Participants: Joseph Warren, Karen Thomas
Series Code: IAA
Program Code: IAA000035
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00:29 Welcome to another edition of "Issues and Answers."
00:31 So glad you were able to join us today. 00:33 We know that your time is precious 00:35 and we're glad that you decided 00:37 to include us within your time schedule. 00:39 Today, we have as our guest 00:40 Dr. Joseph Warren of Andrews University. 00:43 He is a professor of English there 00:45 and has had the opportunity to mentor many young people 00:48 in the service of the Lord. 00:49 He's been married 28 years to the lovely Cynthia Warren 00:52 and has three almost grown children. 00:55 He is an avid supporter of men's ministries. 00:59 And that's what we're gonna talk about today. 01:01 I have his brochure, as a matter of fact with me 01:03 and it tells a little bit about 01:05 what type of ministries he offers. 01:08 Men's ministries, family ministries, 01:10 women's ministries, but I was most impressed 01:12 with the mission statement that was on the back 01:14 that describes why he has this ministry. 01:18 "God's son equal to God, now seated in heaven 01:21 and interceding for all mankind, 01:23 Savior of the world who came in the flesh to die 01:26 for all the sins of mankind, 01:28 Lord of the Sabbath 01:30 who continues to undo the works of Satan. 01:32 The son of man who lived 01:34 by indwelling power of the Holy Spirit 01:36 and perfect obedience to God's will, 01:38 coming King and Judge, who is returning to claim 01:41 all who confess Him as King of kings 01:43 and to destroy Satan's kingdom forever." 01:47 Don't we want to be a part of 01:49 destroying Satan's kingdom forever? 01:51 And be a part of God's new kingdom? 01:53 I know we all do and we're here 01:54 to talk about prayer and how to be-- 01:57 how to receive the Holy Spirit as a warrior. 01:59 Thank you so much, Dr. Warren, for coming to our program. 02:01 Thank you, Karen. It's good to be here. 02:03 Let's welcome the Holy Spirit officially. 02:05 Holy Spirit, we invite you to be in this place 02:08 and no other presence but yours. 02:10 Amen. Amen. 02:12 We want to talk about receiving 02:13 the Holy Spirit for man as a warrior. 02:17 We're talking about offensive spiritual warfare now. 02:20 The word in the Old Testament 02:22 means "to tread on" or "to tramp over." 02:26 Means you got to go somewhere with this. 02:28 New Testament means to be in armed combat, hand to hand. 02:33 This is a pretty tough teaching now. 02:35 Lot of us want to believe that we can just be Christians 02:39 and everything is gonna be all right. 02:41 That's not true. 02:43 Satan is gonna come against you mightily, 02:46 at the moment you decide to obey. 02:49 That's just who he is. To rob, kill and destroy. 02:52 So here we want to talk about every man, 02:54 every person, women as well, but every man first, 02:58 being an offensive warrior going in to claim. 03:01 The Bible says in Matthew 16:18 about the gates of hell. 03:05 There is a reason the gates-- that hell has gates on it. 03:09 There are people captivated by Satan 03:11 and it is our job to go and get them. 03:14 And bring them back or to fight 03:16 as Paul said "The good fight of faith." 03:18 Amen. I don't wanna mislead anyone. 03:20 There is a fight in Christian warfare. 03:24 You are gonna have to fight. 03:26 As Ellen White said 03:27 "The last battle will be the battle over self." 03:30 So, here we're going to do today. 03:32 So read that text for us please, Karen, 03:34 Ephesians 6:10-20, where it talks about 03:37 going to war, to battle. 03:39 "Finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord 03:42 and in the power of His might. 03:44 Put on the whole armor of God, 03:45 that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 03:49 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 03:52 but against principalities, against powers, 03:54 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 03:57 against spiritual wickedness in high places. 04:00 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, 04:03 that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, 04:06 and having done all, to stand. 04:09 Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, 04:13 and having on the breastplate of righteousness. 04:15 And your feet shod 04:17 with the preparation of the gospel of peace. 04:19 Above all, taking the shield of faith, 04:22 wherewith ye shall be able to quench 04:25 all the fiery darts of the wicked. 04:27 And take the helmet of salvation, 04:29 and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God 04:33 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 04:37 and watching thereunto with all perseverance 04:41 and supplication for all saints. 04:43 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, 04:47 that I may open my mouth boldly, 04:49 to make known the mystery of the gospel, 04:52 for which I am an ambassador in bonds 04:55 that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." 04:59 Amen. 05:00 Karen, I've read that text all my life, 05:02 but only recently, verses 18 05:06 or so talks about what all kinds of prayers. 05:09 The words helmet and breastplate, 05:11 those are metaphors. 05:13 I don't have a breastplate or helmet or gird up my loins. 05:16 Those are all metaphors of mental toughness. 05:19 But verse 18 talks about all kinds of prayers. 05:23 Today, we wanna talk about 05:25 give some examples of the kinds of prayers 05:27 we use as weapons to reclaim what Satan has stolen. Okay. 05:32 The blood of Jesus brought back everything 05:36 that Satan stole from Adam. 05:38 We as Christians live far below our inheritance. 05:43 Satan has our prosperity, he has our health, 05:46 he has our peace, he has our joy. 05:49 And we are to reclaim these things in spiritual warfare. 05:52 On the earth, it is the man's responsibility 05:56 to launch, to announce the offensive. 05:59 We're talking about offensive spiritual warfare. 06:02 All kinds of prayers. 06:04 The most powerful example is the one we find in Acts 1 and 2. 06:08 "On the day of Pentecost, they went in agreement." 06:11 That's called the prayer of agreement. 06:14 That is the most powerful prayer on the earth. 06:17 "If my people who are called by name 06:21 will humble themselves," and all the rest. 06:23 "Whenever two or three are gathered 06:25 and touch and agree I will do, not doubting." 06:28 So the first weapon to reclaim what Satan has stolen 06:32 is for any two people to come together and pray about it. 06:36 But I'd like to tell you more about this. 06:38 Christ is beside the Father ever interceding for us. 06:42 And this has really blessed my spirit. Yes. 06:45 If I can't find anybody to pray with me, 06:48 I can simply pray to Christ that He will agree with me 06:53 and I will agree with Him, concerning a certain issue. 06:56 That makes two. Amen. 06:57 The Holy Spirit bears, that makes three. 07:00 And I want to know as Ellen White tells us, 07:02 "Whatever God asked the Father, 07:05 whatever Christ asked the Father to do, God does." 07:09 The prayer of agreement. 07:10 We are so far beneath our power as Christian men and women 07:15 because we do not take up the Word of God, 07:18 pick it up and claim what's already there. 07:21 Spiritual warfares. On the day of Pentecost, what happened? 07:25 Hey, it was a powerful day. It was powerful. 07:27 It took to them ten days to come into agreement. 07:31 Ten days, but in ten minutes they baptized 3,000. Why? 07:36 That's the power of agreement. 07:39 What are the most--most famous function, dysfunction today? 07:43 Function of disagreement. 07:44 Yeah, the lack of ability to agree. 07:46 Couples getting married, I ask them one question. 07:48 Only one, what is the marriage to accomplish? 07:52 What have you agreed on, 07:54 that God's gonna do through your union? 07:56 You're okay by yourself, single male, single female. 07:59 Nobody's incomplete. You're both whole parts. 08:02 Why are you bringing these parts together? 08:04 What is it that God is gonna do, 08:06 through the two of you as one? 08:08 And they, they sit there befuddled. 08:10 They have not thought through the power of agreement. 08:13 And God loves the power of agreement. 08:15 So, for a child who's having all kinds of problems, this is-- 08:19 the parents shouldn't talk about it. 08:20 They shouldn't fuss about it. 08:22 They shouldn't disagree. They should agree. 08:24 Lamentations 2:19, it says "Get up pour out their hearts 08:27 like water before the Lord in the morning 08:30 and say, 'Greater is He that is in us, 08:32 than he that's in the world.'" 08:34 Yes. "I will contain with those who contain with you." 08:37 Yes. "And I will save your children." Guess what? 08:42 As they pray that prayer Christ agrees automatically. 08:47 That's His nature. He can't disagree. 08:50 And God begins then to work in the life of that child, 08:54 to bring that child back to repentance. 08:56 It may take a while. 08:58 And Satan would do everything he can 09:00 to bring that praying couple out of agreement, 09:02 but as long as they are in agreement they shall win. 09:05 For this Holy Spirit is praying through them. Amen. 09:08 The second kind of prayer 09:10 is Thy will be done prayers, Matthew 6. 09:15 And here we have to simply 09:16 pick up the Bible and claim God's promises. 09:21 From Genesis to Revelation. 09:22 That's why you must have a concordance. 09:25 Every promise in God drives a stake through Satan's heart. 09:29 Now let's talk about a concordance. 09:30 What is a concordance? Tell them, our-- 09:32 A concordance is a listing of Bible text alphabetically. 09:36 Okay. By title, by subject, all-- 09:39 It's just a reference tool. Okay. 09:41 So look up the word child. 09:43 We have all the texts in the Bible 09:44 where the word child is listed. 09:46 Okay. So you pick up with word child and salvation. 09:50 You claim those texts. All right. 09:52 So the proper way to pray concerning this 09:54 "thy will be done" prayer is starting in Genesis, 09:58 whatever God said about your children, 10:00 "All of thy children should to be taught of the Lord 10:02 and great shall be thy peace." 10:03 And through the entire Bible, go into your closet. 10:07 And say, "Father, I hereby take this text 10:11 as my weapon against Satan, concerning my child." 10:15 Now, God doesn't always respond to our needs like that. 10:19 But He always responds to His word, you see. 10:23 Need doesn't move God that much. 10:24 Oh, Lord, I'm hungry. 10:26 Oh, Lord... Well, so what? 10:29 What He has to respond to is His word. 10:33 He says remind me of My word. 10:34 Put me in remembrance of My word. 10:37 Tell me how good I've been in the past. 10:39 Tell me what a great God I am. 10:41 Put My word before me. 10:43 In other words, every promise in the Bible 10:45 is a dimension of God's character. 10:48 That's who He is. 10:50 So you tell God again who He is 10:52 and He has no choice but to respond to His word. 10:55 Now-- I know that's absolutely true. 10:58 Before--many years ago, before I started college 11:00 someone introduced me to this idea. 11:02 That actually taking the Bible open, 11:05 I probably was about 17 or 18 years old then. 11:07 And put your finger on the promise 11:10 that's in God's word. 11:12 And my promise was 11:13 "The prayer of the righteous prevaileth much." That's it. 11:16 And to pray without ceasing. That's right. 11:18 So I asked God to please cover me 11:20 with Christ's righteousness. 11:21 And He blessed me with a job, 11:23 blessed me to go all the way 11:24 through college without extra support. 11:27 He blessed me. And I know that works. 11:30 Well, see that's what I'm learning now. 11:31 The Bible talks about praying amiss. 11:34 Okay, here is a prayer that goes amiss. 11:36 Oh, Lord, oh, my child is so sick. 11:40 Oh, Lord, I don't know how I'm gonna make it. 11:43 What can God do with negative affirmations? 11:48 Not much. He can do nothing. 11:50 We haven't really requested anything, have we? 11:52 We just say, "Father." We just kind of complained. 11:53 "I know your name is Jehovah Ropha. 11:56 You are the healer of my child because you cannot repent, 11:59 you cannot declare, you're not who you are. 12:02 I commit good to my credit. You will save my child. 12:05 For you are God Almighty and there is none like you. 12:08 From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, 12:12 you are God Almighty. 12:14 And I stand on this word and I shall not be moved." 12:18 Now God gets excited about that. 12:20 Give you an example, my house was burning down, 12:22 couple of years ago. 12:23 Got home, the house was full of smoke. 12:25 That's right. There in Berrien Springs. 12:27 And every floor at the house. 12:29 I went in the living room. 12:31 And I knelt down, I said, " Father, 12:34 as this house burns down, let me just tell you 12:36 who You are and what You've promised. 12:39 And what your word says about no evil 12:41 coming nigh my dwelling." 12:43 And I knelt down and prayed ten or fifteen texts, 12:46 concerning who He is. 12:48 Yes. That's all. 12:50 When the firemen came, they searched our house 12:52 from top to bottom confining the fire, 12:55 but the smoke had a sweet smell, 12:58 a sweet smell. Oh, my-- 13:00 And in my personal experience, 13:02 it's just my personal belief. No doctrine on this. 13:05 I think I've seen angels of evil 13:07 and angels of good had a fight in my house. 13:10 And the angels of God won because I didn't tell God-- 13:13 Amen. My house is burning down. 13:15 I said, "Lord, as my house gets ready to burn, 13:18 I just want to declare to You, Your greatness and Your power." 13:22 And how did God answer your prayer? 13:24 God answered my prayer for me, 13:26 personally, with a miracle that I believe. 13:28 When the firemen came, 13:30 my house was full of smoke, no fire. 13:32 No fire. No fire. 13:34 And that was sort of a-- Praise the Lord. 13:36 A sort of a sweet smell about the fire. 13:38 And I'm led to think, if me personally there, 13:41 not for anyone else, just me personally. 13:42 There were some angels 13:44 fighting in my house good and evil. Certainly. 13:46 And God decided that He would not let the evil angels 13:49 set my house on fire. 13:50 I praise His name. 13:52 And anyway my faith has been greatly strengthened 13:55 in this personal experience for myself. 13:58 Now that will lead us to another kind of prayer 14:00 that I pray often called "praise prayers." 14:02 Turn your Bible to Psalm 103. Okay. 14:06 The 103rd division of the Psalms. Okay. 14:09 Just read some of that. 14:10 Psalms 103, "Bless the Lord, O my soul 14:13 and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 14:16 Bless the Lord, O my soul, 14:17 and forget not all his benefits. 14:19 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, 14:21 who healeth all thy diseases. 14:23 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, 14:25 who crowneth thee with loving 14:27 kindness and tender mercies." 14:28 That's good. 14:30 Now this is a favorite prayer of mine. 14:31 Favorite type of prayer. 14:33 And I always-- when you look at the Book of Psalms, 14:34 I almost start anyway in going to this kind of praying. 14:37 That text talks about He's my healer 14:40 and bless the Lord, oh, my soul. 14:42 Now in my own personal worship, I believe 14:45 that when I start telling God how good He is, 14:48 and how marvelous He is and how magnificent He is 14:51 and how joyful He is, 14:53 God just loves hearing good things about Himself. 14:57 Amen. I just believe that, okay? 14:59 So when I'm up against something 15:01 and I don't know how to pray 15:02 or don't know what to pray, or the-- 15:04 The issue is so overwhelming 15:07 that I can't find a text to pray, 15:10 I just start praise prayers. 15:12 And, Karen, I confess, I make them up as I go. 15:16 I have great fun. 15:17 As you know, it is impossible to praise God too much. 15:21 Yes. It's impossible. 15:22 If this-- We've got to do more of that. 15:24 If the sea were, you know, 15:26 ink and the sky was scroll or whatever, 15:30 we could never pen it. So... 15:32 In my own personal worship, 15:33 never in corporate, only personally, 15:35 I say, "Father, bless the Lord, 15:37 oh, my soul and all that is within me. 15:41 You are one beautiful, lovely, kind, supernatural, 15:44 expialidocious Father to me and I bless your name 15:47 with everything that's within me." 15:49 And I go from there, make it up as I go. 15:52 It is a sincere, praise prayer from my heart 15:55 and sometimes-- I'll confess to you, 15:57 sometimes I kind of lose track of what I am doing 16:00 and it just gets fun. 16:01 I don't write them down. I don't record them. 16:03 But it's just my way of praying to Him in superlatives. 16:08 Every word, I can think that's wonderful and great. 16:11 One day, I took the dictionary and took the letter 'm'. 16:16 Every word on the 'm,' positive word, good word, 16:20 a word that sounds like God's character, 16:22 I prayed it back to him. That's called a 'praise prayer.' 16:25 That's like my private worship at home. 16:27 I wouldn't do it in church. 16:28 But let me tell you something. 16:29 When I was facing prostate cancer 16:31 and I prayed like this, 16:33 I began to feel a moving in my body. 16:35 A pain, a twisting. 16:37 I have prostate cancer no more. 16:39 The signs all gone. Praise the Lord. 16:40 That's my personal wish, you see. 16:42 I was at church one Sabbath 16:44 and they were praying for someone else's cancer. 16:47 I lay down on the floor, 16:49 prostate, because I wanted 16:51 a healing from God so desperately. Yes. 16:54 That I didn't care who was watching, 16:56 I've been healed and my PSA is down below 4 now, see. 17:00 So praise prayer or one of my favorite kinds of prayer, 17:03 but I don't do it in public much. 17:05 It's kind of a personal thing 17:06 because folks may not understand. 17:09 Another kind of praying I do, as spiritual warfare. 17:11 Can I have your Bible, Karen? 17:13 It's Psalms 7. Okay. There you go. 17:16 And sometimes I get mad at the devil, 17:19 but you never address the devil ever. 17:21 You never speak to evil spirits. 17:23 The Bible says that Christ-- Satan the Lord rebukes thee. 17:26 Right. That's all He said, okay. 17:28 So you never wanna talk to the devil 17:30 or address the devil. 17:32 And you never wanna talk back to people, 17:34 who's speaking for the devil. Mm-hmm. 17:36 Now my wife has caught me couple of times, 17:38 when I was tired and weary 17:40 and frustrated and evil. 17:41 And she said, "Joseph, you're speaking for Satan. 17:44 Please be quiet." She was right. 17:46 She corrected me. 17:48 But sometimes I pick up the Bible 17:50 and I just want to let-- Satan knows my past, 17:54 but I know his future. Amen. 17:56 So I read this text out loud to strengthen my faith. 17:59 Okay. This is Psalms. 18:01 And I change a few words to make it work for me, 18:04 'cause God cannot disagree with His word. 18:07 "Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end." 18:10 I'll change it couple of words. 18:12 "Oh, let the wickedness of Satan come to an end. 18:15 But establish the just, 18:17 for the righteous God tries the heart and reigns. 18:20 My defense is of God will save the upright in heart. 18:23 God judges the righteous 18:25 and God is angry with the devil every day. 18:28 If he turn not, he will whet his bow, 18:31 God will and bend his bow and make it ready. 18:35 He has also prepared for him that ordaineth death of Satan. 18:38 He ordained his arrows against his persecutors. 18:41 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity 18:43 and hath conceived mischief 18:44 and brought forth falsehood for satan. 18:46 Satan has made a pit and digged it 18:51 and is fallen into the ditch which he made himself. 18:54 Satan's mischief shall return upon his own head, 18:57 his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pate. 19:02 I will praise the Lord 19:03 according to his righteousness of his own." 19:05 Now, I will never talk to the devil. 19:07 But I sure talk bad about him. 19:09 I see you got your portable Bible. Yeah. 19:11 That you carry around with you. 19:12 And sometimes I just want to say, you know, wickedness. 19:15 You know, I punch in 'wicked', okay. 19:18 And I get 50 texts on wicked. 19:20 And I say, "Father, you said this about the devil. 19:23 Now I'm talking to you about him, 19:25 'cause I never address the devil, 19:26 I only address God." 19:28 But my faith gets so strong as I let the Lord know that 19:31 I agree with Him. Yes. 19:34 I agree with God that Satan is already defeated 19:38 and has no authority and no power in my life. 19:41 Praise the Lord. That's my personal prayer again. 19:45 Not in public, but private, you know. 19:47 Public prayers and private prayers 19:48 are totally different things. 19:50 And we should keep that in mind. 19:51 And my personal worship is vastly unlike my public worship. 19:56 Quite frankly, sometimes in my private worship, 19:59 I need to have movement. 20:01 I play certain kind of songs 20:02 to help me to lift some spirits off of me. 20:05 I kind of exercise a little bit and put it nicely. 20:08 But I would never do that publicly. 20:10 Some time ago, I was with Dwight Nelson 20:11 down in Ohio and we talked about 20:14 Satanic attacks in his sermon. 20:16 I took some notes and we should know this. 20:18 As a man of God, Satan is gonna come after you. 20:21 As a woman of God, just count on him. 20:24 And the Bible says that we are not ignorant of his devices. 20:27 He is gonna come after you and your husband 20:29 and your family and this ministry. 20:31 That's all Satan can do. 20:33 So point one, Satan will attack you, 20:35 after you made a public confession of God, okay. 20:39 I can expect it, when I get back home from this taping, 20:43 I will have an attack. 20:44 I can just about count on it. 20:46 Number two, he attacks upon our stress, 20:48 carelessness, distraction, achievement, disappointment, 20:51 celebration, tiredness, disobedience 20:55 and his greatest attack will come 20:57 just before God does His most mighty work in your life. 21:01 I don't know why it's like that. 21:03 It's like climbing a mountain. 21:04 Just before you go across the summit of the mountain. 21:08 There's-- you could fall off. 21:09 You're the most tired. Satan comes like that. 21:12 And therefore, we have to resist him 21:14 constantly in the mind. 21:16 So I can expect. I was in another place 21:19 doing ministry and my wife didn't tell me 21:21 she had crashed a van. 21:23 She told me later the van is now fixed, 21:25 but there are always distractions. 21:27 And then a true Satan will attack 21:29 via significant individuals and unexpected circumstances. 21:33 People you've counted on. You've relied upon. 21:36 Folks that have made you promises, 21:38 they're gonna disappoint you. 21:39 So true. Expect it. 21:41 Be ready for the battle. 21:43 Now the battle is always for the mind. 21:46 Always for the mind because the sin 21:49 that God cannot put up with, is the sin of disbelief. 21:53 That's my current devotion booked 21:54 called "Triumph in Christ." 21:56 Okay. He cannot deal with disbelief. 21:59 When Satan was in heaven known as Lucifer, 22:01 he said that God is not good. 22:04 God can hang with that. 22:06 That's-- that won't work. 22:07 We cannot approach Him without faith. 22:09 So I've learned now, 22:11 here are my weapons these prayers. 22:14 Speak the word, as the word is going forth, 22:18 Satan's got to stand back. The word itself is power. 22:21 Obedience to the word. All that you know to do, obey. God-- 22:25 See, obedience is God's parameters for your safety. 22:31 If I'm driving down the road at 65 miles per hour 22:34 and the police pulls up behind me, 22:36 my heart doesn't skip a beat. 22:38 I am in the parameters of obedience, see. 22:42 Okay, good point. Right. 22:44 If they have a checkpoint for drugs in the car, 22:47 I couldn't care less. Right. 22:49 If there's some thing for drunk drivers, it's irrelevant 22:52 because I am in the parameters of obedience. 22:55 Now some folks call obedience a jail 22:57 or limiting, not for me. 22:59 Obedience means I am at the place 23:01 where God has provided 23:03 all my blessings and my protection. 23:05 As long as I am obedient, Satan can only roar at me. 23:11 He can only scream at me. 23:12 But he cannot touch me. See? 23:15 So with Christ we're always in the safety zone. 23:17 That's right. See? 23:18 And that's what heaven is all about. 23:20 One day you could be with him. 23:22 Praise is based on the word. 23:23 We talked about that. Pray in the word. 23:25 Just take the Bible and say, 23:27 "Lord I am just going to pray these texts back to you." 23:29 Just assault the kingdom with violence. 23:31 Lord I'm going to pray one of your texts, back to you. 23:34 And if you don't like Your word, well, 23:36 God is all over you, but I am through with this. 23:38 Then God says His word does not return void. 23:40 Say what? So you know he's gonna act. 23:42 Say, listen to Karen. There it is, there you go. 23:44 Another thing about warfare is silence. Tough one. 23:49 Sometime God says,"Be still and know that I am God. 23:56 Sometimes I have talked myself out of protection. 24:00 Don't say a word. How so? 24:02 Doubt, fear, what could happen? 24:06 What might happen? I might lose. 24:08 I might not. Huh, no, no, no. 24:11 Father, I don't see it right now. 24:14 But I shall have a home. 24:15 Father, I don't see this, but we shall be reconciled. 24:18 I will not speak against myself. 24:21 This past week, Karen, 24:22 the Holy Spirit slam-bammed me, real tough. 24:25 I was doing my devotion book. 24:27 And the Holy Spirit said through the word, 24:29 I was reading, I have to never speak 24:32 against another Christian ministry. 24:35 No matter how much I disagree with it. 24:38 My job is to pray for every ministry in my own church. 24:41 See, this ministry, other ministry. 24:43 I am not to use my mouth 24:45 as a habitation of Satan, demon spirits. 24:47 Of course, Satan can only lie. 24:49 All right, so when I speak to him I'm lying. 24:51 I'm saying what God cannot do and I stopped doing that. 24:55 Agreeing with others and here is something 24:57 very interesting. Service based on the word. 25:02 Lot of time, God wants us to take spiritual authority, 25:05 spiritual warfare by giving up 25:08 and doing something good for somebody else. 25:10 Amen. Yeah. 25:12 Yeah, I've seen that works. Yeah. 25:14 Get self out the way and think of someone else 25:16 and let God solve the problem. 25:17 Yeah, and see, while you--I love this, it's 25:19 my favorite phrase I use it in a lot of churches I go. 25:21 If I would do one thing for Karen, 25:25 God would do everything for me. 25:28 Yeah, if I'll do one thing for my enemy, 25:31 God will do everything for me. 25:33 So part of spiritual warfare is being in service. 25:37 You know, by the way, depression one of Satan's main devices 25:40 which is a sin according to Ellen White? 25:43 Depression often times is result of not serving others. 25:47 Get up, Job. Gird up yourself, Job. 25:50 Stop sitting there whining and complaining. 25:52 Job began to pray for other people 25:55 and God reversed his captivity. 25:58 All temptation comes within my zone to resist, 26:03 Dwight Nelson said that. 26:04 All temptation comes within my zone of ability to resist. 26:09 Satan cannot have me, 26:11 if I stay on the defensive and also on the offensive. 26:16 I made up my mind. 26:17 He shall not, he will not give-- 26:20 take place in my life for I am Christ's. 26:23 He is mine and I am His. 26:25 And we're connected together so tightly, 26:27 there is no way in between. 26:28 Oh, by the way that also talks about marriage. 26:32 That two shall become one and Satan has no place. 26:36 After all, marriage is very important. 26:38 Absolutely, 1 Corinthians 10:13 says 26:40 "God always gives us a way of escape." That's it. 26:42 In the few minutes remaining for our program, 26:44 we're gonna ask that you pray for us now. Amen. 26:47 Father, we come before you as reluctant warriors. 26:51 We have seen evil around and we have not done a thing 26:53 besides mourn and murmur and bicker and lament. 26:57 We repent of not being a warrior for you. 27:01 Satan can take no authority unless we give it to him. 27:04 And hereby today as men and as women, 27:07 as Christians worldwide, we stand against evil 27:11 in the name of Jesus, 27:13 for Satan cannot cross the blood of Jesus. 27:15 Amen. Amen. 27:17 Well, thank you so much for joining us on our program today. 27:20 It has been a blessing to have you, 27:21 we have learned about how to be-- 27:24 How the Holy Spirit can make us powerful Christian warriors. 27:27 That's it. And that's what it's all about. 27:29 God is so faithful. His promises are true. 27:32 He's never lost a case yet, has he? 27:33 Amen. God is so good. 27:36 And for those of you at home, 27:37 if you have never been a lover of the Bible, 27:40 this is a great reason. 27:41 Because if you wanna become strong spiritually, 27:44 if you wanna become a powerful warrior for the Lord. 27:47 Get into the Bible. Let the Holy Spirit equip you. 27:50 You know who the Lord calls, he enables and he equips. 27:53 Let's allow God to do that. 27:55 And until the next time, may God bless you, 27:57 as we see you in another edition of "Issues and Answers." |
Revised 2014-12-17