2 - Spiritual warfare

The transcription discusses the concept of spiritual warfare and the importance of being spiritually minded. It emphasizes that the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces. The weapons of warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God. It also mentions the importance of feeding the spirit and not the flesh, as well as the role of the soul in determining victory or defeat. The example of David and Goliath is used to illustrate the power of being spiritually minded. The Word of God says that Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light. Yes, it is. Which means it's soothing. If we're not in tune in the spirit, we can look at it with our eyes and say, well, is this safe? Does he have a word for me? Thank you for being here and welcome to the second installment of Spiritual Warfare. Please join us as we open in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time that we had this morning with you and praise and worship, for establishing your presence with us, Lord. We thank you that your word does say that we're two or three are gathered in your midst, that you're in our midst. Sorry, in your name, that you're in our midst. We praise you, Lord Jesus. Father, as we minister your word this morning, we ask you to help us to stay focused on you, not on the things that could be, not on the things that we think should be, but on the reality of your person and your word. Help us to see some of that today in your word. Amen. Thank you for it. Father, we thank you for Alva's House Church. We ask your blessings on it and always bring the ones here that you want to be here. Those that can't be here, Lord, we thank you for them as well. We just ask your blessings on them in Jesus' name. Again, thank you for your word, your blessings on it, your anointing. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. And I'm saying good morning, Alva's House Church. Good morning. Good morning. And to our brothers and sisters that the recording is going to, we love you. In Jesus' name. Our foundational scripture for this series is 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 through 6. We'll read this every Sunday because we want to get it in our heart. And so just bear with me. You know, I've heard years ago, and I know I've bounced around some, I've heard years ago that repetition is the best teacher. And I'm not sure there's not some truth in that. We hear it, and we hear it, and we read. We read in the Old Testament that God speaks line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. He wants us to get this stuff. He wants it to become a part of who we are. See, for the Word to become flesh, the flesh has to bow and allow the Word to live inside of it. Hallelujah. Let's read. Verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God, for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought and decaptivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Now, we've covered some of this last week, but it's worth looking at. This is, this is the base. This is the base and basic of spiritual warfare. If we can't deal with these three or four verses, if we can't get these things in our heart and make them real to us, then we're going to have trouble. We're going to have a walking Tuesday. Yes, ma'am. We're going to have trouble when it's time for us to put the leather to the road. When it's time for us to put our walk into what we think we know. You see, a lot of times it's not what we know, it's what we think we know. What we think we know sometimes competes with what God says. What we think we know is we pick and we choose what God says. What we think we know is enmity, as the King James says, against God. What is enmity? Enemy, something that stands between us, something that is against God. To be naturally minded is to be enmity. But to be spiritually minded is what? Life in Christ Jesus. And so, even as we were talking earlier, can I be spiritually minded in my everyday life? I think Christ was, and he walked and fished, and he walked and prayed, and he walked and played with the guys. He had a normal life. He was a man, but he was God. And he was spiritual all the time, because he is spirit all the time. So when we think of that, and we think of the things that volley for our thoughts, things that are in competition for our reactions toward things, our imaginations toward things, our thoughts toward things, the things that separate us from the world or separate us from Christ, because we're spirit, there are spirits that influence us, and it's either the spirit of the living God or the spirit of the evil one. That's why our battle is not against flesh and blood. We're going to get to that. We're not going to study that today, but we can quote it. Mama, you want to quote it? For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual rulers and high places. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not natural, they're not carnal, they're not human. They are mighty, where? In God. So if we're warring, and we're not warring in God, we're doing feudal warfare. We're going through the motion, but we're not accomplishing anything. We're throwing rocks where they got tanks. Come on now. Rocks and tanks don't mix, unless you're David. But now the Lord anointed that rock. Thank you, David. The Lord guided the sling and the rock and took the tank out. So he was warring. He said, you come against me, and we'll get there eventually. You come against me with a sword and a spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord, my God. The difference is, the man, both of them walking in the flesh. But one's warring after the flesh because of his size and his implements of war, and the other one is warring in the spirit. He's warring, his warfare and his weapons are mighty. A rock is mighty through God. But we think, our mind thinks, and by the way, since we're there, the rest of Israel thought we're toast, guys. Who can stand before this champion of the Philistines? Look at the size. King says, who'll go? I'll give him my daughter. Nobody. They would say, thank you, but no thank you. That man killed me. Why were they thinking like that? Because they were thinking natural human thoughts. We're going to get there. We're going to get there. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty. Hallelujah. Let's get started right here. Where we at right here? We did this a little bit last week. We do not war. We have people who think they don't war, and because they think that, they stay, and their family stays, and if their church thinks they don't war, their church stays in warfare all the time and don't know how to deal with it. They stay sick. They stay hurt. They stay depressed. They stay broke, busted, and disgusted. That's not God's will. God's will is for his people to be healthy and prosperous. Always. It doesn't matter whether you're on a welfare check or social security check or if you've got a job making six figures. You can be broke having a job making six figures. Donald Trump may have to go bankrupt in New York. Can you imagine that? That man's rich. But just because he's got money don't mean he's rich in God. He wants to do things according to the flesh, a carnal thinking, and we're going to look at this. We talked about feeding the monster. Which one are you going to feed? The strongest one is going to be the one you feed the most. You feed the flesh, the flesh is going to get stronger. That's just simple life. If you feed the spirit, the spirit's going to get stronger. Do you know that you feed your soul and it can go either direction? Because the soul is neutral. It's going to go to the strongest, either the flesh or the spirit. So my soul, which is my mind, my will, and my emotions, is going to be directed by the strongest influence on it. And I'm still on warfare, guys. Because this is what we're going to war with. We're going to war with what we are. I can't war with what Billy Graham had. I can't war with what these mighty men of God had. I have to war with the basic truths in myself. Is my flesh stronger? Do I yield to my flesh more than I yield to the spirit of God? That's going to determine my victory or my defeat. My victory or my defeat is what I take, my intake. Okay, so we talked about the spirit, the soul, and the body. I have to look at this as we're teaching on warfare. Because it makes up the man. David was not a huge man. King Saul was head and shoulders above all Israel. And David was an adolescent. He was a teenager. He wasn't grown. Yet one wouldn't even... Okay. Saul says, okay, son, this is what I think. I think you're a little bit over your head in this. And yeah, you killed a bear. And you killed a lion watching your father's sheep. And that's admirable. But do you see the size of this cat? Your eyes are working, right? So this is what I want you to do. I'm going to offer you a little bit of protection. Because obviously you're not thinking straight. But there's nobody else willing to go out there and fight this thing. So I'm going to let you do it. But I need you to use my weapons. I need you to use my armor. My shield, my sword, my helmet. Maybe he'll think that you're fighting me and he don't have a chance. Maybe we can intimidate him a little bit. Because everybody's armor was custom built. By man. And everybody knew who the person was on the battlefield because of the type of armor and shield they had on. That's why certain people went to certain people. Because there ain't no rookie fit to go take out this thing except David. Saul's thinking like a man. As he always did. David had been sitting with the sheep, worshiping the Lord. Meditating. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. How can you defeat that? He's got this thing in his heart. The Lord is with me always. My God. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your Lord and your staff, they comfort me. In the presence of my enemies. Look at this thing. How can the evil one deal with that if you already know who God is in you? Okay. Feed the monster, right? If you're feeding the flesh, you're enabling and strengthening your enemy. If you feed the spirit, you enable and strengthen the spirit man and allow God to be God in your situation. And when you do that, he releases his angels to do warfare on your behalf. This in you, a willing vessel, can be used according to the Word and the Spirit of God. It's too simple. It's too simple. We read 1 Peter 5.8, I think. We may not have it, but Bonnie, would you find that for me and read it? And I'm going to go to Genesis because this is what we need to know. This is us. This is what we're going to be or not going to be. How are we going to do warfare if we don't know? 1 Peter 5.8 in the Amplified says. Speak up, sis. I'm sorry. Be well balanced, temperate, sober of mind. Be diligent and cautious at all times. For that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour. He wants to eat. And he's looking for something to eat. As any lion will. Withstand him. Be firm in faith against his onset. Strong and movable and determined, knowing that the same identical sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood, the whole body of Christians throughout the world. The enemy is looking for something to eat. Let's look at Genesis 3.14. I'm going to read that to you. So the Lord said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And the room may have a dirt. The flesh is dust, guys. Carnality is dust. If we feed that, we feed the evil one. We give him free entry into our life. If we feed on carnal things, if we feed on natural things, if we feed on lustful things, if we feed on things that takes our attention away from God and His kingdom. Now I'm not talking about your children and I'm not talking about your parents because they are in God's kingdom. They are your responsibility. So that's not what I'm talking about, just taking your time. I'm talking about the things that we think that don't matter much. The type of people that we hang out with that brings things into our life that we wouldn't bring into our life if we could see what was surrounding them. Did you know that really and truly since we're spirit, soul and body and I'm back on that. Our spirit man is our conscious, our subconscious and our unconscious and our subconscious. Our soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. What then is our body, our flesh? And I'm not talking about this thing, this earth suit that we walk around in. I'm talking about what controls our flesh. What could that be? Let me give you a hint. It's the five senses. What I feel, what I see, what I hear, what I taste and what I touch. That controls my flesh. The Spirit of God wants to control our spirit. Our five senses controls our flesh and our soul, our soul man, our mind, our will and our emotions is in the middle being torn back and forth and it's going to go to the strongest one and it's going to align itself with that. And I will either be a soul man or I will be a spirit man. If I do like the psalmist and say Oh, how I love thy law! Your word, O God, is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. If I embrace the things of the Lord then my spirit man is going to be stronger and my soul will align itself with my spirit. If my soul does that, guess what's going to happen? And stays consistent with it, my body is going to follow suit. But, if my soul aligns itself with my flesh my spirit will not follow suit, it will just go dormant. It will get weaker and weaker and hide over in a corner. And that's not what he's created to do. Your spirit man is created to rule. But your flesh wants to usurp the authority of the spirit. That's the way it is in life. The flesh... The people want to usurp your authority over your life. They want to control you. And we only have one Lord. We only have one person that has the right to control you. I'm still on the spirit of warfare. The weapons of our warfare. I'm still on the basics of this thing and I'm trying to get past this one part and I'm fixing to. Verse 4 says... Let's read that. I got it right here. Verse 4. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds. And in the... In the times of the Bible and they're still today a stronghold was a city or a fortress that had walls around it and had a gate. And you couldn't take the people. You couldn't take the kingdom if you couldn't take the stronghold. This right here says that we are to tear down these strongholds. To demolish these strongholds. Okay, let's look at a scripture. Well, let me read this to you. I'm in my notes. If anybody thought I couldn't read a scripture, I'm in my notes right here. Well, what are you looking at? Well, that would be the walls of Jericho whenever the people were told to march around the city over that stronghold and then to blow the trumpet and give a shout. They did this, what, seven days? Yeah. Every so many times a day. Being obedient to the Lord. And at the seventh day when the walls fell and I love how that is brought out. The walls. People think that they crumbled this way and crumbled that way. But the walls went down. That's right. So what was the key here in Paul's example? He said for seven days they walked around the walls of Jericho, the city of Jericho. And what is the key? Here's one thing that the Lord said to them that we have trouble with. Keep your mouth shut. Obedience. He said, don't you say a word. Because if you do, someone's going to say, y'all are stupid. We're a bunch of idiots walking around this city. I haven't got clothes. What are you thinking? And when one person starts, the next person's like, well, I was wondering when somebody was going to speak up. God said, keep your mouth shut. Because when you open your mouth, you start submitting to the voices around you. A stronghold to fortify a castle. In war times, there were boundaries or boundary lines called the front lines. The Bible wants us to believe that the church is in the middle of the ranks fighting for our very lives. Can I ask a question here? Is there anybody going through warfare in their life and in their family? Let me ask you, is there anybody not going through warfare in their life and in their family today? If that person is here, you can raise your hand. If you're not going through anything, if your family's not going through anything, raise your hand. For the sake of the recording, no one raised their hand. Everybody, every one of us are going through something, but the evil one wants us to think we're the only ones going through something. And what he does is he puts us in a corner somewhere and isolates us so that we have to fight the battle by ourselves. Instead of us coming together as an army, if one can put a thousand to flight, two then can put ten thousand to flight, just wonder what three or four can do. Better of same mind. Same mind. We're on the same page. We're submitting to the same Lord. He's speaking the same instructions. Walk around this city seven times for seven days and don't say nothing. Seven times. So my point is, my point is, the evil one wants us to think we're the only ones going through a battle. He puts us over in a place by ourselves. He wants us to think that we're in the middle of the battlefield and we're surrounded. That's what he wants us to think. We're surrounded on every side. Or we'll crouch down in foxholes wanting somebody to stand up and shoot a bullet. Now we're going to all stand apart. That is the image of defeat. Delusion. When the truth is, the reality is we are on the front lines and we are attacking his gates. He is on the defense trying to protect his gates or forts. His boundaries are continuously closing in and getting smaller and smaller and he loses precious ground. That's the truth of the matter. But he don't want you to see that he's on the defense. He wants you to believe he's the aggressor. And he's not. He does not have a scripture to stand on. He does not have a truth to stand on. The reality is from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold of it. To amplify it says from the days of John the Baptist until now to this present time the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault and violent men seize it by force as a precious prize. In other words, we lay hold of the kingdom and a share of the heavenly kingdom is sought for with most inherent zeal and intense exertion. We with our passion, the passion that is in us, we lay hold of the kingdom and we steady advance the kingdom. What did Jesus say? Matthew 16 18 Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. Amen. That does not mean the church is standing in the middle of the battlefield surrounded on all sides by the evil one. We have stormed the gates of his city. The stronghold that he had has to come down. Amen. The word of the Lord speaks it. The word of the Lord makes it true. Come on. Can I say I've read the end of the book. I know how it ends. Jesus said I have established my kingdom. Now, John came with the purpose of taking the kingdom. Jesus came, if I can find it, for the same reason. Jesus was telling his men this was the way the kingdom was taken and this is the way it will be kept. The apostle Paul said in having done all to stand stand therefore. The military term here is having done all that the situation demands, hold your ground. Do not move from the right to the right or to the left, forward or backward, hold your ground. Occupy. Jesus said to his disciples, occupy till I come. That was the military term as well. We have occupied the Philippines. We have a military presence in Japan. We have a military presence in Europe. We have a military presence in Mexico. We have a military presence in Cuba. Occupy. You've taken ground, don't give it up. It doesn't matter what your mind is thinking. Pay attention to what God is thinking. Does what he thinks and what he says matter? I think so. Amen. Jesus was a baby once. Only once. Jesus was a lamb slain only once. Jesus went to the cross only once. Now he's a mighty warrior from now on. When we read the book of Revelation and we see the description that John gave of Messiah, he didn't see a baby. He didn't see a crucified Christ. He didn't see the lamb slain from the foundations of the world. He saw raw power. He saw a man that made him fall on his face as dead. He said, I saw a man and the hair on his head was white as wool. And his raiment glowed. And he had flames of fire coming from his eyes. And he had a sword proceeding from his mouth, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. This is the warrior that works for us and wars for us. This is what the enemy sees, by the way. Why can't we see it? Because we see trees falling. We see storms coming. We see tornadoes. I mean, that's the world we live in, but should we focus on that? I'm not saying be foolish and go find your tornado and stand in front of it. But know who you are and know who your God is. He who spoke to the storm, peace be still. He wasn't scared. He knew a higher truth. He had a higher revelation. He knew the Creator. By the way, it was him. All things were created for him and by him. There was nothing created that was created except he did it. Verse 5. I'm trying to wind down. Verse 5. Let's read verse 5 right here. In 2 Corinthians 10. Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought for the obedience of Christ. We talked about imaginations last week, that the word image is in there. That's obvious to us. We can see that. Images that people paint for us, images that our imagination paints for us. We get someone in the White House that we don't necessarily like and we get an image or we get someone in the White House that we do like and we get an image. And both of them could be wrong. Both of them could be wrong. So we're not going to talk about that. We're going to talk about the thoughts. A thought is that which is thought out or a purpose. Bonnie, would you read 2 Corinthians 2.11? And the King James says we're not ignorant of his devices. Go ahead. Is that all of it? And so that word device there in the Greek is translated thoughts. We're not ignorant of Satan's thoughts. His little arrows that he shoots, his spears that he throws, those things that he shoots through our soul, that our soul a lot of times reaches up and grabs. His suggestions. That's right. He cannot control you. He shoots thoughts and suggestions through that you grab and either entertain or cast down. So he don't control you. He gives you thoughts and then you either control them, you delete them. In our computer days you delete them and they are no more or you embrace them. You entertain them. If you entertain the thought, you accept it. If you accept it, it becomes a part of you then a stronghold is established. He's got his foot in the door. That's a hard one because then you've got to tear down that stronghold. Now all of us have got strongholds whether we want to admit it or not. We've all got strongholds that have been established throughout our life. Look, I'm 67 years old and I know that in today's standards that's not real old. But I have had 67 years of people speaking and things that I entertain that have to be torn down. That are not godly and it may be some place that I go and hide when something comes my way. Some place that I go and my comfort place that I get by myself, I go in there and I just say, okay, God, I'm safe now. I can see you. But I've isolated myself from anyone that can help me. These thoughts. These strongholds. A stronghold not only keeps your enemy out it locks you in. The walls that we built for our own protection we've built a lot of them in the church. Because church has hurt us. And we've determined that church will not hurt us again. And so we build these strongholds. And the evil one does not care whether it's a carnal stronghold or whether it is a so-called spiritual stronghold. You've got a stronghold now. And you're the one ruling that thing and God is not. And they have to be torn down. We've got certain rooms that we will allow the Lord into. But God, you can't come in this way. You can't. You can't come in this room. I'm sorry. I love you. But there's things in here I know you don't need to see. There's things in here that I don't want you to see. That's right. There's things in here that I know that you don't need to hear. He already knows it's there, guys. The evil one is speaking to our hearts and saying things like, God did not really say this. God just wants you to be less than he is. That's what he told Eve. God knows that in the day that you eat of this, you'll be like him. These thoughts, they leave you. These thoughts, they've not changed in 6,000 years. His strategy is still the same. It's to divide and conquer and to pollute our minds. It's just... Okay, so 2 Timothy, let's read 2 Timothy 23 through 26. 23 through 26. I think Bonnie's probably going to read it in the Amplified again. She likes the Amplified, y'all. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 23 through 26. I'm going to go ahead and read it, Bonnie, since I'm here. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes. I could stop right there. Knowing that they generate strife. That says avoid that. That says just say no. We know some people they have about 3 or 4 that we could name off, but we won't. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. Now listen, this is a freebie. This book is written to leadership. Just to clarify this. That's you. Do you have influence over someone's life? If so, you're a leader. So then he's talking to leadership. That's right. He says the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, apt to teach, patient, in humility corrected those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Now listen, he's talking to Christians. Absolutely. Go ahead, Lonnie. Read it in Amplified. It says, but refuse and shut your mind against and have nothing to do with trifling, ill-informed, unedifying, stupid controversies over ignorant questions where you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels. And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, fighting and contending. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, mild-tempered, preserving the bond of peace. He must be a skilled and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing, and willing to suffer wrong. He must correct his opponents with courtesy and gentleness in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, that they may come to their senses and escape out of the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him henceforth to do God's will. Okay, so I know people, and I have known people, and I'm not picking on anybody that's in church. I'm not picking on anyone that's not in church. But I know people and have known people that got hurt in church and said they would never step foot inside of a church again. They were taken captive. They were prisoners of war. See, that's what that's what 2 Corinthians said, right? Right here. Casting down the imaginations and every high thing that salts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every fault to the obedience of Christ. Bringing into captivity. Instead of us being decaptive, we should be the captor. Instead of us becoming prisoners of war, we should release the prisoners of war and make prisoners of war. Lot of people. This thing, Paul started out this chapter, 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 1 says, I, Paul, beseech you in the gentleness and meekness of Christ. He's talking to people. And right here, in Timothy, he's talking, he says, the leader or the minister or the servant should deal with people in meekness and gentleness and love and compassion. But now, when we start talking about casting down imaginations, we can no longer be gentle and meek. We have to be ruthless. We have to be merciless. But we're not being merciless and ruthless to people. My words should be soft and sweet. My words should be gentle and kind to people. But to the evil one, I should be merciless. I cannot find a baby, nitty-gritty baby demon as they are. Can't kill him. He's so little. You kill the sucker. If there is such an animal. But I can't imagine that they would transform themselves in certain ways. The word of God says that Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light. Which means it's soothing. If we're not in tune in the spirit, we can look at it with our eyes and say, well, it's safe. Does he have a word for me? He looks like he's not going to hurt me. And demons do that all the time. And people invite them into their lives. After a while, by the way, they become channelers. They become channels that the evil spirits flow through. And no longer do they just control their life, they start controlling other people's lives through them. And all this is right here. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 3 through 6. It's personal, guys. Warfare is first personal. It has to be what I am, who I am, who I serve, and what I'm willing to do. Or not do. What am I willing to stand for and what am I willing to stand against? I cannot give I cannot give the evil one a room in my house and expect him not to influence me. Okay, here's the key to the front door. Middle room's not occupied. You go ahead and take it. I can't give my hand to me. I can't find someone just walking down the street scoping out our property and say, oh, by the way, Hezekiah did that. The king of Babylon sent spies to Hezekiah. Hezekiah showed him everything. His arsenal, his wealth, everything. And the man of God said, what did you show them? He said, everything. There's not anything that's in my kingdom that God has given me that our fathers have accumulated that I've not shown him. He said, there's every bit of it. Every bit of it's gone. Every bit of it. The gold shields were taken. All of the armory was taken. All of his riches was taken. Hezekiah didn't see it. Hezekiah said, oh, at least it won't happen in my lifetime. Them things that God gave me as kids, they'll have to suffer through it, but I won't. He invited them into his house and he took his children, not just his riches. It's simple. When you entertain the thought, you get stronger or weaker depending on your thought. So if you entertain the thought that is not God, you will walk in defeat in that area of your life. You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never You will never Your enemy can't defeat you. Only your attitude can defeat you. Your outlook on life in general. It's simple stuff, guys. But people want to teach this. They want to teach this stuff that one day we might walk in, but this is what we have to walk in today. We're knee deep in this stuff. If we can't walk in this, we're not going to see that day. Amen. We've got to be overcomers. Yes. Paul said we've got to be overcomers. I'm going to give you a thought that Mom and I read the other day from the man of God in our devotion. He said Oswald Chambers, by the way, is the author of this. He said God will not give you overcoming life, but God will give you life as you overcome. Amen. My God, help us to walk in that. My attitude. We've got to just overcome every obstacle that gets in front of us. Can we read three more scriptures? Whether it's a little rock, a big rock, or a mountain. James 3, 13-16. We've got to get the brother James in here. James 3, verses 13-16. Okay. Wow. Who is wise in understanding among you? Let him show a good conduct that works, that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envions and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. And I'm not going to read verse 16 yet because I want Buddy to read those three verses, 13-15 in the Amplified. Okay, it says Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him, by his noble living, show forth his good works with the unobstructed humility which is the proper attribute of true wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and envy and contention in your hearts, do not prize yourselves on it, and thus be in defiance of and false to the truth. This superficial wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, animal, even demonic. Okay, so that's not from God. It's wisdom. It's knowledge. But it's not from God. We could say it's a smart thing to do. It's something I if I were you, this is what I would do. Well, that's easy to say until it's you in that situation. But see, the point is we can have wisdom, we can have knowledge, but it not be from above. We get it from preachers. We get it from Christians. We get it from friends, relatives. But a lot of it, a lot of it is just it's dangerous. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking, that's look, self-seeking. In your hearts, do not boast and lie against truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual and demonic. Verse 16 For where envy and strife exist, confusion and every evil thing is there. King James says where envy and strife are, confusion and every evil work is there. And we wonder why we are in the shape we're in. Our houses are in the shape they're in. Our friendships and relationships are in the shape they're in. And the churches are in the shape they're in. Because of envy and strife. Just a little strife, it's just a little demon. He can't do much damage, he's just a little one. Every evil work. We give the evil one the keys to our house. With two things, envy and strife. We invite them in. The temple of God, which is the house of God, and we don't have the authority to do that. Because God's supposed to be in charge of everything. And it's not our house, is it, Mom? No, it's not our house. He's just letting us live there. Envy, according to Strong's, is jealousy and malice. Strife is anger and or factions. Just simple things. Ouch. They're simple things. And how do we combat it? We bring every thought captive. Every thought has to be filtered through the Word of God. Bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Because if we don't bring it captive to the obedience of Christ, then it's lifting up its head above Christ. That's what it said right here. Casting down imaginations at every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, we're about to come to the place to where we can do warfare. All of this is personal. All of this is inside of us. All of this is stuff working in us or shooting through us. All of this is us either standing our ground or not standing our ground. And I can't do warfare for Bonnie if I'm all tied up. I can't release Paul's family or help him fight for his family if I'm wrapped up in a straight suit. So what have I got to do? I've got to deal with this thing right here. This three-part being. The spirit, the soul, and this body. I got all kind of, I got to quit preaching, but I got all kind of thoughts that I can throw in right here. Here's a good one though. How are you concerned about the moat in your brother's eye? How are you going to get that little speck of sawdust out of your brother's eye when you got a log sticking in yours that you won't even deal with? Do your own warfare first. Allow the Holy Spirit to set you free first. Get with a group of people that are messed up like you are. And y'all do warfare together. Don't isolate yourself from the body of Christ. If I cut my finger off, my finger's going to die. It's still a finger. But that book is separated and dead. Combine. Combine. Combine. Come together. Walk in unity. And walk in life. Father, we thank you for your word. Father, we ask you, mighty God, to make it reality to us. Let us see clearly, Lord, the simplicity. We make things way too difficult. We make things way too hard. Lord, let us focus on you. On your kingdom. And on your word. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord, for Matthew 633. We praise you, Father. Let your word, O God, come into our hearts and set us free. In Jesus' name, Amen. What does Matthew 633 say? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you. But if we seek first these things, the kingdom of God eludes us. We can't have things first. God has to be first. Amen.