 Since the very beginning, it has always been about the beginning. There is a great power struggle in the heavenly realm. This is not to say that Christ is not ultimately victorious. Of course, the enemy is defeated. But in your life, in the lives of those around the world, there is a struggle for influence between the sin nature, between demonic forces. Of course, we also know that the Holy Spirit is resisting this darkness with this marvelous light. It's light against darkness, heaven against hell. And in this war, we have been placed, whether we like it or not, whether we believe that or not, whether we want to participate in that or not, we are a part of this war. Now, there's two extremes that Christians often fall in. One extreme is spiritual ignorance, where they live as though the enemy does not exist and therefore leave themselves wide open to demonic attack. On the other side, some believers are so obsessed with demonic powers that they live under the belief that the enemy has more power than he actually does. I want to give you sober, biblically grounded truth that will help to open your spiritual eyes and cause you to see the dynamics of the spirit that are at play every single day in your life. Every action you choose, every thought you think, every word you speak is somehow affecting the spiritual realm around you. It's always been about dominion. The Bible says in Acts chapter 26, verse 18, to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God's people who are set apart by faith in me. Now here the scripture is very clearly telling us that once we belong to a particular kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of hell, everyone who does not know Christ, whether they want to admit that or not or whether they even believe in God or not, it doesn't matter. Everyone who does not belong to Christ, everyone who has not been born again, they are under the power of the kingdom of darkness. That's the influence under which they live their lives. And many of them, in fact, I should say most of them, do so without even realizing that they have an enemy in the spiritual realm who hates them and wants them to never have anything to do with God. So he's constantly distracting them, constantly tempting them, constantly confusing them, doing whatever he can to widen that gap between this generation and the presence of God. You and I have been taken from that kingdom. We've been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and we've been placed in the kingdom of light. If you believe that, I want you to declare it right now in the comment section. Write these simple words, I belong to Jesus. Come on, if that's your confession, if that's what you know deep within your spirit, if you believe that and you're not ashamed of that, I want you to write those simple words, I belong to Jesus. Let the enemy read that. Let the people of the world who mock God's people read that. You and I belong to the Lord. In fact, the scripture says in Ephesians 2, 2, now watch the wording here. I love this. Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. So of course we understand that ultimately God has the ultimate say. God is sovereign overall. God is all powerful and the Holy Spirit is more powerful than any demonic spirit that you could ever encounter. Having said that, there is still an influence of darkness in this world that remains specifically because people on an individual basis make decisions to allow for sinful, disobedient, ungodly living to be a practice in their everyday life. And in doing this, they are establishing the reign of Satan. Whenever we sin, whenever we choose darkness, whenever we choose to participate in the works of the flesh, we are working toward establishing a different kingdom. The Bible says in Colossians 1.13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Think about what the scripture is saying here because I think so often we read these verses and they become so familiar to us that we often neglect to see the truths that are truly being communicated through them. Here the Bible is telling us that we've been translated. That means taken from one realm and placed in another. Now I don't know about you, but I have no way to break into the fourth dimension or the fifth dimension or the sixth dimension. I can't even conceive of how to do that. I can't even conceive of how these dimensions might look and that's just talking about physical space. But here in Colossians, the Bible is describing a spiritual realm. In other words, we've been taken from that place of darkness. We've been taken from out under the influence of the enemy and we've now been translated, made new, teleported, completely found in a different realm and we cannot escape that realm. Now we are in the kingdom of light and so it's under this dominion that you and I now live. It's under this power that you and I now operate. So many of us, all of us in fact who are now born again, were once a part of this kingdom of darkness and you might remember those days and you might not want to even think about those days. But sometimes it does us good to remember that Christ has saved us and I'm not talking about necessarily dwelling on the negative aspects of the way that you used to live. I'm talking about having a gratitude for having been rescued from that darkness and now placed in the marvelous light of Christ, the light of the Holy Spirit. You and I are children of light. You and I belong to Jesus. You and I belong to the army of God. You belong to Jesus and therefore you are victorious. Now I know it may not always seem like that. I know you may not always feel that. I know that sometimes exterior circumstances might be communicating to you that you're not victorious. I know that sometimes your emotions cause you to feel like you're living in defeat. But while you might feel like you're defeated, while it might look like you're defeated, while the conditions of this earth may make it sometimes seem like you're defeated, there's a greater truth of which the scripture speaks and this truth could not be clearer. You are victorious. Now that's not just positive talk and I don't want to just say that as a cliche and it's not as though me just saying that to you is somehow going to set you free. But it's when you begin to embrace, understand, and realize, meaning see that truth actually played out in your life and apply to how you live and think, then you begin to walk in a new level, a new realm, a new dominion that was yours all along. Now here's what the Bible says in Revelation chapter 12 verses 7 through 9. We're going to go all the way back to before Adam and Eve. We're going to go all the way back now and look into Revelation. I'm sorry, excuse me, during the time of Adam and Eve because this was actually after the creation of man that this happened. I could do a whole different sermon on the timeline of this but look at this, Revelation chapter 12 verses 7 through 9. This is speaking about the cosmic conflict which took place in the heavenly realm. Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail. Nor was there a place for them in heaven any longer. The great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast down to the earth and his angels were cast down with. Now, this right here is a very interesting portion of Scripture because it gives us a glimpse into something that happened in times past wherein the enemy rebelled against God and think about the persuasive power of the enemy's deception. He was so persuasive that he was able to get convince these angelic hosts who had been created in the light of God who had worshiped the Lord, served under him who had with their very eyes seen the manifestations of God's glorious throne and he was able to get these heavenly beings to side with him, rebel against God and ultimately go into a fallen state. Now, that is persuasion. That is deception of the most lethal kind and that's what the enemy of course does. This is why the Scripture calls him the father of lies because he lied since the beginning and he has been lying since the beginning and all deception that people are under today ultimately stems from the very first lies that the enemy told at the beginning of the creation of the world and I should say closer to that time because it was after the creation of the earth that we know that Satan definitely fell. I say, David, how do you know that it was after the creation of the world that Satan fell? Well, because he was banished to the earth. How could Satan have been banished to the earth if the earth didn't exist? How could Satan and his angels have been thrown out of heaven and then kicked to the planet earth if the planet earth was not in existence yet? So we know and we can conclude because it's obvious that Satan and his fallen angels were actually banished to earth to conclude that earth was already created. Now, this was definitely after the creation of earth also because if you look in Job chapter 38 verses 4 through 7 we see that Satan was among the stars singing over the creation of the earth. So then, we know that Satan fell sometime after the creation of the earth and it had to be after the creation of man because Genesis 131 says that when God looked at creation he saw that it was good. The Lord would not have looked at the creation of the world and have seen a devil running around tempting people and said, ah, it is good, it's perfect, it's complete, it's lacking nothing. So to recap so far what we've seen Revelation 12, 7 to 9 makes it clear that there was a war in heaven Satan thrown out with the angels and then we see of course in Revelation 12 specifically verse 9 that the earth was already created and therefore Satan was banished to it. So we can conclude that Satan's fall was after the creation of the earth backing that point is Job 38 4 through 7 wherein we see the morning stars singing for joy Satan among them over the creation of the earth and then it was definitely after the creation of man and this is key, this is very important I'm establishing this for a purpose because in Genesis 131 after God created everything after six days of creation just before the seventh day of rest God looks at the creation and says it is good meaning it is complete meaning it's lacking nothing so he didn't see anything in creation that was cause for concern so this is proof to us that the devil was not running around tempting people at this point yet and again this is very key to understand the timeline wherein Satan fell so we see that Satan falls again recap after the creation of the earth after the creation of man now on a side note well I believe that before Adam and Eve came to earth there was the existence of the pre-Adamic race and this is a theory that some people who study the Bible believe they believe that before Adam and Eve actually existed an entire population of creations like unto us like a human type creation and that they were ultimately judged and they died in this I think is just based on a lot of misunderstanding of the Hebrew but that aside I think one of the primary reasons why this can be dismissed this idea that there was a pre-Adamic race is because the Bible tells us that death came through sin and that sin came through Adam so then if there was a pre-Adamic race who experienced the judgment of God destruction and death then that reverses what the Bible says and that would mean you have death before the sin of Adam which would contradict a very fundamental teaching of scripture so no I don't believe in the pre-Adamic race so maybe cover that tangent in a separate video in a future time so far we see and I'm going to recap this one more time and then we'll get into why I'm telling you this Revelation 12 7-9 we see the cosmic conflict in heaven Satan banished to earth with his fallen angels so therefore we know the earth was already in existence we also know that man had already been created because if Satan fell before the creation of man God would not have said in Genesis 131 that it was good now watch this Luke 10 if you're taking notes Luke 10 17-19 this is a statement from the Lord the 70 returned with joy saying Lord even the demons are subject to us through your name he said to them I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven look I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you notice I know we see here that serpents and scorpions are synonymous at least in the New Testament sense with demonic powers so then Mark chapter 16 makes a little more sense you're not actually handling physical literal serpents in fact it's talking about commanding authority over the forces of darkness so that's Luke 10 17-19 so Jesus the son of God bore witness to this now if we look at a very interesting portion of scripture and this is found in Isaiah chapter 14 bring the chat up real quick Tim I want to know if I'm going too fast because there's a lot to cover tonight how's the chat doing just give me a thumbs up if you guys are still with me also if you're watching on the replay let me know so far how you're doing and I'm not meaning to come across condescending at all I really do want to make sure I'm going at a pace that's accommodating for everybody watching this so someone says yes I'm taking notes and there's just a slight delay here so I see some of the scriptures that's always very good when you put the scriptures in there for them and I'm waiting to see just kind of that response to make sure that we're all on the same page here and I know that there's about a 30 seconds to 60 second delay so far Steve before just real briefly would you say the chat is engaged in this they're following along okay I'm actually seeing the thumb so never mind Steve I'm seeing the thumbs up okay I'm going fast because there's a lot to cover and I'm also very excited about this topic okay watch this now so again recap Satan falls he falls to the earth so the earth exists God calls the earth good so Satan could not have fallen until after the creation of man watch this now watch this Isaiah 14 12 through 16 and I'm telling you this is going to open your eyes and when I first saw this in scripture it was like a spiritual epiphany here watch this Isaiah 14 12 through 16 now this portion of scripture that we're about to read was a prophetic message of warning to the king of Babylon so Isaiah the prophet is speaking to the king of Babylon and he's giving him a prophetic warning however that prophetic warning has a double meaning and what the prophet is doing is he's using Satan as a comparison for the king so there's a parallel that's being drawn and in that comparison or I should say through that comparison the prophet Isaiah is making this message of warning or speaking this message of warning so then when we read Isaiah 14 12 through 16 it's addressed yes to the king of Babylon but still the prophet is comparing the king of Babylon to Satan so he's using Satan's nature Satan's past certain aspects of what Satan did to reveal to the king of Babylon this is what you're like how would you like a prophetic word like that you know we all want prophetic words prophesy good future prophesy favor prophesy breakthrough imagine somebody prophesying this is why you're like Satan but that's exactly what Isaiah told the king here watch this now so he's talking to the king of Babylon remember though there's double meaning here and so he says how art thou fallen from heaven elucifer son of the morning well there we know right away that this is a direct message yes to the king of Babylon but that there's a comparison being drawn here in the spirit to Satan and in that comparison in that prophetic parallel we are given a glimpse into the nature of Satan how art thou cut down to the ground which did us weak in the nations for thou has said in thine heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the most high there's such pride such ego such hatred here yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit they that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider these saying is this the man that made the earth tremble and did shake kingdoms so I think that phrase right there closing up toward the end of verse 16 is more so about the king of Babylon than it is about Satan I've heard it commonly preached at that portion is talking about Satan and that one day we're all going to look at him and go is this the one who made the nations tremble well I think right about there is where the parallel ended and he went right back to talking to the king of Babylon but still we see here that there was something in Satan's heart that caused him to become so filled with pride that he actually thought that he could ascend to the heights of heaven and usurp the heavenly throne from God and that is probably the highest form of arrogance now you'll notice that throughout history certain rulers certain kings will act out in the antichrist spirit although they'll act out in a satanic way so I mean think about the fact that the antichrist spirit can always be identified through several things one it begins to push out the conversation of God in the public square so the antichrist spirit will always push out the thought of God the memory of God the moral codes brought to us by God and the antichrist spirit will try to slowly push that out of the public square of conversation and also you'll notice with the antichrist spirit is it seems to reach its peak with the persecution of God's people the nation of Israel so you'll see that spirit in operation it comes and goes throughout history and many rulers in fact begin to adapt themselves to the thinking of Satan here but ultimately the power behind these rulers in the earth who do things that are antichrists who try to push the gospel message out or persecute God's people or bring in depravity at a more advanced rate these individuals these movements these systems always have Satan work behind them and so you'll notice that pattern but here Isaiah says that Lucifer had this ego within him this pride within him that made him truly genuinely believe that he could take God's place now watch this if we go to Ezekiel you'll see a similar message okay so the way that Isaiah prophesied to the king of Babylon so Ezekiel prophesied to the king of terror and in doing so giving us that prophetic parallel we also catch a glimpse into the nature of Satan but this particular portion of scripture is quite interesting because all scripture is interesting but this is especially interesting in terms of this topic specifically because now not only are we getting a glimpse into the nature of Satan watch this we're getting a glimpse into Satan's past not in his fallen state in his glorified state watch this now and by glorified state I don't mean that he's like unto Christ I mean that he was in his heavenly being his heavenly body his heavenly state before he had rebelled against God so watch this Ezekiel chapter 28 verses 12 to 14 same thing message to a king with the parallel that gives us insight into the nature of Satan or as it goes specifically with this portion of scripture insight into Satan's past son of man seeing this funeral song for the king of Satan give him this message from the sovereign lord you were the model of perfection and here's where the parallel begins full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty you were in Eden the garden of God ordained an anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian you had access watch this now you had access to the holy mountain of God walked among the stones of fire okay I don't think the king of tear was able to be in the garden of Eden I don't think he walked among the stones of fire I don't think he was upon God's holy mountain but here we see in the scripture of course a glimpse into Satan's past so again this is a prophetic parallel you were blameless and all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you this right here there's this particular portion okay so we see here first of all that Satan at one point was a model of perfection he had both wisdom and beauty and these are things that society often teaches are mutually exclusive to one another and Satan had both he had wisdom and beauty he was he was an angelic being he was walking among the heavenly stones of fire he was on God's holy mountain and then evil was found and he was in the garden of Eden you were in Eden now this is interesting because we see this as if you will call it the final nail in the coffin of the thought that you know Satan had fallen at any other time we see very clearly here that Satan who walked in the garden watch this not in his fallen state Satan had walked in the garden in his upright state in his heavenly nature so this means let's go back to our timeline now Revelation chapter 12 Satan falls he's banished to the earth so when he falls again the earth is there the morning stars saying and of course you can't be banished to an earth that doesn't exist and then we see Genesis 131 that Satan was not quite in his fallen state after God pronounced that it was good because God would not have pronounced it was good if Satan was in his fallen state watch this Ezekiel 2812-14 makes it clear that Satan in fact was in the garden of Eden before he fell and he had access to the third heaven and the earthly realm imagine that an angelic being that can go back and forth between the two realms and he was probably likely a messenger serving God caring out about the father's business but then watch this this has to mean this has to mean that his fall came after the creation of man why man tended in the garden I'm going to tell you why this is important but I want it to establish those biblical truths because when I tell you this it may be hard to believe but think about this see the picture with me here you have this angelic being filled with beauty and wisdom and light and he's considered in the state of perfection and then this being who by the way does not receive the same authority as God does not receive the same wisdom as God is not deserving of the worship that God deserves he watches this now and that means as an angelic being Lucifer the morning starts saying he watches God create watch this now you have to follow this he watches God create and he sees God form the world he sees the six days of creation and then he sees on that sixth day that God created man watch this now what did Satan say within his heart before he ascended in his mind what was it that caused him to think that he could be like God where on earth where in heaven where in the cosmos did Satan even get something that resembled the idea that he could be like God where did he get this notion that a created being could have the image of the creator genesis 126 here's the answer this is why Satan fell this is why he rebelled this is what angered him this was the triggering event and most importantly this is why the enemy hates you and this is why you're a threat to the kingdom of hell this right here where did he get this idea I'll be like the most high genesis 126 and God said let us make man in our image wow after our likeness and let them not Satan not the angelic host let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth think about what's being given to man right in front of Satan and over all the earth and over every creeping that creepeth upon the earth this is why I think it's so important that we understand the timeline of Satan's fall could not have been before the earth was created could not have been before the creation of the garden of Eden because Satan was in his heavenly form in that garden we read that in Ezekiel so then Satan sees what God does and the reason Satan wanted to be like God was because he saw that idea displayed when God created you and I the reason Satan said I must ascend the reason Satan rebelled was because of his jealousy for what God gave you I want to say that again the reason Satan rebelled was because of his jealousy for what God gave to you it was jealousy I want to show you how this battle for dominion was carried on after Satan's fall and then I want to show you how that battle for dominion is happening it's ongoing even to today and then I want to show you that you are victorious in Christ again you may not believe that or fill that but this is important that you hear this because that's why the enemy lies to you He wants you to see who you are in Christ. He wants you to go from deliverance to deliverance. He doesn't mind that. He wants you to go on struggling your whole life, thinking that you're always going to be under attack because, oh, I'm a threat and that's why I'm always miserable. Well, no, that's not the way God designed you to live. And I think sometimes we become addicted to our struggle because in our struggles, we sometimes have validation. Some of us are validated by the fact that we're always in a struggle because we imagine that means we're more of a threat to the kingdom of hell. But it's only when you come out of that struggle and I'm not talking about exterior circumstances or tragedies or things outside of your control. I'm talking about victory in the spirit. I'm talking about joy despite what goes on around you. I'm talking about peace despite what goes on around you. Love despite how others treat you and so forth. But before I show you all that, I want to encourage you now. If this is your first time watching one of our live streams, we are spirit filled, Bible based, Jesus centered. You're gonna get topics of the supernatural covered in a biblically balanced, biblically grounded way. We do live streams, we release content. We also show footage and live streams of the Holy Spirit's power in action from our events that we do all around the world. So if you haven't done so already, make sure you leave a like whether you're watching live or replay. And also make sure you're subscribed. I think like 60% of you who watch encounter TV on a regular basis, 60% have yet to subscribe. So do that now and make sure you click that notification bell when you do. Now, let's talk about the rebellion that took place after the fall of Satan and then this change in dominion that began to happen, these dynamic struggles that began to take place at this point. So watch this now. Put yourself, I know this is gonna sound weird, but put yourself in Satan's shoes. Don't really, but hypothetically, okay? At least from the philosophical standpoint. In his mind, he just lost a heavenly position. He just lost a beautiful nature. He just became a lowly creature in his mind. Now he's banished to the earth. Watch this, how frustrating for Satan. How frustrating for Satan that it was his jealousy over the dominion that God gave you in the earth that caused him to rebel in the first place. And now as a consequence, as a punishment for him rebelling against God, God banishes him to the earth where guess who has dominion in the earth? Man. So you can see how that would just urk the enemy to no end, how frustrated, how angry he would be. Those would be like hot coals on his head. That the very ones he was jealous of, God put him under. And so he's jealous of man. I'm sure he looked down on man. I mean he had to. He must have looked down on man and said, well, why not me? God, I was your first, I have wisdom and beauty and here's man in the earth. Why didn't you give me dominion in the earth? Why didn't you give me your likeness? Why didn't you give me your image? He becomes jealous of man, he sees what's happening in the earth and then because of that jealousy he rebels, he's sent to the earth and then ironically he's placed under the very same he considered himself above. So Satan's pride puts him there. Now Satan knew that he could not again ascend to the heavenly place. Satan knew that there wasn't a chance of him regaining his heavenly position. He was stuck in the earth in a new form in a fallen state under the dominion of man. And then that means his only hope was to get man to fall into sin because Satan had already learned the path to a fallen state. It was rebellion. And so Satan looks at the situation and says to himself, well, I can't ascend again, but I can get man to descend therefore taking his dominion. And of course, fulfilling those jealous thoughts that he had had against us since we were first created. Genesis two, 15 through 17. The Lord God placed man in the garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, you may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat this fruit, you are sure to die. Now let me go off on a bit of a tangent here because some might be wondering, well, why would God create a tree and then tell Adam and Eve not to eat from it? Why not just not place a tree there in the first place? And then others might even add, well, if it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then is it really fair to judge Adam and Eve for eating from it? Since before they ate from it, they didn't know the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral, godly and ungodly? Well, no, this phrase right here, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is what you would call a merism, M-E-R-I-S-M, a merism. Now, the tree that was placed in the garden was not a literary device in the book of Genesis. It wasn't a metaphor for something. That tree was a literal tree with leaves and fruit. And the fruit that grew on this tree, this is astounding to me, literally gave Adam and Eve vast amounts of knowledge. Now, this title for the tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, might be a little bit misleading to some of us who don't understand exactly what that phrase means or what a merism does. Well, a merism is a rhetorical term for a pair of contrasting words or phrases. And it's used to express totality or completeness. Now, let's look at some examples of this. If I say, you know what? I lost my wallet and I searched near and far from it, for it. You're gonna know that by the phrase near and far, I meant everywhere. If I stand up in front of a group of people and I say, ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking to everyone. Well, nowadays some might disagree with that, but we know biblically speaking. When I say, ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking to what? Everyone, right? So that's two opposite words to express totality. Ladies and gentlemen, everyone, near and far, everywhere. And so the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a merism used to express, again, totality or completeness. In this case, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil simply meant a tree that gave them vast amounts of knowledge. So we can be rid of this notion, this idea that leads to the line of questioning that asks, well, if Adam and Eve didn't know right from wrong, how could God have judged them? They did know right from wrong. You know how I know? They knew God. And God ultimately is the objective standard for all moral values and moral obligations. And so Adam and Eve, in knowing God, they understand right and wrong. They understand good and evil. They understand light and darkness. And this tree was simply a tree that grew fruit that literally gave them vast amounts of knowledge. And so Satan, seeing the opportunity, tempts them. Genesis three, one through seven. I want you to go there now. Or if you're taking notes, Genesis three, one through seven. Now watch this here. Watch how the enemy works very subtle at first and then very direct. Watch this. The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? So notice first that the enemy will question God's word. He doesn't always begin by contradicting it outright because if the enemy were to contradict the word of God directly from the offset, then you and I would have defense mechanisms that would be triggered and we might catch that too soon for his temptation to work or his deception to work. But in this case, what he does first is he says, Did God really say you must not eat from the fruit of any of the trees of the garden? Well, that's a question. First he's questioning what God had said and therefore getting Eve to second guess what she knew she had heard from the Lord. Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. The woman replied, it's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said you must not eat it or even touch it. If you do, you will die. Now some have observed that that phrase or even touch it was added by Eve. We don't know, maybe God did tell her that and it was just something that wasn't recorded. That wouldn't be a contradiction. That would just be something that wasn't told to us but told to us in this particular verse. But it could very well be that God never said that if they touch it, they would die and that Eve is just adding that herself. If that is the case, then this is demonstration that Eve wasn't really paying attention and therefore didn't really know God's word. And so because of that ignorance, the enemy's able to call into question what God has said and before he will contradict, he will question. He asks first, did God really say, watch the result here? You will not die, the serpent replied to the woman. So now we have the direct contradiction. So first, there's this conversation. There's this debate. There's this questioning. Kind of like the deconstruction movement these days, isn't it? First, there's a questioning. First, there's a conversation. There's a revisiting of what may or may not have been said. And once that doubt has been planted, then there is room for the direct contradiction of God's word, which would not have otherwise worked by the way if the line of questioning wasn't first introduced. The Bible goes on to say, God knows, and this is the enemy lying now, God knows, that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it. And you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. The woman was convinced. In other words, the woman was deceived. So before she could be tempted, she had to be deceived. Deception is the root of all temptation. And so once she was convinced, then look what happens. Once she believed the lie, then she saw that the tree was beautiful. Why? She's no longer looking at what God had said. That's moved out of the way now. There's a lie that contradicts that. Her vision, her spiritual vision, has now been clouded by deception. And she's no longer seeing God's word and truth. She's seeing the sin. But she wouldn't be looking at the sin if it weren't for the deception that preceded it. Now, the woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. There's a whole breakdown we could give you there. I'll give you a hint, lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, pride of life, another study for another time. Let's continue though. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it too. At that moment, their eyes were open and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Now look, it's not that their nakedness was intrinsically sinful from the beginning or that it was evil unto itself. No, what actually had happened is the moment they sinned against God, their physical bodies were downgraded into a fallen state. So it's not necessarily, and again, we have to be careful and the wording is very clear but we have to look also at the original language. But it's not necessarily, if you begin to look at this, it's not necessarily that they were ashamed directly at their nakedness, but they were ashamed at their nakedness because of the fact that they were in a fallen state now. And they weren't ashamed of it before. It's not like they didn't know they were naked or they didn't know they had bodies. They knew they had bodies, of course they did. But that physical being that they had went from a glorified state to a fallen state and then they looked and they could immediately see the results of sin in their physical body. Think about that. That's why they felt shame. Imagine God creates you, gives you a physical body that's glorious and heavenly and perfect and you use it to get around the earth and then all of a sudden you do something that degrades the body that God gave you and you can see it immediately. That's why they felt shame. They immediately saw the difference in their physical being. And so they hide, we know the story and then the Bible goes on to say in Genesis three, then the Lord God said, look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. And again, that's the marism. So having vast amounts of knowledge. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life and eat it? Then they will live forever. So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed the mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden and he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Now watch this. Remember, there's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That tree gave them vast amounts of knowledge. The tree of life literally gave them eternal life. So many people think that God was being cruel in banishing them from Eden and not allowing them to eat at the tree of life. Some speculate, well, if Adam and Eve had experienced this fallen state, why wouldn't God allow them to eat from the tree of life and therefore restore them to their glory? Well, no, that's not what would have happened. In fact, it was God's mercy that kicked them out of the garden. It was God's mercy that kept them from the tree of life. Why? Because we're a man. You got to catch this now. We're a man to eat of the tree of life. Then he would have become a creation in a fallen state with vast amounts of knowledge who lived forever. Think about the destructive combination that would be. And so God and his mercy keeps them from the tree of life. Now I truly believe. Some say, well, why would God put the tree in the garden in the first place? I believe that man was to eventually gain this knowledge, but he couldn't discipline himself and therefore couldn't handle it. And ultimately, primarily the issue was that man had sinned against what God had said or what God said not to do. And so Adam and Eve now are banished. God's mercy keeps them out of the garden. And Satan to this day is still seeking dominion. Now remember at the top of the broadcast that I told you that you've been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Here is where you begin to apply these truths. So now you understand, okay, wait a minute. I was created as a partner of God and this is not to say that God needs us and please don't hear what I'm not saying. I don't want anyone to go around saying, well, David Hernandez teaches the little God's theory. No, no, I don't use that wording. Some people use the wording little God's. They don't literally mean that we're God's but they mean that we're like reflections of God. Like God is the source of light. We are the reflections of the light. That's what they mean. But using words like that is cause for confusion. It makes people believe that you believe what you don't believe. So I don't use language like that. We are not little God's. There's only one God, right? And we are not him, okay? And so what is true though, is that we have a nature that is given to us by God. That is probably the safer way to say it. We're not God. We don't know all things. There's only one God who's worthy of worship. The answer is not ourselves. There's nothing we can look to within ourselves that would give us anything that's of any benefit. We were depraved and sin. And now because of Christ's sacrifice, we become the righteousness of Christ. Yes, we understand that, okay? So I am not saying anything near that. And I wanna be very, very clear on that because you guys know I wanna make sure there's a balanced approach to everything that I teach you. So I did say though that God wants you to be his partner. Am I saying God needs you? No. Am I saying God couldn't do it without you? No. What I am saying is that God has chosen to, at least in the earth, use man as a partner for dominion. Just within this globe, just within the planet earth, that's how God has it set so far. Why? Because we're created in his image. So I would liken it to that analogy that I mentioned a moment ago. God is the light. Now we are not the source of light, but we can become reflections. But ultimately he's the source. I think that's a better, safer, clearer way to express this. And as I said, others have tried to express that sentiment in the past, maybe for a little bit of shock value, they worded it that way. But I don't know anyone who literally believes in the idea that we're literal gods. But go on now to Proverbs 14-34. So I hope that's clear. Proverbs 14-34, righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Why does righteousness exalt a nation? What is it that it does? Well, when a nation is generally speaking on a path of righteousness, and we understand that no nation is completely pure, because no human is completely pure. But when a nation is generally speaking on the correct path, what begins to happen is, righteousness is the will of God and the earth. And as a nation begins to conform to what is more like the will of God and the earth, then and only then do we begin to see the influence of that righteousness begin to affect everything around us. Like for example, God would have spared Sodom had there been enough righteous people in the land. So your righteousness is the preservation of nations. Let's just start there for a second. I'm talking about being reflections of God's light. I'm talking about being his partners in the earth. I'm talking about exercising Christ's authority, not our authority. That's a mistake to say I have authority. I don't have authority. Christ has authority. And I use that authority vicariously through faith in his name, not faith in my name or what I've done. It's faith in Christ. But do you realize that you living righteously establishes the dominion of God and the earth? You living righteously does more good than you could ever possibly imagine. You might wonder how modeling a good Christian testimony in front of your unsafe family might do any good, especially when you see all exterior signs indicating to you that their hearts are just getting harder. You might wonder why it's okay that others continue to live in sin and seemingly prosper. Will you at times bite your tongue, reject evil, do what's right, live in integrity, and sometimes seem to suffer for it? Sometimes doing the right thing will seem to put you in the wrong place. That's just a reality that is a part of life. And sometimes you might wonder, does my purity matter? Does my integrity matter? Does keeping my word actually matter? Because it seems to me, and this may be what you might be thinking, it seems to me that no matter how righteously I live, people aren't getting saved. It seems to me that no matter how I live in integrity, no one seems to notice. I want to remind you that even if nobody else sees it, even if nobody else acknowledges it, even if those you're praying to come to the cross never come to the cross, at least according to your witness. Like maybe you haven't seen it, maybe you go home to glory before they do, especially in the case of parents and grandparents praying for children and grandchildren. That might be the case. But I want to remind you that your righteousness matters. You may think you're just one person at that school. You may think you're just one person at the job. You may think you're just one person in your family who's continually mocked for living right. Your righteousness matters. The purity in your life speaks volumes. And every day that you choose to live in the light of God, you are establishing that dominion in the earth. Every day that you choose holiness over sin, prayer over entertainment, the word over social media, evangelism over shyness, every day that you choose the kingdom of light over the kingdom of darkness, every day that you choose heaven over hell, every day that you choose to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, even when you want to listen to the voice of your emotions, your own thoughts and demonic voices that are attacking you. When you choose to live in that way, every step you take, every action you decide upon, every thought you think, every word you speak is light that is going out into the earth and dissolving the darkness around you. Every decision that you make unto the glory of God is ground taken for the kingdom of God. I wanna say that again. Every decision that you make unto the glory of God is ground taken for the kingdom of God. You may not understand how all the dynamics play out. You may not see how important of a role you play. You may not even see how your prayers are having the effect that you want them to have. But if you live righteously, that righteousness is the preservation of a nation. God would have spared Sodom if there were just enough righteous in the land. Be that righteous one when no one is looking. Be that righteous one, even when you think you're the only one living righteously. Be that righteous one who chooses integrity even when everyone else seems to be benefiting off of deception. Be the righteous one because God is looking. Be the righteous one because heaven counts on it at least for dominion in the earth. And this truly is the mystery of the kingdom. John chapter 18 verse 36. Jesus answered, my kingdom, if this is encouraging you let me know, chat live or replay. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world. Now many have tried to use this particular verse to imply that for some reason God doesn't want us to have influence in the earth. But in fact, it's just the opposite. It's precisely because his kingdom is not of this earth that we have the power over the things of this world. So Jesus did not mean that we mustn't establish dominion. He meant that the nature of the kingdom, the essence of the kingdom is simply not like the essence of the world. That's all Jesus is saying. He's not saying, oh, the kingdom of God should have no influence in the world. Oh, don't worry about doing anything in the earth. Just look forward to heaven. Oh, don't worry about working toward expanding my will in the earthly realm. Just look forward to the day that you're with me in eternity. That's not at all what Jesus is saying. When he says my kingdom is not of this earth, he's simply saying it's not of the same essence. It's not of the same spirit. It doesn't have the same goals. But he said nothing about it impacting the world. In fact, he says just the opposite. Matthew, chapter six, verses nine and 10. This is Jesus instructing us, so then this is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, recognize who God is. He's your father. Recognize who's you are. I'm a child of God. So prayer begins with identity. Our Father in heaven, recognize your citizenship. I belong in heavenly places. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Prayer begins with worship. Worship and praise, that's the entry point. That's how we enter his gates. It's with praise. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Well, I suppose someone might want to tell Jesus, well, Jesus, you know the kingdom is not of this earth. You know who says that Christians who don't want to do the work of the kingdom. You know who says that people who are so married to worldly culture, that they'll never step out against that culture. People who are so afraid of the opinions of men that they value their reputations above the expansion of the kingdom of heaven. Look, when you expand the kingdom, people are gonna call you bigots. When you expand the kingdom, people are gonna call you closed minded. I like to say, yes, I am closed minded. I am narrow minded. I'm narrow minded because Jesus said narrow is the way. And so some people are so open minded that they're really falling for anything. You and I need to be focused, laser focused on expanding that kingdom in the earth. So Jesus here tells us, your kingdom come, come where? Your will be done, done where? On earth as it is in heaven. Does this sound to you like Jesus is telling us, hey, don't bother? My kingdom is not of this world. Leave them as they are. Leave it as it is. Don't strive, don't struggle. Don't war, don't try. Don't persist, don't pray. Don't do anything to expand dominion of heaven in the earth. No, that's not what he's saying at all. Again, looking at John 18, 36, all the Lord is really saying here is that the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of heaven are of a different essence. And in fact, in Matthew chapter six verses nine through 10, it could not be clearer that the Lord wants us to bring about the influence of the heavenly realm here in the earthly realm. Now Luke chapter 17 verses 20 and 21 says something else about the kingdom. Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God does not come with observation. In other words, it's not something you could physically see. Nor will they say see here or see there, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you. So this is not a contradiction by any means because the kingdom of God is here, there, and within. Some people look at John 18, 36. My kingdom is not of this world. They say, oh, it's only for there. Some people look at Matthew chapter six verses nine through 10 where Jesus says, pray that the will of God be done in earth as it is in heaven. And then people will look at that and say, oh, see, the kingdom is for now. And then some people will look at Luke 17, 20 to 21 and say, no, neither of those, the kingdom is within. The fact of the matter, all of those can be true at the same time. They don't contradict one another. The kingdom is here, there, and within. The kingdom is then and now. The kingdom is active and alive through you and I today. And we're meant to establish it. How do we establish this? Matthew 24, 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. Well, win a soul, change a heart, change a heart, change a life, change a life, change a family, change a family, establish kingdom culture. Now, people often accuse Christians at this point of nationalism. I don't know why. How can we be accused of politics when we don't care for any of the politics of the world? I really don't care. What I care about is the kingdom. That's my view. And some people ask me, Brother David, do you want a Christian nation? Well, think about this. What, by definition, is a Christian nation? A Christian nation is a nation of people who are born again. Well, name me any true believer that can point to someone and say, I don't want them to be born again. So, by definition, a true believer wants everyone to be born again. My friend, I don't want a Christian nation. I want a Christian globe. I don't want a Christian nation. I want a Christian world. The nations of the world belong to the church. The nations of the world belong to the father. And we, as carriers of the kingdom, establishers of dominion. I'm not talking about brick and mortar and power structures. You keep your political games. I'm talking about establishing the kingdom of God in the hearts of people through the message of salvation through Christ Jesus. When you and I minister that message of salvation, their hearts are transformed. And when the heart is transformed, again, you transform that life. That life transforms a family. That family transforms the nation. So, it is in the preaching of the gospel that we expand the kingdom of heaven and therefore establish dominion. Why? Because the more and more people who are born again, the more and more people who are living righteously. The more and more people who are living righteously, the more the dominion of God has expression in the nations of the world. We don't fight with the weapons of the world through political persuasion and armies and war and strong-arming and deceiving and all of that. That's not how we fight our battles primarily. You know how we expand the kingdom? Preach the gospel. So then we expand the kingdom with love and truth. That's how we advance it. This is why, by the way, Ephesians 6 tells us that the shoes are called the shoes of peace. And I found it somewhat ironic that the shoes of peace by which we take territory are called the shoes of peace because in any other context like that of war, when you take territory, it's usually very violent. It's usually very aggressive. But here in the scripture, we see that we do so with peace. In establishing peace, in establishing truth, in establishing the gospel, we're taking back territory from the kingdom of hell. My friend, when we preach the gospel, we're snatching souls from the kingdom of darkness and bringing them into the kingdom of light. This is why I don't understand. I'm just gonna be real with you. This is why I don't understand how Christians can go their whole lives with the woe is me mentality. Now look, I'm gonna sound really insensitive and it's not my intention to be insensitive to anybody's struggles. So let me start by saying this. I acknowledge that we have tragedies and trials. I acknowledge that there are things that have happened to us in the past. There are things that are happening to us now and there are concerns that we have about the future that might negatively affect our mental and emotional well-being. I understand that we've gone through things. I understand that people have done things to us. I understand that in this world we'll have tribulation. But wasn't it the Lord who said, be of good cheer? I have overcome the world. The Christian life is one of victory. If you are not living in victory, you're not living the Christian life. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to believers and I don't say this with any ill intent in my heart nor do I say this in a way that's mocking them. I say this with compassion. I say this with righteous indignation toward the enemy who keeps them bound in lies. You know how many Christians I talk to who come to me, oh brother David, it's all just a struggle. And then when I, I can release a sermon on faith and some will say, well, I don't wanna have faith because God always ignores me. You know whenever I see comments like that, people, oh God always ignores me. Nothing ever happens for me. It's nothing but one struggle to the next. And I'm thinking, my goodness, do you not realize you're the righteousness of Christ? Do you not realize that you're seated in heavenly places with Him? Do you not realize that you're a child of God? Do you not realize that you're loved by God Himself? Do you not realize that nothing can separate you from that love? Don't you realize you've been given the power to trample on the very serpents that are tormenting you? Don't you realize that you be given power against the darkness that tries to shroud you in confusion? Don't you realize that no longer you live but Christ lives in you? My goodness, some Christians are so focused on their own struggles that they forget that there's a whole battle ahead of them. Some Christians will never move past their own struggles with what they think is the enemy when most often it's the flesh. And therefore they wallow in misery, wallow in self pity, constantly tell them things like, God doesn't love me. He's ignoring me. Nothing good ever happens. My friend, you need to get some righteous indignation. You need to get bold and get angry with the enemy. And say, you know what? I'm not gonna believe those lies anymore. I'm gonna believe what the scripture says. So if you wanna have dominion in this world, you wanna begin to take dominion from the enemy, it's gonna begin with taking dominion in yourself. How can you take dominion in the earth if you haven't even had dominion over that sinful habit yet? So rule over yourself first with the fruit of the spirit. Have dominion in your own life. And please do that because some believers are convinced that the entirety, the totality of their Christian walk is all about them not sinning. They imagine that the entirety of their walk with Christ is all about them just barely making it through the struggle that they're facing. My friend, even if you're in a trial, you don't have to struggle internally. Even if you're facing a tragedy, there's strength for joy within you. And so we have to move from personal dominion to relational dominion. So first there's that personal dominion. Experiencing that dominion within, subjecting the flesh, subjecting self-pity, subjecting that negative way, or I should say that ungodly way of looking at yourself, rise above that through believing the truth of the word and partnering with the Holy Spirit in that truth. And then you can move to relational dominion. This is where you begin to lead and influence those around you. And then from there, maybe, maybe, God will give you regional dominion, where you take dominion at the job. You take dominion at the school. I mean, some of us can't help others because we're all too busy focusing on our own problems. I mean, like there's a story of this great evangelist by the name of Smith Wigglesworth. He just got done preaching this revival. I believe, Britt, he was preaching for 36 hours, the revival, 36 hours, yeah. And so what would happen is during these revivals, he would just preach and preach and pray and pray, and they would go all morning, all night, all morning, all night, and then he would leave, go home, take a nap, and then go back to the church service and do it all over again. And they were in such revival that people would come from all over the region, they'd skip work, they'd skip school, it was a part of their everyday life, and they would rotate the crowds. Some would come on Tuesdays, some would come on Wednesday, and so forth. And so Smith Wigglesworth was exhausted. He goes back to his house after the church service in order to rest. I think he was gonna take a nap that lasted maybe a few hours. And so he goes home and he's lying down, and suddenly as the story goes, he begins to sense this really demonic presence in his room. And the moment he senses that demonic presence in his room, he feels pressure at the edge of his bed, pushing the bed down, as if someone was sitting on it. He rolled over, looked at the edge of his bed, and there sitting at the edge of his bed, manifested in physical form, was a demonic entity that was looking right back at him, trying to intimidate him. Smith Wigglesworth looks over at this demonic entity. He says, oh, it's only you. Rolls over and goes back to sleep. Do you know what most Christians would have done in that situation? They would have flipped out, got all paranoid, went and looked for the list of what's an open door in my life. They would have obsessed about the idea that they were being attacked. Some Christians, for some Christians, in fact, for most Christians, it's not even the attack itself of the enemy that's doing the damage. It's the fact that they're so freaked out about and obsessed with the attack of the enemy that they're so distracted and distraught. And so the enemies attacking me, what do I do? Why don't you get some holy boldness and say, oh, it's only you? What can you do to me? Well, they're lying to me. Okay, let them lie. You know the truth. Well, they're trying to intimidate me. What can they do? Let them try. Well, they're trying to wreak havoc in my life. What can they do that's not ordained by God? Ignore it. Now, I'm not saying that we should blatantly ignore all attacks of the enemy, but if you're living righteously, you're filled with the Holy Spirit, you're walking in the will of God. What do you have to fear? Why do we obsess over these things? And so some Christians are so focused on their personal spiritual battle that they never come out of the selfishness of that self-absorbed mentality. So that they may go and settle this free. It's all about the struggle. And in fact, as I was alluding to earlier, some believers, they actually tie their identity in with these attacks. Oh, you know me. I'm the spiritual warrior who's always attacked by Satan. It's one thing after another. I can't catch a break. And there's like this pride attached to that. Well, the enemy's attacking me because he knows I'm a threat. No, he's attacking you because you haven't realized you're a threat to him. And it's in that knowledge. It's in that acknowledgement of knowing that you have the authority. You have the victory that brings you out of the power of that attack. You know the truth and the truth will set you free. You know, I posted this the other day, those who are part of the spirit family or online viewership community, you saw it. I wrote something to the effect of the truth will set you free. If you are bound, then there's a lie you're still believing. And you know, for many of us, that lie is simply this obsession with the idea that the enemy has this power over us that he actually doesn't. And once you become free from that fear and you realize, you know what? No, I have the dominion. I'm seated in heavenly places. The enemy has no right in my life because of what Christ has done. Well, then you begin to walk in victory. But you'll never move to that relational or regional influence or relational and regional dominion. If you yourself don't have dominion over your own feelings, minds, and actions and this is why we must move from personal dominion to relational dominion, affecting those around us, then regional dominion. You become a mature, competent, stable, mature, again, mature, loving, patient, kind, stable minded, fixture in the life of people. Can people look to you to lead? They should be able to because you have the Holy Spirit. Can people look to you for advice that's biblically grounded? They should be able to because you have the Holy Spirit. And so we must take our places as competent, empowered ambassadors of Christ, reflections of a marvelous light within the earth. We are that light within the earth that's reflecting off of the source light which is the Father. And so we go and we take dominion. Do they know at your school that you're someone that can be approached? Do they know at your workplace that you are a stable, spiritual, mature, loving, spirit-filled individual? If not, it's time for some personal dominion and then relational, then regional. And then should God will it? He may give you national dominion and then global dominion. But here's what he'll give to all of us if we're faithful, generational dominion and eternal dominion. Watch this now. Only those who live under God's authority can exercise God's authority. Let me know Chad if you're receiving this. Genesis 1, 27 to 28, we'll read it again. With everything I just told you in mind, let's read this again. So God created human beings. Are you a human being? Okay, so put your name here. I'll put mine. So God created David in his own image. So God created Stephen in his own image. So God created Britain, Pam, Joanne, Sharoom, Merida, Akshita, Adarsh, God has created you. Put your name there. God created in his own image. I want you to write that in the comment with your name. God created your name in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and govern it, rain over the fish and the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground. Watch this now, Psalm, go there, Psalm eight, three through eight. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you set in place, what are mere mortals that you should think about them? Human beings that you should care for them. Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. Now, in the Hebrew you could see this year where that's the Elohim. It's debatable. Some say, well, this is a little lower than the angels. Some say it's a little lower than God. There's evidence for both back and forth. It doesn't matter. The bottom line is we're still below God. That's important. Remember, we're not little gods. We're still below God. He's still the master. He's still the Lord. He's still the head. He's still the only source in him and through him and for him. The only reason we exist, okay? We're totally dependent on him. But look at what the next portion says. Regardless of what you think of that translation, this one's clear here. You gave them charge over everything you made. Wow. Think about that, guys. You gave them charge over everything you made, putting all things, say all things, putting all things under their authority. The flocks and the herds and the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, everything that swims, the ocean currents, all things. After all, after everything that we saw and after the struggle with sin, dominion needed to be restored. So here's the problem. Adam took from a tree and brought forth death. This is why Christ had to come and give his life on a tree to bring forth life. So then, Adam, the first man, ruined everything. We would have probably done the same thing in issues. I heard a preacher say, some of you might find this sacrilegious. I found it a little bit funny. He said, when I get to heaven, I'm gonna beat up Adam and Eve. And I thought that was funny, but the truth is we probably all would have done that. All of us would have done that. And so Adam brought forth sin and sin brought forth death. So Christ had to come as a man. This is partly why. This isn't the only reason why, but this is a part of the reason why Christ had to come as a man to reclaim that dominion as a man so that he could hand it to us. Otherwise, legally, and that's a really awkward way of wording it. I'm not completely happy with that, but in order to be succinct and to the point that's the best I can do for the moment, we should expand on that idea in maybe later times. But in order for God to legally do this, and again, I'm not completely happy with that word, but in order to legally do this, he had to do it as a man. Because we know God is sovereign overall, but you get the gist of it. Watch this, Philippians 2, 9 through 11, therefore God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. To be clear, this is talking about Christ's authority, period, but watch this now. Here's the tie-in, Ephesians 1, 19 through 23. I pray also that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him. This same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realm. Now, he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else. Guys, not above, far above, not only in this world, but in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. So that dominion that originally belonged to man, it's now Christ's or should have been Adam's, right? Verse 23, and the church is his body. It is made full and complete by Christ who fills all things everywhere with himself. Now jump down to chapter two, verse six, watch this now. For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So in other words, you guys couldn't handle the dominion on your own the first time. So now you're gonna handle it by being seated in Christ and only those who are in Christ have the capacity to walk in this sort of dominion. You and I are not victims. You and I are not, if you, we're not barely hanging on. If you see it as, oh, woe is me, everything bad always happens to me. The enemy's always insulting me. Nothing ever goes my way. God doesn't listen to me. Thoughts like that are proof to you, you're in the flesh. I'm just gonna tell you boldly because I love you. You're in the flesh. If that's how you think, you're in the flesh. And again, there's this form of spiritual pride where you know the enemy's just having his way with me because he knows I'm a threat. No, no, he can only have his way with you again because you don't know you're a threat. And even if he could by whatever way cause havoc in your life, he can't cause havoc within you. Why would we surrender our peace? Look, if the martyrs could have love, joy, peace and all the fruits of the spirit while they were being beheaded and killed and eaten by lions and slaughtered and whipped and pulled apart by horses, then you and I could have peace, love, joy and the fruits of the spirit in whatever we face. Why? Because we are victorious. Being victorious doesn't mean bad things never happened to me. Being victorious simply means that when they do, I recognize who's I am and I'm able to have the character and the spiritual strength to endure and stand up under the pressure of those. Stop being so obsessed with your struggle, your problems. I'm not trying to sound insensitive. Look, if you want, I have other messages that are comforting and encouraging and so forth. But this is the other side of the coin now. This is for that believer who wants to start maturing now and who wants to break out of that victim mindset. It's time now. Yes, there's a time for comfort. Yes, there's a time for ministering gently and crying and weeping with those who weep and so forth. But I've seen a lot of people abuse that verse weep with those who weep who basically try to manipulate you into agreeing with everything they want you to say and do and think. So yes, there's a time for comfort. Yes, I have messages that comfort you in trials and we should comfort each other in trials. I'm talking to that person who's just stuck in this long-term mentality of woe is me, all bad things happen to me when they can, no good things happen to me ever. That's got to go. That's not negative thinking, my friend. That's sinful thinking. That's ungodly thinking. That's unbiblical thinking. It contradicts the truth of scripture. I wanna pray the Lord help you do it. So Father, help us to recognize and to seize those opportunities for kingdom expansion. I want you to begin to thank him now. Pray out loud in the Holy Spirit. Come on, I want you speaking in him. Say thank you that I'm seated in heavenly places with Christ. Say thank you that Christ has authority over all things. Come on, begin to think and pray out loud. Jesus, we honor you. Just continue to pray, pray, pray, pray. Live or replay, live or replay. Even if you're watching the replay, this anointing is still flowing. I want you to begin to write in the comments now as we pray. Areas in your life you need to take dominion. Come on. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that you by your Holy Spirit would cause the truth of the word to come to life. Let your word go forth and break mindsets that are not of you. Help us, Father, to see ourselves the way you see us as redeemed in Christ. And let us always remember the victory we have in you no matter what we fail. Lord, give us the courage to look beyond our own struggles, to see the lost hurting and dying one. We might minister freely. We might see others be rescued from the kingdom and brought into the kingdom of marvelous life. In the name of Jesus we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say, amen. Well, here's a chance I want to give you and helping us in a very practical way to expand the kingdom of heaven. If you've been blessed by this ministry, you're blessed by the content, the live streams, the events, the books, whatever, however this ministry has impacted your life. But you're saying, you know what? I've been impacted, I've been helped. And will you help us help more? Take a step forward, be counted upon, do your part, join in the ranks, the remnant of the army of God, and help us take the gospel all around them. It takes resources to spread the gospel on a massive scale. So I want to ask you to help us. If you're tired of seeing the anti-Christ agenda being pushed against the generation, and you're not one of those people who are looking to escape as our salvation, we're looking to Jesus as our salvation, you're not one of those people who say, well, Jesus, just get me out of here. But instead, you're one of those people who say, Lord, I know you put me here that light might shine in dark places. And you want to help us push back on this big system that is the anti-Christ system. And you want to help us push back on the agenda of secular culture, on the satanic agenda against children, on the satanic agenda against Gen Z, and all generations. You want to help us do that? Here's how you can get involved. Go right now to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate, give a one-time gift, become a monthly partner, or do both. Whether you're giving a small gift or a large gift, it does not matter. Give from the heart as the Spirit leads you to give. Give cheerfully. Now, if you're wondering how you might give internationally, we have many different international options at davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. That form accepts many different currencies from many different nations in many different payment forms. However, if after looking at the form you find that you're giving just doesn't work with the form, then we suggest that you use Facebook and YouTube to give. Now, if you give by Facebook and YouTube, you don't get on our mailing list. We're not able to send you a tax receipt. It's just not possible to track that on Facebook and YouTube. But if you'll say, you know what, I want to give, but davidhernandezministries.com slash donate doesn't work for me. I'll go do it through Super Chat and Facebook. And actually, I'm gonna real briefly, don't turn this video off yet, because I wanna tell you about a teaching that you'll also enjoy in just a moment here. I'm gonna be looking at some of the names coming in from all around the world. It's loading now. Thank you to Jasmine for becoming a partner. Eden, what a beautiful name. Thank you for becoming a partner. Debbie, thank you for your partnership. Joshua, thank you for your gift. Joe, thank you for becoming a partner. Jean, and Rich, and Elaine, and Regina. Wallace, thank you all for becoming a monthly ministry partner. In fact, I'm gonna go up here now. And I can see a lot of the, oh, JoVen and Henry. My goodness, you guys are partnering from all around the world. John, thank you. Zion, thank you. Adam, and Christina, and Terrell, thank you. All of them became monthly partners. And then I'm seeing lots of one-time gifts coming in too. I'm just gonna give that a second to load. And again, in a moment, I'm gonna tell you about a teaching. I think if you enjoyed this one, I think you're really gonna enjoy the one I'm about to recommend here. I'm just waiting on that just to load one more time. And I can see all your names. If you give at davidhernanisministries.com slash donate, I'll be able to see all that coming on my phone here. But if you enjoyed this teaching and you want to begin to expand the kingdom of God, I wanna equip you to identify and then eliminate demonic influence by being able to identify 16 real signs of authentic demonic possession. I'm gonna show you the signs of demon possession and then I'm gonna show you how to expel demonic powers that possess the physical bodies of those who don't yet know Christ. You can take a look at that. It's called 16 signs of real demonic possession.