 Okay, welcome back. Welcome. So we've been talking about the church of God as an army of God, with the importance of taking a stand, standing firm, being steadfast, having that attitude of a warrior. And this is for individuals and also as a collective. How many of you know that winning a soul is a battle? So when you pray for a lost soul or for a city that is lost, that you want it to be saved and all of that. I know of people who make prayers like other men of God, they make prayer for a certain city to be a cancer-free zone or they don't want a single case of cancer to be in a city. And so those are prayers of a warrior. Why do we call prayer warriors? Because they have this attitude, this zeal of a warrior. I like war movies. I don't like what war does, where it kills a lot of people. A lot of children lose their fathers, mothers, parents, etc. I don't like what it does. But again, historically, from the history point of view, when you see what people have gone through, where I can be doing what I'm doing today. For example, why we celebrate our freedom fighters and all of that. They've paid the price so that you and I can live a certain life today. And so a warrior pays a price, a soldier pays a price. Most of the time, it might go unnoticed or unappreciated, but you pay the price. So I remember watching a short film, actually a 20-minute film on a sniper. You know a sniper? Who a sniper is? A scout sniper is, they can take shots from very far, far distance, from at least kilometers away. The longest shot taken, I think, is a record of almost 2 kilometers. Almost, right? Yeah, exactly. So a scout sniper's responsibility would be so... During the Vietnam War, between US and Vietnam, in the late 60s and the 70s, one of the snipers had to travel just by crawling inch by inch for five days in the ground, without food. You're crawling slowly for five days just to carry out your mission. Think about the perseverance, the focus, and just the mental strength of a soldier, of a person like that. Are you with me? And so using the example of a sniper, because the sniper cannot be seen. A person with a scout and a sniper, he will not take a shot until he's 100% sure. Because as soon as he makes that shot, everybody will know where the sniper is. Because of that flare that goes off. And so he's given away his position. You know what I'm saying? So everybody, the enemy will know, okay, that's where the shot came from. And he will not take the shot unless he has to make that shot. And so, you know, and I mean, this story was so inspiring that he was so focused, full of perseverance and resilience, that he would just move. And no matter how hard it was, you know, he would push, he would push, didn't want to give back, you know, didn't want to give up. No food, no problem. Rain, no problem. Insects all around, no problem. Mosquitoes, no problem. I'm going to move slowly and slowly and slowly until I finish, you know, my objective or my mission. And similarly, the local church is called, you know, anybody who signs up for a military or a navy or whatever, they just don't give you, okay, all right, come on, let's go. They do that, they take you in, and what they do is they train you. They have a boot camp where all the soldiers go and they get trained for weeks. And so the church is to be a place where so, you know, where we come together as a collective, it's like a boot camp, where you come and get equipped and trained and empowered so that you can go and wage your war. And we can wage wars together, right? We intercede for the city. You know, intercession simply means what? Standing in the gap. That's what it literally means. Abraham stood in the gap. If there's one person, will you spare the city? Moses is like, you know, they are not my people, they are your people. So, right, so we are to be believers who are to be trained in spiritual warfare, to be taught and all of that. So let's move on. We have to be armed and dangerous. God has given us spiritual weapons that are mighty. This is a very important verse. Okay, when it comes to spiritual warfare, I feel like this is one of the topic. It's a very well-known topic called spiritual warfare, but not a lot of them actually spend time studying on it because it feels too intimidating usually. We leave that out to all the Pentecostals. Only the intercessors, the prayer warriors, let them, you know, talk about spiritual warfare and, you know, I'm just going to study and the Lord is my shepherd. You know, it's nice. But second Corinthians, chapter 10 verse 3 to 5, very important. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. Okay, so, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war. The word according is very important there. We do not war according to the flesh. Okay, it's like saying, let's play that game, but let's not play that game in his terms. Let's play the game in our own terms. Are you saying, are you with me? Right. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. That means it's not flesh. It's not tangible. But mighty in God for pulling down strong holds, passing down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Pastor Jake spoke on thought yesterday. I had some, a lot of questions on it yesterday. Right on thoughts. Very interesting questions, right? Okay, how can, how do I know if the thought is my own or if it's from God, et cetera, et cetera, right? So once we have the revelation of that awareness, we bring it into captivity. If you know that you're not supposed to be having the thought, don't entertain it. Compromise. Don't entertain it, right? David, the sin was not looking at that she was the first time he kept looking. Looking at it the second time, the downfall starts there. Maybe sometimes you can't help what you're seeing. Oh, gosh. You saw that? All right. Hmm. Interesting. Right. So taking every thought captive, we don't wage war according to the flesh. So what are some of the weapons? It says that weapons of our warfare are not carnal. That means we have weapons, but they're not tangible ones. So what are they? Some of the weapons that we've been given as believers, in which we must be trained in, is the name of Jesus. It's the name of Jesus. My gosh. That alone is enough. It's enough. We have quite a few. But God is good, isn't it? He's generous. He likes to give. Come on, just take it. Enjoy it. Go for whichever weapon you want. Destroy the enemy. That's why we are called more than conquerors. The weapons that we have, we don't know how powerful they are. The enemy knows how powerful they are. Acts chapter 9 verse 15. Do you know the story? Ananias and Paul. Paul has had his encounter on the road to Damascus. He's blind. And God tells a person called Ananias, go meet Paul, anoint him. Ananias says, Lord, what's wrong with you? This man pulled out people and killed them. He persecutes the church. How can I go? God's response is beautiful. He is my chosen instrument. I have chosen him to carry my name. To declare and proclaim the good news to the lost. Every... Acts chapter 9 verse 15, by the way. We can think of a lot of brands, isn't it? All the brands, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Zara, Forever 21, or Nike. The list can go on, right? iPhone, iPad, IWatch, Samsung, Ford, HP, et cetera, et cetera. Ferrari, Lamborghini. What is all that associated with? Every single brand and more that we've mentioned wants you to carry their name. Huh? You carry... Okay, Nike, separate respect. Adidas, another respect. iPhone, Apple... Oh, my gosh. How did you get it? It's like, no, I sold one kidney. It's a no-cost EMI. Swap my card. All of those brands, they want you to carry their name. In professional sports thing, we call it as endorsement. If Roger Federer is wearing Nike, I want to wear Nike. Because they know if a certain person carries their name, a lot of other people are going to want to carry that same name. You know where I'm going with this, no? You and I are... God's chosen instrument called to carry his name, to put his name on display, not just on our t-shirts or our coffee mugs. I love Jesus. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. My light and my salvation is like, wow, looks so nice. Coffee with Jesus. Coffee with Jesus. So next time if I see a couple like that, I'll know. You and I are called to carry the name of Jesus, the wonderful name of Jesus. The beautiful name of Jesus. The name that is high above every other name. If you can just stay in that moment and just ponder on the name of Jesus. There's another APC publication, Mighty Name of Jesus. If you can get your hands on it, please study it. We need every revelation possible of the name of Jesus, what it means, what it can do. Of all the names in the world, why would God give him his son the name Jesus? He could have named him Roshan. Just kidding. Okay, fine. Okay, Anand, whatever. Why Yeshua? Yeshua Hamasya. I mean, yeah. Savior, deliverer, that's what it means. Yeah, we carry the name of Jesus. That's, wow, that's incredible. And the Word of God, right? Hebrews 4-12, it says, his word is a sword. It's not just another sword, it's a double-edged sword. That is sharp both ways up and down. Most of the swords are sharp one side. A single-edged, where a double-edged sword is sharp both. And that's where it goes on to say, the Word of God is alive and active. How many of you know that Bible is prophetic in nature? Yeah, it's alive, it's active. It's the Holy Spirit that brings it to life. That's why Psalm 119 verse 18 says, my eyes to the hidden things of your word. That means you can just read it as a book, as a history book, and ask questions like, is the Bible relevant? Because for many who don't have that revelation, who don't go to it in humility, it's just another book, historical book, and a good one. But you need not necessarily be active and alive for them. Are you with me? And so we believe that the Word of God is the inspired Word of God, isn't it? Inspired, inspiration. Again, Latin word means inspirito, by the spirit, in the spirit. And so it's alive. Look at that verse, what it says, 412. Hebrews 412 is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It's not just a double-edged sword, it's sharper than any. And what it does, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit. That means we can do a verse mapping on this. We are not going to do that, but joints and marrow. That means it can divide the matters of the heart, soul, and spirit. It judges the thoughts again, and attitudes of the heart. Intentions. Word of God is powerful. It's a hammer. Like we just looked at, right? So we have the name of Jesus, the Word of God. Time and time again, Jesus, when he was fighting, not fighting, he was just... I mean, the devil is not Jesus is equal. We need to get that straight. The devil is not Jesus is equal, right? Of everything that Jesus could have done, he said, it is written. It is written. It is written. He used the Word, right? Colossians chapter 3 verse 16, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Okay, let it dwell in you. It's another word for tabernacle. Let it be tabernacle. And the root, the raw meaning of that is pitch the tent. Let the Word of God put one tent and stay inside. That's what it literally is, right? You want to write songs, let it rich in you dwelling, and he will give you the melody. I mean, so you know, okay, which was to write, take that, you know? So because it's, take, dwell in you richly, right? So the Word of God. Next, let's move on. The blood of Jesus and the completed work of the cross. Opposition in Christ, the full armor of God from Ephesians chapter 6 verse 14 onwards. Prayer and intercession, praise and worship, repentance and righteousness. We don't have enough sermons on repentance. Why don't one of you actually work on a sermon called repentance? Do a research, do your study and have a sermon on the topic of repentance. Can you do that? Yeah, okay. One of the tools mentioned there, a weapon is praise and worship. We know Psalm 22 verse 3. It says God is enthroned on the praises of His people. There's one version that says God inhabits the praises of His people. Right? If God inhabits our praise, who inhabits our complaints? If God is enthroned on our praises, who is enthroned on our complaints and our grumblings and our mumblings? Who? If God is enthroned on our praises, who is enthroned on our complaints? Satan. If we enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, whose gates are we entering and whose courts are we entering when we complain and mama and grumble? Words attract presence. It depends on which word you use and which presence is attracted. Words can attract either the presence of God or the presence of the devil. Okay, prayer and worship. Our position in Christ simply means our identity in Christ, knowing who we really are, who God has called us to be. Okay, all right, let's move on. We are anointed for battle. Please look at, read the scriptures. I'm just going to go a little fast. Scriptures like Matthew chapter 12 was 28 and 29. We are all anointed for battle, that section says. And page 75 of your PDFs talks about the local church must intentionally advance against the gates of hell. Intentional. You have to be objective. Make it a point. Okay, your life's mission goes. We're going to advance against the gates of hell because we have the weapons and we've been commanded to do so. Right, John chapter one. Sorry, one John chapter three was eight. Can someone read that please? One John chapter three was eight. Of the many things that Jesus came to do, He came to destroy the works of the devil. The Son of God manifested Himself to destroy the works and the principality of the devil. Are you with me? And someone reads second Colossians chapter, sorry, second Colossians. Colossians chapter two was 15. Colossians chapter two was 15. Yes. So having disarmed, that means He's taken their weapons, their powers and authorities. He's made a public spectacle of them. That means He put them to shame and triumphing over them by the cross. So we have the victory. We've been given the victory. God's given us the victory. What are we doing about it? Are we intentionally advancing against the gates of hell? Or are we very comfortable in our own lives, in our churches? Are you all with me? Okay. So let's move on. I'm just going a little bit fast, as I mentioned. Page 76. An army has a strategy and army takes care of its wounded. An army has a strategy. We need to be strategic in what you want to do. We rely on God's wisdom to give us a strategy. Time and time again in the Bible, we see that David inquired of the Lord. He asked, can I go now? Will you give them to me? He goes, can I go now? Will you hand them over to me? God says, go. Can I go now? Will you hand them over to me? He says, go. And then he asks, there's one time, again David inquired of the Lord. Can I go now? Will you hand them over to me? God says, wait. Go down and wait near the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of an army marching, you advance in battle. That means, so God is saying that means it would mean that I have gone before you. And you'll have the victory. How many, being the king of a nation, having seen the victories and tasted victories. David could have easily said, yeah, I'm just going to have the same strategy, going to fight against this enemy, like what I did yesterday. No. He leaned into God's heart. He inquired of the Lord. How many of us inquire of the Lord? Do we constantly inquire of Him? Do we lean into Him? Or is this your will? Is this your strategy? Is this your strategy? What is your strategy? Speak to me. Right? And that's a sign of humility, isn't it? Constantly waiting on Him, trusting in Him and not on our own understanding. Yes? Not on our own understanding talks about wisdom, our intellectual, our knowledge, which can easily happen based on our past experiences or past successes. All good? All okay? Any questions? Right. So just without rushing a little bit. Spiritual warfare is real. It's very real. Don't take it easy. Right? And also don't give up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven and plus eight and nine. All of us are individuals who might be fighting our own battles. We don't know. I don't need to know what you're going through. But don't give up. Keep on asking. Yeah. All right. Here's the God of breakthrough. Amen. Okay. So can we continue? Yeah? Rin? Is that okay? You're tired? You want to stretch? You sure? Okay. Are you guys okay? How are you guys doing online? All good? Yeah. Thanks, Chia. Okay. Let's look at another facet of the church. The bride. I love this imagery. The scripture uses the local church as the bride of Christ. Right? Time and time again, we see in the Old Covenant in the Old Testament, where God uses this imagery, this language of husband and wife. You know, it's constantly comparing. So in the Old Covenant, the way he talks about his people, when I say his people, the people of Israel, the chosen one. Right? Okay. Here's the thing. In the Old Testament, there were only two types of people that really mattered. People in the Covenant, people not in the Covenant. That's all. The people in the Covenant were the Jews, the Hebrews, or the people of Israel later known to be that. Right? And so he would often relate and talk to them, you know, using the imagery of a husband or a bride groom. And then later in the New Testament, in the New Covenant, we see that he's using the same similar language to the church. Okay? So there are a lot of similarities, but there are certain differences. So what, again, if you can look at the notes, there are some differences mentioned. The few differences, but there are a lot of similarities. PDF page 78. I don't know where you're at. Okay. So under the Old Covenant, he dealt with them based on the law. However, under the New Covenant, he deals with us based on grace. Under the Old Covenant, not everyone experienced the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives personally. However, under the New Covenant, every believer enjoys the personal presence and the work of the Spirit. So these are the few differences, but there are a lot of similarities. So what are the similarities? Under both Covenants, God has chosen a people through whom he could bless the nations of the world. Under both Covenants, God's people are a royal priesthood called to minister unto God. Okay? So in Exodus 19, when you read the chapter, from Exodus chapter 19 verse 1 to 5, I'm just going to paraphrase it. God says, you know, for you yourself have seen how I brought you out of Egypt. I brought you out of Egypt, you know, on my wings, on Eagle's wings. And why I didn't bring you out for the sake of bringing you out, I brought you out to be set apart unto me, to be a nation of priests. God's original plan was for the entire nation of Israel to be priests, not just Levites. Much later, you see Moses asks, who is on the Lord's side? The Bible says only the Levites came running to Moses. The story of Levite Levites being priesthood begins there. But later in the New Covenant, we see in 1 Peter, Peter writes saying that we are royal priesthood. Right? You're following, right? So the interesting similarities in both the Covenants is that God's picture has his relationship with his people as a groom to his bride. Okay, we'll read some more scriptures about it. Now again, guys, please remember this is just another imagery that we are using, right? Like how we've been looking at, you know, all these different imageries. So guys, if you have a problem, deal with it. Move on in life. Okay. But this is just an absolute wonderful, wonderful imagery that God would choose. And you can think about how the way that God sees a relationship between the husband and the wife. That he looks at it very wholly and pure for him to even take that and to draw a parallel between his relationship and us. Are you with me? Right? Okay, so let's continue. Let's move on just a little bit. Jeremiah chapter 2 was 2 and 3. Jeremiah chapter 2 was 2 and 3. It says, Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem saying, Thus says the Lord, I remember you. The kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal. When you went after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holiness to the Lord and first fruits of his increase. All that devour him will offend. Disaster will come upon them, says the Lord. I love the NLT version. It says, I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride. The NLT, New Living Translation. I love that language, the imagery that it paints. I remember how eager. Eager is what? You're eagerly waiting for something. You're eagerly waiting for someone to come or you're eagerly waiting for a sale. You know what I'm saying? The God is saying that I remember how you once were. You were like a young bride eagerly waiting on me in the wilderness, in a land that is not sown. We can do a beautiful study on the word called wilderness. It's just beautiful. When I have the time offline, I'll share a little bit. But wilderness was a land of uncertainty. Anything could happen, anytime. Full of dangers, wild animals, scorpions, reptiles. There's no shade in the wilderness. There's no water in the wilderness. But in a place like that, God says, I remember, in a place like that, how you were eagerly waiting on me as a young bride. Beautiful, isn't it? See, in the Jewish culture, I apologize for talking a lot about history. So again, in the ancient history, there were only two kinds of civilization in general. One was the eastern civilization, and the other was the western civilization. Under the eastern civilization, there were a lot of empires, and under the western civilization, there were lots. So the huge differences was in the way they thought. It was very important for us to understand the scriptures. Eastern civilization comes from the Middle East. We call it the Middle East for a reason. So eastern civilization under that, and India and all some of the Asian countries come under the category of eastern civilization. And when we say the west, even today we talk about the west, isn't it? Oh, this is the western culture. This is the western culture. Most of the time we refer to the United States of America. But the west originally was, it's sources from Europe. Greece and Rome, mostly the Greece, their influence on the European part of the countries was huge. A Westerner will think that the Lord is my, will say the Lord is my provider. Versus the Easterner will say the Lord is my shepherd. Both means the same thing. So for a Westerner, their logic of thinking was that it will make sense here first and then make sense here. For an Easterner, it should make sense here first and then here, right? A person from Greece would say that, okay, the Lord is my provider. It's absolutely right. It makes sense here. The Lord provides. He provides for every day our needs, finances, food, puts food on our table. He provides. It makes literal sense, isn't it? Logical sense. But when you think about an Easterner, it would say the Lord is my shepherd. It's not just here. It does something here. Are you with me? And so in the Jewish custom, if a person, if a young woman was betrothed, if a couple was betrothed to one another, if they were engaged, it was as good as they were married. And from the time that they were engaged, until they get married, they will not see each other. That was the custom and the tradition of their, it's kind of similar. You know, you can see a lot of similarities in India, right? And so, yeah, there's a lot of influence of that. Okay, let's go on. But this is a very intimate relationship that God draws a parallel from. Okay. Jeremiah 3.14 says, Does anybody know what he's actually referring to here? When we say that God is a jealous God or a zealous God. Yeah, exactly. You hit the nail on the head. He will not tolerate you worshiping someone else. I'm not sure if I've said this before. What adultery is in the natural is what idolatry is in the spiritual, right? What adultery is in the natural. Think of everything, all the lives that an adultery can ruin. Adultery is a very selfish act, isn't it? Like, you know, immoral in so many ways. But that's compared to idolatry in the spiritual. When you have someone else in place of God, when something else or something or someone takes the place or the priority of God, God's not happy. He doesn't like to share. He loves you like no other. He will not share you with any other. That's a very good kind of jealousy. A jealousy that burns with fire for you and for me. Are you with me? Right? Jeremiah, let's move on. Jeremiah 31.3 to 4 says, By the way, how many of you know Jeremiah was also known as a weeping prophet? Yeah, and he's writing. I mean, what a guy to write about, you know, such imagery. The Lord has appeared of all to me saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn you. Again, I will build you and you shall be rebuilt. O virgin of Israel, you shall reign. And you shall again be adorned with your tambourines and shall go forth and dances of those who rejoice. Jeremiah 31.32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in that day that I took them by the hand to lead out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke. Though I was a husband to them says the Lord, I cared for you. I took care of you. I loved you with an everlasting love with loving kindness. I draw you close to me. But they forsook. So he's assuring his wayward people saying my love for you is everlasting. I will never leave you nor forsake you. He said that. What's the point in praying, you know, Okay Lord, be with me, be with me, be with me. God will be like, How can I answer a prayer that I've already answered? How can I answer a prayer that I've already answered? Exactly. So he speaks of a covenant that he's established with his people in terms of being a husband, isn't it? When someone is getting married, we use these words. We have now all gathered together for the holy matrimony of so-and-so. Why do we call it the holy matrimony? We've learnt enough about the word holy. It simply says set apart, isn't it? So when a woman, and a man and a woman comes together for holy matrimony, as a man is saying, I can have all... You see all these women out there in the world? Of all these women out there that I can possibly have access to, I'm setting myself apart only for you. The same thing about the woman. Of all these men out there in the world, I'm going to have eyes only for you because I'm setting myself apart only for you. That's why we call it as a holy matrimony. We are setting apart for each other, apart from the world. When God says, I have set you apart, I have set you apart. He wants us to have eyes only for him. He's a zealous God, isn't it? And that's why he takes this relationship very seriously. Okay, let's move on just a little bit. You will call me my husband. The book of Hosea is around the theme of God, the husband wooing back his wayward wife. Have you studied the book of Hosea? It's incredible. I think earlier this year we did a series on Hosea, not on Hosea, but it was a series on... What was the name of the series? But a huge part of it was on Hosea. And if you study the book of Hosea, how can God ask someone to do this? You'll wonder that. God asks Hosea to marry a wayward wife, a prostitute. We don't have time to discuss the question now. Okay, how can God ask? We'll discuss that later. But he's using again the imagery there. Israel is like this wayward wife. I will keep constantly love her. I'm pursuing her, but she's choosing to go back to the world. She does not have eyes for me. Are you with me? Yes. Are you guys okay, right? Okay, I think we've spoken enough. If you don't mind, why don't you... You're okay to go back and read the rest of the chapter by yourself? It's pretty self-explanatory. But because I just want to rush through it, and I want us to understand the beauty of it. This beautiful relationship that God draws a parallel from. So as individuals and as a collective as a church, we're called to be set apart. We're called to be holy just as a bride is. A pure and a holy bride is. We're called to be ready as the parable talks about ten virgins. We're called to be ready for his arrival. Are we ready as a church? The spirit and the bride says... Come, Revelation chapter 22 verse 17. Right? Are we connected? Are we... The spirit of God here on earth is all of... is assigned with establishing the works of God here on earth. And so, are we in tune with the Holy Spirit to say the spirit and the bride say come? Yes? So let's stop there. Right? So there's something beautiful happening in and through the church. He wants to do something beautiful. And for that, we need to understand what we are carrying the relationship in the way that he looks at us. And ministry is born out of the revelation of who he is and the way he looks at us. And there are notes in the same chapter. It says that God looks at his people, has his beloved. Hepsiba. And it says another... I forget which verse and it says... Wait, let me see. Oh, yeah. It's in... Isaiah 62 verse 4 and 7. It's in the notes. Isaiah chapter 62 verse 4 to 7. You can read it. It says, you shall no longer be termed forsaken nor shall your land any more be termed desolate. You shall be called Hepsiba, which means my delight. Your land, Bula, means married. That's what it is. Okay. For the Lord delights in you and your land shall be married. And so just like the way God rejoices over his people. We as a church ought to rejoice over each other. Okay. All right. So we'll officially stop there. Okay. Thanks for joining in everybody online. I hope there was something that could take away from today's session. Bless you. I'll see you again next week. Bye.