The 4 Levels of Spiritual Warfare (Part 1) – Touré Roberts

Don’t forget to share “The 4 Levels of Spiritual Warfare” Touré Roberts with a friend, and be sure to subscribe for ongoing inspiration and encouragement.

hey family

i’m pt pastor toray roberts i’m the lead

pastor of the potter’s house at 1la

and denver on behalf of my wife pastor

sarah and myself we want to welcome you

to our channel and to this word i cannot

wait

for you to hear what god has for you in

this message i want to tell you a few

things really quickly

subscribe if you’re not already

subscribed to this channel subscribe so

that you can be made aware

of all of the word that’s coming at you

week in

and week out and also turn on your

notifications so you don’t miss

a morsel that comes forth we’re also

grateful for you and your partnership if

you are so

uh compelled we invite you to support

what we’re doing not just

our church but what our church is doing

there are a number of outreaches a

number of things

critical necessary things that we

support and we’re able to do it

because of your generosity so without

further ado let’s get right into this

word god bless you

i’ll see you soon

hallelujah family that song is is good

news and we all

need a reminder from time to time about

the consistency and the faithfulness of

the god that we serve

i wouldn’t serve a god i couldn’t serve

a god that i couldn’t trust

in all of the seasons of my life and the

high seasons the low seasons and so

i’m so grateful that not only will god

not fail but he

can’t fail family i want to take a

moment

first to honor all the fathers out there

all the fathers that are watching i

salute you and

and bless you send you love and

greetings i am one of you

and i thank god for each of you being a

father is not easy it’s difficult

and even the best of us don’t always get

it right it’s a huge

huge calling and uh and and sadly

there are breakdowns sometimes because

the calling is so huge men

run away from it and uh that’s not

justification but

perhaps it’s revelation for you and and

so let’s be in prayer for fathers you

know i

i realize that some people out there you

lost your father your father isn’t there

or your father

maybe in some instances what weren’t

there and my heart goes out to you i

know

days like this where people are

celebrating their fathers and you know

it can be kind of challenging and so my

heart goes out to those who have lost

fathers

or those who never had fathers but i

will tell you this

god himself will be your father i

remember if you allow me to digress for

a moment i remember when

you know earlier in my life my dad

wasn’t

as involved as i wanted him to be and

and i’d realized that there were some

reasons behind that

that i was too young to even understand

and i remember i used to go over

to people’s house to my my friend’s

house at school

and and they would you know i would

spend the night over and their father

would be in the house and they had this

this perfect picture and and um and i

remember one day when i was 18

after years of that years of experience

and that i was like you know god like

how come you didn’t like

why you didn’t how come i didn’t have a

father like him or like them

and you know what god said to me it was

an amazing response god said

how long have i been with you and did

you not recognize that i’ve been your

father the entire time

and then he walked me through some of

the things that a father does

i i protected you you remember when you

almost died

that was me i taught you i i fed you i

corrected you

and it was really an amazing thing to

honestly and truthfully surmise

that even when i felt like i didn’t have

that full-time dad i did in god

and god will be your father and so

i want to salute and celebrate all the

fathers out there today and

and i want to salute and celebrate all

the people out there who have been

fathered by god and

you know you don’t always get to choose

where what you need

comes from but god will always make

certain that you get what you need

are you tracking with me well god bless

you it’s exciting

exciting to be with you here again i’m

i’m here in the company i’m leaders in

our church and i’m just

just excited about this connection with

you we all are and

and we are going to grow today i’m

excited about this message and i got to

tell you

i was a little i was torn because i’ve

got another message in my spirit too

that

is a great message but i was torn about

this message because

this is the type of message i’m talking

about the four levels of warfare today

and if you were tuned in last week you

know that i alluded to them at the end

of last week’s message and

and quite frankly i don’t typically

teach

this type of message this level of

message this this depth

of message on sundays i’ll save it for a

bible study or

or training with those that i know are

leaders and

are more mature but the lord told me on

this father’s day if you

really want to be a father if you really

want to be a gift to

the people that follow you then give

them this information

you know and then i started thinking

about what a father does a father

prepares his children

for life and if we don’t have an

understanding of warfare and the victory

that we have in warfare this is not

spooky or scary anything like that

really this is all about understanding

because watch this

it says that my people perish for a lack

of knowledge that’s what it says

in hosea and so being a good father

is making certain that those that i

have the privilege of fathering not only

naturally but spiritually

are equipped with understanding with

insight and knowledge

so they can fight a good fight that’s

what a father does and so i can’t think

of

a better father’s day gift to give to

to those who are connected to me in this

ministry

than than wisdom and insight and tools

and speaking of tools i want to draw

your attention as we begin this

conversation about

the four levels of spiritual warfare

full disclosure there are five

and maybe we’ll get into five but there

are four that relate to personal

spiritual invisible warfare that all of

us will encounter at some point

in time in our life and uh and so i want

to draw your attention to a passage of

scripture it’s in

psalm 144 and 1. this will be the basis

of

of of where we go we’re going to pray

and i’m going to get right into this

uh i want you to make certain that you

have your pen and pad or your phone

ready well it might be tough if you’re

looking at it from your phone i don’t

know how

you do what you do but you want to

capture this information maybe you go

back and you listen to the podcast later

or you watch but but they’re going to be

notes that you take

and i think that ultimately this is a

very encouraging message you’re going to

get tools today

and so speaking of tools let’s go psalm

144

and verse 1. and this is a psalm of

david

and we know that david was a bad boy

david had been in some fights and some

battles at every level of his life he

experienced

you know warfare and and but

the awesome thing is he always came out

victorious he always came out with the

upper hand even when

when he was not so perfect in his life

he still found a way to win i believe

it’s because

of what he’s saying right here and so

he’s given god praise and he says

bless be the lord my rock

who watch this who trains

my hands for war and my

fingers for battle let’s pray

father we need you

we know your love we know your grace

we know your mercy teach our

hands to war and our fingers to fight

not in some humanistic way

and some you know bombs and no that’s

not what we’re talking about

what we’re asking you for god is victory

we’re asking you god to unlock the

potential that’s

on the inside of each of us to come out

of any and every trouble

with victory this is what

you anointed jesus to give to us

and so god we’re open we’re listening we

say

the same way that samuel said as he was

instructed by eli

speak lord your children are listening

and father may wisdom and revelation

flow insight and knowledge

that we all might be better stronger

wiser and more victorious as a result of

these moments that we spend together

and we pray this in the matchless name

of jesus

and if you agree and you receive say

amen

amen if you receive it you can put it

right there in the chat right there in

the feed if you want to just say amen i

receive it i

i receive victory i receive breakthrough

hallelujah and so

let me just say as it relates to warfare

and as it relates to anything but

especially warfare

ignorance is not bliss

i referenced it earlier there’s a

passage in hosea chapter 4

and verse 6 and it says that that my

people

perish for the lack of knowledge that

means

that what you don’t know could hurt you

and that’s why it was really important

for me to

to talk to you because sometimes even as

a a preacher and

a preacher with a large platform and i

have all types of people watching

some you know i would say if i had to

break it down by percentage

60 60 would be church people people were

actually churched

30 percent of the people would consider

themselves spiritual but not

necessarily religious or what have you

and about 10

of our people those who perhaps are

watching or listening right now

haven’t really made a decision yet

they’re more seekers they’re more

searchers and so often times when you

have a congregation that is so broad

you you want to stick to this is the the

mega church pastor’s temptation

you want to stick to to subjects that

aren’t too deep

and and i and i get that right you have

to cast a wide net

because not everybody’s ready for the

deeper things even jesus said

there’s a whole lot more i want to talk

to you about but you couldn’t handle it

right now so i understand the sentiment

of that

but when i step back and i look at the

times that we are in

and i look at how intense life is

getting

i just believe that god wants to equip

his sons

and daughters in a more deep

and profound way and that’s why i’m i’m

going here and we’re going to go a

little deeper than we go

but but but my promise to you is that

when we’re finished

we’re going to be sharp when we finish

you

just just just put in the chap i’m going

to be a bad man pajama just uh i’m a bad

you probably don’t know nothing about

that but but but but you’re gonna be

back you’re gonna be dang you’re gonna

be a spiritual ninja

and that’s what i want to raise up right

and see it’s all cool

to not be that it’s all cool to simply

be you know positive and all that kind

of stuff

until warfare comes hello somebody

i this message is not for when

everything is going right

right i got a bunch of messages for you

when everything’s going this time

this is for when all hell literally

breaks out in your life

and you don’t know what to do and it’s

hitting you

like a ton of bricks and you’re confused

and you don’t know what’s going on

i want you to have this so that you can

have it in your back pocket

so you can bust out your ninja skills

your spiritual come on somebody your

spiritual cup

you understand i i i learned judo when i

was growing up they taught me judo when

i when i was a kid you know my parents

were black panthers

yeah you didn’t know that my parents

were black panthers and they would teach

all of the kids in the black panther

party judo

and so i learned judah i will flip i

flip

you ain’t seen nobody get flipped the

way i flip

i’m sorry i’m sorry

and later in life and later in life

and it was kind of wrong because they

wasn’t teaching judo in the hood

so i’ll be in the hood and the bullies

be trying to get it whatever

bring it on what manner

of fighting style is this and it didn’t

look all pretty didn’t look all sexy but

i’ll have you right on the ground i’ll

be right there on the ground

i’m sorry i digress but we’re talking

about

being spiritual ninjas right right even

in a natural as a father as a father

all of my kids learn krav maga like all

of them well crap my god you don’t play

and if you’re not familiar with krav

maga it’s an israeli defense it’s

powerful it’s internationally

uh taught and embraces it’s a powerful

thing but anyway what i’m getting at is

what some people are in the natural

as it relates to being able to fight and

to overcome

and to protect themselves i want you to

be in the spiritual

i want you to be spiritualism do you

always have to pull it out no

but just in case that that you find

yourself in a situation of warfare or

you find somebody you love or you’re

concerned about

in a in a spiritual battle you will know

what to do

you will know what to say and that’s why

this message is so important if you’re

tracking with me just put it right there

in the chat or say

i’m tracking with you i’m tracking with

them tracking with you and so

uh ignorance is not bliss

in any area of your life in business

the ignorant person is the least

prosperous person

especially here in l.a especially in

hollywood the less you know

the less money you’re going to have

that’s just the way it works

there is a there is an ignorance tax in

business

there is an ignorance tax in hollywood

in any industry there’s an ignorance tax

so

so we’re going to know we’re not going

to be taxed i feel the holy ghost

we’re not going to be taxed because of

what we don’t know and if you don’t

understand spiritual warfare and if you

don’t understand

that that we wrestle not against flesh

and blood but against principalities and

powers and spiritual weakness and

heavenly places

you will pay attacks because the person

on the other side of that warfare that

we’re going to talk about right now is a

thief

he comes to rob kill and destroy which

means that

if you don’t perceive the functioning of

that

on the that which is on the other side

then then you would be paying a tax

because you didn’t know that it was

happening

it’s called the ignorance tax and

and and we’re not going to pay that tax

anymore in jesus name are you tracking

with me

so let’s talk about let’s get into this

the greatest

spiritual battle the greatest invisible

battle watch this

will always be in the mind

let’s just start there and if we look at

second corinthians i teach on it i talk

about all the time

it talks about how the weapons of our

warfare are not

carnal study it when you get a chance it

says the weapons of our warfare that

lets us know that

there is a warfare right and and that we

have weapons and and there are

there are ways to to navigate this

warfare right weapons

are tools to deal with the warfare and

paul is teaching us the great teacher

paul is teaching us that the weapons of

our warfare are not carnal

but they’re mighty through god they’re

not natural but they’re mighty through

god

to the pulling down of strongholds now

you got to study that i’m not here to

teach that we got a lot of ground to

cover

but i’ll tell you off the bat that word

strongholds doesn’t speak to

uh some demonic presence on your life

per se

it speaks to an attack on your mind

because later on it talks about casting

down every imagination and every high

thing that exalts itself against the

knowledge of god

so the invisible battle the heat of the

invisible battle

is always going to be a battle that

plays itself out in our mind

right it’s true if you think about it a

negative thought

is battle in fact most of the most of

the time that the height

of the battle the the most intensive

part of any sport spiritual warfare

battle

that any of us will face will take place

in our mind

it’s true whether you call it you know

negative energy or

negative thoughts or whatever right

that’s a battle and let me tell you

something

where does that come from where do these

thoughts these

these these limiting beliefs right i’m

talking about the battle of the mind

where do these limiting belief

thoughts come from where do these

self-sabotaging

thoughts come from think about it when

did you become

anti-you

and do you think that you became

anti-you by yourself

when did you be when did you turn

against you that’s how you know

that it’s coming from a source outside

of you

and it is obvious that source outside of

you doesn’t like you

and is against you and wants to rob from

you and hurt you

and destroy you kill steal and destroy

and so i think that ultimately if we’re

going to understand warfare we have to

first understand the kingdom

yeah the kingdom watch this it is the

only message that jesus taught

and preached he only had one gospel

and if you study it it was the gospel

of the kingdom it’s the only thing he

preached

everything that he was talking about and

teaching

was about the gospel of the kingdom

so you people say you know you’re

preaching the gospel what gospel

because he only preached one gospel and

it was kingdom

so what is the gospel of the kingdom

this is the series in and of itself

but i’ll tell you right now the gospel

of the kingdom that jesus came to preach

it says that he showed up on the scene

preaching and teaching the gospel of the

kingdom

and healing all manner of sickness of

jesus and driving out devils right

and he says watch this he says repent

for the kingdom of heaven is here is at

hand

it’s right now well

what was the kingdom of heaven here

doing

the kingdom of heaven was here dealing

with

the kingdom of darkness that’s

why he came he came because there was a

prevailing

dark kingdom and he showed up

bringing a new more powerful kingdom of

light to illuminate

and to push back and drive back the

kingdom of darkness

are you tracking with me see in order to

understand warfare you got to understand

that it’s a kingdom thing in fact put it

right there in the feed put it right

there in the comments say it’s a kingdom

thing

it’s a kingdom thing it’s a kingdom

thing and so

so so those negative anti-you thoughts

those

those those thoughts think about this

this how you know there’s a devil who

would make you want to kill you

a suicidal thought an anti you thought

you wouldn’t make you want to kill you

there is a something out there that is

anti-you

that is at war with you every single day

and that’s why david was saying

i bless the lord who teaches my hands to

war

and my fingers to fight

what’s the difference between hands

towards fingers to fight i was thinking

about that like god

why did he why did he separate that when

you think about it

hands is about the war

fingers i gotta say this right fingers

have to do

with a more detailed war i i gotta say

that i gotta say it better

if i slap you and i wouldn’t

unless you earned it okay

if i slap you that’s one experience but

if i

gouge your eyes out that’s another

experience

so it is a more precise he says he

taught my hands to war

but but my fingers to fight to be more

precise there there’s certain moves that

you can do that can cut off

somebody’s air supply not with the hand

but with the formation of the fingers in

a particular posture

are you tracking with me so so and

that’s that’s what i talk about being a

ninja

i don’t want you to be

i mean take whatever you can sometimes

it like that just whatever you got to do

to get out of thing

i get that

i want you to fight with skill i want

you to be

tempered and balanced and you understand

what i’m saying

and so let’s get into it let’s let’s get

into it

uh in order to understand warfare you’ve

got to understand the kingdom there’s

there’s somebody on the other side of

how you feel the way you feel

i want to talk about i want to get into

these four areas of warfare

that we’re going to talk about we’ll

talk about the first one the first

level of spiritual warfare

is temptation you’re like what

temptation is warfare absolutely

absolutely warfare

uh let’s look at let’s go to james

chapter one real quick i want you to

understand temptation

we’re gonna talk about it real quick

james chapter one

james chapter 1 and 12

says blessed is the man

who endures temptation for when he has

been

the old king james translation says

tried the new king james

says approved and one thing you have to

understand is that in order to be

approved you have to be tried

i could talk about that all day but but

jesus was

led watch this by the spirit

into the wilderness watch this for the

purpose of

to be tempted of the devil god is a

gangster

it’s almost like like you know being you

know even the crips in the bloods have a

little initiation sort of thing

anyway that was very distasteful forgive

me

but but but in order watched

i feel this is for somebody in order to

be approved for your assignment

you must be tried and so often times we

think that because the trial comes

that god is not with us or that we are

out of order or out of alignment

but the reality of it is no no sometimes

you are in the fight

because you are right where you’re

supposed to be and god wouldn’t put you

in the fight

unless he knew that the outcome would be

you being approved

and so jesus didn’t even step fully into

his ministry

until he came out of the season of

tempting i feel

the spirit of god some of you are in the

middle of something and all you got to

do is stand

if you just stay in that thing if you

don’t watch this if you don’t get out of

the oven too soon

if you don’t come out of the fire too

soon you’ve got to get this in your

spirit

you got to say god don’t take me out one

second

sooner nor have me in one second longer

because i want to be well done put it

right there in the feed

i want to be well done baby i want to be

well done

i don’t want to be i don’t want to have

no pink in the middle

i want to be well done for my purpose

because

what god see see the thing that god does

he doesn’t do outside of you he does in

you

and it’s the place that nobody can see

and even when you’re cooking something

think about it in order to see if it’s

done sometimes

you can’t look on the surface of it what

do you have to do you got to cut it a

little bit

to see because it’s happening inside i

feel the holy ghost

and there might be some people and

you’re going through something and

people are laughing at you

and maybe somebody left you but i hear

god saying i am working

on the inside of you and when your

insides get together

your outsides are going to be glorious

if that’s your word say i receive it bt

i receive it i receive it i receive it i

receive it

and that’s what you gotta know in every

season no pink no pink no pink i feel it

no pink

no pink in the middle he doesn’t want to

put this and you start bleeding no

no no no no no no no no

well done inshallah and see when you can

be well done god can say well done

when you can be well done god can say

well done

are you tracking with me anyway we have

digressed quite a bit

we’re talking about temptation blessed

is the man who

endures temptation it says for when he

has been

approved he will receive watch this

the crown of life oh i love that

the crown of life now we can go all

deep and go esther ecological with that

and make that about

you know i shall wear a crown one glass

you know

that’s wonderful ain’t nothing wrong

with it i love that that’s wonderful but

i think that there’s a crown

symbolizing your authority and your

kingship

that you can wear in life if you can

beat temptation

if you can endure it if you can

understand it let me tell i feel the

holy ghost

and some people you didn’t realize that

the temptation

was warfare you thought it was you

let’s look at it let’s go first let’s

look at it it says blessed is the man

who endures temptation for when he is

approved he will receive the crown of

life which the lord

has promised to those who love him

[Laughter]

so much there it says let no one say

when he is tempted i am tempted by god

for god cannot be tempted by evil nor

does he himself tempt anyone

but each one is tempted when he watch

this here we go

when he is drawn away by his own desires

and enticed okay let’s start right there

when he is drawn watch this drawn away

that’s really important too drawn away

when he is drawn away

by his own desires and entice so you

might think that’s why it feels like

it’s you

because it’s pulling on you it’s pulling

on desires and different things

but if it’s you then what’s drawing you

see when i start seeing temptation as

warfare

i look at temptation differently and i

recognize

that really what temptation is about

is not so much about what temptation is

drawing you into

but what we really ought to be more

concerned about is what temptation is

drawing you away from

oh god i feel the holy ghost because

ultimately it is a distraction

and and the negative one the evil one

the enemy of our soul

is very strategic with the timings of

temptation

and he wants to draw us out of

and into he wants to draw us out of

divine destiny moments because sometimes

you can be present

but not present a lot i feel the holy

ghost

you can be present but not present you

can be present

but you’re you’re you’re somewhere else

and so what i’ve learned

is pay attention to the timing of the

temptation attack

because it is a spiritual attack

and god is strategic okay okay wait wait

you’re trying to pull me into this let

me stand for a minute i’ll talk about

that

let me stand up for a minute and then

think wait wait what track was i

on when he tried to

distract distract me

where was i headed what was i thinking

what was i

feeling what was on my mind how was i

flowing what doors were open what did i

get excited about

and now i’m very very i’m telling you

and you so you have to be

you have to be a ninja and you have to

guard it you have to guard it you got to

guard it

and so it talks about being drawn away

but but as i mentioned temptation is

that is

designed to develop you yeah

it’s not against you if you work

temptation right it can work for you

let’s just talk practically

doesn’t it feel good when temptation

comes and you stand up to it

you walk out of things like yeah i beat

you i could have but i didn’t

i could have if i could have the average

per the old me woulda

and you just feel you don’t mean and

your chest is out and you like i beat

that thing it just it does

it does something to you right that

thing that thing used to always get you

and you weather it now you may have done

it by the skin of your teeth

but you beat it you don’t come up you

beat it and you’re like oh my god

i did it this it develops something

in you right you start trusting in

yourself

again and it fights against the negative

self-talk that comes your way

oh a lot of there’s a passage in

one of the epistles of john

where he talks about sometimes our heart

will condemn us

but but we can get to a place to where

our heart doesn’t condemn us anymore

and so so the gift of enduring

temptation is the consciousness of

integrity

and when you have a consciousness of

integrity your expectation and your

belief in what you can have

what you can do goes to a whole nother

level

hallelujah because i’m not being

condemned by myself

now the truth of the matter is the grace

of god even the grace of god

will sometimes position you in a way

that that you didn’t earn i’ll give you

that but but you got to work what you

got to help yourself

are you tracking with me yeah

no temptation temptation is one there’s

another i’m going to read this one and

we’ll move on to the second one

no temptation has overtaken you except

such as

is common to man but god is faithful who

will not allow you to be tempted beyond

what you are able but with the

temptation will also make the way

of escape that you may be able to bear

it that’s such a powerful truth

that means and you know when that lies

on you real strong and that lies saying

man i can’t i can’t i’m about to fall

i i i can’t i can’t withstand this thing

no with every temptation there’s a way

of escape if you were just you know

there’s a passage of there’s a there’s a

there’s a a greek word

that was translated self-control in some

of the epistles it’s a greek word

and in fact it’s in galatians 5 where it

talks about the fruit of the spirit and

one of the fruit of the spirit is this

word

self-control and if you look up that

greek word look at what this word means

it means inner dominion

oh hallelujah and that’s what we want to

get to being a spiritual ninja

is having inner dominion i feel it

well you’re not moved by negative or

positive

where you have inner dominion where

something comes at you and you’re no

longer impulsive

your impulsivity is is crushed it’s

quail because

because you you you have inner dominion

you recognize that the most valuable

part of you is not the outside version

of you

it’s wonderful to have six a six-pack

it’s wonderful to get your squat on

and have everything popping out and

everything and that’s that’s all

wonderful and

cool but but do you have inner dominion

can you keep your mouth closed

can you keep a secret can someone trust

you

with their secrets or are you just so

you just can’t wait they’re telling you

and you’re like you can keep it with me

you can keep that secret with me and you

cannot

wait to get on the phone and start

talking to somebody about what they just

shared with you

inner dominion in a dominion

i i i gotta be honest i’m working with

if i just might be transparent

i’m working with impulsivity because if

i love you

uh sometimes i will just not even think

about helping you and i will help you

and sometimes i will help you to my

detriment

and even the the the detriment of my

calling and my purpose that’s how crazy

i am i i’m a lover see lovers if i might

just digress for a second

lovers you have to be careful and and

and here’s the thing lovers are who god

uses

he needs that love in order to love

people through you

and and to get you to serve but

sometimes

your big heart will put you in tricky

situations

oh i feel the holy ghost can i just take

what time here just do this little yeah

sometimes it’ll put you in tricky

situations i’m thinking about king

solomon

and if you study king solomon’s life

king solomon

man he was the wisest ever

the wisest and the richest ever king

saul had it going on

he’s a dude that said god you know when

god said ask of me and i’ll give you

whatever you want he’s a dude

where where that said god just give me a

wise and understanding heart he didn’t

ask for money

he didn’t ask for the heads of his enemy

he didn’t ask for long life he asked any

of that

he was wise enough watch this to know to

ask for wisdom

so that he might lead his people that’s

what he wanted so this is i’m talking

about he had he had it together

and then later on you look at the end of

his days he loses

80 of the kingdom and it was because

watch this it was because he started

going after other gods but

people don’t realize that he didn’t go

after other gods what happened was

he had an affinity for women

he loved them the bible says that he

loved many strange women

it says and they turned his heart

towards other gods do you understand

what i’m saying

so it wasn’t that the other gods were so

alluring to him

no it was that he loved strange things

his big heart

the same heart that made him pray god

give me wisdom and understanding so i

can be a blessing to people

is the same heart that loved all those

women

and those women ultimately turned him

to what they loved so the issue was not

that he was a wicked man he wasn’t a

wicked man

his heart just got him in trouble

and so so what inner dominion does is is

you will learn how to catch yourself

real quick

because i’m telling you man i i’ll be

ready to do stuff like my baby’s like

you about to give

what to who i’m like no i just got and

then you know

then then wisdom will set in and then

i’m like that that would have been

stupid you know what i mean so so inner

dominion right

and it’s something that we all need and

one of the things that helps

us to develop inner dominion is to

master temptation are you tracking with

me so temptation temptation

temptation is the first level of

spiritual warfare many

probably didn’t know that temptation was

actually warfare yes it is

it didn’t start with you there’s

something on the other end some

entity that’s trying to draw you out of

your purpose

it’s trying to draw you outside of the

will of god and you got to

stand up to it and the bible says that

there’s a way

of escape and let me say this let me

just give you a little bit more

have a strategy for temptation

right you you’ve been you long enough to

know you

you know what i’m saying you you know

what you like and what

can get you and and what happens is

oftentimes is we

see the trouble and just keep on walking

right on into it

come on somebody let’s just keep it 100.

tell me you know

and then you wonder why you fell you

failed because you walked right into it

no no you got to have a strategy you see

because

listen you got to see it as it’s trying

to take me away from something it’s

trying to rob me of something

there’s loss in it somewhere so what’s

your strategy

i want you to think about that this is

homework

what’s your strategy for your common

temptation

because by the time it’s on you it’s too

late you gotta already know

right krav maga i already know what to

do if you swing on me

it’s i’ve already got it together if you

charge me with what i learned in judo i

already know what to do

i’m already there i have a strategy for

it

you come into my house i got a strategy

i already know

where i’m going to ship now i’m kidding

but you have to have a strategy a

strategy for temptation

right don’t let it just slip up on you

what am i gonna do

uh i’m gonna stay away from some things

but yeah but what if this comes what are

you gonna do

right you’re going to this place and you

know that she’s going to be there

can i just drive down your street for a

second you know he’s going to be there

you know they’re going to be there you

know it you just know it you did that

there

what are you going to do just walk right

oh hey

oh fancy seeing you here

and then oh uh uh that no here’s one you

got to watch out for

hey stranger come on somebody

when they start with hey stranger you

gotta turn around

about face all they should see is elbows

no no here’s another one hey stranger

and hey

you hey you it’s that you

it’s not the hay it’s not the hay

it’s to you because what does that

you mean right and what you are you

talking to

when you say hey you

have a strategy i need to move on i need

my wife here

to pull me out of here so the first

level

of temptation we’re going to get to

today the first level of temptation

the first level of warfare rather is

temptation

it’s temptation and we can beat it the

word says we can overcome it we know

that it’s not designed to develop you

that doesn’t mean that you go to the gym

of temptation well since the temptation

is trying to make me strong

go on put 40 pounds no no no no no no

it just so happens when you find

yourself in it

just know that the process of you

getting out of it

will develop your ability to withstand

it and consequently

be approved and i’m going to move on why

i have a chance

the second level of spiritual warfare

is oppression now we’re going to look at

four not today we’re only going to look

at two today

but the difference between that the two

are are are divided into two sections

one

has to do with what’s this external

spiritual warfare spiritual warfare

that is outside of you

but then the two more uh a progressive

advanced layers of spiritual warfare is

when that warfare actually gets in you

and we’re going to talk about that part

more next week but oppression

is still warfare that comes to you

but it’s outside of you but sometimes it

can put so much pressure on you

that you think the warfare is in you uh

let’s talk about real quick let’s go to

acts chapter 10

and verse 38 and it says uh

it talks about how god anointed jesus of

nazareth

with the holy spirit and with power who

went about

doing good and healing all who were

oppressed by the devil for god was

with him that word oppressed is really

interesting

um it it’s from two words and the idea

there it literally means

holding down by exercising

authority over okay holding down

by exercising authority over so

when you are experiencing spiritual

warfare or

the oppression level of spiritual

warfare

you will feel a heaviness sometimes a

fogginess

and even a depression right

and you don’t know where it came from

what’s going on

what’s happening but there is this

heaviness right and it’s because

the enemy as jesus is talking about is

holding trying to hold you down because

of your ignorance

trying to hold you down by

exercising authority over you

and this is why jesus matters this is

why jesus matters

you know and and we we just you know god

and we the universe

and all that’s wonderful everybody’s on

a journey trying to figure it out but

here is a difference between all of that

and jesus jesus is the one

that came to crush the authority

of the wicked one he is the one that

came to do that

that’s literally why he came there’s a

passage in in one of the epistles of

john where it says

that that that um that god it says for

this purpose

the son of god was manifest that he

might destroy

the works of the devil what are the

works of the devil

it is the authority that he temporarily

received

to oppress and so you’re trying to

positivity

your way out of it and wondering why it

only works for a moment but you have to

go back

and get high off positivity all over

again it’s because positivity

doesn’t break the yoke it’s wonderful to

be positive it’s awesome to be positive

but there are some things that you need

the power

of the risen savior to accomplish are

you tracking with me

that’s why it says that he anointed

jesus with the holy spirit

and with power who went about healing

all of those who

what who were being oppressed

having authority exercise over them

holding them down

and what it feels like is heaviness

fogginess and even depression

isaiah 61 and 3 gives us an insight on

what to do

he says and the context in isaiah 61

is it is isaiah prophesying about the

coming of jesus

jesus in fact in luke chapter 4 i

believe

will ultimately say as he

opens this the the tanakh the torah

the jewish bible in the temple as he

opens it up the prophets as he opens it

up

and he reads isaiah 61 where it says the

spirit of the lord

is upon me for he has anointed me to to

preach good tidings and to bind up the

brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to

the captives

he closes the book in the temple and

says this day this word is fulfilled in

other words he was saying

that i am the one who was promised and

prophesied to come

and set the captives free and in in

isaiah 61 and 3 which again

is part of that he says i will give the

garment of

praise for the spirit of heaviness

the garment of praise for the spirit of

heaviness which

helps us to understand that the opposite

of heaviness is praise

and so if the opposite of heaviness is

praised as we start talking about

dealing

with the spiritual attack of oppression

praise is a huge part of it

oh i feel it and sometimes you got to

find the praise

there’s a passage that says that god

watched this it says that he enthrones

o king james says he inhabits but the

most accurate translation of the hebrew

word

is that god enthrones the praises of his

people

why does he enthrone praise he enthrones

praise

is because praise creates a throne it

puts

god in his relation it puts god

in his rightful place in our lives

that’s why one of the first things that

the enemy tries to attack when he

attacks you

is your praise he tries to take your

hallelujah out of your mouth

he tries to make your hallelujah based

on circumstances he tries to make your

hallelujah based on happenings he tries

to make your hallelujah

based on what’s going right for you

right this is what he tries to do and

that’s what the enemy so he tries to

knock you out he tries to hit you in the

mouth real quick so that you won’t

praise god but i dare you

the next time that you are feeling

oppressed i dare you to open

your mouth and say hallelujah anyhow i

dare you to open your mouth and say like

david said i will bless the lord at all

times and his praises

shall continuously be in my mouth praise

is a big part of it praise is not based

on your circumstance

praise is not based on your situation

praise is based on the never ending

unchangeable characteristic of the

sovereign god he changes not he will be

with you in every season and he is never

any less

god because of what you’re going through

if that’s your word if you receive that

say amen pt amen put it right there on

the beat

amen pt amen

amen pt no praise

is a big part of it now i wanna

i wanna tell you something because

sometimes i’m gonna be honest with you

praise is not enough praise is not

enough

all the religious people are saying

where you going with this pt

praise is not enough because sometimes

you need praise

and therapy oh

sometimes you need praise and and and

therapy

because sometimes god

will allow medicine to be used

as a tool watch this to get your

physical and your mental to cooperate

with what the spirit is doing ah

you gotta guess what i’m saying because

see where we made a mistake in the

church was we’re like

we just don’t trust jesus yeah we’re

going to trust jesus and call a

therapist

because remember the battle is in the

mind and then remember

our physical right these these the

our physical beings are not perfect they

were designed perfect

they were designed to be perfect but

they are no longer perfect and we don’t

get back to perfect

until we get our new bodies which means

that there could be

chemical watches imbalances

affecting how you process information

so i’ve got the truth but i can’t even

process the truth

because i need therapy and sometimes

maybe even medicine

see we think that science and god are

mutually exclusive no no no baby

they work hand in hand i say this all

the time

science is the study of the consistency

of god

when god chooses to remain consistent

which means that

science is finite but just because

it is finite does not mean it is

ineffective

you understand in other words i cannot i

cannot

rest on the period of science

because sometimes god moves beyond

science

science is the aggressive study of the

consistency of god

when he chooses to remain that’s all

science is studying is how did god put

that together

how did he do this how we don’t say it

we don’t call it that but that’s all it

is

you’re studying creation you’re studying

the inner working of things

right so so but what we’ve done is

we say oh well if i’m a believer then i

have to throw out science no you don’t

no you don’t because science is tracking

what god did

archaeology everything it’s tracking

what god did no matter what type of name

he put on

so sometimes i’m gonna tell you straight

out sometimes praise is not enough

and the church needs to understand this

i’m not saying that we put our trust in

medicine

i’m not saying that we put our trust in

therapy no we put our trust in god

and we utilize whatever tool god made

has made available to us

to get us to what we need

are you tracking with me so we’ve looked

at

the two levels of spiritual warfare

temptation

and oppression and i want to stop with

those two

we’re going to pick this up next week we

got four more we’ve dealt with

the external spiritual warfare but then

what happens when it

when the battle goes internal when

things

seep through the gates of your spirit

that’s a whole nother level

and i can’t wait to talk to you about it

i want to pray for you we’ve talked

about a lot today we’ve said

a lot of things we talked about

oppression

and i wonder if there’s anyone under the

sound of my voice right now

who has been harassed by the enemy

through temptation

um i see it so so clearly

that that temptation has been on you so

strong and you’re wondering like man

like

you know things are going good but man

this temptation is like

it’s like crazy like you know i can’t

you know

my life is in some ways better than it’s

ever been but if i’m honest man like

i’m nervous

i’m nervous about messing it all up

and i want you to know that it’s just a

test

and i want you to know that it’s not you

and i want you to know

that there is a way of escape and i want

you to know that there’s

victory in god

but you got to get a strategy and you

got to be honest

and you got to stop playing with fire

there’s a passage in proverbs that says

that the the wise person

sees the evil and hides himself

it says but the fool goes on and is

punished

you got to stop playing with it you got

to recognize that that it’s not about

what’s being presented

it’s about what you’re being drawn away

from it’s not about what you might

stumble into

it’s about what the enemy is trying to

trip you out

and you have to see it that way and you

have to see it as a purpose thing

they have to see it as a destiny thing

there are some things i’ll be honest

with you that i won’t do not because i

don’t want to do it

that’s fine there are parts of me that

want to do stuff that i shouldn’t do

but when i size it up in comparison to

my destiny

it becomes unattractive you would be

surprised that’s why you have to have a

vision so you have to

have the purpose of your life in front

of you often

because they’re things that are

attractive to you via temptation

that aren’t attractive when you see it

compared to your destiny

when you see it compared to the dreams

and and where you want to go

and in that little 20 minutes or two

hours or whatever it’s going to be

whatever it is your thing

at five seconds whatever it’s not worth

your destiny then

you take pride in growing yourself

internally i don’t want to be someone

that all you got to do

is dangle a carrot in front of me and

then i move i want to be stronger than

i’m better than that

i’m better than that all you got to do

is dangle the carrot and i’m there

no i’m i’m more i’m more valuable than

that

i’m not a piece of bread i’m i’m not a

piece of meat

and sometimes man i i can really go deep

with this but

but sometimes what’s underneath

your your vulnerability to temptation

is this this need to be accepted

just need to be accepted and god wants

to heal that too

so i’m going to pray for those who are

battling temptation i can tell you right

now i have spiritual sons right now

particularly in the area of sex that is

one of their greatest temptations i have

spiritual sons good looking guys

that are literally waiting on their

wives right now sexually

because of the impartation they receive

from me right

and they good luck and the reason why i

said good looking guys is because you

know some guys don’t have a lot of

options

and which is a blessing which is a

blessing to them it’s a blessing to them

but i’m talking about cats that got

options

i’m sorry everybody got an option

somewhere i

you know but i just want you to think

it’s not you know no

these cats are cats that can just you

know it is not a problem trust me

i’m sorry but they have inner dominion

so i’m gonna pray there also might be

some of you and you’re oppressed

and that makes me so mad just even

thinking about it

that the enemy would have the nerve

to take advantage of your ignorance

and your vulnerability and exercise

authority over you

and trying to hold you down and i sense

breakthrough is coming to you

it’s coming to you that’s why jesus came

he came to set the captives free and

what i want you to do

is i want you to start praising god when

that battle gets fierce

i want you to open your mouth and just

say hallelujah

and when the pain gets rough and you

just i just want you to just start

thanking god and just start praising him

and just watch this even when your

thoughts don’t feel it just start saying

god you are good

god you are merciful god you’re powerful

god you know the plans you have for me

they are

good and not evil plans to prosper me

and not to harm i just want you to just

open your mouth

and begin to praise god until everything

around you begins to change

and then if the spirit leads you and he

may seek out

someone to talk to if it’s not a

counselor seek out somebody

and the reality of it is eating for

temptation and all the things that we’re

going to talk about

we all need somebody

the bible says particularly relates to

warfare in ecclesiastes chapter 4 and 12

i believe

it says two are better than one if one

is overpowered

by another two can withstand him and a

threefold cord

is not quickly broken sometimes you need

your tribe in warfare

you need some people that that love you

and that are for you that you can be

honest and say hey i’m being tempted in

this way

people that won’t look at you funny when

you’re saying yo man i’m oppressed i’ve

been having crazy thoughts

and they won’t judge you and get away

from you but people who see you and

recognize

your potential and who you are let me

tell you something i don’t rock with

people who don’t know me

people might think that no no no my

circle is very small

because if you don’t see me then you

can’t feed me

[Music]

i don’t need you feeding me down here

because that’s not who i am

the world will feed me there but i only

have people around me that i

really let into my chambers that see me

for who i am

that talk to me at the level that i am

at

because i need to be fed in the highest

and truest version of who i am and if

you have one person and i believe

if you don’t have a person like that in

your life you pray and god will give you

that person

or those two it could one one will work

two is wonderful

because it creates that threefold chord

no that’s not you pt no

uh-uh i know you feel that way but no

that’s not you

i know they said that but no that’s not

you this is who you are

you got to get you have to put mirrors

around you

your friends should be mirrors that

reflect to you

who you truly are are you tracking with

me

so i want to pray i want to pray for

those who

have been battling temptation i want to

pray for those who’ve been battling

oppression

and i believe that breakthrough is

coming

i’m so glad that you got this message

i’m so glad that you’re hearing this and

we’re going to continue next week we’re

going to fight

we’re going to fight teach your hands to

war

and your fingers to fight you’re getting

ready to be

spiritual warriors

not in a weird way but just

in case the enemy tries to jump off

he’s going to jump back down because you

get it

so father we thank you so much

hallelujah

for this conversation and i thank

you god that this is more than just

words but you’re equipping

and you’re giving tools and you’re

giving strategy and you’re giving wisdom

hallelujah

you’re giving insight you’re giving

knowledge thank you lord

and you’re giving victory hallelujah and

there are some who have been overtaken

by temptation and they have been

missing it and slipping and been

distracted and then

the wicked one who is the very one who

distracts him comes back around the

corner with an accusation

you you tip me and then accuse me when i

do what you tempted me to do we’re

severing ties

and i thank you god that strength is

coming to your sons and daughters right

now hallelujah

just put it in the chat right there just

i receive strength i receive strength

i thank you god that there’s an

anointing in christ

to have inner dominion thank you lord

that way of escape god i thank you that

where there

was once that way of escape was just a

dull light

i pray in the name of jesus that you’re

going to begin to show and reveal

the way of escape whenever temptation

comes and god i thank you that you’re

giving strategy to your sons and

daughters

who continue to fall in the same way god

you’re giving them strategy and even

right now

god we’re imparting strength by the

spirit of god

inner dominion i pray it right now by

the spirit

inner dominion and father for those who

are being oppressed

you said one of the very reasons why

jesus came

was to set the captives free to give the

garment of praise for the spirit of

heaviness

so father i’m praying right now for

those that are under the sound of my

voice that first and foremost

that they will receive you because when

they receive you

they will receive the work that you came

to do hallelujah

you’re going to untangle them you’re

going to break the yoke that’s what the

anointing does

you’re going to open blind eyes you’re

going to give praise for heaviness

and so if you’re right now if you’re

saying you’re talking to me and

and i need to receive jesus and i was

positive and that

that was wonderful but i recognize if i

am honest

i had to keep on getting my fix of

positivity because i didn’t get real

breakthrough i got

momentary emotional breakthrough but i

didn’t get

deep soul level breakthrough and you say

pt you’re talking to me

and i’m ready to receive jesus i just

want you to put it right there in the

chat

i received jesus not just my savior

not just my healer but the one who

teaches my hands to war

and my fingers to fight the one who

gives me victory put it right there in

the feed

i receive jesus today come on put it

right there

i receive him today

hallelujah god i just thank you for

these precious moments

you’ve allowed me to have with your

children and i thank you god that this

work

is sealed it’s settled

hallelujah redemption is here

restoration is here inner

dominion is here

victory is here it’s why you came

[Music]

thank you god thank you for moving we

receive it

in jesus name amen

amen family i love you

i’m for you i got you

we got you and most importantly

the heavenly father

[Music]

every day not just on father’s day

it’s father’s day every day when you

make god your father

it’s got you it’s for you i cannot wait

for us to go further next week i love

you

put this into practice it works