WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.059 a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands, 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.019 and activates God's promises. In our brand new 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.820 book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:13.839 powerful journey through some of Scripture's 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.800 most transforming moments, where ordinary people 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.699 dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.140 Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon. 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:28.719 We're beginning a brand new series today called 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:31.800 The Door. Everybody say The Door. Door. It should 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:34.340 be a four -part series, but we'll see what God 00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:38.060 wants to do, right? You just never know. But 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:40.219 The Door. Before we begin, let's turn in our 00:00:40.219 --> 00:00:44.039 Bibles to Ephesians 1 .19. Up on the screen, 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.560 I'm reading out of the New Living Translation, 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:50.359 unless otherwise noted, okay? So let's begin. 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:54.520 I also pray, this is Paul, I also pray that you 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:58.679 will understand the incredible greatness of God's 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:03.659 power for us who believe him. It's good, right? 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:06.900 I pray that you understand. This is the Ephesians 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.120 1 prayer that Paul prays, and he's wanting us 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:11.640 to understand something. And I would encourage 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:15.030 you. to read this prayer. We've done this a few 00:01:15.030 --> 00:01:18.230 times as a church body, but read Ephesians 1 00:01:18.230 --> 00:01:21.670 and Ephesians 3 just for light and understanding 00:01:21.670 --> 00:01:24.709 of God's word to be shown on you, for you to 00:01:24.709 --> 00:01:28.290 really get, because there's a lot that needs, 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:30.349 you know, there's a lot that we need to know 00:01:30.349 --> 00:01:34.870 that's not just, you know, just out of our heads. 00:01:35.629 --> 00:01:38.109 But he's saying here, I pray that you will understand, 00:01:38.489 --> 00:01:41.909 everybody say understand, the greatness of God's 00:01:41.909 --> 00:01:44.170 power for us who believe. So this tells us that 00:01:44.170 --> 00:01:46.769 God's power has direction, everybody say direction, 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:51.370 and purpose. Has direction and purpose. What 00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:53.870 does this verse say? It says God's power is directed 00:01:53.870 --> 00:01:59.430 towards who? Those who believe. God's power has 00:01:59.430 --> 00:02:03.170 direction for us. It has a purpose for those 00:02:03.170 --> 00:02:05.569 who believe. Who's a believer in the room? Amen. 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:09.449 And then what is this saying? It's saying that 00:02:09.449 --> 00:02:13.550 when we invest our belief, faith is simply an 00:02:13.550 --> 00:02:16.169 investment of our belief. We could boil it down 00:02:16.169 --> 00:02:18.969 to that. But when we invest our belief in the, 00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:21.550 not in the things of this world, but when we 00:02:21.550 --> 00:02:25.400 invest our belief in God's word. When that carries 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:29.580 more weight or more value to us, our understanding 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:33.020 of who he is and the greatness of who he is and 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:37.099 his power working builds on the inside of us. 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:43.500 Amen? The purpose of God's power for the believer, 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:46.360 we'll include that in, is to what? To accomplish 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:51.520 God's will in the earth. God's accomplishing 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.610 thing is in the earth. He's accomplishing things, 00:02:54.689 --> 00:02:56.669 and he wants to accomplish things through each 00:02:56.669 --> 00:03:01.550 and every one of us. Amen? So his power has a 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:04.189 purpose, to accomplish his will, to carry out 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:07.110 his plans and purposes, heaven's business in 00:03:07.110 --> 00:03:11.629 the earth. Now I want us to turn to the Old Testament. 00:03:11.629 --> 00:03:14.689 In Genesis, we find a familiar story, often referred 00:03:14.689 --> 00:03:17.990 to as Jacob's Ladder, and it reveals a truth. 00:03:18.409 --> 00:03:22.120 Let's read. Jacob found a stone to rest his head 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:26.300 against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:30.139 dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth 00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:34.340 up to heaven. I want you to notice that it begins 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:37.340 in the earth. Everybody say earth. It reached, 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:40.039 he said this specifically, he says earth up to 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:43.479 heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:46.180 and down the stairway. And at the top of the 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:50.379 stairway stood the Lord. Then Jacob awoke from 00:03:50.379 --> 00:03:54.080 his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:59.099 place. What an awesome place this is. It is none 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:02.099 other than the house of God. Everybody say house 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:05.860 of God. The very gateway to heaven. Everybody 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:10.180 say gateway. Notice this distinction here that 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:12.680 there's the temple, the dwelling place of God, 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:16.790 heaven, right? And then there's a gate. There's 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:19.069 a staircase coming down from heaven where angels 00:04:19.069 --> 00:04:21.829 are going up and down, carrying out the business. 00:04:22.129 --> 00:04:27.170 So this word here, house of God, is in the Hebrew. 00:04:27.290 --> 00:04:30.490 In Hebrew, it's bayeth. I probably slaughtered 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:33.910 that, but I'm just going to try it. But there's 00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:36.629 the word, and it means house. It means household. 00:04:36.829 --> 00:04:42.180 It means temple. It means dwelling. The gate 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:45.279 here is shahar. It's meaning there is an opening, 00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:50.819 a gate or a door between heaven and earth, between 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:57.079 the spiritual and natural realms. Now, Jacob 00:04:57.079 --> 00:04:59.639 saw angels moving from the temple dwelling place 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.680 of God through this door, we could say. to accomplish 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:05.980 God's work in the earth. And this is ultimately 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:09.420 a New Testament reality. This is a shadow of 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:14.540 a New Testament reality for the believer. Where's 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:18.720 the temple and dwelling place of God? We know 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:22.620 in Revelation 4, 1 through 2 says this, Then 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:26.639 as I looked, this is John, Then as I looked, 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:32.199 notice that he had to look to see. And there's 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.819 many things in this life, spiritual things, spiritual 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:36.980 truths, that you need to pay attention to and 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:41.199 you need to seek after to find. So he had to 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:44.500 look before he saw. But as he looked, he says, 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:49.800 I saw a door standing open in heaven. And instantly, 00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:54.639 I was in the Spirit. This is key here. He's in 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:59.300 the Spirit. Everybody say Spirit. And he sees 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:02.899 something. He saw a throne in heaven and someone, 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:09.620 God, standing on it. Amen? God is where? In heaven. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:19.560 But where is he also? 1 Corinthians 3 .16 Do 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.480 you not know that you are the temple of God? 00:06:24.490 --> 00:06:29.649 And that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Look 00:06:29.649 --> 00:06:32.889 to your neighbor and say, the Spirit of God dwells 00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:37.629 in you. Amen. So it's important what John saw 00:06:37.629 --> 00:06:44.670 in the Spirit, the throne room of eternity, and 00:06:44.670 --> 00:06:48.870 inside of you, the same Spirit that raised Jesus 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:52.029 from the dead is what? Alive on the inside of 00:06:52.029 --> 00:06:59.139 you. God dwells in you. His Spirit is in you 00:06:59.139 --> 00:07:01.819 to connect you to the throne room of heaven, 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.899 to give you access by the blood of Jesus, as 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:09.180 we've talked about. So God is in you. You are 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:12.079 the temple where God the Holy Spirit lives. Amen? 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:15.240 And that's why we've called this series The Door, 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:20.620 because there's a great power that God is doing 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:22.740 in the earth, and He's wanting to do that through 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:27.170 His people. His work and his plans and his purposes 00:07:27.170 --> 00:07:29.589 in the earth will be accomplished through you. 00:07:31.290 --> 00:07:34.810 We are the door, but what specifically is the 00:07:34.810 --> 00:07:37.269 door? What is the door between the spiritual 00:07:37.269 --> 00:07:40.709 and natural realms? Remember that Jacob's ladder, 00:07:40.750 --> 00:07:43.930 there was the opening of heaven, but then there's 00:07:43.930 --> 00:07:47.610 also the gate. Where is this located? It's in 00:07:47.610 --> 00:07:51.990 us, clearly. Let's continue reading. When we 00:07:51.990 --> 00:07:57.610 turn to Matthew 16, 13 through 19, we'll see 00:07:57.610 --> 00:08:00.889 more truth about this. It's a very interesting 00:08:00.889 --> 00:08:04.730 story. We'll go through it each week. But there's 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:08.269 a lot of spiritual truth here. When Jesus came 00:08:08.269 --> 00:08:11.649 into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked 00:08:11.649 --> 00:08:14.470 his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, 00:08:14.569 --> 00:08:19.290 the Son of Man, am? So they said, some say John 00:08:19.290 --> 00:08:22.550 the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:26.610 or one of the prophets. He said to them, but 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:32.289 who do you say that I am? But who do you say 00:08:32.289 --> 00:08:36.649 that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, 00:08:36.850 --> 00:08:40.529 you are the Christ, the son of the living God. 00:08:41.169 --> 00:08:46.730 Amen. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed 00:08:46.730 --> 00:08:51.070 are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has 00:08:51.070 --> 00:08:55.070 not revealed this to you, but my Father who is 00:08:55.070 --> 00:09:01.090 in heaven. Flesh and blood. He didn't get this 00:09:01.090 --> 00:09:04.149 from another person. He didn't get this in his 00:09:04.149 --> 00:09:07.950 own head or his own imagination. Jesus says, 00:09:08.029 --> 00:09:14.330 it came from my Father who is in heaven. Think 00:09:14.330 --> 00:09:20.730 about it. Verse 18, And I also say to you that 00:09:20.730 --> 00:09:24.210 you are Peter, and on this rock I will build 00:09:24.210 --> 00:09:27.490 my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail 00:09:27.490 --> 00:09:33.429 against it. Now I know we've done, we've went 00:09:33.429 --> 00:09:36.509 through this passage some, and we've talked about 00:09:36.509 --> 00:09:40.590 this before, but just to remind you, Peter's 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:43.070 flesh is not what the church is built on, even 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:46.570 though a lot of the body of Christ, kind of believes 00:09:46.570 --> 00:09:49.470 that. But that's not what he's talking about 00:09:49.470 --> 00:09:52.870 here. When you look at it, he's saying this rock 00:09:52.870 --> 00:09:56.549 that he's referring to, Jesus says on this rock. 00:09:56.649 --> 00:09:59.730 He's not saying on you. It's not flesh and blood 00:09:59.730 --> 00:10:01.809 that revealed this to you. He's saying on this 00:10:01.809 --> 00:10:06.029 rock. The rock is the revelation of what came 00:10:06.029 --> 00:10:09.230 forth through Peter. It was the revelation of 00:10:09.230 --> 00:10:15.240 Jesus being the Son of God. It's the rock of 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:17.419 the revelation that he's the Messiah, he's the 00:10:17.419 --> 00:10:22.840 promised one. And also the method of delivery. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.419 Flesh and blood, no, the Father in heaven has 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:32.460 given this to you. So the rock is the Messiah, 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:35.960 that Jesus is Lord, and then also the act of 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:38.799 divine revelation. We've been going through Galatians 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:40.919 1, and we've been talking about divine revelation 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:44.769 in our life group. And here it is again, over 00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:47.870 and over through Scripture. But the rock is the 00:10:47.870 --> 00:10:50.649 rock of the revelation and the method of delivery. 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:52.889 And then that's how he is going to build his 00:10:52.889 --> 00:10:57.549 church. Not the building, not the programs, but 00:10:57.549 --> 00:11:00.470 the people of God will be built on this foundation 00:11:00.470 --> 00:11:04.610 of not a person, not flesh and blood. We will 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:07.649 be built by our testimony, the words that come 00:11:07.649 --> 00:11:12.269 out of our mouth that Jesus is Lord. And the 00:11:12.269 --> 00:11:16.370 fact that it didn't come from us. This message 00:11:16.370 --> 00:11:21.389 is from him. It's a divine truth. And that's 00:11:21.389 --> 00:11:26.070 how the church will be built. Amen? So we see 00:11:26.070 --> 00:11:28.389 here that Peter's door, you could say, is open 00:11:28.389 --> 00:11:32.750 to God's power. And divine truth flows out of 00:11:32.750 --> 00:11:36.529 him to accomplish God's purpose in the earth. 00:11:37.409 --> 00:11:40.799 Okay? When you think about it, who was hearing 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:43.940 this? He had people around him hearing this. 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:48.860 This wasn't just, you know, just words and just 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.960 a little side conversation with Peter. God was 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:54.700 wanting to show his disciples and everyone around 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:58.379 them that, look, Jesus, I am the Messiah. I am 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:02.779 the coming one. I am here. And he wanted to show 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:06.409 them that this is not You know, this is not man's 00:12:06.409 --> 00:12:08.809 made -up imagination on how to save themselves. 00:12:12.110 --> 00:12:16.769 And then it continues in verse 19, reveals another 00:12:16.769 --> 00:12:19.509 truth here, and I will give you the keys of the 00:12:19.509 --> 00:12:22.690 kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth 00:12:22.690 --> 00:12:25.590 will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:30.850 on earth will be loosed in heaven. A lot of times 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:33.009 we just read through this and don't want to stop 00:12:33.009 --> 00:12:39.629 and... Think about what it's saying. Let's look 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:44.029 at this. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound 00:12:44.029 --> 00:12:47.269 in heaven. This is not referring to the throne 00:12:47.269 --> 00:12:50.129 room of heaven, but just the spirit realm when 00:12:50.129 --> 00:12:53.389 we look at the word and its actual meaning. It's 00:12:53.389 --> 00:12:57.210 saying that what you bind here on earth in the 00:12:57.210 --> 00:13:01.830 natural, it will be bound. Spiritual things will 00:13:01.830 --> 00:13:07.379 be bound. What you bind in the spirit, right? 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:10.720 Whatever you loose in the spirit on earth will 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:15.080 be loosed in heaven. Excuse me. So there's things, 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:19.100 listen, there's things available to you. There's 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:26.559 things for you. There's spiritual realities that... 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:31.669 We have authority that God has given us authority 00:13:31.669 --> 00:13:36.009 over. As it says, we war not against flesh and 00:13:36.009 --> 00:13:38.149 blood, but against principalities and the powers 00:13:38.149 --> 00:13:41.350 of the evil one. This could be referring to that 00:13:41.350 --> 00:13:44.809 also, this principle. What are keys? God gives 00:13:44.809 --> 00:13:48.090 us keys. That means he has given his people the 00:13:48.090 --> 00:13:54.610 method, the ability, and the authority to open 00:13:54.610 --> 00:13:57.590 and close a door of spiritual influence in the 00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:02.159 earth. A lot of times we want God to just kind 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:05.279 of like zap and do things. But he's given us 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:09.539 the key to bind and loose things in our lives. 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:13.039 A door, you could say, between the spiritual 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:18.360 and the natural in which he wants to do things 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:23.440 through. He wants to carry his plan, his purposes 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.860 through each one of us. He's given us the keys 00:14:26.860 --> 00:14:30.450 to do that. He's given us the ability. He's given 00:14:30.450 --> 00:14:38.809 us the method and the authority. Continue reading 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:41.850 in verse 21. From that time, Jesus began to show 00:14:41.850 --> 00:14:44.909 his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and 00:14:44.909 --> 00:14:47.429 suffer many things from the elders and chief 00:14:47.429 --> 00:14:50.610 priests and scribes and be killed and be raised 00:14:50.610 --> 00:14:57.460 the third day. Then Peter took him aside. and 00:14:57.460 --> 00:15:00.419 began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:07.659 Lord, this shall not happen to you. Can you imagine 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:10.179 that? Jesus is saying something, a prophetic 00:15:10.179 --> 00:15:15.080 word about what will take place. And all of a 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.039 sudden, Peter's like, Jesus, no, no, no, no, 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:22.220 no. That's never going to happen to you. Don't 00:15:22.220 --> 00:15:28.779 say that. You know, I can see this from like 00:15:28.779 --> 00:15:31.240 a human reasoning side. You know, Peter, he didn't 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:33.679 want to think that the one he loved would suffer 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:37.399 and die like that. Our human reasoning often 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:42.620 gets in the way of what God wants to do. Because 00:15:42.620 --> 00:15:45.519 it doesn't quite fully make sense to us here 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:50.620 on this side of heaven. But it's never innocent. 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:54.159 Listen, it's never innocent to say God is wrong. 00:15:54.830 --> 00:15:59.429 And that is word will not happen. It's never 00:15:59.429 --> 00:16:03.710 innocent. When we stand against it, we're actually, 00:16:03.970 --> 00:16:06.330 let's keep reading. What does it say? But he 00:16:06.330 --> 00:16:09.669 turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. 00:16:10.330 --> 00:16:16.509 You are an offense to me. Now, did Peter turn 00:16:16.509 --> 00:16:21.000 into Satan? No, he didn't turn into Satan. But 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:24.480 his door was open to the manipulation and deception 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:27.899 of Satan because really that's the power that 00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:31.340 Satan possesses. He doesn't have power over you. 00:16:31.379 --> 00:16:34.440 He just has power to manipulate and deceive you, 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:38.440 to convince you that God's word will not happen 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:42.600 in your life. He comes to steal, kill, and to 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:47.100 destroy the word in you because if he can steal 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:50.159 the word, he can steal your future. If he can 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.419 steal the word, he can steal every good thing, 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:57.679 and it will eventually destroy you. He said, 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:00.080 get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.079 I mean, that's a pretty bold statement, right? 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.039 To call someone Satan. No, but Jesus knew his 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.920 mission. He knew his purpose in the earth. He 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:15.920 knew what he was called to do, what he was going 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.480 to carry out. And he recognized that, hey, this 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:23.619 is a lie from the pit of hell. He's saying, get 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:27.160 behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me. So 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.759 Peter's door, he's open to the power of Satan. 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:32.940 His manipulation and deception then flows out. 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:36.339 And why does this happen? Scripture tells us, 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:39.619 he continues on in verse 23, Jesus tells Peter, 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:43.140 for you are not mindful of the things of God, 00:17:43.299 --> 00:17:47.660 but the things of men. The Greek word here means 00:17:47.660 --> 00:17:51.799 to think, to set one's mind on, to have a mindset 00:17:51.799 --> 00:18:03.160 of. So you see from this story that you are empowered 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:08.420 by what you set your mind on. That's what will 00:18:08.420 --> 00:18:13.279 have influence in your life, is what you have 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:18.019 your mind on. Your mind does not generate the 00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:22.460 power that some will have you believe. Your mind 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:25.539 doesn't generate this power. It opens the door 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:29.480 to either the power of heaven or the power of 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:36.299 hell. It opens the door of influence over your 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:40.000 life. Because you are empowered by what you set 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.099 your mind on. Your mind is the door to spiritual 00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:46.579 powers. And we decide which power influences 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:52.519 our lives. We are the door of influence in us, 00:18:52.579 --> 00:18:55.240 but then it's also the things that happen in 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:59.799 us. Listen, it impacts those around us. This 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.039 is how evil is carried out in the world. It's 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.680 not Satan, like, jumping on people and forcing 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:11.279 them, you know, unless they're... But even then 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:13.619 we see that it's like they're being manipulated 00:19:13.619 --> 00:19:17.079 and deceived and they're opening the doors of 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.220 their hearts and their minds to being deceived 00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:22.299 and to carry out whose will in the earth, Satan's 00:19:22.299 --> 00:19:26.099 will in the earth. And that brings evil to people 00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:29.519 and evil in the world. And it impacts the world 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:34.789 around us. So how do we open the door? How do 00:19:34.789 --> 00:19:37.390 we open our door, our mind, to the power of God? 00:19:38.269 --> 00:19:42.710 How is this accomplished? Well, we must continually 00:19:42.710 --> 00:19:47.970 direct our thoughts and desires away from earthly 00:19:47.970 --> 00:19:52.069 things, right, to the things of God. We must 00:19:52.069 --> 00:19:54.769 direct our thoughts. Did you know that you have 00:19:54.769 --> 00:19:57.390 self -control, that that's a fruit of the Holy 00:19:57.390 --> 00:20:01.289 Spirit? You have control to direct what you think. 00:20:02.009 --> 00:20:05.720 You can't control every thought. that, you know, 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.160 buzzes in your head, but you can control which 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:13.960 one stays there. You can't control how many birds 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.180 fly over your head, but you can control which 00:20:16.180 --> 00:20:20.519 one, you know, makes a nest in your hair. Right? 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:26.579 You must continually direct your thoughts and 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:29.640 desires to the things of God and away from the 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:32.809 things of earth. And then this gets us to our 00:20:32.809 --> 00:20:37.390 main text here on how we apply this truth. In 00:20:37.390 --> 00:20:41.349 Romans 12, 2, it says this, And do not be conformed 00:20:41.349 --> 00:20:47.789 to this world. Do not be. It's a command. Do 00:20:47.789 --> 00:20:51.509 not be conformed to this world. Be in the fashion, 00:20:51.650 --> 00:20:54.190 in the likeness. That's what that word means, 00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:57.950 conformed. Don't be conformed to this world, 00:20:58.049 --> 00:21:01.569 but be transformed. Everybody say transformed. 00:21:03.170 --> 00:21:10.650 How? Is God zapping you with it? Is it just hitting 00:21:10.650 --> 00:21:14.230 you by chance? Is the power of God, is transforming 00:21:14.230 --> 00:21:18.750 power of God just falling on you? Or how does 00:21:18.750 --> 00:21:22.390 real transformation, how does God transform you? 00:21:23.529 --> 00:21:26.150 How does the kingdom of God operate and bring 00:21:26.150 --> 00:21:29.599 transformation in your life? It's through the 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:39.039 door of your mind. A renewed mind. Our mind's 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:43.180 renewal then determines our exposure and experience 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:48.819 of God's power. To the level of your renewed 00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:51.619 mind is the level of your experience of his power 00:21:51.619 --> 00:21:57.670 in your life. Most people won't. God to just 00:21:57.670 --> 00:22:00.529 intervene in their human affairs, and they only 00:22:00.529 --> 00:22:09.109 turn to Him in crisis. And then they get mad 00:22:09.109 --> 00:22:11.430 when they don't see God's power fall and change 00:22:11.430 --> 00:22:14.890 the circumstance. When God has given us a key 00:22:14.890 --> 00:22:18.990 to change the circumstance, He's made it available 00:22:18.990 --> 00:22:23.529 to us, to all those who are in Him. He's not 00:22:23.529 --> 00:22:27.299 holding out on His children. Just like you wouldn't 00:22:27.299 --> 00:22:34.700 hold out on your children. Whatever you bind 00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:38.140 on earth will be bound in heaven, in the spirit. 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:43.579 Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in 00:22:43.579 --> 00:22:47.819 heaven. He's given you the keys, given you the 00:22:47.819 --> 00:22:53.049 method, given you the authority. And this is 00:22:53.049 --> 00:22:56.109 connected to our minds. This is connected to 00:22:56.109 --> 00:23:01.809 our renewed mind. This word transformation is 00:23:01.809 --> 00:23:04.750 the Greek word metamorphou. It means to transform 00:23:04.750 --> 00:23:09.650 or to change form. It's meaning God's power to 00:23:09.650 --> 00:23:14.529 change temporal things. Do you realize, I mean, 00:23:14.529 --> 00:23:16.890 a lot of people don't doubt God's power and his 00:23:16.890 --> 00:23:20.660 ability. But we need to know that his power is 00:23:20.660 --> 00:23:23.640 for the believer, as we said in the beginning. 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:28.839 His power is for you, for you to understand it, 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:32.839 right? His power is to change temporal things. 00:23:36.200 --> 00:23:38.759 And I hope this encourages you as much as it 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:45.119 does me. But temporal things, listen. Things 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:47.819 that are temporal, we could define them as subject 00:23:47.819 --> 00:23:53.940 to change. The things in this earth, the circumstance, 00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:58.339 the immovable things, the impossible things, 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:04.799 listen, are subject to change by the power of 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:08.759 God. The gates of hell cannot prevail against 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:12.470 the power of God. The gates of hell can't prevail 00:24:12.470 --> 00:24:16.369 against the people of God because the power of 00:24:16.369 --> 00:24:22.009 God flows through the people of God. You are 00:24:22.009 --> 00:24:25.609 the temple. You are the door in which God does 00:24:25.609 --> 00:24:27.789 his business and heaven does its business in 00:24:27.789 --> 00:24:32.410 the earth. And when you see something that the 00:24:32.410 --> 00:24:34.970 enemy loves to deceive and manipulate and make 00:24:34.970 --> 00:24:37.049 you think all kinds of things like this can't 00:24:37.049 --> 00:24:42.529 be changed. You need to laugh and say, if it's 00:24:42.529 --> 00:24:45.529 temporal, if it's not an eternal thing, it's 00:24:45.529 --> 00:24:49.009 subject to change in Jesus' name. I take it captive 00:24:49.009 --> 00:24:54.170 to the obedience of Christ. I cast it down. I 00:24:54.170 --> 00:25:05.289 have authority. I bind you. Come on. Subject 00:25:05.289 --> 00:25:16.180 to change. This word, this metamorphoo, is not 00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:20.200 just referring to the natural change. Like we 00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:24.359 get our English word metamorphosis, talking about 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:26.779 the change between a caterpillar and a butterfly. 00:25:27.059 --> 00:25:31.000 And we see those things can naturally occur in 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.859 the human life, in our lives and in our surroundings 00:25:33.859 --> 00:25:37.000 by the power of God. We can see things restored 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:41.099 to the natural order of things. We see restoration, 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:46.119 we see healing. It's a restored to God's original 00:25:46.119 --> 00:25:49.759 plan and will, right? What enemy has stolen, 00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:53.579 it's being restored. It's being made whole by 00:25:53.579 --> 00:25:57.180 his power. These are incredible things, but it 00:25:57.180 --> 00:26:01.059 goes on. This transformation, it goes on. And 00:26:01.059 --> 00:26:04.019 we see it here at the transfiguration of Jesus, 00:26:04.059 --> 00:26:07.509 this same word, this Greek word is used. And 00:26:07.509 --> 00:26:10.809 listen what this says. Now after six days, Jesus 00:26:10.809 --> 00:26:13.869 took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and 00:26:13.869 --> 00:26:16.630 he led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 00:26:17.269 --> 00:26:20.069 Why would he do that? Because sometimes you need 00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:23.410 to leave the things of earth alone. You need 00:26:23.410 --> 00:26:26.130 to get away from them in order to experience 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:31.289 the higher things. God calls you up. He's calling 00:26:31.289 --> 00:26:36.609 you up today. to a higher revelation of transformation 00:26:36.609 --> 00:26:45.549 power. Come on. Can you imagine Jesus just saying, 00:26:45.609 --> 00:26:50.750 come up here. Come on. Let's go on a trip. In 00:26:50.750 --> 00:26:54.970 Revelation, he's like, come up here. Come on. 00:26:55.490 --> 00:27:00.109 Come on up. And this happens in the spirit. It's 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:04.640 not a physical thing. You can come up higher 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:09.299 wherever you are. Because if the Spirit of God 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:12.099 is in you, you have access to the throne room 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:14.420 of heaven. You are seated in heavenly places. 00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:18.599 You are seated with Him at the right hand of 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:28.279 the Father. That's not far from you. It's not 00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:31.279 far from you, and it's not foreign to the believer. 00:27:32.029 --> 00:27:36.150 Don't let Satan convince you that it's foreign 00:27:36.150 --> 00:27:41.109 to you. Because we all have heard from God. If 00:27:41.109 --> 00:27:44.029 you're a believer, listen, if you're a Christian, 00:27:44.190 --> 00:27:51.329 you have heard from God. You want a word, like 00:27:51.329 --> 00:27:53.890 all these things, you want the clouds to open, 00:27:53.970 --> 00:27:57.589 you want the ground to shake. No, if you're a 00:27:57.589 --> 00:28:01.769 believer, a genuine born -again Christian, You 00:28:01.769 --> 00:28:05.769 have heard God and felt the weight of the reality 00:28:05.769 --> 00:28:09.410 of divine revelation come on you, the weight 00:28:09.410 --> 00:28:12.170 of the cross, the weight of the resurrection. 00:28:12.890 --> 00:28:17.450 So stop acting like it's foreign to you and God's 00:28:17.450 --> 00:28:23.769 holding out on you. The same way that you heard 00:28:23.769 --> 00:28:27.430 him then is the same way you will hear him now. 00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:32.970 There are exceptions. There are exceptions, like 00:28:32.970 --> 00:28:37.190 we looked at in the life of Paul. But he was 00:28:37.190 --> 00:28:40.549 a very extraordinary man on passion for God, 00:28:40.650 --> 00:28:45.390 but with the wrong doctrine. And in his zealousness, 00:28:45.410 --> 00:28:48.650 God zealously sought him out and called him out 00:28:48.650 --> 00:28:52.609 by his marvelous grace, right? Just like he calls 00:28:52.609 --> 00:28:55.970 each one of us out by his marvelous grace. It's 00:28:55.970 --> 00:29:02.970 the same method, same thing. Come up high on 00:29:02.970 --> 00:29:06.430 the mountain by themselves. He led them. And 00:29:06.430 --> 00:29:11.450 God wants to lead you. And he was, Jesus, was 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:13.910 transfigured. Here's this word, metamorphue, 00:29:13.930 --> 00:29:17.789 before them. Get this, his face shone like the 00:29:17.789 --> 00:29:22.109 sun. And his clothes became as white as light. 00:29:25.910 --> 00:29:28.250 Symbolically, the face represents your identity. 00:29:31.980 --> 00:29:36.019 Your clothes are what people see. Your testimony. 00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:41.539 Everybody say identity. Everybody say testimony. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:48.299 What is being transfigured here? What is being 00:29:48.299 --> 00:29:55.019 changed? His identity. His testimony. And behold, 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:57.680 a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:03.359 a voice came out of the cloud. Woo! This is my 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.859 beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. 00:30:12.539 --> 00:30:17.380 Don't forget, Jesus lived a life as an example 00:30:17.380 --> 00:30:27.420 for you and I. Transformation is available, but 00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:30.789 it's more than just... natural things being restored 00:30:30.789 --> 00:30:35.549 to their original order. The transformation available 00:30:35.549 --> 00:30:41.829 is the freedom from this world. Free from the 00:30:41.829 --> 00:30:44.509 world's destruction and consequences and just 00:30:44.509 --> 00:30:48.410 the way it works. We don't have to accept that. 00:30:52.650 --> 00:30:55.789 We're free from this system. We're a peculiar 00:30:55.789 --> 00:31:00.380 people, a royal priesthood. Transformation, too, 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:04.599 it goes on. It's changed into God's very image. 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:08.559 We are image bearers of Christ. Amen? We are 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:13.920 in Him. And we carry His image to experience 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:17.660 the glory of God, to be manifest and demonstrated 00:31:17.660 --> 00:31:25.990 in our life as a testimony. The glory of God 00:31:25.990 --> 00:31:29.529 and the realities of heaven on display in your 00:31:29.529 --> 00:31:36.130 life. That's the transformation available to 00:31:36.130 --> 00:31:42.809 us. But renewing our minds, listen, is how we 00:31:42.809 --> 00:31:48.349 open the door. Remember what the verse said. 00:31:49.490 --> 00:31:53.440 You will be transformed. Why? Because that's 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.000 my will. Everything that happens in the earth 00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:03.759 is not God's will. Right? Everything that happens 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:05.759 in the earth is not according to God's will. 00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:16.220 We renew our minds. Listen, it opens the door. 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:21.109 Because see, there's what God wants to do. There's 00:32:21.109 --> 00:32:27.069 heaven's side and there's our side. And that's 00:32:27.069 --> 00:32:30.250 why he's called us and that's why he's indwelled 00:32:30.250 --> 00:32:38.869 us to empower us to co -labor with him. We're 00:32:38.869 --> 00:32:41.710 called to be co -laborers with him. You're not 00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:44.690 carrying out the work. His yoke is easy. His 00:32:44.690 --> 00:32:46.890 burden is light because he's providing it all. 00:32:52.809 --> 00:32:58.470 free moral agents. That means he respects your 00:32:58.470 --> 00:33:03.309 decisions. God respects your decisions and your 00:33:03.309 --> 00:33:08.130 desires. So he asks us to come and enter into 00:33:08.130 --> 00:33:12.730 his life. He asks you to yoke up with him. He 00:33:12.730 --> 00:33:17.230 asks you to open your door to him and allow his 00:33:17.230 --> 00:33:23.480 power to radically transform your life. And through 00:33:23.480 --> 00:33:26.000 this series, this is what we're going to be talking 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.359 about the next three weeks. We're going to discuss 00:33:28.359 --> 00:33:32.180 more and more on how to renew our minds and allow 00:33:32.180 --> 00:33:34.980 the power of God to flow through us. But I just 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:37.599 want to quickly say, and I'm done, to renew our 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:40.980 minds, we must daily take control of our focus. 00:33:42.730 --> 00:33:45.470 Get our minds off the things. We can't be more 00:33:45.470 --> 00:33:47.910 mindful of the things of this earth than we are 00:33:47.910 --> 00:33:50.710 the things of heaven and expect to see the power 00:33:50.710 --> 00:33:56.569 of God on display in our lives. We must daily 00:33:56.569 --> 00:34:00.529 take control of our focus. We must direct our 00:34:00.529 --> 00:34:09.719 imaginations. direct our imaginations, our thoughts, 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:13.239 our calculative future probabilities of what 00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:18.179 we think will happen. God uses those things to 00:34:18.179 --> 00:34:21.880 create. He wants to do a new thing in you, and 00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:26.199 we're going to talk about that. And to renew 00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:28.900 our minds means that we align our words also 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:35.000 to the reality of God's Word. Each one of these 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:37.500 things, our focus, our imaginations, and our 00:34:37.500 --> 00:34:41.239 words, listen, we have to yield them to Christ. 00:34:45.900 --> 00:34:50.860 We have to submit them to him and say, you must 00:34:50.860 --> 00:34:54.739 obey what the word says. Because when we don't 00:34:54.739 --> 00:34:59.500 listen, we're being used of the enemy. It's not 00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:06.960 innocent. It's not an innocent thing. When our 00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:09.780 words, when our thoughts, when our imaginations 00:35:09.780 --> 00:35:15.199 are contradicting the very word of God, it's 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:21.780 up to you to say, get behind me, Satan. And to 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:25.559 be quiet is to let Satan break through the door 00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:28.659 and come into your life and start wreaking havoc 00:35:28.659 --> 00:35:32.360 on everything. the lives of others, the world 00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:39.280 around you. God's a gentleman. He respects your 00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:42.699 decision. The enemy has come. He's roaring like 00:35:42.699 --> 00:35:45.179 a lion, and he's ready. As soon as you give him 00:35:45.179 --> 00:35:49.119 a crack, he's busting through like my 70 -pound 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:51.380 labradoodle. If I give her a crack at the door, 00:35:51.500 --> 00:35:58.199 she's busting through. But the good news is this. 00:35:58.199 --> 00:36:02.599 Listen. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound 00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:06.139 in heaven. He's given you the keys to the kingdom 00:36:06.139 --> 00:36:08.800 of God. He's given you the keys to the spirit 00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:14.579 realm. But you must choose. You are the temple. 00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:18.039 Your mind is the door to spiritual influence 00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:22.340 in your life. So you choose which power has access 00:36:22.340 --> 00:36:26.349 to your life, your family, and the world. I'm 00:36:26.349 --> 00:36:28.570 going to ask you and I'm done. Will you carry 00:36:28.570 --> 00:36:35.989 out God's purposes? Will you carry out God's 00:36:35.989 --> 00:36:40.710 purposes or Satan's? His plans for you are good. 00:36:42.130 --> 00:36:45.369 His plans for you are life and life to the fullest. 00:36:52.610 --> 00:36:56.940 Who is your door open to? This online worship 00:36:56.940 --> 00:36:59.420 experience was brought to you by the friends 00:36:59.420 --> 00:37:01.000 and partners of Elation Church.