Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. (Galatians 4:1-7, NLT).
 
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11).

Greetings First Lovers! I have a powerpoint prepared for tonight (attached). THis week, we will begin talking about the Father, and how we can know him as such. It is a continutation of last week's message. Here it is! Be blessed. Also, don't forget to listen to this week's podcast on Halloween. We'll send out the link on Sunday. 

​Tonight's Powerpoint: The Father (Pt. 1)

When there is no revelation of the Father, the churchgoer is stuck, in a spiritual sense, as an orphan. He/she is Fatherless, but functioning. Such a person can sing, preach, serve, and do all of the "good" Christian things, but never really come into fellowship with God, Himself. Such a person has a relationship with religion (even spiritual gifts!), but no rest; no comfort in knowing who God actually is. This is where we get the idea of the orphan spirit.  Let's talk about that. 

1. What do you think we mean when we speak of having an "orphan" spirit? 
2. How do you think the orphan spirit affects your relationship with God? 
3. How do you think the orphan spirit affects your relationship with others? 
4. Who in the Bible may have had an orphan spirit? 

​See Luke 10:38-42 

"Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. 39She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Tonight, we are going to read Romans 6.

Last week, we began talking about "Walking in Spiritual Power." We spoke of the body, the soul and the spirit. We also spoke of the functions of each part. At the end, there were questions (on last week's post). Please be ready to discuss those questions. If you missed it, here they are:

1. What do you think is the key action that must be taken to have spiritual strength?
2. What has been the biggest challenge to your own spiritual growth?
3. What processes do you think can be put in place, where the devil can just “set it and forget it”?
4. Where do those processes live? 

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:22-23)

It’s not your husband. It’s not your wife or your children. It’s not your pastor of your Christian friends. It’s not even the devil. Eventually, you will realize that the biggest hinderance to your Christian walk is…you! The biggest frustration is the struggle with a nature that goes contrary to the desire you have to walk with God. The spirit is willing, but the flesh has a weakness and a need for the fulfillment of its own desires. We are built up of more than one part, and those parts fight with one another.

Today, we are going to dive into those parts, but here’s why: Right now, I believe we are in the midst of the greatest social conditioning experiment in history. We are literally being programmed on how to think, how to feel, and what to believe. Even as Christians, we are being conditioned to think and believe everything this deceitful world tells us, as if it is truer than the Word of God. In order not to comply (conform) to this world (Romans 12:2), we must be renewed in our minds. Our minds must be conditioned to tend toward the influence of the spirit, and not the influence of the flesh. “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:12).
​
So, here’s what you’re made of:

The Flesh (body)

• We live in our bodies. This is our earth suit. It is what makes us conscious of the world around us. We see, hear, smell, feel and taste. This is the part of us that is drawn toward earthly, worldy stimulus.
• The job of the flesh is to serve as a slave to the spirit. It is to enact on this earth, the will of the spirit. The flesh is the part of us that is disallowed its own will. It must be shut down so that it can function solely in the will of the spirit (Romans 6:19)

The Soul (Mind, emotions, character, personality)

• We have a soul. It is the part of us that is self-conscious. It is self-aware. It is the result of one’s body being filled with one’s spirit. Genesis says it well in the creation. “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7). That word “creature” is the Hebrew word Nephesh, which means, “soul.”
• The job of the soul is to execute the will of either the flesh, or the spirit. This is the part of us that makes the decision on what we will do. When we are “moved” by the spirit, this is the part of us that moves.
• The soul is far more complex than merely a decision maker. It also houses emotions, memories (both good and bad), and the personality that results from those things. The saved soul is conscious of the redeemed spirit and will gravitate to its influence. The lost soul knows little of the spirit except those spiritual realities that exist in the lost (fear, unbelief, spiritual darkness).

The Spirit (The Spiritual World)

• We are spirits. We do not just have spirits, we are spirits. (Genesis 1:26-28). God created the spirits of Adam and Eve, at the same time. Their bodies had not yet been made. This part of us is conscious of the spirit world, whether good or bad.
• As unbelievers, this is the part of us that say, “There has to be more.” It is also the part of us that is aware of prevenient grace – “all the drawings of the Father; the desires after God, which, if we yield to them, increase more and more; --all that light wherewith the Son of God "enlighteneth every one that cometh into the world;" showing every man "to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with his God"; --all the convictions which His Spirit, from time to time, works in every child of man--although it is true, the generality of men stifle them as soon as possible, and after a while forget, or at least deny, that they ever had them at all.” (Wesley). Also, see John 6:44.
• As Christians, this is the part of us that is drawn to God, both outwardly towards heaven (John 17:1), the awareness that we are in Him (John 17:21), and finally, the awareness of the presence of God within us (John 17:23).
• The function of the spirit is to lead in influence and strength, the existence of a person. “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).

The triunity of man can be corrupt, of it can be pure.

1. Pure: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
2. Corrupt: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

• How does one “cleanse themselves”? The soul makes a choice.
• But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (Galatians 5:16-18).

 
Questions:

1. What do you think is the key action that must be taken to have spiritual strength?
2. What has been the biggest challenge to your own spiritual growth?
3. What processes do you think can be put in place, where the devil can just “set it and forget it”?
4. Where do those processes live? 

Out Of Your Mind - Having the Mind of Christ 
Dealing with Unbelief (PART 2) - by Ose Burnett

Scripture focus: Psalm 95
1 O COME, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights and strength of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].
7 For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice, [Heb. 3:7-11.]
8 Harden not your hearts as at Meribah and as at Massah in the day of temptation in the wilderness, [Exod. 17:1-7; Num. 20:1-13; Deut. 6:16.]
9 When your fathers tried My patience and tested Me, proved Me, and saw My work [of judgment].
10 Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, and I said, It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard My ways.
11 Wherefore I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest [the land of promise]. [Heb. 4:3-11.]


7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.
10 And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them.
11 Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest. [Ps. 95:7-11.]
12 [Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.
13 But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him].
14 For we have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end.
15 Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them]. [Ps. 95:7, 8.]
16 For who were they who heard and yet were rebellious and provoked [Him]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was He irritated and provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert?
18 And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]?
19 So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out]. [Num. 14:1-35.]
A. BLINDED MINDS

2 Cor. 4:3-4: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Our minds are blinded because of unbelief. It not only happens to the unsaved; many times, it happens to those who are saved. Their unbelief in certain areas of their heart causes blindness.

Enemies of faith are:

• Doubt
• Unbelief
• Disbelief
• Questioning
• Reasoning
• Wavering
• Indecision
• Confusion
• Fear
• A hardened heart

Cognate: 4645 sklērýnō – properly, to harden; become inflexible (literally "dried out"); (figuratively) obstinately stubborn, resisting what God says is right. See 4642 (sklēros).

• Deaf and Dumb spirits; mind-binding spirits are spirits that afflict those who struggle with unbelief:
  
• Consistent Struggle with Doubt and Unbelief – John 8:43, 47

“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word…He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

Those that deal with mental issues such as schizophrenia, deal with a divided mind.
Split- mind

Schizo- "divided"
Phrenia - "mind"

Our minds are divided between two opinions. When we do not fully trust, we are unstable in our ways.

“Being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks feels or desires]. [For being as he is] a man of two minds [hesitating, dubious, irresolute] he is unstable] and unreliable  and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, desires].” James 1:7-8

• We must have the mind of Christ to fight these mindsets that are unbelieving and ungodly.
• The only way to renew the mind and be delivered from strongholds is through the knowledge And belief in the Word of God, and God Himself.
• There are weapons we can use to combat unbelief. 

Psalm 95

1. Joyful praise -James first deals with STAYING IN JOY when you are going through trials. It’s interesting that Psalm 95 starts off with singing JOYFULLY to the Lord, and shouting JOYFULLY to the Rock of our salvation (vs. 1).
2. Declaring who God is. We are to give thanks to the Lord in songs and declare WHO He IS (vs. 2-5)
3. It is imperative to know HIS ways. [12] Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’[13] Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.Consider too that this nation is your people.” (Ex 33:12–13)(Moses, Exodus 33:12-13

1. The Blood of Jesus cleanses the conscience (Hebrews 9:13-14)


2. Jesus’s sacrifice not only dealt with the sin, but its consequences.


3. The Law is now written in our hearts (1 Peter 2:24, Romans 10:9-10)


4. Faith comes by hearing and believing God’s report (vs 17)


What causes unbelief? The hardness of your heart (Jeremiah 6:10, Hebrews 3:12-13)

1. Unbelief - Double Mindedness - hardness of heart
2. Your mind stuck in this will never receive the fullness of God.

Romans 12:1-3 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.


1 I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]. Romans 12:1-2 AMPC


21Assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as [all] Truth is in Jesus [embodied and personified in Him],
22 Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;
23 And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],
24 And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:21-24

2 Corinthians 10:5
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,


You must renew your mind with the Word of God AND believe what He says.
​
Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.


Romans 8:6
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.


Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.


2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 



Study References:
Study of the Word Faith: http://internetbiblecollege.net/lessons/hebrew%20words%20for%20faith.htm#_ftn4

Main Scripture: James 1:1-8
​

James 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings ([a]rejoice)!
2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.
3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of [b]the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.
6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.
7 For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord,
8 [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].


1. IF you are deficient in wisdom, the Word of God says “ask without wavering in faith” (vs. 5, 6). And herein lies the issue:

“Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.

For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].” James 1:6-8


2. Our asking must be in FAITH. Did you know that the word, “amen” derives its meaning from the word?

The Hebrew word “aman” means “believe, trust in, rely upon, believe in, have faith” [1] or “be faithful…trust, have belief, believe, to be certain”. [2] Harris, Archer and Waltke say that when used in the Qal verb pattern, “aman” “expresses the basic concept of support and is used in the sense of the strong arms of the parent supporting the helpless infant”. [3] An example of the Qal verb pattern of “aman” is in Psalm 31:24. [4]

3. My story of dealing with the orphan spirit.

• I felt like I wasn’t loved
• My voice didn’t matter- He didn’t hear me.
• He favors others more than me.
• I have to EARN the right or privilege of Him answering my prayer. 
• I must do it right and deal with all of my issues BEFORE He blesses me or answers my prayer.

At that time I felt like that all my life. I never asked or thought about what that feeling was until that day. I asked the Lord, “What is THIS?” And He answered, “orphan spirit”. So I looked it up.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: ya- tom (pronounced ya - tom) means orphaned, fatherless. Of uncertain affinity; bereaved ("orphan"), i.e. Parentless -- comfortless, fatherless.

Carrying an orphan spirit all through life affects how you receive the love of the Father. When you deal with an orphan spirit, it isolates your heart, causing a wall to be built up. When you're in a room, you feel as if you're the only one in the room. Feelings like:

"No one loves me."
"I'm not important"
"I'm not worth it."

All these feelings stem from a spirit of rejection and abandonment. 

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." -  James 4:8

“Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,” Isaiah 29:13

The word, schizophrenia gives a definition of how a mind is plagued with double-mindedness: 

Split- mind
Schizo- divided
Phrenia - mind


Our minds are divided between two opinions. When we do not fully trust, we are unstable in our ways.

“Being a double-minded man, unstable and restless in all his ways [in everything he thinks feels or desires]. [For being as he is] a man of two minds [hesitating, dubious, irresolute] he is unstable] and unreliable  and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, desires].” James 1:7-8


2 Cor. 4:3-4: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

• Its root is REJECTION and Abandonment.
• The orphan spirit causes double-mindedness.
• Our minds are blinded because of unbelief. It not only happens to the unsaved; many times, it happens to those who are saved. Their unbelief in certain areas of their heart causes blindness.
  
  Mindsets are cemented strongholds that need to be broken.  I like this definition in the greek:
  (3794 oxýrōma (from the root oxyroō, "fortify") – a fortified, military stronghold; a strong-walled fortress (A-S), used only in 2 Cor 10:4. Here 3794/oxýrōm"a heavily-fortified containment") is used figuratively of a false argument in which a person seeks "shelter" ("a safe place") to escape reality.
  
  
  Question: What “false arguments” do you believe, or have a mindset towards?

‘I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.’
John 14:18 

Strongholds - It's not about casting a demon out of you. It's about the influence of them on your mind/mindsets.

Definition:
3794 oxýrōma (from the root oxyroō, "fortify") – a fortified, military stronghold; a strong-walled fortress (A-S), used only in 2 Cor 10:4. Here 3794/oxýrōma ("a heavily-fortified containment") is used figuratively of a false argument in which a person seeks "shelter" ("a safe place") to escape reality.

There are three things that are distinct marks of a radical Christian: The demonstrated and spoken gospel, coming forth from that individual, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Such a person has also reached the end of themselves, and their only agenda is to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Jesus. These are Jesus' rules for radicals:

First Sign of the Radical: Self-Denial

"But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-25).

As we mentioned last week: To deny one's self is to do without something that is desired. To take up one's cross, however, if to go forward, accepting the pain that will come with the preaching of the gospel. However, we can not "deny ourselves and take up our cross" if we are mindful of the "things of men." This is the issue we contend with the most - the cares of this world. Radicals don't care. One more thing: Radicals do not feel comfortable with most of the church culture we are experiencing today. Something in their heart says, "There has to be more!"  

Second sign of the Radical: Ego Euangelion

• In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel (Romans 2:16).
• Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages (Roman 16:25).
• Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel (2 Timothy 2:8).
• Every Christian should have their gospel message. 
  • What is yours? 
  • How do you preach it? 
  • How do you believe it? 

Thirdly, the radical Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit. 

The early disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. This baptism is what turned fearful retreating men and women into fiery witnesses of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. When you look at the church age today, do you see the same fire? When you look in the mirror, do you see the same desperation to tell the world that Jesus is alive? There has to be more. I cannot make the gospel known by my own effort. I cannot move in the power of God, alone. I need something from God that will enable me to be credible beyond human arguments. 

What is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why do we need it? 

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “ Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “ we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied. Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:1-5).

We need the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for the ability to witness the resurrected Lord wiht POWER! It is indeed, a second blessing which is for believers, not just for witness, but for personal edification and empowerment. God will spare no means to bring the gospel to the world, and has called His church to do so. We are the resistance against the apostasy, and the uprising of the spirit of antiChrist. We are those who are called into a realm of no impossibilities. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is the thing which causes that to happen. 

Question: Have you recieved the Holy Spirit since you believed? 

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-25).

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold." 9 And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." 13 And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold." (Mark 4:1-20)

The Taliban is radical. ANTIFA is radical. BLM is radical. ISIS is radical. The Communists and secular progressives are radical. They all have one thing in common: Active conviction. If we were to examine what a Christian radical (in the purest sense) were, what would it be? It seems to me that our Lord requires nothing less. 

Active conviction is the fuel of victorious warfare. It is the firm belief in a particular thing that eventually leads to radical action. We’ve lost this in the church. Satan has not lost this. Daily, he assembles his minions to do war against the souls of mankind. He attacks with famine, persecution, disease and all the sin that can be conceived in the human mind. He blinds the minds of those who do not believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and hinders the work of Christ through distracting the church with the cares of this world. Will Jesus return as Moses did in his day, and find us playing around an idol of gold? Or, will he find us doing what Israel should have been doing – occupying until the return? 
Anyone can become radical if they are stricken enough. Once an enemy reveals himself as such, it forces the supposed victim to take action, immediately. But action alone will not win this war, no less than the actions of a preteen upon a seasoned warrior -- and there are few David’s in the church today. Knowledge of power, and a crave for violence must be embedded in the minds of those who will draw their sword against the onslaughts of the wicked one.
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So, do we fuel ourselves with hatred, and use the lesser weapons of guns, daggers, and fists? Do we summon the destructive power of carnal warfare?  God forbid. In days past, the church’s actions in this manner only led to tragedy for which we still see our brothers and sisters suffer. We must not use carnal weapons that bring death, but rather, spiritual weapons that bring life, fueled by faith, hope and love. We must use the weapons of the Word of God, and prayer. 

For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience will be made full.

There is a much larger story than what we see. There is an inescapable eternity that waits for us all. Our fate is determined by what we do with the story behind the story of our lives. In our life, we have flesh and blood. In the spirit realm though, that is not the war being fought. There, the fight is with principalities, powers, spiritual wickedness in high places and the rulers of the darkness of this world. It does not matter if we are pacifists. They are coming to us to do battle, and we can either fall to their wiles, or fight – we have no other choices. They come to do battle with our children, our loved ones and friends; they don’t have any intention on losing. It is a spiritual battle whose story is told through temporal, natural things. The things which are seen tell the story of the things that are unseen, which are eternal – the real things. Christian life is more than meets the eye. That is why we must walk by faith, and not by sight. On the outside, you may see trials all around, but through the eyes of the spirit, there is actually much more going on. There is a battle that depends on your faith, and your use of the Word of God.

Last week, the final question was, "Using Revelation 18, in what way does Babylon relate to today?"

• She is a principality (Revelation 18:7)
• She rides upon the back of politics and rulership (Revelationn 17:9)
• She sits over the systems and nations of the world (Revelation 17:15).

In Revelation 18:11-19), we can also see several areas where Babylon has its influence:

• Precious metals
• Fashion/clothing
• Forestry
• Construction
• Perfumes, inscense 
• Food
• Shipping (v19)
• Labor
• Blood (17:6)

The church is God's resistance against the immoral, ungodly world system (Babylon). We are the called, chosen and faithful who are "with the Lamb" (Revelation 17:14). Still, what does that resistance look like? Do you think that the church (as it looks today) can content with Babylon? To take things a bit further, do you think the condition of your local church could stand and contend? 

Please understand: Your private prayer life alone, will not contend with Babylon. You are no match for the world's systems. However, WE are. As a unified  church, we are able to pull souls out of the fire, and dismantle the impact of the enemy for millions of souls. 

Here is what is needed to contend with Babylon:

• God looks for intercessors...TOGETHER (Ezekiel 22:30, Isaiah 59:16). In Acts 2:1, when waiting for the promise of the Father, the disciples came together to pray. In Acts 4:23, when Peter and John were arrested, the disciples came together to pray. When Peter was arrested again in Acts 12, the disciples came together to pray (v12). 
• God looks for a unified church...TOGETHER, and we cannot be a unified church with a "I am the church" mentality. This mindset undermines the gathering, which is holy. You cannot contend with Babylon by fighting alone. If you try, you will lose by getting sucked into the system, and you will have no one to hold you accountable. The church is God's household. I mean, the specific household or ministry where you gather (see: 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 18:17). Remember, there is the church, universal. Then there are churches. We are members of the body of Christ, and gather as churches who should "forsake not the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:25). 
• God looks for people who "love not their lives"...TOGETHER (Revelation 12:11) Question: What do you think that looks like, for you? 
• God looks for people who are "zealous for good works"...TOGETHER (Titus 2:11-15) and who overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). We fight with the good works that we do as the church. We resist, letting our light shine for the sake of people's souls (Matthew 5:16).
• God looks for people who will preach the gospel...TOGETHER (2 Timothy 4:1-2). Our pushback is in our preaching! It is the thing that the world despises most. They tell us "don't preach to your kids" and , "don't impose your religion upon others." They have cultural norms agains "proselytizing" at work and in the public square. They will tell you not to wear your religion on your sleeve. No...wear it. There is a whore of Babylon that does not want to to speak of the gospel. She influences the hearts of men "who will not endure sound doctrine." They will recieve teachers, but not fathers. They want teaching without accountability. But, this is not so with us. We are those who will preach the gospel to contend with Babylon, no matter the cost. 

 

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth (Genesis 11:1-9).

• Shinar (verse 1) was in the ancient Mesopitamian land that archeologists call fertile crescent. It rested between the Tigris and Euprates rivers in what is today, present day Iraq.  
• There' they built a tower that whose top would "reach the heavens." This was not in the physical sense. Overwhelmingly, archeologists believe they were building what was called a ziggurat. These structures were significant in ancient Mesopitamian culture. The one from Genesis is said to be a temple to reverence Marduk.

Marduk: Originally, he seems to have been a god of thunderstorms. A poem, known as Enuma elish and dating from the reign of Nebuchadrezzar I (1119–1098 BCE), relates Marduk’s rise to such preeminence that he was the god of 50 names, each one that of a deity or of a divine attribute. After conquering the monster of primeval chaos, Tiamat, he became Lord of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. All nature, including humanity, owed its existence to him; the destiny of kingdoms and subjects was in his hands.

Marduk’s star was Jupiter, and his sacred animals were horses, dogs, and especially the so-called dragon with forked tongue, representations of which adorn his city’s walls. On the oldest monuments Marduk is represented holding a triangular spade or hoe, interpreted as an emblem of fertility and vegetation. He is also pictured walking or in his war chariot. Typically, his tunic is adorned with stars; in his hand is a sceptre, and he carries a bow, spear, net, or thunderbolt. Kings of Assyria and Persia also honoured Marduk and Zarpanitu in inscriptions and rebuilt many of their temples.

Marduk was later known as Bel, a name derived from the Semitic word baal, or “lord.” Bel had all the attributes of Marduk, and his status and cult were much the same. Bel, however, gradually came to be thought of as the god of order and destiny. In Greek writings references to Bel indicate this Babylonian deity and not the Syrian god of Palmyra of the same name. (Brittanica).

The ziggurat (including undoubtedly, the one in Genesis 11) was a portal which served as a connecting link between heaven and earth. They are considered the earliest known pyramids (which also served as portals to interdimensional realms in the Americas as well as in Egypt and Sudan). The idea that the tower of Babel was a tower that would reach the heavens was much like the language that was used for other towers that were built in that area: Stairway to Pure Heaven (Sippar), House Binding Heaven and Earth (Nippur), Temple Linking Heaven and Earth (Larsa), Temple of the Foundation Platform of Heaven and Earth (Babylon). The purpose of such structures was to provide a shrine for the gods. 

The tower's "top in the heavens" used spiritual matters to manipulate the people.  This expression uses spiritual wording.  The top of the tower spiritually reached into the heavens, home of the gods.  The earliest built tower with similar purpose, the Tepe Sialk Ziggurat, featured a shrine for god at its top.  This Ziggurat, at Kashan, Iran, is almost due east of Baghdad and nearby Babylon.  The migrating people, later building Babel, brought the ideas behind Sialk's design with them to Mesopotamia.  This part of their belief system regionally continued after Babel.  They believed the tower's top was a gateway to the gods.  Humanity's religion is always trying to reach into heaven (Romans 10:6).  Christianity is different because God came to us (John 3:13). (MacDonald, Brent 2016). 

The tower was built to rise up, into the very throne of God.  In this case, they were not building a shrine unto God, but to "make for themselves a name," so as to establish unity and strength, without God. It is said that YHWH, whose name was known this time was not being reverenced, but invaded (in a sense), as they were building a tower to reach God (in a spiritual sense), without the aid of God. If this "invasion" claim is true, it is similar to (but is not) the invasion of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:13). 

And the Lord came down...(v5).

• In both a spiritual sense, and a geographical sense, Babel was the underpinning of what would become, Babylon.  Bablon means "confusion."
• Eventualy, God would "come down" and confuse their languages and scatter them across the earth (Genesis 11:9).
• Some say that this scattering and confusion is where principalities and territorial spirits get their origin, as the scattering did not end the worhip of other gods, but siloed them. This is based on a translation (which we will not get into now) of Deuteronomy 32:8. 

From this time forward, God's people have had to deal with Babylon who will not fall until the fulfillment of its falling in Revelation 18. If Babylon was here from the beginning, and destroyed at the end, then we are clearly contending with it now. 

Interdimensional portals are not symbolic. They are real. As they did this in ancient Babylon, it is being done today through occult magick. 

• A few decades ago, Led Zepplin wrote a song called Stairway to Heaven. Played in reverse, the lyrics are satanic. Played normally, the lyrics speak of a spiritual experience outside of God. Here's the rest of the story: Written by band member Jimmy Page, the music was given to another band member, Robert Plant to later write the lyrics. THe song used encoded words and double meanings (think, Pizzagate). The song was written while Page lived in the former home of a man named Aleister Crowley. This was a farmhouse on the shores of Loch Ness. This house met certain witchcraft requirements including a door that opened to the notrh toward a seclude d structure that served as an oratory. The house was demonized, and many who went there could attest that shadowy shapes  produced horrible effects on visitors. tHis house was built on the site of a church that had been formerly burned to the ground, with the congregation still inside. There, Stairway to Heaven was written. 
• Here's where it gets interesting: the former owner of the house, Aleister Crowley was an occultist, and the person who may be responsible for the modern UFO phenomenon. [Ok...stay with me. I promise we're not getting weird]. In 1918, Crowley and his intimate partner (a married woman by the name of Roddie Minor), through the use of sexual rituals and the heavy influence of occult ceremonies, sucessfully opened a demonic portal, and were introduced to a spirit named Lam. 
• So, this opening of deminc portals is something that actually happens, and continues to happen, even in modern times. Again, it is not symbolic. One could only imagine the surpise when the Babylonians built the tower of Babel, and were confronted with...God! 

After all of this activity in ancient Mesopotamia, God not only scattered the people and languages, he answered in another very particular way. God answered this demonic assault with…Abram. One day, the seed of Abraham would rise up, and contend with Babylon!!! 

Questions:

• Where do you think we are going with all of this? 
• How do you think ancient Babylon influences secular practices of today? 
• Using Revelation 18, in what way does Babylon relate to today?