This sermon emphasizes the importance of spiritual warfare and understanding our authority in Christ to push back the powers of darkness. It encourages believers to stand firm, put on the full armor of God, and pray with power and passion for the souls of men. The speaker shares personal experiences and biblical truths to empower the church to be bold ambassadors of God's kingdom and to resist the schemes of the enemy.

Second Corinthians chapter 10, please. If you go to the second Corinthians chapter 10. Father, I thank you, Lord, for the touch of your Holy Spirit. I thank you for your strength, for your power, your victory, your vision, Lord, that you're willing to give to us. Lord, it all belongs to you. I thank you for the touch of heaven in this sanctuary today and online in my life and the lives of all of the hearers of this message this morning. Would you give us the grace that we need to grow in the strength that you want for us and have clearly freely provided for every one of our lives. Help us, Lord Jesus Christ, to do damage to the kingdom of darkness and to honor you with our lives. God, raise us up in this last day to be a testimony of who you are. Give us grace and give us strength in Jesus name. Now, please do remember August the 5th. We're being given an incredible opportunity to pray and there will most likely be a considerable number of people who don't know Christ the way we do there. And it would be a wonderful opportunity for you to be able to share with somebody what God has done in your life. This is an opportunity that God's giving us to win the lost and to pray for our city. And I thank God for that. October, this coming October, we're going to be celebrating 30 years as a church congregation. It's gone fast. 30 years. I've been here 23 going on 24 of those years. Most of you, some of you didn't even exist back then. I remember one time I was sitting on the platform. I said to Pastor Patrick, the congregation is getting young looking. Truth is everybody's getting up looking to me as we get older. It's, you know, we under the assumption that nobody's changing, but thank God, thank God for you. I really do. Especially young people that are here. You have such a glorious future ahead of you. And God wants to use your life in a profound way. If you will let him touch your heart. Second Corinthians chapter 10 beginning at verse three, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. That means they're not the typical weapons that are used in any kind of physical warfare on this earth, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. That means things that exist and would have you and I believe that they cannot be changed. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. And I want to tell you a story this morning that happened in my life many, many years ago. It's before I became a believer in Christ as I am today. I was saved at the age of 24. And this happened somewhere between the age of 21 and 23 when I was a young police officer. Now, back in those days, I worked out about two hours a day and I ran about two miles every night. So I was in pretty good physical condition. If you close your eyes and don't look at me, you might be able to imagine what that looked like. About three o'clock in the morning, one morning, I got a call of an alarm going off at a dentist's office in an office complex. I was the only one to arrive at that call. And as I arrived, the thief was coming out of the dentist's office with his goods in a backpack and perhaps in his pockets as well. And when he saw me, he took off running and I took off in pursuit after him. Chased him a little while. And then we ended up in a vacant parking lot where he stopped, suddenly turned, raised his hands and said, it's only you and I now. About eight seconds later, it was only me. That's why I said you have to close your eyes to imagine it. At my age, you negotiate. You don't fight anymore. You negotiate. That's, I'm mature now. I wouldn't do what I did back then. And I wasn't saved back then. That's why I quoted Mike Tyson and said, everyone has a plan until somebody punches him in the mouth. And plan, of course, goes awry at that point. John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus said, the thief does not come except to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. The thief has come to steal your future, to steal your family, to kill your joy, to kill your hope and destroy your effectiveness on the earth. That's why he has come. Now in the parking lot, that particular thief that night made what I would call four presumptive errors. In other words, he presumed something and he presumed it wrong. Firstly, he presumed that he could outrun me. He didn't know that I liked to run. I ran every night. As a matter of fact, one time I was on a call and I had missed my workout. I love to work out. I worked out two hours a day. And I, like I said, I ran at least two miles at night. And one day I missed my workout. You know how that feels. Those of you who work out a lot, you feel lethargic and you feel, it just feels awful when you miss your workout. And something similar happened. And a person took off running and I took off after him. I knew I could catch him easily, but I just paced myself about 30 feet behind and just kept, because I missed my workout. And I was so sad when he turned around and put his hands up because I was just starting to break a sweat and I was really enjoying the run. David, the psalmist says it this way in Psalm 18, verse 29, for by you, I can run against a troop. By my God, I can leap over a wall. In verse 37, he said, I pursued my enemies and overtaken them and neither did I turn back again until they were destroyed. I've wounded them so they could not rise. They've fallen under my feet. For you've armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. You've also given me the next of mine enemies. So I destroyed those who hated me. They cried, but there was none to save them, even to the Lord, but he did not answer them. Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind. And I cast them out like dirt in the streets. The devil would have you believe that you'll never catch him. You'll never catch his weaponry. You'll never catch his strategy, but somehow the overpowering him, which is what we are called to do because we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. We have been given power over serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt us. But the devil himself would have you always believe that you'll always be in pursuit of a victory that you'll never catch. But I remind you that Satan is a liar. He is the father of lies and you have been given power in the spirit to not just, you see a lot of people think that at the Christian life, you're given power just to more or less hold the fort to somehow kind of put up a shield so the devil can't hurt you anymore. That's part of it. No doubt about it, but you've been given power to actually pursue the kingdom of darkness. You've been given power to actually make a difference. You've been given power just as Jesus was by the spirit of God to open prison doors and see wounded hearts healed and see blinded eyes being given a vision for the future. See captive set free. You've been given power to actually run after the powers of darkness. When Jesus said, you're my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. It doesn't mean the gates of hell coming your way. It means you going against the gates of hell. The gates of hell can't hold out, can't hold their captives, can't keep on winning a victory when the church turns and finally realizes who we are in Christ and begin to pursue the powers of darkness. Praise be to God. We're not called just to exist. We have a purpose on the earth. And of course, that divine purpose is always about people. A second presumptive error that the thief in the parking lot made that night is that he could keep what he had stolen, that somehow I couldn't take it back from him. Luke 11, 21 and 22. These are the words of Jesus. When a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils. The devil can't keep what he has stolen from you. I'm going to say it again. The devil can't keep what he has stolen from you. You have power. Most of you know my story, but I'm getting old. And one of the privileges of getting old is you get to tell it over and over again. And you don't really care if the people have heard it before, because it's my story. And it's a good story. I like this story. I mean, it's an incredible story. But you know that at the age of 15, I started to suffer panic attacks because of pressure that was brought to bear in my life. And I felt that I was insufficient to achieve the goals that others felt that I should be achieving. And so panic fear became a real deep part of my life. It crippled me to the point where I found it hard to go out of the house at times or ride on a bus. I remember one time I would be afraid that I'd panic or have a panic attack when I was on the bus. It was a very, very difficult season in my life. I thank God for his mercy. I thank God that I came to Christ. And when I came to Christ one night, I felt another panic attack coming on my life. This is after getting saved. And I had I was reading the Bible that day and there was a verse of scripture. I didn't even remember the whole verse where the apostle Paul said, if God before us who can be against us. And I believe that with all my heart and I felt a panic attack coming on my life. And if anybody's ever had these, the closest thing to hell you'll ever experience on earth, you feel like somebody is pouring a bucket of dark sand on your head. Your heart starts to pound in your chest. You begin to sweat profusely. There's a set, a foreboding sense of doom comes on you. You see no way out of the darkness. You feel like you're going to die. Before I came to Christ, I would carry Valium with me and I would pop these volume and sometimes top them with an eight ounce glass of whiskey to get myself through this difficult moments in my life. But now I was a Christian. The devil would try to convince me that he could keep what he had stolen. He'd stolen my confidence. He'd stolen my voice. He'd stolen my future in many regards. And it's as if Satan was saying, okay, I've lost you to Christ. And I will agree with you that you have eternal life, but the abundant life is not going to be yours. So just be content with what you have. But that night I got up and in my heart, I said, no more pills. I'm a believer in Christ. Now, no more whiskey that's gone from my life. And I believe it as the Bible says, if God before me, who can stand against me? I went down into my living room and I prayed a prayer that I still remember today. Well, it's not a prayer. I wasn't praying. I was talking to the devil himself. There's a point where you got to get up and you got to fight back. There's a point where you have to face the thief in the parking lot. Do you understand what I'm talking about? There's a point where the ferocity of God, it's wonderful. The lamb saved me, but the lion lives inside of me. Do you understand? There's a point where you and I can lift our head and we can roar right in the face of the devil. And that's what I did that night. I said, Satan, you can only kill me if God allows you to. And if he allows you to, I'm going to heaven. So I win tonight. I win either way. It doesn't matter to me. This is a win-win situation for me. So I said, you throw at me everything you've got, everything you've got, you throw it at me. But I throw at you what I now have in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God, I resist you. That's what I prayed. And a heat, not a fuzzy feeling, a heat hit my feet, went through my calves, my legs, my middle part of my body, my chest, my head, and out the top of my head. And I was set free 40 years ago from nine years of hell. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Everyone has a plan until somebody punches him in the mouth. It's time for you to punch the devil right in the mouth, whatever his plan is. Also, the devil tried the thief that night in the parking lot. There's a third era, presumptive era. He presumed that I was alone and had no power to take his stolen goods from him. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter six, beginning at verse 10. Finally, my brother, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Wherefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand the evil day and having done all to stand. Paul says, have truth in your inward parts, put on the breastplate of righteousness and walk in a right relationship with God. Let your heart be pure. Let your motives be clean. Let the direction of your life be that others might be set free and that Christ, Jesus might be glorified. Have shoes on your feet and be ready to share this wonderful victory in every place that God takes you. Take the shield of faith. And so you can glance off of it, all of the accusations that will come against you by the wicked one. Take the helmet of salvation, knowing that we're not standing in our own strength, but we're standing in the strength of another. We're not standing in our own righteousness. That means cleanness before God, but in the cleanness of another that has been freely given to us when we trusted in him. Take that helmet of salvation and put it on your head. The devil can't condemn you as a believer in Christ. He's got to go through Jesus to get to you and he can't go anywhere near the son of God. Praise be to God. And take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Know your Bible. Know the New Testament. Know this book, folks. Know it because it is your weaponry. It is your power. I only had a half of a verse of scripture and got set free from nine years of hell on this earth with a half a verse of scripture. Know the word of God. Know who you are in Christ. Praise be to God and pray with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. Bless be God. He thought that I had no power. He turned in the parking lot, raised his fists, and all he could see is one uniformed police officer and himself. And he thought I had no power to take his stolen goods from him. Looking at me, what did he see? He saw a uniform. And not only behind that uniform is weaponry. On my side, in my back pocket and a few other places, there was weaponry. I wasn't really there alone. Although he thought or could see that I was alone, there was a backup coming. Two other cars were on the way, at least two other officers coming to help me. And if that didn't work, there was 660 or more officers available in the police department. If things got out of hand, they would all be heading my way to help me. Behind the 660 officers, there was a city council. Outside of them, there was outside police forces that could be called in on a moment's notice to come in and help. Behind them, there was a national government. Behind the national government, there was a military. Behind the military, there were tanks, ships, guns, and planes, and generals. You have to understand who's behind you. You have to understand who's behind your authority. You have to understand you're not standing there alone. You have to pray and say, God, give me a vision of who I am in Christ. Give me a vision of why the demons believe and tremble. Why should hell tremble when I stand and face an enemy that's trying to convince me that I have no power to take his stolen goods from him? You and I, as believers in Christ, let's just say you, we're gonna talk about you today. You have the weaponry of Christ that we read about. You have backup. You have brothers and sisters in Christ that you can call upon for assistance and who should be there to help you in your time of need. You have hundreds in this battle with you. You're never alone. Look around you, folks. You have hundreds in this battle with you. You have leaders who will join you and will strengthen you. You have outside forces that will come down and help you if you need them. The chariots of God, the angels of God still roll across the mulberry trees as they always have. You have weapons so powerful that they can fold up a galaxy. Do you understand how powerful the weapons of heaven are? God has the power to fold up the heavens and the earth and remake them one day as he will into that which it was always destined to be. You have a general at the helm, so powerful, so awesome that only the mention of his name, that every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, not only in this world, but in that which is to come. And there is no weapon formed against you that can prosper as sons and daughters of God. There's no wall the devil can build that's high enough you can't leap over it. There's no valley deep enough that you can't get through it in Christ. No power, no principality, no angel, no army, no military, no nothing can stop you from doing what God has called you to do in Jesus Christ. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds and casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. As I said earlier, everyone has a plan until somebody punches him in the mouth. The devil has a plan. The fourth presumptive error the thief in the parking lot made that night is that his words were sufficient to resist my advance and that just by his words he could overcome me. Second Corinthians 10.6 Paul says, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. So what is my obedience? What is God looking for in me? First and foremost, to know and agree with who I am in Christ, to stop sniveling and stand up and say no more of this. I'm more than a conqueror. I have heaven's strength at my disposal. I am one of the children of God. I am an ambassador of the kingdom of God on the earth. I'm an ambassador of the one who stood up in the temple and said, the spirit of God is upon me to open prison doors to those that are bound that the poor may have the treasure of heaven open to them. That wounded hearts might be healed. The captives might be set free. I am an ambassador of that kingdom. It's time that I know who I am in Christ. You see, when your obedience is fulfilled, that's when we are ready to punish all disobedience. When I finally agree that my purpose on the earth is not just to exist, but it's to push back the power of darkness and see its captives set free. I don't know about you, but I am not willing to have people in New York die and go into a Christless eternity while I am still here. I'm not willing. I'm not willing to have the devil keep them behind his gate. When I have authority, when I have power, and so do you to see them released, to see them set free by the power of God. Praise be to God. David in Psalm 140 verses seven and eight, he prayed this prayer. Oh Lord God, the strength of my salvation. You've covered my head in the day of battle. Do not grant the Lord the desires of the wicked. Do not further his wicked scheme lest they be exalted. That is the cry of the believer's heart that's going to be more than a conqueror. Do not let the devil win this generation lest he should be exalted above the name of Jesus Christ. Lest it should be thought that he has more power than the son of God. Lest it should be thought that the church of Jesus Christ has no power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Cover my head, David said in the day of battle. Cover my head. You remember Goliath throwing these accusations, taunting him as he goes down into the valley to fight this big mouth from hell that's trying to discourage the armies of God. And he's throwing these insults. Who am I, a dog? Did you come in to chase me with sticks? What kind of a plan is this to send this skinny kid with no armor in against me? And David looked at him and said, all these things would be coming against his mind. The devil thinks that by his words, he can stop you from going forward. And David, the spirit of God came on David said, you come to me with weapons and all of these other things that you have. But I come to you in the name of the Lord, God of hosts, the God, the general of the armies of Israel that you have defied. And this day, this day said, I'm going to take your head from you to prove to you and all of these hosts of darkness that are behind you, that there is a God who does rule the universe. He is an all, has all power and all authority. Do not, oh Lord, grant the desires of the wicked. Do not further his wicked scheme, lest they be exalted. This is how you and I have to pray now in this church. When we gather to pray, this is how we must pray together in the morning or alone in the morning and together at night. When we come together, my God, my God, my God, it would seem that the enemy has the upper day and our upper hand in our generation. But we are a people who have the right to stand the devil to the face and say, you throw everything at me. You've got. And if the Lord allows you to send me home, then I win. But till that day, I throw back at you what I now have in the name of Jesus Christ, the son of God, we resist you. We resist your weapons. We resist your advance. You're not taking our homes. You're not taking our families. You don't get our children. You don't get our grandchildren. You don't get anything that belongs to us. You don't get our friends. You don't get our neighbors. You don't get the kids in our street. Because our God will fight for us and his name will be exalted in this generation. We're not looking to exalt the name of a church. We're not looking to exalt the name of any preacher. Only one name deserves to be exalted. Only one name needs to be lifted up in victory. Genesis chapter three, verse 15, there was a promise. It was the first time the gospel was preached in the old Testament, that there would be a seed born. That would be Christ. And those who are of him would place their foot firmly on the head of the devil himself. I challenge you to place your foot in Christ firmly in triumph over the plans of the devil against you, against your home, against your family, against your neighborhood, against the kids on your street corner. Put your foot on his head. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Remember, everybody has a plan until somebody punches him in the mouth. That's where you and I come in. We have a thief in our parking lot. He stood to face us in this generation and he's challenging the church. Do you understand that? Do you know the moment we're living in right now? He will convince you that you're all alone. He will try to convince you that he can keep what he's stolen. He'll try to convince you he's faster than you are. He'll try to convince you that you have no power to take his stolen goods from him. And that he can resist you simply by his words. Everybody has a plan until somebody like you, somebody like me says, no, sir, devil. No, sir. No, sir. No further. As a matter of fact, you're going to back up. Matter of fact, you're going to take a little rest now in the parking lot. And that's the challenge of this generation now. We're being called into something deeper than just living for ourselves. We're being called to push back the powers of darkness for the sake of the captives, for the sake of the honor of the name of Jesus, for the sake of the power and glory of God, which I believe he desires to manifest again in our time. God can sweep this city. He can find every lost coin, every lost sheep. He can speak to every heart, but first he needs a people through whom he can speak. People who are not afraid, people who know who they are in Christ, people who understand the authority of heaven that's given to the believer, people who have escaped the trap of living for oneself. I've understood that as you went to a cross that I might be saved. Now you've called me to take up my cross for the sake of others. People have laid down their own plans and taken up the plan of God. Those are the people who are given spiritual authority. Oh, by the grace of God, beloved church, by the grace of God, let's go into this battle. Let's pray. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not physical. They're not created by this world. These are weapons of spiritual authority. These are weapons of understanding who we are in Christ. These are weapons of praying as if we cannot be denied when we see it in the word of God. Take authority, starting in your own heart and then outside of yourself. Begin to realize who Jesus is and what he's done for you. Let no thief stand in your parking lot. Be everything that God's called you to be. I want to tell you something before I close. The devil is afraid of the weakest saint that discovers this truth. Our power is a different kind of power. We have power with God and with men. Father, I just thank you, Lord, with all my heart for your church gathered here this morning, for those that are listening online, for your people. I thank you with all of my heart for leading us, Lord, into the battle that needs to be fought now. Forgive us as a church age, Lord, for allowing ourselves to become so self-focused that we lost a sense of our purpose. We lost our authority. We lost our power. If we live to preserve ourselves, we become weak. If we fight for the honor of God and the souls of men, the strength of heaven is once again understood. I pray, Father, that you would give all of us, beginning with me, the courage to fight the fight that needs to be fought now, courage to pray, to put on the armor of God, to stand against the works of darkness. Father, I thank you. Set us free from our own fears. Set us free from our own frailty. Set us free, Lord, to be the people that you have destined that we should be. Father, I thank you with all my heart for this, in Jesus' name. Praise God. I want to give an altar call in the main sanctuary, the balcony, in the annex, North Jersey, and people who are at home online. Just people like me, who just want to stand up and fight back in a spiritual way. I'm not talking about anything physical or anything of this world, but to stand back with understanding of who we are in Christ, and say, God, make a difference now through my life. Make a difference. Push back the powers of darkness. Let's stand. If that's you, just come, and we're going to pray together. Just slip out of your seat, main sanctuary, balcony, go to either exit. Young and old, please, just come. Just come. We're going to pray, and we're going to believe God for our supernatural transaction at this altar. The Lord will help you. The Lord will strengthen you. Don't draw back. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of what this means. If the Lord's speaking to your heart, just come. If you're tired of being a coward, just come. If you're tired of listless Christianity that seems to have no purpose, just come. Just come, and let God touch your life. We'll worship for a few moments, then we're going to pray. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lift your hands, if you will. Father God, in Jesus' name, I ask you, Lord, on behalf of this church, that we might have the privilege of being ambassadors of your power to this generation, that we might have the courage to stand the devil to the face, and push his words back at him to where they have no power at all. God, I pray, Lord, for freedom for everyone in this sanctuary, for those that have come to this altar, that you would deliver us all from everything that would hinder us from being everything that you've called us to be. God, would you make us warriors for your kingdom, able to pray, able to take spiritual authority the way you said that we should? Would you help us to put on the full armor of our Christ? God, would you help us, Lord God, to push back against the powers of darkness, lest they should be exalted above the name of Jesus Christ? God, we lift up our city, Lord. We lift up our homes, our families, our neighborhoods. And Lord, we ask you to make us bold for your kingdom's sake, oh God. Give passion and power to our prayers. Enable us, Lord Jesus Christ, to be able ministers of this New Testament gospel that you've entrusted to our hands. Father God, I thank you, Lord. I thank you, Father. Make everyone here a soul winner, everyone in this sanctuary a soul winner, everyone an evangelist. God, help us not to walk by what we see, not to speak the way the people of this world speak. Help us, oh God, to see from heaven's perspective. This is a battle for the souls of men, women, and children. Help us to keep it in right balance, oh God. Help us to pray that hell would have to open its gates and let the captives go. Father, we thank you. And before we close today, we speak to every power and every principality in New York City, and we say to you, let the people go that they may worship God. Let them go. Let them go. Let them go. It makes no difference how entrenched you are and how powerful you think you are. We command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to let the people go, that they may serve God, that they may love God, that they may know God, that they may eternally dwell with God. Holy Spirit, invade the streets of our city. Invade our boroughs. Invade our neighborhoods. Invade our schools. Invade our businesses. Invade every place everywhere. Invade the nightclubs. Invade everything in this city, oh God. Invade it with your presence. We ask you, Lord, to bring men, women, and children under the conviction of their sin, and then open their eyes to the beauty of the cross, the wondrousness of their redemption, and make us voices, Lord, that can actually speak for you, ambassadors of your power in this generation. God, as we enter our 30th season, our 30th year, 31st year as a church, Lord, we ask God that we may have the privilege of knowing you in a deeper way than we ever have, of seeing more fruit born for your kingdom than ever has been. Make us servants, oh God, to all the churches in this city. Give us the grace, Lord, to pray with passion and with power. Father, thank you, Lord. Thank you. I take authority over every devil of hell that is trying to hinder every person at this altar, every person in this sanctuary, every lie of the devil, every power of evil. I take authority over you in the name of Jesus Christ. Satan, we resist you. I resist you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the people of God. These are the people of God. These are the redeemed. And the Bible says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Glory to the name of Jesus. Glory to the name of Jesus. I'm living on the victory side. We're going together. We're going to win a marvelous victory in this city. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Bless you, Lord. Bless your holy name, oh God. Bless your holy name, Lord, for what you're going to do. Hallelujah, hallelujah.