 Good. Good morning everyone and welcome to BT 309, our second lecture for this week on Urban Church Planting. Let's take a moment to pray together and we'll get started. Can I ask somebody please in the class to pray and then we will start. Can somebody just Can I pray Pastor? Our Heavenly Father once again, we are most grateful and thankful unto you for your grace and your mercy. We thank you for the gift of life this morning. Father we are praying, committing our class into your mighty hands O God. We pray that guide us with your spirit and lead us in the way O God. Father grant us understanding and insight. We pray that you grant Pastor Ashes the all chances to be able to explain the things for us to understand and we pray for our colleagues that you continue to sustain all of us in our various destinations. We pray for good internet connection and we pray for your calm and your peace to restore among us in Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen. All right, welcome everyone. Thank you for joining the class. So we are continuing talking about the spiritual side, the spiritual aspect of funding a church, pioneering a church in the urban context. And so let me just go ahead and share the PDF. Then we'll pick up from maybe Paul yesterday. So we talk about, you know, what is the enemy doing, what is Satan doing and blinding the minds of people, holding people in bondage, hindering the proclamation of the gospel, trying to infiltrate the church and weaken the church through various means. You see some examples in Revelation too, but this is not the only thing he does. Other things he would try to weaken the church, you know, pretty disrupt the unity and peace and so on. But then the church's responsibility is we've been called to be lights to the Gentiles as we saw yesterday. And part of being light to the Gentiles is to open blind eyes, to open the prison door, to tell the people, the prisoners to come forth, to those who are in darkness, come into the light. And so the anointing is given to us, the presence of the Holy Spirit, to bind, to overcome, to subdue what the devil is doing so that we can spoil his curse. And we also saw about the kingdom authority in Matthew 16. The keys of the kingdom have been given to the church. The church advances to the gates of hell. These are the power centers of hell. And through prayer, through using our authority, we advance the kingdom of God. And the gates of hell cannot stop the church. Second Corinthians chapter 10 verses three to six, we know that we are using spiritual weapons against the enemy. Paul writes, he says, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. And then he says, the weapons of our warfare are not common, but they are mighty in God, mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing or every reasoning that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. I'm bringing into captivity every part to the obedience of Christ. So really, it's like our warfare. It's a spiritual warfare. Our warfare is divinely empowered. God gives us divinely divine weapons. And very interestingly, our warfare is dealing with what the devil is doing in the minds of people. It's talking about strongholds, it's talking about arguments and reasonings and imaginations and thoughts. So these are things in the minds of people. And we are using the weapons of our warfare to destroy these things in the minds of people. These are things that the devil is putting in their minds to prevent them from receiving the light of the gospel. Whereas the weapons we've been given addresses these things and we pull them down. So we are countering or we are going against destroying certain strongholds. And this is typically we use the term spiritual warfare in this kind of engagement. So now in the next lesson, we want to kind of get into the detail. So how do we do this? And of course, we're going to do it as a people, as a group. You know, you can do it as an individual in your personal prayer. So in your prayer time, there is time that you spend in fellowship with God. And there is also time that you spend in exercising spiritual authority. And we can do it cooperatively, collectively, that means two or more of us praying together. You know, we engage in prayer and worship, that is, as going before God, and we also exercise spiritual authority that is going against the devil. So both aspects are happening. And the prayer and worship, it's towards God, intercessions happening towards God. And then we exercise spiritual authority against the devil, against what he is doing. Now, of course, in exercising spiritual authority, praying and exercising spiritual authority, we are not controlling people's will or we're not dictating their choices. Every person has to make their own choice to receive Christ. And we are not trying to manipulate them spiritually, or we're not trying to make their decision. But through our prayer, worship, and through the exercise of spiritual authority, we are making it easier for people to respond. It's like, we can open the prison doors, but of course, the prisoner has to walk out. We can't walk out for them, prisoner has to walk out, but we can open the doors through our prayer, through the exercise of spiritual authority. We open the doors and then we call them, come forth, like we read in Isaiah 49, we tell those who are in darkness, come to the light, so we can shine the light, we can call them into the light. But of course, they have to make the choice to come out of the prison or to step into the light. We cannot make that decision. For them, we are not forcing anybody to do it, but we can make it easy for them. That is through our prayer and through the exercise of spiritual authority. So there are two parts, and just to break it down for us to understand it. And I'm sure you have learned these things. You've studied these things in the course on prayer and intercession. I think Pastor Nancy may have to offer them, I'm not sure, but you know, somebody did that course with you on prayer and intercession. So you've studied that. And so this is more of a review of that same material, same learning. So there is the prayer side. That is, we are praying to the Lord with regards to the Lord. Of course, there are a lot of things we can pray about. We can or just engage in prayer for communion. We can engage in prayer for fellowship. We can engage in prayer interceding for other believers. We can engage in prayer for so many things. But here we're talking specifically on praying for the Lord's work towards the loss, towards the unsafe. So that's what we're doing. So we're not covering everything about prayer. We are just focusing on this part. And then we will also talk about the spiritual warfare part, which is how do we, through worship, through the exercise of spiritual authority, disrupt and destroy what Satan is doing to hinder the people. So like we saw earlier, he could be blinding their minds. He could be holding them in bondage. He could be trying to create all kinds of philosophies, all in the minds of people holding them. And how do we dismantle that, disrupt that through the exercise of our spiritual authority for that people? Then, of course, we have to proclaim the gospel. But at least when we go to proclaim the gospel, when people hear the gospel, they are a little bit more free in their mind and in their spirit to receive the gospel. The things that are hindering them have been dealt with, have been removed, so that then the gospel can benefit their minds and they can receive. What can we do? So number one, first part, praying for the loss. How do we pray? Here are some, and I'm trying to approach this based on scripture. Of course, people can come up with lots of points and so on. But what do we see in scripture with regards to how we are supposed to pray for the people? So number one is the ask dot for that region or city. On what basis do we do this? Psalm 2 and verse 8. We are all familiar with it. In Psalm 2 verse 8, God says, ask of me, and I will give you the nations or your inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for your possession. We know in Psalm 2, it's like a conversation going on between God the Father, God the Friend, and in Christ we inherit this promise. This is for us as well. So what is he saying? He's saying, ask me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth which would include every city, every region, every country, utmost parts for your possession. So God is saying, you ask me, I will give you. So we are going to him based on that promise, his invitation, and he's saying, God, we ask and whatever city, whatever region, whatever community, you're saying, God, give me the city. So that's a prayer, ongoing, maybe extending a faith for the city. Oh, God, give me the city, give me the people, the souls of the people. You see, when we pray for the city, the region, we're not talking about the material land or buildings. We're talking about the people in the city. That's what we're crying for. And God's saying, I will give you the heathen, the people, the unsaid. I'll give them to you as an inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for your possession. The second thing, yeah, we're inviting the birth of the Holy Spirit. You see, in John 16, 7 through 11, Jesus made it very clear on what the Holy Spirit does with regard to the world. He said, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world. What's he going to do? He's going to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So we are praying according to what Jesus said. They say, Lord, we invite the Holy Spirit in this place, so that place may be the city or people that you're ministering to. Holy Spirit, we invite you to convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So the conviction of the Holy Spirit should come upon the people. So we are praying and inviting the Holy Spirit for a particular group of people. You see, God declares what he intends doing, but our prayer and our intercession specifically invites them for a situation. So through our prayer and intercession or the people, the Holy Spirit, we want you to convict these people in this city or people in this community, the Holy Spirit, to convict them upon them according to what Jesus said. Convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Now, of what sin will he convict them of? What Jesus said, of sin because they do not believe in it. Of righteousness because man's righteousness cannot meet up to the righteousness of God. Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged, the ruler of this world is judged. Satan has been judged, that means everybody else who's part of his group is going to be judged. So people need to have a conviction coming into their hearts and minds that if I do not believe in Jesus, that's the greatest sin which cannot be forgiven. Of sin, righteousness, judgment. So the Holy Spirit convicts them. Now, we proclaim the gospel, but it's the Holy Spirit is bringing about conviction in the hearts of the unsaved. They need Jesus. The righteousness is not enough. Satan has been judged. So the Holy Spirit thinks about that conviction. Third thing we pray is for God to draw them. So Jesus said, no man can come to me unless the father draw him. No one can come unless the father draw him. So we are saying, Jesus said, father has to draw them. So we are praying, Lord, draw people to yourself. We're praying according to John 6.44. John 12.32. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. Lord, draw people in this city. Draw people in this community because we bring according to the scriptures. Lord, draw them. Draw them too. So that means there is the pool of heaven on their heart. Now, this is something spiritual. This is something God will do. And Amos, Amos chapter 9 verse 11, 12, Amos says, the Gentiles will come seeking for the Lord. So how will they come seeking? Well, God is drawing them. That's what they're coming to say. Something in the heart saying, I need to go. I need to be here. I need to find out. I need to seek after. What is that? That's the draw of heaven, the pool of heaven on their heart. And so we are asking God to do that. We also pray. Now, we're praying all of this is according to the scriptures. Next, we are praying that God will bring them to repentance, to the knowledge of the truth. They can escape the trap of evil. This is according to 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 25 and 26, because Paul makes it very clear that those who are opposed to the gospel, what is their spiritual condition? They are taken captive by the enemy. And to come out of that, God needs to grant them. That means God needs to work in their hearts in such a way that they will come to a place of repentance, to the knowledge of the truth, and they can escape this trap of the devil. So that's a work of God. That is not the work of man. Our work is to proclaim the gospel. Our work is to pray. But God is the one who works in them to bring them to this place of repentance and knowledge of the truth. So we are praying, God, move on them to bring them to this place of repentance, knowing the truth and escaping the snare of the trap of the evil one. A few more things we see in scripture is the Holy Spirit is the one who's going to open spiritual eyes to enlighten them. So this is, of course, Paul is praying this prayer for the believers in Ephesians 1, 15 to 21, their eyes to be opened to know Him. But if the believers' eyes can be opened by the Holy Spirit, how much more that opening of the blind eyes? So we know, even those in darkness, their eyes need to be opened. Just like believers, their eyes need to be opened to know God more. The revelation of God, our eyes need to be opened. So to Him, the unscathed, they're in darkness and we saw their eyes need to be opened to know Jesus. So who's going to open their eyes? The Holy Spirit, the spirit of wisdom, revelation. He's the one who can open blind eyes spiritually. And so Lord, we should open their eyes so that they may see Jesus. They may know the truth. They may be able to receive the truth. Now, using our spiritual authority, we're going to pull down the curtain of blindness. We're going to deal with all the ideas, the arguments, the reasonings, the strongholds, the thoughts that enemies put in their minds. We will talk about it later. We are doing that using our spiritual authority, but also we're praying for the Holy Spirit to open their eyes so that they can see Jesus. We also need to pray for the laborers. Jesus taught us that in Matthew 9, 37 and 38. He said, pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth the laborers, people who are going to share the gospel. Lord, fill this city, fill this land with laborers, the people who are sharing the gospel, who are influencing people with the gospel. And another thing we see is to pray for mighty signs and wonders, accept the form. When the early church were facing opposition, what did they do? They prayed. They said, Lord, look at their treatments and you stretch out your hand to heal and let signs and wonders and miracles be done in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. So they are praying. You want to see more of your power, your demonstration, your miracles. So that is what they pray. And then subsequently, Acts 5, Acts 6, we see powerful things taking place. There are angels, there are visions, dreams, people have encounters. There are mighty healings taking place in the city of Jerusalem. So God is moving in response to the prayer. So we know that all of this is recorded only once. This probably was an ongoing prayer for the people there. They continued praying for the Lord to work signs and wonders. So we can see the seven clear areas of prayer that we can engage in in relation to the loss. So we are fighting, or we are engaging in prayer, interceding for the loss. And these are the things we can pray for as we pray for the loss. Let me pause here and see if there are any questions anybody would like to ask. Any questions? We are all clear on this. All good? First I have a question. Yeah, go ahead. So when we are engaging in prayer for the nations, or we are engaging in prayers for the souls, should we continue to pray or should we also be concerned about the fruitfulness of it? Like thinking about how many prayers are being answered, how many souls are being saved? Or should we continue to just pray and keep thanking God for the work he is doing? Yeah. So we definitely have to continue praying because this is an ongoing thing. So the battle for souls is not a, let's say, it's not like a small thing because the enemy has people in their grip. And it is an ongoing battle. And at the same time, yes, we want to see the fruit. We want to see the results. But remember, in addition to praying, and we will see in the next chapter, in addition to praying, there has to be the proclamation of the gospel. So praying is preparing the ground or preparing the atmosphere, the spiritual atmosphere for the work of proclamation or reaching out. So we should be doing both. Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. So if you only pray, but we're not preaching and proclaiming the gospel, then we are not going to be seeing the fruit of our prayer because it's like we are praying, but then we need to put the sticker in to bring the harvest, which is that is we need to go in there. We need to proclaim the gospel. We need to help give people opportunities to hear the gospel and then experience the power of God and come to pray to Christ. So to answer your question, we must do both. We must continue to engage in prayer and continue proclaiming the gospel and then looking for the fruit. Because if we are not seeing the fruit, which is souls being saved, people coming in, then we need to find out what is happening. Otherwise we will not know what is keeping people from coming to the Lord, what is hindering people from coming to us. So we need to look for the fruit. We need to see the fruit of our prayer and we need to know how do we engage in prayer better? How do we go about bringing the gospel to the people in a better way so that we can see the fruit. So all these three aspects are connected and we need to be looking at all of these three. Any other questions? Shikama, please go ahead. Sir, I want to know, is it wrong that we pray in the Church for the nations and for the cities in our regular services? I just want to know that one thing because I recently heard that Jesus has not prayed for the nation and the apostles never prayed for the nations. So is that statement right? I just want to know that in the normal services, like a Sunday service, is it wrong to pray for the nations or the city? Or do we have another separate day to have this thing? The Church has to gather together and pray. Thank you, sir. So I think there are two questions. One part of the question is, is it right or wrong to pray for the nations? Second is, should we do it on a Sunday service or should we keep set aside a different day and time to do it? So first, to answer using scripture, Psalm 2-8, the very first scripture we saw, the Father is saying, ask of me and I will give you nations for your inheritance. So he's telling us to pray, he's telling us to ask, ask me. Of course, the Father is speaking to the Son, this day I'm because of you, and then he says ask of me and I'll give you nations. Now we inherit it in Christ. And so in Christ, we are asking. So right there, Psalm 2-8 is the answer to that question. Father himself says ask of me and I will give you nations for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. So there is nothing wrong in praying. In fact, when you read through the Psalms, in the Psalms you find prayer for the nation or that the Gentiles. See, it's very interesting. The Psalms are not just speaking about the Jewish people. The Psalms, in many Psalms, they're referring, talking about the nations that the nations may know, that the Gentiles may know. It's in the Psalms. So that's again, and I think it'll be nice to compile that list. Well, maybe I'll try to do that. So it's nice to see that, hey, through the Psalms, in the Psalms of course are people praying, worshiping, praying to God. And in those in the Psalms, there is the prayer for the Gentiles, for the nation. So biblically, the other thing, let me mention this, the other thing, in Acts chapter 4, when the early churches praying, they are quoting Psalm 2 and verse 8, for not Psalm 2, verse 8, but the verse preceding that, why do the nations pray? And why do the rulers of the people imagine a vain thing? So when the early church is praying in Acts 4, they're quoting Psalm 2. That means they are praying based on Psalm 2. And only a portion of that is recorded in Acts 4, but we can assume that they would have prayed the entire Psalm or other Psalms as well in their prayers. And they're using that in relation to people who are not saved, for them to encounter the power of God in Acts chapter 4. So this is the third biblical response. So three responses. Yes, biblically we can see that it is right for us to pray for the nation, to pray for people to encounter Jesus Christ, and whether it's a community, whether you're praying for a city, whether you're praying for the leaders of the city, which we see in Psalm 2, or you're praying for a nation. Second question is when and where to do it? Now the Bible doesn't tell us, so that choice is left to the people. I mean, 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul is saying, you know, after he says, I exalt therefore the prayers, supplications, intercessions, giving of thanks, we made for all men. You know, basically just pray for everyone. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 1, you know, pray for all men, which means all the dental, all the unsaved, pray for all of them. Then he says specifically, for rulers and for those who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life, but where does that have to happen? We go down to verse 8, he says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without rock or nothing. Same chapter, 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 and 2, and then I'm jumping to verse 8. Where should we pray? Pray everywhere. So it doesn't matter whether we pray Monday to which day of the week or where we are praying, but he says pray everywhere. So it is up to us, right? There is no rule. He just says pray everywhere, pray like this everywhere, pray for all men. So some churches prefer not to do it on a Sunday service and a morning service because there will be newcomers and, you know, visitors, people who don't understand what prayer intercession is. So they keep it to a separate circle. And it has happened, you know, I remember once, and this has happened early days, once I kind of led the church. And now and then sometimes I might just lead the congregation into prayer intercession. I don't do it all the Sundays, but I remember once, you know, I kind of just led it, led the prayer and we pray very strong and we pray for the sit-down. Then after that somebody came and said, you know, they got, they were upset because we were praying against demonic strongholds. And I think that particular Sunday we mentioned idolatry and so on. So they were like shaken up, you know, they left. So, you know, so the thing is in a Sunday morning service, it's good to pray because we're all together. But then they could be also, you know, visit us. They could be strangers. There could be people who don't understand these things. And it sometimes it could be, it might offend them. What is it? You know, they're praying against idolatry or they're praying against this and that. So that's one way to look at it. So that's why most times, you know, there's a separate prayer meeting where believers, those who understand what prayer intercession is about, they come to those meetings and there, there is a little bit more open and more, you know, vocal expression of prayer and taking spiritual authority, which doesn't happen in the Sunday service. So I think the answer to your second part of the question is, you know, it can vary. We will leave it to the church leadership to decide because they know what kind of people are coming. And so what would be okay? What would be not okay? We will just leave it to them. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? Let's go ahead. So we said these are things we could pray for in relation to the loss and just put down something. And if there may be other things you would want to add. Then secondly, in spiritual warfare, that means now we are going to go against what Satan is doing, very important, before we start engaging in spiritual warfare, that is in just going confronting demonic powers, is that we must be really well established in truth. We must be established in truth. So as believers, right? So first of all, we must be established that Satan has been defeated. And then you can look at all these scriptures and see that Satan has been crushed, he's been expelled, he's been condemned. That means just judgment has already been pronounced on him. He's been disarmed, he's been destroyed, and he is powerless. So we, as believers, must be absolutely, you know, settled in our hearts and minds. Jesus finished the work. We are facing an enemy who's been crushed, expelled, condemned, disarmed, destroyed, powerless. So there is no fear in our hearts, Satan or any of his demonic spirits. And secondly, we have complete mastery and dominion over the devil. We need to be convinced about this. Look 10, verse 19, again, family scripted Jesus said, I give you authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will by any means hurt you. So in that conflict against the enemy, Jesus assured us nothing will by any means hurt us. So we are not expecting the enemy to harm us, hurt us, or succeed in hurting us in any way as we go. So there is no fear. Oh, if I go against the devil, he's going to come and trouble me, trouble me. No, Jesus said nothing will by any means hurt you, harm you. So we are confident in that. And we are confident we have seated the right kind of the Father, in Christ, in the heavenly places, far above all principality and dominion of Satan. And all these demonic parts are way beneath our feet, way beneath us. Then when we are going into spiritual warfare, we are not trying to gain victory, but we are here to enforce victory. That means the enemy is doing something that we have the authority and the power to dismantle, to destroy. And Jesus has already authorized us. So think about this in Matthew 28, 18 and 19. Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth is given to him. So all authority on earth belongs to Christ. We are the body of Christ. So that means the body of Christ is carrying all authority on earth. So when we are engaging in spiritual warfare, going against the enemy, we are coming from a place of having all authority on our side. Satan has no authority. We have all authority because we are the body of Christ, the one to whom all authority on earth is given. So we are not contending for victory. We are here to enforce the victory in the lives of the people for whom Jesus Christ has died. So Jesus, for the people whom we are contending for, Christ has already died for them. His shed is blood for them. The blood of Christ has been sprinkled for all nations. So we are now here to enforce that. And so, okay, devil, these people no longer belong to you. Christ's shed is blood. And so we are calling them out of the prison. We are opening up the prison door so they can come out. We are bringing in the light of the gospel so they can transition from darkness to light. So that's what we are doing. Number four, from our side, we have to keep all entry points closed. So that's our responsibility. That means while I have all authority as a believer, and I know the devil has been defeated, I need to watch over my own life. If I have entry points in my life, then basically if I have sin, ongoing sin in my life, then the enemy is going to use that to enter in. It's like a weak spot or weak point. So that's why the Bible tells us, you know, verse 5, it says, whoever is born of God keeps himself and that wicked one cannot touch him. So there is a prerequisite, so to speak. But I need to keep myself. I need to guard myself. Then the devil can't touch me. But if I'm not doing that, then, of course, the enemy is going to be able to come into some entry point. So if there is personal tribe at sin, if there is strife that is strife with other people, if there is wrong attitudes, bitterness, jealousy, or those all entry points. So we need to really guard our lives and give no place to the devil. Ephesians 4, 27, give no place to the devil as we engage. So we are protected. There's no question about it. But we need to keep all doors closed. So that's something we need to do, part of our preparation. And lastly, we understand that words is how we engage, the words of authority. So Jesus said, you bind on earth and you release on earth. But how are we going to bind and lose? It's not like we are tying people up and untying people with ropes. That's not it. It's our words. Through the words we speak, we are exercising our authority. And through the words we speak, we are able to bind and lose. So we are engaging in that in that manner. Through the words we speak, words of authority, we engage with the enemies. We must understand the importance of words. So I would present these five aspects as part of our preparation for us as leaders, as well as for the people. They need to be well established in this and these truths before we lead them out into battle. It's like Ephesians 4, we need to get the civilians. We need the civilians need to be trained soldiers before they are sent out into battle. We don't just send civilians straight into battle. So this training has to happen. And so we can't do this overnight. Over time, we slowly equip the people, they gear them up, we get them ready for getting into battle. And then we step into exercising spiritual authority. But before we get in the next section, are there any questions in terms of preparation for spiritual battle? Are we all together on this? Any questions on that? Preparing people to get into spiritual warfare. So initially, you have your core team and then you have people coming in to the pioneering work. Now, let's say the church has, you know, could be people, 100 people, whatever. Now, you need to get them all ready before we can say, let's get into praying for the lost and that will take time. And we need to prepare them. Any questions on that? Okay. All right. So let's just move forward. So how do we actually engage? So first, praise and worship is very, very important. So we know we are praising and worshiping God, but that is actually preparing us and is also preparing the spiritual environment for the exercise of authority. Now, praise and worship is towards God, but our praise and worship towards God has an effect on the enemy. What kind of an effect does it have? I'll just quickly highlight some of these things. Maybe we'll pick this up again next week. We know some 8 words too. Jesus said, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, you ordain praise that you might stop the enemy or you might steal the adventure. Jesus quotes that in Matthew 21 and verse 16. So the praise that is coming out of the mouths of God's people, which is going up towards God is actually an expression of strength against the powers of darkness that stops the powers of darkness. So our praise is going up to God, but us praising God is our strength against the enemy to stop the enemy. So think about it, right? We are worshiping God, we are praising God, we ordain praise out of our mouths, God is ordain praise. It is ascribing praise and glory and magnifying God, but our praising and magnifying God is stopping, it is stopping the enemy, putting a pause to his work. A great example to look at it is in 1 Samuel chapter 5 verse 1 through 4. I'll mention this here, we'll pick this up again next week. You see this Ark of the Covenant, it was captured by the Philistines and they took it into their temple and placed it in the temple of their God, Dagon. So you don't have the Ark of the Covenant, it is a symbol of God's presence among his people. It is a box that they carried, that had everything, whatever God wanted there for it. And that was a symbol of God's presence. Now the Philistines took it into the temple of their God and put it there. Very interesting, the next day they come, they find the statue or Dagon falling to the ground. It's symbolic but very powerful. So they come, put it back up, I say they come and they find it broken. Then they realize, hey, this Ark of the Covenant, this box which we have brought in here is so powerful. It's knocking down our God, Dagon. So they took it out. So it's giving us a very powerful method, the Ark of the Covenant, symbol of God's presence among his people. What does it do? It dislocates demonic powers. Psalm 22 verse 3, that when we praise God, his throne is established among us. Our praise and our worship is, thank God we come to be enthroned. And God is enthroned, the enemy is dethroned, the enemy is displaced, is dislocated. So we pause here, we'll talk a little bit more about this next week to pick up from here. So the first step towards exercising spiritual authority is just the presence of God's praise and worship established in that. So we as the people, whether it's 2, 3, 5, 10, or 50, 100 or whatever number, through our praise and worship, we are establishing the presence of God. Okay, we'll pause here. I will pick this up next week and go forward. Christopher, your question please. Yes, Pastor, thank you. So just to give us some guidance on how you would explain this point to an unbeliever, this point number 3, you mentioned about, we're not contending for the tree by year to enforce the tree. Jesus already obtained for us and Satan and all his demons have been cast expelled of condemn, disarmed, and destroyed. And yet, he is existing, he's operating right now. In the world. So just how would we explain that? I mean, if Satan is already impressed and destroyed, then how is he still operating right now? Okay, so we can look at it this way and I'll try to be very brief in this one moment. I'm just thinking, I've done this, I explained this in one moment theory. Let me just do that up here. Just give me a minute. I am trying to look for that. And no, I will answer your question. I just, I'm looking for this. All right, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. All right, I'm sorry, I was just looking for that, but I kind of addressed it and I can't remember which part it is. So anyway, so here's the thing. So Christ finished the work on the cross. Those who have received his finished work can now walk in what he has done. But those who have not yet heard or submitted to his launch ship are, so whatever he has provided is provided for the whole world. So you can think of the people, all people in two groupings. Those who have come under the Lordship of Christ, and those who have not come under the Lordship of Christ, whatever Christ did on the cross, he did it for every human person, every person in the world. But those who come under his Lordship have the privilege of walking in what he has completed. But when they don't come under the Lordship of Christ, the provision is there, but they cannot enjoy the provision, which means that these enemy, although he's defeated, still has a right of access over their lives. And so a disarmed, defeated enemy still extends influence over them when it doesn't need to happen. It shouldn't be happening. But the enemy disarmed, they don't know it, and they have not taken the step to come out of his weak, so he's much weaker than he actually is, but they've not taken the step to come under the Lordship of Christ. The same thing with the believer. If a believer does not know what is his in Christ, the enemy is able to extend influence. Now the influence the devil exerts over us is mainly through deception, is mainly through untruth. So it's not like he's so powerful, but he uses lies and deception to gain influence. That's it. So his deceptions are what defeat people. But when we come under the Lordship of Christ, we can then expose his deceptions for the truth and walk in victory and the thought of it. That okay? It's a very quick answer, but maybe we can pick it up next week and get further into it. If you just remind me at the start of the class, we can do that. Yeah. So let's just pray together and we will wrap up for today, but we will probably start with the question from Christopher next week. I'm trying to understand this, and I'll probably also point to the sermon that we had done some time back. Oh, thank you, Karun. I think that's what I was looking for. So you have a look at that and we will pick this up as well. Okay? Thank you. Could somebody close in prayer, please? I don't know if I can pray. I'll pray, sir. Go ahead, Mange. Yeah, we're just grateful Lord for this time, Lord. We are grateful Lord for the knowledge of wisdom, Lord, and knowing that even though the kairos moment hasn't arrived yet, but you have the victory. You have won all for us, Lord, and you've commissioned us, Lord, to go and bear witness of what you've done, Lord, so that the world may know you, the people might be set free, so that your kingdom may go forward, Lord. We pray for that as we pass here today, Lord, let your Holy Spirit continue teaching us, Lord, because let's continue bringing forth new revelation, Lord, so that what we learn, Lord, may stick in our heart, bear fruit, and may be good steward and good witnesses of what you've done and what you've called us to do. In your mighty name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. I appreciate it. We'll meet again soon. God bless. Bye now.