 Praise the Lord, good to be here, glad to be here, and it's a blessing and a good opportunity for me to join with you in this Sunday morning service. Our service starts at two o'clock afternoon so don't worry I'm not gonna preach longer than 12 because I gotta leave at 12 to make it to my own church. I'll be there a little bit late but at least once in a while I can give myself a privilege of being late because I'm always on time you know always early so once in a while I'll be late. Greetings from Spokane. There is millions and millions of children of God all over the world, every city, every part of the world God has his own church and his own children and it's just a blessing to be a unique big huge family so we should never be lonely I mean never. I'm gonna read from the Gospel of Amatru chapter 2 and the Christmas is approaching so God laid on my heart to read a scripture about birth of Christ and connected to our life today. Unfortunately good portion of our society don't know what Christmas is they think it's a Christmas tree or it's the Santa but it's neither of those two things. Christmas means the birth of Jesus Christ and coming of our Lord and Savior to this earth. So just let's read together from chapter 2 Matru verse starting with first verse I'll read just five verses. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked where is the one who has been born king of the Jews. We saw his star when it rose and came and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem was him. When he had called together all of the people's chief priests and teachers of the law he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. In Bethlehem in Judea they replied for this is what the prophet has written. This is how a birth of Christ occurred 2,000 years ago. 2,000 years later we're still reading the same scripture. Some people question how come the Christmas is at different dates of certain nations. For example in Soviet Union they celebrate next year they celebrate Christmas and we would do it on 24th of this month. So I'll tell you it's close enough considering it's been 2,000 years ago. It's actually very close enough. In fact only 100 years ago people did not even remember their birthdays. Most of the older people they knew close enough how old they were. Not not exactly. For example my great-grandfather nobody knows how old he was when he died. About 70 years. You know so considering the fact that this been happening 2,000 years ago exact day doesn't really matter but what matters is what actually have happened and what has occurred at that time when Jesus was born. When he was born there was a lot of movement not only in the physical, not only in the natural, but in the supernatural. And when we look at this life with our natural eyesight we sometimes get discouraged. We think like God are you in control? Is there God that is in control? How come we see so much pain, so much suffering, so much things in this life? But when we look at this story how an infant was able to overcome a powerful kingdom that was after to destroy him then we can see that God is in control. And the birth of Jesus Christ it tells us that God is in control and he will do whatever he's out to do and he will prevail at all times everywhere. Doesn't matter of what is going on in this physical world. So the title of my message is the power of the will of God. God is a powerful God. Church we serve a mighty and powerful God. Sometimes going through life and circumstances we might get discouraged. We might drop our hands and we think our God is weak and sometimes people get discouraged. Even yesterday I got a phone call from one sister from our church who says I'm ready to deny God. I'm ready to just forget about God because I've been going through such a pain, through such a hardship in my life. And I told her open the Bible if you can at least listen to the word of God and allow the strength of the power of the word of God to enter into your heart because you've been exposed too much to the physical world. Too many of the issues and too many of the problems and we get discouraged. But thank God the Savior has come. Jesus is the Savior of the world. He did not come just to visit. He did not come just to see what's going on but he came here to save the world and to establish the kingdom of God and the will of the Father and this earth. So when he came he came as an infant. So he would not have extra advantage over the than us. Same way the way we started as infants into this world the same way Jesus came into this world as an infant. But in that infant there was a fulfillment of the will of the Father. Powerful will of God. But the forces that were on earth at that time they were opposing it because every system of the world it has its politics. So people they like to keep the things the way they are. It works for them. They like it. It pays good for them. So once something some changes are happening people don't like it. Especially the people that are in control. Now some of the nations there are direct representation of the evil dark forces. I'm not gonna name nations and I'm not gonna name rulers. But some nations are built upon blood. Some nations are ruled by the people that are not having good intentions. They're using the people to keep their thrones. So Israel Judea at that time was controlled by Rome by a king that did not want to lose his throne. So when Jesus was born he heard that Messiah has come. A new king has come and that greatly disturbed him. He got really really scared. Because when king is in a throne he doesn't want to hear anybody being born that is a potential king. So he was really disturbed and he was started looking for answers. Where is he? Where is this king that was born? In fact that king was an infant but the king was still greatly disturbed. So he began to call all of the people, all of the Pharisees, all of the teachers of the law and he started asking them where is the king of the Judea has to be born and they told him right here in Bethlehem in Judea they replied for this is what the prophet has written. So first we can see from this story from the birth of Jesus Christ that the will of the Father is above everything. It's above every ruler, above every circumstance and above every society that is in this earth. So sometimes when people live in the nations in certain circumstances they seem like it's impossible to break through but a God is above. The will of the Father is above every nation, above everything that surrounds you. And Jesus was born in spite of the oppression, in spite of the rejection of the earth. Earth did not want to receive Jesus Christ but God wanted to send him. Earth was opposing the birth of Jesus Christ, the coming of the king, but God wanted him to come. So that was the will of the Father. If God has said something it will be done no matter what happens. And the human authority, the human society cannot change anything. As I said sometimes behind certain kingdoms and behind certain rulers there's the dark forces that are controlling everything and we might not see that. But if we look deeply and if we look closely we can see that the motivation and the desires of certain nations is to oppose the will of God. But God is a powerful God. God is a mighty God and nobody can stand on his way. Second we can learn from this story the wise men came to visit and to worship that God has people on his side. Hallelujah! That we are not alone in a battle. God has people in his plan. They came to worship him great distances. It's amazing how sometimes people from close don't see the things that people can see from great distances. They came all the way from east because they have seen the star. They've noticed that something is changing in the atmosphere. They've noticed something is changing and becoming different in the universe in the in the sky. They noticed the star so they noticed they looked at the Word of God and they knew that the king was born. So they came to worship him. So there are some people that are on the side of God. So sometimes when we feel like I'm the only one battling the battle. I'm the only one standing in the gap. God has much more people on his side. Fulfilling the will of God. Working for the kingdom of God. God has much more people. Never never think that you are alone. Third we can learn from this story the King Herod. He was absolutely against Jesus Christ and in spite of that Jesus Christ have come into the world. Besides having all kinds of issues before even he was born. For example Mary she was not she was not married and she conceived that was the issue. For that cultural time that was a huge issue. When finally she was about to give birth she could not find a place where to where to put him. Because everything was busy because there was some kind of political activity at that time. So they were looking for a hotel. They were looking for a hospital. Nobody could take them. Everything is packed. That's a problem. Huge problem. And on top of everything she is carrying a king of kings that the earth is about to reject and fight against. So even the king himself he did not approve. He did not like the idea of having another king. But Jesus Christ was still born. Because that was the will of the Father. Second next thing the devil is smart. He's shriky. He's sneaky. He sometimes develops certain plans that we cannot think of. Because he's been around for a long time. The devil can come up with all kinds of plans and all kinds of ideas. But no matter how smart he is the power of the will of God is above every plan of the enemy in Jesus name. Because what he decided to do he decided to trick the wise man. He told them look I'm really excited to hear this news. So when you find this king and you worship him come back and tell me because I want to go and worship him as well. And they figured wow what a nice king. And they just went looking for Christ following the star. But when they were there the angel of the Lord appeared to them and told them don't come back the way you got here. And the head realized that his plan has failed. That wasn't his plan. That was the plan of the devil. That was the plan of the enemy. And the plan of the enemy was broken by the will of the Father was broken. Every plan of the enemy will be and shall be broken. Because the power of the will of God in our lives. There is nothing stronger. There is nobody smarter. Nobody snicker than the will of God. God can see through ages. God can see through circumstances, through kingdoms. He will see everything and he knows everything ahead of time. Amen. At the end Jesus Christ was born. A small infant was born. A whole nation, army, a Constitution was against one little infant and he was born and he was saved. Yes there were certain dark moments when they were chased where people were looking for them to kill him. Yes. But in spite of all of that Mary was able to carry Jesus Christ and to allow him to grow. How was she able to do that? By being obedient to the will of God. By believing and trusting God. If God has said something then I am your servant and let it be to me according to your word. Sometimes when God speaks to us we think the circumstances and everything around us we're aligned in certain way that it will be a perfect timing, a perfect moment, exact place, a good health, everything will work out the way, just the way we want. But there is an enemy in this life. Devil is always looking to destroy the will of God. He's always looking at least to slow it down, at least to confuse the people. But when we realize that if God has spoken something and that is the will of God there is nothing can stop it in Jesus' name. So when angel appeared to Mary he told her you will have a child. You shall birth a child and you will call him Jesus. But she said I don't even, I'm not even married. But he told her it doesn't matter. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and you shall conceive and he will be the king of the people and he shall save the humanity. So she allowed the word of God, the will of God to come into her life. And she decided to be obedient to the cause, to the will of God, no matter what. Yes, she paid a heavy price. She paid a dear price. Many times she was persecuted. Many times she was looked at. But she knew that she's carrying the will of the Father. And as difficult it is sometimes in our life to fight the circumstances. If we only can relax and if we only can allow the power of God to go through our lives we can begin to see the hand of God moving our lives. How an infant was able to stand up a nation. How a poor nation can, how can a poor person or nobody stand against the king or against certain society. It's just miraculous. You know in our nation where we came from, from Soviet Union, there were certain people in power that said that in my lifetime, in our lifetime we will abolish Christianity and it will disappear. But you know what? Couple of years later those people were, were buried and Christianity would bloom even more. The will of the power, the power of the will of God remains again. And many, many of them kept saying same thing, not knowing that the previous people that said that they're already dead. There was a man in the Middle Ages that said that the Bible will disappear from the face of the earth. But couple of years later, after he was dead, Bible was not only existing but Bible began to be printed in many, many copies. Because just because he said I'm going to destroy the word of God. So the power of the will of God is incredible. If we only can allow, if we only can trust and be obedient when God speaks to us, when he begins to give something into our hearts, if we only are obedient to the word of God, then nothing can stand on the way. Now the devil knows the will of God. Because look at the King Herod, he invited the people that knew the Bible. And they said Jesus shall be born right here in Bethlehem, for this is what the prophet says. The devil knows the word of God. Why does he still oppose it? Because he hates you. He hates the kingdom of God. Even though he knows that he will lose at the end. Because he's a devil. He hates everything that God does and what his children are doing. So if he can discourage this generation, he can prolong the coming of the kingdom of God and this earth. But if God can find people that are not discouraged, if God can find people that can realize that the power of God is incredible and limitless, then God can do it in this generation. So the devil knew that he will lose, but he still went ahead with the plan trying to destroy Jesus Christ. But what did he do? He caused all kinds of problems, all kinds of activities, but because of one young lady obedient to the word of God that said, I don't care how difficult it is. I don't care how impossible it is. Because of one young lady, one young girl, she decided to keep the will of God in her life and everything happened just like the word of God had said. Now Daniel, he prophesied many years before Christ was born that the kingdom of God shall crush every kingdom on this earth. Every kingdom, everything that is on this earth shall be crushed and all ruled by the kingdom of God. And the devil knew that. He knew that the time is assured. Sometimes when we are fighting the battles alone, sometimes when we do the work of God, it seems like we're not moving. It seems like everything is in a standstill. But remember that the kingdom of God shall crush every demonic forces and every kingdom of the earth, shall be overruled by the kingdom of God in Jesus' name. So it doesn't matter how difficult, it doesn't matter how lonely, how tiresome sometimes is. The power of the will of God remains strong and powerful. Sometimes there have been martyrs before you that have laid their life before you for the cause of the kingdom of God. God will raise those people and He will raise them in His glorious kingdom to be positioned in high places. But if you are alive today, God is entrusting you with His will. Just take His word, whatever you have in your heart. God speaks to everyone, maybe through the word of God, maybe through the word of the pastor, maybe through prophecy, maybe through vision. But most of you, you know the will of God for your life. And the problem is, not that we don't know it, the problem is that it's opposed by the circumstances. Devil constantly opposes the will of God. And we're like God has told me that I'm gonna be this and that. But the devil is doing this and this to me. So what are we doing? We're just waiting. In a case of marriage, she couldn't wait. How long? You can wait nine months, but it will come. But in our life, sometimes we wait. We sit. Oh, maybe next year their circumstances will be better. Maybe something will change. Maybe something will be easier. But instead of waiting, it's probably the prophet was false. Or it's probably I don't deserve to be used by you or something. We begin to allow doubts. We begin to allow discouragement into our hearts. We always should look at the will of the Father. Let it be to me according to your word. I don't have a husband. I'm too young. I'm not ready yet. But let it be according to your word. I don't have education yet. I'm not recognized yet. But let it be according to your word. My boss hates me. My coworkers, they don't like me. But let it be according to your word. The doctor is saying this and this about my situation. But let it be according to your word, Lord. Because I know your power of your will is stronger than disease. It's stronger to every demon. It's stronger than anything in this life. In Jesus' name. Aren't you glad to serve a mighty powerful God? Hallelujah. We don't have to defend our God. He defends himself. God is powerful. He's full of fire. He's full of strength. When people tell me they don't believe in God, I don't even argue with them. Why should I defend God? He's not an idol. He's not a little thing in the closet. He's powerful. His word is powerful. You don't believe God? You will. Because God is looking at this earth and he knows the timing. The timing is to allow my will to be fulfilled. And if we are afraid today, God will find tomorrow generation. But he will do his will regardless of what's going on in our lives or in our circumstances. So when it's difficult instead of telling God how difficult it is, we should say, Lord, let your will be done. Let your kingdom come. Let it be the earth as it is in heaven. Instead of crying, instead of whining, oh, how difficult. Oh, Lord, no money, no good education. People don't want to come to church. People don't want to believe. So instead of crying, we should begin to allow his will to be established through our lives. And everything that is in this life that is opposing the will of God will be conquered in Jesus' name. Because God will win at the end. Anyway, there was a story. I heard a story how a bunch of Bible scholars, they got together and they finally decided to agree on a book of Revelation about the eschatology of the church. Because there are all kinds of teachings and beliefs. So they wanted to get together and let's finally come to one conclusion. So about revelations, about the second coming of Jesus Christ, when and how it will be. And they were arguing and they were speaking all of their minds and their beliefs. And they couldn't come to one conclusion. But there was a security guard on the door listening a little bit. You know, he was not a Bible scholar. He was just a security guard. Probably $9 an hour paid. And he kept listening and listening. And the other one, his body came and he says, what are they talking about? He says, I'm not exactly sure what they're talking about. But I know that we will win. We will win at the end. Doesn't matter what's going on today. Doesn't matter how strong the devil is. Sometimes we can speak ours how powerful the demons are and how strong the devil is. It doesn't matter. One infant defeated the whole kingdom. One powerless, one infant that had no strength to protect himself, to fight for himself. When you are in a will of God, God himself fight for you. When you are in a will of God, you have power of God. The power of God follows you because you are in a will of God. Make sure you are in a will of God. Even if you're weak, even if you're tired, even if you're stripped of certain privileges, if you are in a will of God, you will prevail in Jesus' name. So make sure you position yourself in a right place, in a right place in the heart of God, in the mind of God. So instead of worrying about how it's going to be, oh how life is going to be tomorrow or in a year, just allow God to work through your life in Jesus' name. Many Christian people that were believing and praying for things, sometimes they find themselves already discouraged, but then, booms, it comes. At the time when they were weak, at the times when they did not even expect it, and people regret, oh I should have trusted the Lord, I should have believed the Lord. So instead of regretting, instead of thinking, oh it's probably not going to happen in my life. Oh Lord, it's probably not going to happen in my life. We should not think that way, because God will do it. God will do it. He's mighty, He's powerful, He will do it. According to your word, oh God. Everything that God speaks in our heart, sometimes when He begins to speak, we know how much we have gone through, and we don't even believe Him anymore. Oh Lord, I can't take this word, because so little has happened in my life. Doesn't matter the past. If you are alive, you are in the plan of God today. You are part of the plan of God. Yes, maybe you've failed. Maybe you have betrayed God. Doesn't matter what happened in the past. If He gives you opportunity to live in His kingdom, and you are part of His body, trust and believe God that He will do His powerful will through you, through your life. And it's not about us. It's not about us. It's not about the church. It's all about the will of the Father. When Jesus was on this earth, He was not looking for His glory. He wasn't looking for His own success. He was looking to glorify His Father and to establish the will of the Father. So if we can only forget about careers, if we can only forget about ourselves, but can think, Lord, let it be according to your word, let it be according to your will, then I am your servant. Excuse me, Lord, instead of positioning ourselves the way we want to be, where it's popular, where it's influential, just allow yourself to be a servant. Mary could never think of a position she would get. She never could think of what people would remember her name as a mother of the Savior. She just thought, I'm going to be a young lady that nobody will know of. But because she decided to be obedient to the will of the Father, now the whole world knows her. Every Christmas and almost every Sunday service people talk about her. Why? Because she became part of the kingdom of God by believing and being obedient. Be obedient to the will of the Father. Be obedient to everything that God tells you. Don't think it's not for me. Oh Lord, I don't like this word. He is God and He knows what's best for us in Jesus' name. And with the will of God, we can defeat the enemy. With our own desires, we can't. With our own knowledge or attitudes, we can't. But with the will of the Father, we don't fight the battle. He fights the battle. When things oppose us, the move of God, the work of the Lord, they don't oppose us. They oppose Him. And the devil knows that. The only thing that is looking to confuse you, like you are doing the battle. No, you're not doing the battle. You're just being obedient to the Lord. Stay obedient. Stay faithful to the word of God. And He is doing the battle. And if we only can recognize that, the devil has lost already. That's it. There is no victory for the enemy. The only victory he gets when we lose in our minds, in our hearts. When the battle is lost in our hearts. But if we know, he fights the battle, because I'm obedient to his word. I'm obedient to the will of God. And I'm going to do everything that he wants me to do. And just rejoice. And just smile. Just like Paul and Silas, when they were in prison. When the devil opposed them. When the demons crushed them and hurt them physically and emotionally. They were praising God in the middle of the night in the prison. Oh, we thank you, Lord. Oh, we praise you. Hallelujah, Lord. We worship you. The devil was looking at them. And the devil knew he has lost. Because actually what he was trying to do failed. He was trying to discourage them. And he could not discourage them. Even though they weren't shackles, they weren't handcuffs. But they were praising God. Knowing that he is the father of all things. And if God said something, it will be done. In Jesus' time. So they were praising, praising. And the prison broke down. The earthquake began to shake the whole prison. The doors have opened. Because of the will of God, nothing can stop the will of God. Nothing. No nation. No devil. No Satan. No demons. No disease can stop the will of God. If God is about to do something, he will do it. And if he can find obedient people, he'll do it through the obedient people. Amen. And it's exciting to serve God. We don't have to think of certain ideas to try to call our God. So he would be more beautiful. So he would be more attractive. We don't have to do something like that. We have to allow the will of God to flow through us. In Jesus' name. And it shall happen. It shall be done in your life. Just like in the life of Mary. So when it's difficult, pray this prayer. Lord, let it be according to your word. Let it be to me according to your word. And forget about the difficulties. In Jesus' name.