In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of unity and agreement among leaders in order to fight against the enemy. The gates, where policy is formed, were divided and lacked a strategy to combat the enemy. However, the people who knew how to pray and seek God's instructions were ready to fight in the power of Almighty God. The enemy was attacking the authenticity of Scripture and trying to move people away from the word of God. The preacher also highlights the need for believers to go out into the world and compel others to come to God's house.

I want to speak tonight about when heaven decides to fight. When heaven decides to fight. Judges chapter 4, please, if you go there in the Old Testament with me, right after Joshua. It's Judges. Father, I come before you and all I ask tonight is that this word be a delight to your heart. Lord, that your people be a delight to your heart, that we hear what you're saying. That we begin to respond with hearts of faith and gratitude. Lord God, I'm asking you that you commission us into this battle. Lord, this is a marvelous time to be alive. And you're fighting for the testimony of your own name now. And Jesus, thank you for opening our ears and our inner man to understand this. I pray for an anointing from heaven, God, that you touch my mind and physical body. That you would quicken me and enable me to speak simply to every heart. Lord, give me the ability, Lord, to move beyond just reason and into the very heart. And Father, I just thank you for this with all of my heart. And I pray that this be a delight to you. And I thank you for it in Jesus' name. Judges chapter 4, verse 1 to 3. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord when Ehud was dead. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor, the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, for he had 900 chariots of iron. This is Sisera, the captain of the enemies of God. And 20 years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. And, you know, folks, history repeats itself over and over again. God used Joshua and the leaders that were alive at his time. They went in, they conquered as it is the land of promise. They defeated 33 kings in just a very short period of time. And, of course, then after the initial defeat of these kings, the resistance was essentially minimal. Everyone was encouraged to go in and possess his inheritance. And, of course, many did. Some didn't to their own detriment. They became strong, and they thought they could handle things that God had called them to destroy. Beware when you're strong, beloved. Beware when you think you can handle things that used to handle you, because it can turn around on you very, very quickly. The Lord says you're to put these things away. You're to get them out of your life and out of your mind. But some of the tribes of Israel thought they could control, and they were better served by making servants of their enemies than utterly destroying them. And, of course, they did so. But, ultimately, these enemies that were servants for a season came back and ended up being their masters. And one more time, infusing them with an incredible mixture that caused God to have to release his hand of protection and deliver them one more time into the power of their enemies. And through the book of Judges, after Joshua, you see this happening repeatedly. The children of Israel go into this spiritual nosedive, as it is. They lose touch with God, and there is an enemy raised up into whose hand they are delivered. And in the hand of this enemy, they begin to cry out to God one more time. God being who he is, he is merciful. The Bible tells us his mercy endures forever. He hears the cry of his children, and he would raise up what we know today to be judges. These are particular people that were raised as spiritual rulers in the nation in that particular season. They were hearing from God. They would rouse the people one more time, and the people would go into battle. Now, this was not a man's choice. This was God's choice. He chose one more time to rise and defend his people and defend his own namesake. Now, in this particular season, the Scripture says that they were sold into the hand of this particular king of Canaan, who had a general whose name was Sisera. Now, this man had 900 chariots of iron. And for 20 years, he mightily oppressed the children of Israel. Now, this was not just an oppression but a mighty oppression coming against. You know, the Scripture tells us later on, there wasn't in chapter 5 and verse 8, the Scripture says they chose new gods. Now, this is after the battle is over, and Deborah and Barak wrote a song. They're singing this in chapter 5. And it says, Was there a shield or spear seen among 40,000 in Israel? So, in other words, this enemy was mighty. These incredible chariots that you could not even hope to fight against with a stick or even rocks. And there's not a spear, there's not a shield, their weaponry is gone. This man rides at will as it is throughout what should be the promised land and the kingdom of God, mightily oppressing the children of God. The spiritual condition is described again in chapter 5 and verse 6. It says, In the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied and the travelers walked through byways. You can picture Israel. This is supposed to be a land of promise and freedom. This is supposed to be a place where people are singing hymns and songs as they go down the road. There's supposed to be an enduring testimony among the people of God. But yet we see in this season the highways are virtually unoccupied. I think of where Jesus said in Luke chapter 14 and verse 23. He said, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. Now, we're living in a generation where our testimony is supposed to be compelling. We are the church of the living God. We are to go out into the highways and the hedges. We are to go where people travel. And there's supposed to be in us a presence of Christ, a renewed mind, a renewed heart, a renewed spirit, wisdom beyond our natural ability, gifts that God himself only could put within us, a love that comes from the heart of God, virtually emanating from our very being, reaching out and beginning to touch people that are all around us. I'm not much of an airplane evangelist. I know we have a lot of people that visit pulpits, and they're always talking about winning the world up in the air. Some of them, it's worth taking an offering, I think, to keep them up there. They don't seem to have much of an anointing on the ground. However, I've never had much of an anointing up in the air. It seems to only work on the ground, what God has given me. I've never won anybody to the Lord in an airplane. I've shared a couple of times. Half the time, I don't even really want to speak when I'm traveling. I'm just focusing and preparing. But on the way home, I ended up speaking to this man after leaving Ireland and just asked me, what do I do? I just, in conversation, just began to share with him. And he broke down weeping. He's a businessman here in New York City, openly crying on the airplane. He was so confused and embarrassed that he tried to compose himself, looked straight ahead at something that was on the screen, got rid of the tears. And I said, do you have allergies or something? He said, no, no, I don't have any allergies. So then he composed himself and looked again. And I just began speaking to him. And as I began speaking to him one more time, the Holy Spirit touched him. He broke down weeping again, not even knowing why. But there is a love that was in my heart for his soul, for his family, for his children, for this man to know that he needed a savior. And I do hope that in the near future he'll be attending this church. I believe that he will be coming here. And I thank the Lord for that. You and I are to be a compelling testimony. We're not to be a complaining testimony. We're not to be just an argument in the midst of a whole hodgepodge of ideas about the future and life and God. We are to be a compelling testimony. The presence of Christ is to be in us. This is not just a mythical thing about God. This is a living reality. I bear in this earthly body the spirit of Christ. The very spirit of the living God is within me. The best thing I can do is cry, God, get me out of the way. Get this flesh out of the way. Get this natural mind out of the way. Holy Spirit, have dominion. Take control of this mind. Take control of this physical body. And, of course, we walk in agreement with God. He doesn't overpower our personality or anything like that. But he does promise that we walk together. He gives us his mind. He gives us his heart. He gives us abilities that we could not even hope to have without the presence of the living God within us. And this is the testimony of the church. Like the highways of New York City are not to be unoccupied. There is a Christian testimony that is to be vibrant and alive in the places of commerce and business and where we travel, where we live, where we go to work, the people we meet every day. Our lives are not called to be an argument. They're called to be a compelling testimony. There's to be a presence of God within us. And when God's people are singly focused and singly minded, we become a testimony that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden from people around us. Even if we don't want to speak sometimes, there's a testimony that we're not even aware of that God himself has established inside of us that cannot be hidden from a world that is living in darkness. In this day of spiritual declension that we're talking about in the Old Testament, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers were coming through Israel as it is in chapter 5 and verse 6. It says the travelers were walking through byways. Actually, it says crooked ways is the original translation. They were taking other routes. People who are, in a sense, coming to Israel, as the Queen of Sheba might have done, looking for God, are not finding him in this place. All they are finding is a cowering people bowing down to iron chariots and the powers of darkness, constantly just talking about the power of the enemy, absolutely bankrupt in their minds as to who God really is and what land they really are living in. And so travelers coming in are finding crooked paths. They're looking perhaps, and I'm drawing an allegory here, you have to understand, but they're perhaps looking for some semblance. This is supposed to be the promised land. These are supposed to be the people of God. So they're traveling through and having to find crooked routes as it is to God because they cannot see the presence of the Lord being manifested among his people. Chapter 5, verses 7 and 8 says, The inhabitants of the villages ceased. They ceased in Israel until that I, Deborah, rose. I rose a mother in Israel. They chose new gods. There was war in the gates. And, of course, there was no weaponry. Paul the Apostle in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 warns about this. In verses 3 and 4 he said, But I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguile thee through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, or another gospel which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him. Paul says, I know the ministry of Christ. I know why he came. I know who Christ is. I know that he is the embodiment as it is of the passion of God for every man, woman and child ever created in the image of God. And Paul says, I'm afraid if somebody comes and preaches another Christ, just as the serpent came to Adam and Eve and said to them, in effect, Use your position in God for your own gain. Use it for your own betterment. Go to this forbidden fruit and partake of it. And in the day you do, your eyes are going to be opened. You're going to have greater knowledge than you have now. And you're going to be just like God is. In other words, you're going to increase in godliness if you use your position that you have in God for your own advantage. And Paul says, I'm afraid of this, because we're not called to use Christ to our own advantage. We are called to walk with Christ and glorify Christ. We are called to be partakers of the heavenly calling that God the Father placed upon his son, to go through this world proclaiming the kingdom of God, to be healing the sick and opening prison doors to those that are bound, to be proclaiming this incredible, wondrous news of God's love to those who are physically poor, spiritually poor and poor in every other way, to be making a declaration. Our lives are to be this full declaration in our generation. The scripture tells us again in chapter 5 of Judges, verses 7 and 8, there was war in the gates. Now, the gates are those places of the city where policy is formed, where leaders gather together and decide how they're going to protect the city as it is and what they're going to do to better the lives of its citizens. But there was division in these gates and arguments over various strategies and how they were going to procure their freedom from this enemy. In other words, there was no agreement. They all knew there was an enemy, but nobody knew how to fight this enemy. Tragic that history seems to repeat itself over and over again. And while all of this is going on, chapter 5, verse 11 tells us in the victory song that they are delivered from the noise of archers rather in the places of drawing water. And while all this stuff is going on, the highways are unoccupied, travelers are taking alternate routes, people are choosing another Christ, there's war in the gates, there's this great division about how do we fight this battle. And while all this is going on, the enemy is concentrating all of his force on the places where people draw water. In other words, he's attacking the living word of God. He's attacking the authenticity of scripture. He's attacking the character of Christ. He's attacking the very promises of God. He's doing everything in his power, even in God's house to move people out of the word of the living God. Move them into progressive revelation. You have to understand where all this stuff comes from. It comes from the heart of Satan himself. Move the people out of the promises of God because there is no life apart from this book. And move them into this new prophetic revelation. These new things that are happening. This new Christ as it is. That is, of course, was limited. There are even people in our generation, folks, that are saying that the Bible itself is a dispensation. It was a time. The season of the Bible has passed. Now into the new era of apostles and prophets. The brand-new leaders that are going to bring a brand-new revelation of a brand-new Christ. Just as Jesus warned in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 24. Now, all of this is going on until God's people again begin to hear his voice. In Judges chapter 4 and verse 4, it says, Then Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at the time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel and Mount Ephraim. And the children of Israel came to her for judgment. She sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh Naphtali and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw towards Mount Tabor and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and the children of Zebulun? She began to hear. She began to understand that God, And he says, I will draw, verse 7, I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon, Sisera, The captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into thine hand. Amazing. God begins to speak again. The Lord says, I've heard a cry. I've got somebody whose ears are open to my voice. And I've decided to fight again. There is a season when the Lord will arise to defend his own name. Hallelujah. I believe with all my heart we are living in that season. I believe the time of imposters and thieves reigning over the church of Jesus Christ is over. Christ is rising. Christ is going to fight for his own namesake. He's going to fight for his church. He's going to fight for every sighing mother and father, every child that's out on the street looking for reality. Every person in the house of God was saying, God, if you are still alive, would you please show me who you are and where your power might be found? The Lord says, I hear the cry. I hear the cry, and I've decided to rise up in this last hour for my own namesake and deliver those that are crying out to me. Chapter 5 and verse 20 tells us that they fought from heaven. There was an incredible battle about to take place. A people were about to enter into that battle, and they were not going in the natural any longer. No longer five steps to victory. Hallelujah. They were going in the power and might of almighty God. These are a people who know how to pray. They know how to go to their knees and get their instructions from God. And they said, God, whatever you speak, that's what we're going to do. And we don't care how ridiculous it may sound. This is the way you've always done it. You always take the foolish. You always take the weak. You always take the nobodies. You always take the nothings of society who can hear your voice, and you empower them. You make them more than they are. You give them strength they could not possess. You give them battle plans that come out of heaven itself. And you send them against the powers of darkness. You'd find a people somewhere, even if they live in an upper room, and you fill them with the spirit of the living God. And they step out into the open air and begin to make a declaration of who God is and what God has promised He's going to do. And by the foolishness of God, the foolishness of preaching, as Paul says, bloodthirsty mobs that were trying to crucify Him just days before are now pricked in their hearts saying, what must we do to be saved? They fought from heaven. Verse 14, chapter 5, tells us who fought. Out of Ephraim there was a root of them against Amalek. Hallelujah. Amalek was the land of the giants. And I can't help but think of Caleb. After the conquest of the promised land, when Caleb came to Joshua, and he was 85 years of age, and he says, I've waited 40 years for these giants. And he said, as my might was then, my might is now. I'm as strong now as I was then. You see, because Caleb was not a natural man. He didn't walk in his natural strength. He knew his strength was in God. And he said, I've wandered through this wilderness of unbelief with people who wouldn't believe to go into the promised land. And for 40 years I've been itching to get at this mountain of giants. Oh, Joshua, give it to me. And Joshua gave it to him. And not only Caleb, but his descendants became mighty warriors. And after the Benjamin, little Benjamin. So there's a place in this battle not only for the giant fighters, but the little, the small. People who are not much in their own sight. Benjamin was the smallest of the tribes of Israel. But there are people who come out and say, I'm not going to be stayed by my littleness any longer. And I'm not going to let the devil lie to me anymore and try to tell me I have no power. If I didn't have any power, he wouldn't bother telling me. There has to be a reason. He is a liar and the father of all lies. Hallelujah. Out of nature came governors, those that knew how to lead in the ways of God. Also out of Zebulun, they that handled the pen of the writer. I hadn't seen this before. These are the people who began to fight the battle. Maybe too old to take up a sword or chase an iron chariot, but not too old to take up a pen. And perhaps begin to encourage those who are in the battle. Maybe others just wrote a check to finance some of the things that were going. I don't know. But they took the pen out and the pen of the writer became mighty in this battle. Oh, folks, there's a lot in here that you and I can learn. Those that just simply began perhaps to put on paper what God had done for them and who they had learned God Almighty is. And they began to use this and distribute it and encourage others that were around them. Verse 15 tells us the princes of Issachar were with Deborah. Even also Barak was sent on foot into the valley. Folks, there were people who went down and they took on the dangerous places. Just like David of old, there were giants down there that were threatening the testimony of God. And there are always people who are called to go into the valley. Those who know that all they have is in God. And they have a passionate heart to see the name of God Almighty vindicated from the disgrace that these crying enemies have brought against it. And the trembling in the host of God's armies. And I can always see those who are called to go down and fight these giants. And there will be in our generation as there was in theirs. But not everybody fought. Verse 15 at the end says, for the divisions of Reuben, there were great thoughts of heart. Verse 16 says, why abode among the sheepfolds to hear the bleedings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart. So there were people from the tribe of Reuben who didn't show for this battle. And they used the fact that God is searching our hearts as an excuse. They were conference goers. You see, we'd like to go into the battle, but you see, we're having our hearts searched. And because of this, we can't go. Folks, you have to be careful. There are great diversions that can be found even in the Christian church to really what we are called to be and what we are called to do. And you can get so busy preparing, supposedly preparing for the battle that you can never go into the fight. Searching our hearts. Scripture talks about Gilead, verse 17, abode beyond Jordan. Gilead was a man who was far from the battle and stayed there. I like it where I am. You go ahead and fight if you want. But I found this comfortable religion. I like it. I like coming to church. I like raising my hands. I like singing the songs of Zion. You want to go out and battle for the souls of men and the honor of God, you go ahead. But I like it where I am. Scripture tells us that Dan remained in ships. Dan was a businessman. He had a lot going. It perhaps would have been costly for him to get into this battle and obey God or at least find out what God would have him to do. And he really wasn't interested in finding the will of God for his life. And so he remained in his ships. And I don't know what excuse he used to stay out of the battle. And again, it talks about Asher continued on the seashore and abode in his breeches. And Asher is a man who had found a comfortable river, as it is. He found a place, a stream, a rivulet somewhere. And he was smooth in this place. And he had nice sailing. And why disturb it? I'm really happy the way I am. I like my Christianity the way it is. And so why ruffle it with this call to battle? And so he stayed there in his comfortable place. And yet there's one other type of people, which when you look at it, it seems very harsh. Because I don't know why the Lord so hates this. But in verse 23 of chapter 5, he said, Now, the only thing I can see in the New Testament that coincides with this is in Philippians chapter 3, verse 17 to verse 19. And Paul says it this way. He says, Now, Paul, the apostle, is talking about a people who profess to know Christ. They profess to walk with Christ. They profess to be disciples of Christ. But they are the actual enemies of the cross of Christ. Now, you have to really think about this. The cross of Christ represents taking up the will of God and doing the will of God that the name of God and the heart of God might be glorified and satisfied. It was Christ himself who said, Father, glorify yourself. And, of course, the glory that was going to come to God through his son involved a cross. Jesus said, if you're going to be my disciples, there is a will that God has for your life. And you are just simply to walk with me in an honest and sincere relationship. And as you walk with me, you will find that will for your life. In effect, it's your cross. You're not going to be nailed to it for people's sin, as Christ was, obviously. But there's a will that God has. Do you believe that? Do you believe there's a divine purpose for your life? I believe it. God began to speak to me about it when I was just a young Christian. That, yes, I could live in the church where I was all my life and I could do things and perhaps even still scrape into the kingdom of God. But there was a divine purpose for my life. It would involve some forms of self-denial. It would involve a pathway, as with Peter, that perhaps I'm not even able to walk in my own. It might even involve, in the latter years of my life, being led into some places that I can't go in my own strength. Only God can take me there. He spoke these things to Peter. He said, he signified through this by what death he would glorify God. I don't know, but I do know that life, an abundant life, is found in the will of God. It's not found in a pretending religiousness. It's not found standing at the foot of the cross like a pile of vultures just simply taking this sacrifice of Christ's life and gorging one's belly on it. And so many today are coming to the cross. They're coming to Christ and they're just gorging on this sacrifice of Christ's life. Like vultures, what is in it for me? Fill my belly. Fill my belly again. Fill my belly some more. Make me better. Make me more powerful. Give me more influence over the lives of men. Make me richer. Make me happier. Make me healthier. Just gorging. But they are themselves enemies of the cross. They fail to understand the call of Christ on the Christian church. We're called to represent Christ in our generation. We're called to stand for God. We're called to be a voice for righteousness in a darkened time. We're called to passionately love God with everything that is in our heart, soul, mind and strength. We're called to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We're called to stand as burning lights in a darkened time. We're called to be extended hands to people who are starving, to be keys to people who are in prison, to be salve to people who are blind and wounded in heart. This is the call of the Christian church. Your life and my life. He says, curse, Meroz. Curse this form of religiousness that does not even have a desire to come into the battle. Couldn't care less about dying humanity. Only at the cross to fill their bellies. Oh, folks, we are inundated with this type of religion today. A belly, belly satisfying and filling religion that comes to the cross for everything it can get and vultures standing in the pulpit and leading the people of God. Chapter 5, verses 18 to 19 says, Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. Speaks to me about pastors and leaders, godly men and women who fought in the place where the enemy has said, it's all over for you. You see, this place of Megiddo is where Josiah was shot by Egyptian archers. It's this lie of the devil that says the promises are too high. They're unattainable. They might have been for another generation, but they're not for you. And it's it's about the spiritual leader. It's about the father in his home. It's about the single mother. It's about those that are given authority in the body of Christ. Let's say we're not bowing down to this anymore. We're not bowing down to these iron chariots that tell us the day of God is over and the day of promises and where God worked miraculously is somehow relegated to the past as if Christ is not the same today as he was yesterday. Scripture tells us they came and fought, verse 19, chapter 5, they fought the kings of Canaan and Tanak by the waters of Megiddo, and they took no gain of money. You see, this is really the key. Their motives became pure. They were not in it for the money. They're in it for the glory of God. They're in it for the honor of God. If money got involved in this thing, they would have lost the power that God was willing to give them. Verse 20 tells us they fought from heaven. The stars in their courses fought against Sisera. The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. Oh, my soul, thou has trodden down strength. They fought from heaven, and they brought them down to the ancient river. That's what God had told them to do in the beginning. That's the word that came to Deborah. Gather Sisera. Gather his lying chariots. Gather all his power and bring them down to the ancient river. Now, try for a minute to suppose what this ancient river is. Hallelujah. What do you think the ancient river is? You think it might be found in the Gospel of John? On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. God said, I've found a people that are hearing my voice. So I want you to gather your enemies, and I want you to bring them down to the river, the old river, the proven river, the tested river, the tried river. Bring them down, and you and I together will sweep them away. History tells us that they drew them down. There was not even a weapon. There were only 10,000 against 900 iron chariots. In the natural, it was impossible. But Caesar and all of his chariots came down to the river Tishon, and all these people had was faith in God. They might have had the odd stick in their hand, but there was no weaponry. And here come the horses and the chariots one more time, just like in the days of Egypt and Pharaoh. Here they come down with all their names and all their threatenings and all their shining armor. And history tells us that God sent an incredible rain right at that moment, and the river Tishon overflowed its banks. And all of Caesar's chariots got stuck in the mud. They couldn't move. They were bogged down. And the army of Israel, the 10,000 that rose up to fight, went into battle and began to chase them. And the Scripture tells us they killed them virtually to a man. Now, an interesting thing is that when Deborah called Barak, who was the captain of what was then the host of God, Barak said to Deborah, listen, I'm not going if you don't go. And that's the interesting thing about this battle. There are no big names, no little names, and nobody much cares who gets the glory. This is too big for us, and this is about the honor of God. And then Deborah said to Barak, well, if you don't go, I mean, if I go with you, the honor won't go to you. It's going to go to a woman. And he said, fine. He didn't really care. Of course, he would have thought she was speaking about herself, but she wasn't. In the midst of the enemy's territory, there was a man called Heber the Kenite. And Heber the Kenite was a compromised man. He made peace with the enemy king. And he resettled his family right in the middle of the enemy's territory. And Sisera, the captain of the enemy's host, knew where his house was, and he was used to coming down to his house, snapping his fingers, and getting his way. But Heber the Kenite had a wife, and her name was Jael, and she's the type of a godly woman, type of a person who perhaps you're here today, and you're hearing this message, and you're saying, fine. I really appreciate the fact that we're called to fight, and heaven is speaking to us. And I acknowledge that, but look it, you don't understand. I live in the midst of Brooklyn or the Bronx or Queens or someplace. My husband is compromised. My family's a mess, and I've got all I can handle right in my own home. And you're talking about fighting for the nation and the glory and the honor of God. Man, my house, I've got all I can handle right in my own house. And that's exactly where this woman was. She was in the midst of a compromising house, a compromising situation. And I'm sure she heard the reports of this battle. And she heard the reports of these people gathering to fight, and she'd go daily to the door of her tent and stand there and say, how can I get involved in this battle, and what can I do? God, I would dearly love to be part of this, but I don't know what to do. I don't know how to do it. And it's as if the Lord said to her, Jael, I see your heart, and I see you want to be part of this fight. Just stay right where you are, and something miraculous is going to happen. And one day she walks out to the door of her tent. I can picture her in prayer. I can picture burden, because this nation has been mightily oppressed. Her family is compromised. And over the hill, not in a chariot, but on foot comes Caesar, the captain of the enemy army. Out of breath, exhausted, sweating, heading down to her house. And he comes to the door of her tent, and he's just so used to getting his way. Snapping his fingers, coming in. And he comes in, and he says, get me a glass of water. And the Bible tells us that she got him instead of a bowl of milk. That should have been the first sign to him. Something in this woman's heart said, you're not running my house anymore. You're not coming in here and snapping your fingers any longer and dictating to my husband. I see Caesar coming in like the devil comes into people's homes with a little bit of drugs in his pockets for your kids, and a little bit of alcohol for your husband, and a little bit of pornography for this person. Coming in, snapping his fingers. Everybody doing his bidding. So used to mightily oppressing the children of God. But here's a conflict that is a phenomenal conflict. You can see it. Here's the captain of this enemy army that has mightily oppressed the entire promised land for over 20 years. And confronting him now is this single woman whose husband and family are deeply compromised in the midst of the enemy's territory. And then he says to her, if somebody comes over the hill looking for me, you tell them thus and thus. You tell them you haven't seen me. You tell them all of this stuff. And she says, here, you look a little tired. Lay down. Covers him. He tells her what to do. He says, stand at the door and guard me. And then he falls asleep. And the Scripture tells us that she put her hand to the nail. Chapter 5, verse 26. Folks, it's time. It's time that you take the power of the cross one more time. There were nails in that cross. There was a victory won in that cross. Nails went through the feet and the hands of Jesus Christ and triumphed over the powers of darkness. Defeated hell and death. Defeated the power of the devil. It's time to take the nail in your hand one more time. The Bible says clearly, the weapon of our warfare is not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations. Casting down the devil's imagination that he can contain the testimony of God. He can rule Christian homes. He can defeat our families. It's time to take the nail in your hand one more time. She took the nail as he was sleeping and placed it very strategically right on his temple. Because that's where the devil rules. Rules with thoughts and imaginings. Folks, he was defeated on Calvary. He was triumphed over on Calvary. He has no power anymore but false reasonings that people buy in their minds. And J.L. is the type of a believer that says, enough of this. Enough of you snapping your fingers in my home. Enough of you running my house and my children. Takes the nail of Calvary and drives it right through the temples of the enemy. The captain of the enemy's army. Right into the ground. And fastens him there. And the Bible says, blessed above women shall J.L., the wife of Heber the Kenite be. Blessed shall she be above women in the tent. He asked water, she gave him milk. She brought forth butter and a lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail. And her right hand to the workman's hammer. And with the hammer she smote Ciceron. Smote off his head when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. At her feet he bowed. He fell. He lay down. At her feet he bowed. He fell. Where he bowed there, he fell down dead. You see, this is where the glory belongs. If heaven's going to honor its heroes of this battle, it's the mother, the grandmother, the sister, the brother, the weak, the ones who are in places of difficulty, who finally say enough. And God begins to give them spiritual authority and brings your enemy right to your feet. Enough. And actually she's the one that the victory goes to. It doesn't go to Barak. It doesn't even go to Deborah, the prophetess. It goes to J.L. Don't you love it? It goes to her. This woman who's way down in the enemy's territory. Doesn't want to be there, but that's what she is because of circumstance. But she just says no more. No more. In verse 31, chapter 5, it says, So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord, but let them that love him be as the sun when he goes forth in his might. And the land had rest for 40 years. Let those that love you, God, be like the sun. I don't know if you've ever been up early enough to see. Can you see the sun in Manhattan? I'm not sure. But if you can see a horizon somewhere, when you see the sun coming up, in all of its power and all of its strength, and you know that because it comes up, there's going to be life. Things are going to grow. People are going to be able to see. Darkness is dispelled. Let all those that love you, O God, be as the sun rising in its strength. You have spiritual authority. You start taking it in your own home. You start taking it in the areas of your own life where the devil has come in and snaps his fingers, makes you go into that store, makes you watch that movie, makes you speak a certain way. But something gets in because you're hearing the voice of God. No, this is much bigger than just my own little battle. God, you're fighting for the honor of your own namesake. And you join the ranks of those that say, Enough, enough, enough. You're not snapping your fingers in my life anymore. I have authority over you. I have Christ in me. And the Bible says, If God be for me, who can be against me? The Bible says, I have the power to condemn your tongue that rises against me in judgment. The Bible says, I have a righteousness that's not my own. It's given to me by Almighty God himself. If you want to get to me, you've got to get through my Christ first. And you can't get through him, so therefore you can't get to me. Now the tables are turned. Now I take authority over you. Folks, I was only saved a short time. I had been nine years living in the hell of fear. But I had one promise from the word of God. Went down to my living room one night about midnight. The enemy's trying to just infuse this fear into my life one more time. And I spoke those very words. It was the beginning of a fight that's taking me to countries all over the world. I said, Devil, you throw everything you've got at me. All you can do is kill me. And you can only do it if God allows you. And if he does, I'm going to heaven. I have nothing to lose. I win either way. And I spoke it out loud. I said, So you throw everything you've got at me. But I throw back at you what I now have. I said, In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I resist you. That's all I said. And nine years of fear left. That very moment. And I've never returned. And God took a fearful man. And he's sending me to places all over the world to declare what he can do. That's what he wants to do with your life. I'm not an exception. I'm just the rule, really. That's the way God works. But somebody has to hear him. Somebody's got to get some fight in them. Somebody has to say enough. Enough. I'm not living my life running to the pill closet. I'm not living my life cowering down to these voices. For the honor of God. For the honor of Christ. I'm going to stand. And make a difference. My house first. My generation second. I'm going to make a difference. Because this is about the honor of God. If this is in your heart tonight. The Holy Spirit is speaking to you. If the devil's been snapping his fingers at you. I want you to join me here. And we're going to take authority tonight. Would you stand up in the balcony. Education Annex will wait for you. Make your way, please. Just come right out of your seat. And those that are saying tonight enough. And we're going to take authority together. And believe God for victory. All of the single mothers. All of the mothers that are here. That have felt that you have no authority. You've been buying a lie. You have incredible authority. You go to your knees. Or you just stand on your feet. Whatever you prefer. But you begin to pray. You take the authority of the cross. And of Christ against your enemies. Take the authority that God gives you. Over the weapons of the devil. That are being formed against your children. Take God's authority. Stand. In my house one day. A few years back. I just was in my apartment here in Manhattan. And I just had enough. The devil was trying to batter a couple of my kids around. And I just raised my hands. And started to scream into heaven. I said enough of you. Enough of your weaponry. Get your filthy hands off. I take authority over you in the name of Jesus. You begin to pray. And you watch God begin to turn every situation around for his glory. You see God starting to do what only God can do. Hallelujah. The devil tried hard to kill my daughter. With all kinds of asthma. And all kinds of different things. And the Lord has undertaken. And the enemy has not succeeded. And God is going to use you powerfully for his glory. Thank God for that with all of my heart. Hallelujah. The enemy will never try to kill your kids if God doesn't have a promise. And a purpose that he is going to fulfill through them. Now we are going to pray. You and me. And we are going to believe God. With all of our hearts. Well let's wait until everybody gets here. But we are going to believe God. And take authority. Take authority. You have authority in the name of Jesus. This is not just a mind game. This is the living word of God. You have authority over all the weapons of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. I give you power over serpents. That's wrong ideas about God that bite you and try to infuse you with poison. And scorpions. Things that the enemy sends to sting you and wound you. And cause you to doubt the power of God to heal and to sustain you. I give you power over these things. And over all the power of the enemy. And nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nothing. Some people asked me recently. Aren't you afraid of dying in some of these places where you go to preach the gospel. I said absolutely not. I am until God says I'm not. Hallelujah. And when God says I'm not I'm going home. Absolutely not. Refuse ever to give in to that again. Hallelujah. Now Father in Jesus name. Hallelujah. In Jesus name. We take authority. Over every power. Every false reasoning. Every imagination. Of the devil. Satan. I stand against you. In the name. Above your name. Above every name. You must bow. You must bend your knee. You must confess. With your mouth. That Jesus Christ. Is Lord of all. In his name. I take authority. Over you. Over your lies. Over your power. And I command you. To flee. From my mind. My life. My family. My home. My testimony. Everything around me. I take authority. In the name. Of Jesus.