This Means War - Touré Roberts

7:49 wow look at that wow look at that real quick I gotta teach it but look at that God immediately is connecting his dysfunction to his disobedience Thank you. He doesn't even litigate all of the confusion. He's saying there's a one-stop shop for your confusion, and it's disobedience. and your disobedience has opened now a Pandora's box, and more specifically, not just your disobedience, but your disobedience to the word I spoke. then the man said it gets even more dysfunctional then the man said the woman who you gave to be with me now he's blaming the lord he's so dysfunctional he is now accusing god of being dysfunctional it was a bad idea god you giving me that woman was a terrible idea god you ought to be look at how crazy we get how insane we get when we disconnect from the word.

9:04 And the man said to the woman, the man said, the woman whom you gave to me with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate. Your fault, God. the Lord said to the woman what is this you have done the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate so the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this you are

9:30 cursed more than any cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and that doesn't mean bruise like cute little bruise Hebrew word literally means a gaping hole crush your head gaping Thank you. and you shall bruise his heel. He won't leave unpierced. and you will not leave undefeated. I want to talk today, I want to kick this series off today from this subject, This Means War.

10:30 This means war. Father, without you, I am nothing. You are the vine. I am but a branch. So my commitment in this moment, God, is through everything in my power to abide in you.

10:53 And as I abide in you, I will bring forth fruit, and it will be fruit that remains. may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight your children deserve wisdom revelation knowledge and impartation may heaven's love flow through me to them God may your words be my portion and consequently may it be their portion. I thank you for the spirit of wisdom and revelation and insight and knowledge and prophecy and full access to heaven's resources. You said the secret of the Lord is with those who fear him. God, I fear you. I revere you.

11:46 God, may the end result be us coming to a new level of awakening as it relates to the environment that we're in. May we begin to discover our tools. And may things that were cloudy become clear. May we be stronger, wiser, and bolder. That we might be effective agents of advancing your kingdom in the earth. All to the glory of your wonderful son Jesus. And if you agree with that prayer, say with me, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. God bless you. Please greet someone as you take your seat.

12:29 Let's go to work. On December 7th, 1941, America declared war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States didn't declare war until after the attack.

13:10 The realization was, we are at war. And the reality is, by the time America said, we are at war, war had already arrived. The first strike had already happened. the bombs were already falling. The ships were already on fire. The ships were burning.

13:41 And so this declaration of war that America made wasn't the beginning of the conflict. The conflict had already begun. It wasn't the beginning of the conflict. It was the awakening. to the reality of conflict. And I think that for believers, as it relates to spiritual warfare, we oftentimes are in the same situation. We think that warfare starts the moment that we recognize it. that ain't true the recognition is often the very last thing to arrive we often think that that or we declare that this means war after somebody has crossed the line

14:41 after the sickness shows up in our body after we have the argument with our spouse or or our kid does something crazy. After the person at work insults you or somebody physically attacks you or verbally attacks you or somebody takes something from you, and then we respond, okay, all right, this means war, but here's the problem with that. The problem is by the time you say it, you're already too late. the war has already begun. The strike has already, are you tracking with me? The strike has already happened. And so it is a mistake to believe as a believer that the warfare starts the moment we notice it. It doesn't.

15:34 It's not, when you think of warfare, you can't think of it as an event. Something happened to me. This went wrong, and therefore I'm in warfare. You hear it said oftentimes, I am in a season of warfare. Let me tell you something right now. That's actually not accurate, because warfare is not a season. It is the context in which we were born into.

16:06 Oh, you got to hear me. I'm going to make it plain. Just walk with me. There's no such thing as a season of warfare. Now, you might say, you know, the warfare is very intense. I feel an intenseness in this season. That's fair. but you are always at war. you're always at war now I'm not trying to scare you I'm not trying to make you anxious or make you nervous I'm certainly not trying to make you paranoid spiritually paranoid I'm not the guy that thinks that everything is a demon come on somebody like there's a demon hiding behind every bush or even that everything is a devil.

17:09 That's not my spirit. But what I am saying, when I say this means war, the this that I'm talking about is life itself. Track with me. You didn't ask for it? you didn't even sign up for it it was done without your permission or your approval but you are in it and you're in it every day and it's important that you understand that so that you can be postured appropriately and not be declaring war late can i talk to you can i take my time too and do it too i'm okay and so this message is not intended to make you fearful i'm not i'm not after that it is to make you aware awareness is everything right it's not about fear fear says watch this here's the difference Fear says the enemy is everywhere.

18:18 But faith says God has equipped me for wherever the enemy is. See the difference? One focuses on where the enemy is. The other focuses on the reality that God has equipped you and given you power over all the power of the enemy. And he's equipped you not only, watch this, to battle but to win in every place the enemy shows up. Jack with me. We're going somewhere. So this is not about being fearful. This is not about making you paranoid. That's what fear does. Fear makes you paranoid. Faith makes you prepared. Are you tracking with me? So I just want to level set that there. Let's get into a definition of warfare. I want to give you a very simple definition of warfare. Here it is. Warfare is resistance against God's will.

19:21 it is any resistance against the will of God. That's what warfare is. And if we, the reason why I brought up the garden is because when we trace the history of warfare, we see it originate, as it relates to humans, it originated in the garden. Why? Because there was a resistance against God's order. and it went something like, did God really say? And then it went into God just know. Are you tracking with me? So we see where it started. It started in the garden. We see the first sign of resistance against God's will and against God's order right there in the garden, and that's when everything got crazy. And, and, and here's the thing. They didn't know they were in a war.

20:29 God didn't tell me he was in war can we talk about that for a minute uh god you you it would have been nice if you would have told me that that there was going to be a liar in the midst god god why didn't you break it down for me You told me to be fruitful and to multiply. You told me to have dominion. You even told me not to mess around with that tree. But you didn't tell me that I was in a war. and some might look at that and say, God, that was unfair. You didn't prepare me. No, it wasn't. Here's why. Here's at least two reasons why. First of all, number one is for every battle, God had already had a solution. Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

21:40 So, so, come on. So, so, so, so if God has a solution for the problem, he's just, number one. Are you tracking with me? Number two is, he did prepare them. he said do this don't do that and if you just do I feel the Holy Ghost right here if you just do what I tell you to do and you don't need all the answers and you get out of your questioning and you're wondering if you just obey you're safe He would be unjust if he had not given them the instruction that would keep them safe. Man, I feel that for somebody.

22:38 We spend too much time, Moreshe, and watch this, and we delay obedience. Because we don't have all of the particulars about how this act of obedience is going to work together for my good. and what I've learned is the further you get away from obedience the word gets distant to you and before you know it you will look up and the enemy has completely severed you from that word but I wish I had some people who are swift obeyers the moment that God gives you a word and he gives it to you clear and he says do it now you don't procrastinate you lean in and get it done. I hear this with somebody. The longer you wait.

23:37 the weaker you will be to perform it. I got to say that better. I feel the Holy Ghost right here. The longer you wait, the cloudier the word. And the cloudier the word, the more hesitant you become. Did God really say he found the place that was the furthest away from the word? Catch it. Not in my notes, but it's for somebody's destiny. and then we drift,

24:34 and that's why the Bible says things like, return to your first love, return to your first works, oh, how far we have drifted, how do you drift? You drift by delaying obedience, and it is subtle, not in my notes, but very much in the Holy Ghost, and it is subtle. It's very subtle because it's not, it doesn't appear to be flat out disobedience because in your, in your mind, you think I'm going to do it. Oh, I feel the Holy God. I want to come down and talk to you almost. In your mind, you're like, I'm going to do it. And you have tricked yourself. into believing that you're going to do it. And you wake up every morning and trick yourself again, saying, I'm going to do it tomorrow.

25:32 And then next Friday, you wake up in the morning and you trick yourself again. until you run out of time or the word is now so dull. there is a connection between clarity and action.

25:58 So the Bible says, write the vision and do what? Make it plain that he may run. Who reads it? So we have to become runners when we have clarity. I'm not saying be irresponsible. I'm not saying don't qualify a word, right? But once God gives you that confirmation, like he's doing right now. play with me this morning once God gives you that confirmation go do it quickly I'm going to say this and I got to move on because it's not simply that but that is connected to that and that that's after that is connected to this so you begin to block and bottleneck the flow of God in your life and all he's trying to do you Because you're questioning.

26:57 Man, I got to move on. I got to move on from this point. I'm going to say this and I got to move on. The Bible says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. They're ordered. There are steps to this thing. and you can't see the staircase. All God gives you All he gives you Is the step So you've got the instruction Jalen And you've got the promise The promise is boom The instruction Okay That's for somebody I don't know And I completely shifted But I I gotta be obedient So So So So We see the first act of warfare right there in the garden because it is resistance against God's will. And you don't have to you start talking about warfare you know you can just look, conflict is everywhere.

28:11 You don't have to search for conflict it's everywhere. And so when we encounter resistance let's name a few things in marriage in a family in a mind in a city right in a culture even in a church you're witnessing warfare conflict listen we there was harmony in the beginning shalom means whole it means oneness when you see conflict that is the evidence of warfare are you tracking with me so you ain't got to track it down just look that's why when i see the city divided the nation divided the world divided i'm like that's warfare come on somebody that's warfare but and let me just i just want to i want to i want to i want to really set this foundation and we'll be on this for for several weeks and i'll tell you right now this is really interesting warfare is not always a demon remember remember the definition of warfare is resistance against God's will demons are a given but there are other things that can yield themselves to resistance against God's will.

29:35 Sometimes your flesh. Paul said, in me, in my flesh that is, no good thing dwells. So I've got resistance in my own body, in my own members. This is why spiritual disciplines are so important, because what you're doing is you're bringing your body. under subjection to the Spirit. I remember, can I just talk for a minute? I remember for the longest time, I got saved, I embraced Jesus when I was nine years old. And at nine years old, I believed that he died on the cross for my sins. If I died, I had a place in heaven. And if I got in trouble, he would bail me out. And all those things were true.

30:28 I wasn't taught about the holy spirit in the context of the holy spirit being the one watch this Who could empower me to live out the life that god would be pleased with I had no idea that was possible So the whole of my experience was to do whatever came natural and I was just really a prolific forgiver asker forgiveness asker Right. Oh, I was at the best of them It sounded like this. Oh God, if you get me out of this. or, or, or, oh God, I promise you this is my last time. Oh, you ain't got to worry about me no more. I'm telling you. Oh, I was good at it. Because, because we're good at tricking ourselves. I knew nothing about the life of the spirit. I did not know one that in my flesh dwelled no good thing.

31:28 So I'm already at a slight disadvantage. Come on, somebody. I'm already in need of my medicine. I didn't know I was sick like that. I also didn't know, Brunus, that the Holy Spirit could give me the power and the authority and the victory to put my flesh in check. so then the scripture started teaching me like galatians 5 16 which says if you walk in the spirit you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh i didn't even know and then i would read things like like in in in the beatitudes which says blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled meaning that if i would just get the right hunger then god would fill me with the right things I didn't know that.

32:36 So I had a Britney Spears anointing. Oops, I did it again. That's her song, not her. That's her song, not her. Britney's a wonderful person. Oops, I did it again Here I am, oh Lord Standing in the need of prayer For the same thing Over and over And over And over again because I didn't know here's one more thing I'll say because I touched on the flesh and I'm just scratching the surface we'll see where we land today I used to eat fast food I very rarely very probably less than one percent of my diet is fast food now one I did a paper on it in college and I found out what is really going on with that fast food, and I got delivered real quick.

33:36 But anyway. I stopped eating fast food for a long time, right? When I would eat fast food, when I had seen some of you just tuned off right now, you're like, see? When I used to eat fast food, fast food never made me visibly sick or noticeably sick. When I stopped eating fast food, I would eat one greasy Big Mac and a large fry. one meal and my stomach would start turning and I'm like wait I don't understand when I ate it all the time I felt fine when I cleansed my spirit the truth emerged and the truth see I got used to that bad bacteria in my stomach so so I got Bishop talked about once about pigs and sheep and and and pig don't have no problem being in the mud in the slop but a sheep start saying bad something is wrong you It is the same way with sin when we continue to eat the wrong stuff.

35:16 our system gets used to junk. And the problem when you're, when the problem about your system getting used to junk is you lose your taste for righteousness. Now righteousness tastes bitter and sin tastes better and you've got it flipped around. so the point that I'm making in the context of this conversation that we're having is sometimes it ain't a demon that's at war with God's will for your life sometimes it's right there in your own members in your own body in your own ways in your own system So,

36:13 and we blame it on the devil saying the devil made me do it no he didn't you just did it Real good. Ooh. I'm out there now. Sometimes it is a demon.

36:33 Sometimes it is a spiritual force. Sometimes it's not a spiritual force. Sometimes it's not flesh. Sometimes it's culture. Isn't it crazy how something that resists God can catch on so fast? before you even get a chance to know that is wrong it is ubiquitous it's everywhere all at once in this age in this generation the world not realizing that we're in the middle of warfare not trying to scare you i'm just trying to tell you the truth Let me see what I want to do here. Here's what I want to do. Here's what I want to do.

37:31 I got weeks. I got weeks on this. Here's what I want to do today. What I want to do today. Here's what I want to do today. I want... to establish in your mind, in your consciousness, in your spirit, and in your heart that you are at war, that you are in warfare, that warfare is not an event, it is the environment. In Genesis, warfare was the environment. In the wilderness, warfare was the environment. In the promised land, warfare was the environment. In the ministry of Jesus, he couldn't even get here real good without weapons being formed against him. In the early church, warfare was the environment.

38:32 And if warfare is the environment, I have to be postured appropriately for it. But can I tell you really quickly some good news about this warfare? The battle has already been fought. and one. right there in Genesis. We couldn't even get out of Genesis good. And God says, check this out, devil. There's something that's going to come out of the woman and it's not just going to bruise you. It's going to put a gaping hole in your head. Yeah, that heel is going to get pierced, but it's going to destroy you.

39:30 And then we see Jesus born into the context of warfare. And the enemy thought that he had wiped him out. But the devil is a liar. The Bible says on the third day after snatching the keys of death and hell, He was raised up victorious and has given to us the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever we buy and whatever we lose. Watch this. Watch this.

40:14 See, I said that all those things, all those things were happening in the context of warfare, but I didn't say any battle was lost. I never said that. Yes, this means war, but it also means victory. you can't have warfare as a believer and not simultaneously have victory. Let me show you two scriptures and we'll pick it up next week. Ephesians chapter four and verse eight. The Bible says, therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led, watch this, captivity captive and gave gifts to men what does it mean to lead captivity captive the enemy of your soul the enemy of your life the enemy that was trying to keep you captive that had you captive god says you know what i'm about to lead captivity captive i'm about to set a trap for the one who set a trap against you yeah go ahead kill my son i've got a strategy even when you thought you were winning I'd already won!