, for 901 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:32,120 disarming the principalities and powers in the high places and 902 00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:36,440 making a public spectacle of them when you died on that 903 00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:37,880 cross. Thank you that death is 904 00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:40,360 defeated. Sin is no more because of your 905 00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:43,880 resurrection power, God. And today I pray for everyone 906 00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:47,360 who could be wrestling with any of these things of the flesh for 907 00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:51,040 sexual immorality. Mal is slander, filthy language, 908 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,760 lying. God I pray they will put off the 909 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,000 old self and put on the new. Father I pray that you would 910 00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:03,280 enable us to walk in truth. Help us God to to face you as we 911 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:06,120 are. I pray that Lord people will 912 00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:10,240 come to you as they are repentant, submit, submitted, 913 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:14,360 surrendered. Father, we pray that we will be 914 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:18,280 able to take back the the things that the enemy has stolen and 915 00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:21,240 that you will send the enemy fleeing in seven directions. 916 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:22,760 We believe that. Father. 917 00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,360 I pray for those who are stuck in things that they wish they 918 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:29,600 never got into. I pray today a revival fire 919 00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:33,240 would break out within them, setting them free from the 920 00:48:33,240 --> 00:48:35,000 bondages that they have been locked in. 921 00:48:35,240 --> 00:48:38,680 I pray that you would break down every stronghold and release 922 00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:42,520 them into wholeness. We love you. 923 00:48:42,760 --> 00:48:44,840 We thank you. Go before us into this week, 924 00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:48,320 help us God. I pray for each person that Lord 925 00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:51,160 as they enter their week that they will experience the power 926 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:53,400 of God. I pray that you would bless 927 00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:57,320 their bread and water, you would cover their homes with your 928 00:48:57,320 --> 00:49:00,360 precious blood and I pray that Lord you will work in and 929 00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:04,400 through them in a powerful way. We love you, we thank you, we 930 00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:06,360 honour you. In Jesus mighty name I pray 931 00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:09,240 Amen. Amen, Church. 932 00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:12,280 As you get into this week, I pray that you will remember not 933 00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:14,840 to fix your eyes on the enemy because he's now under your 934 00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:17,600 feet, but you will fix your eyes on Jesus, the author, the 935 00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:21,240 perfector of your faith, a mighty man of war who goes out. 936 00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:24,920 He leads heaven's Angel armies. He fights for you. 937 00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:26,400 You are not alone in your battle. 938 00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:29,360 Thanks for listening to this message. 939 00:49:29,720 --> 00:49:33,200 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 940 00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:37,560 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 941 00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:39,920 episodes. If you like what you are 942 00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:44,480 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 943 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:47,040 with friends. That would really help us. 944 00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:52,360 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 945 00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:57,520 Via Zion dot in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 946 00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:58,560 finds life.