Sunday Evening Worship Service

praise the lord everybody are you excited about being in the house of the lord tonight have you come expecting i know i said that this morning but i've come expecting for god to do something tonight amen amen amen so thankful for the presence of the lord that we feel why don't you turn your bibles to judges chapter five we'll go directly into the word of the lord this evening as you're turning there i would like to say once again what a tremendous honor it is for uh to be here with you all at first apostolic church amen honor the mccools their entire family and their leadership one more time can we give them a round of applause a round of appreciation amen love and appreciate them so much and all of their hard work and leadership here in knoxville to build something for the kingdom of god admire them so very much and very honored very honored i realized that i am a young dude and i probably don't have any business being up here but i thank them for the opportunity to be able to minister the word of the lord and uh i just want to say as well uh this music team isn't this music team incredible come on we gotta we gotta show this music team a little love amen i was a worship pastor at uh the church i know based out of for several years and so i know what it's like to be in the trenches with the music ministry and the music team and these people worked so very hard i am a little biased i must admit uh i think the music team is is is the best team at the church [Music] now everybody else the production just got real tense on me they're like okay watch how these watch out this how the message is not gonna be on the screen for you let's see how that goes and the ushers are like i'm not shaking his hand anymore like i'm done i'm just joking but i do i do realize the tremendous effort that they put into every single week listening and rehearsing at home and uh yeah there's just so much effort and work that goes into it so i honor them and you guys have a tremendous team you really do just an incredible team of musicians and singers and it's just and while i'm there what i'll just say then the your entire staff it's just first class i know i said this last time but it's incredible it really is i'm not just saying that i was telling someone today one of my friends today i believe he'll be with you all next year at some point i don't want to ruin that i'll let them tell you who it's going to be but i was telling him i said man you're just you're going to be blown away by the level of excellence that first half of chop apostolic church of knoxville apocalic that's a new one amen i don't know i don't know first apostolic church of knoxville you'll be blown away by the excellence that they have just an incredible incredible spirit of excellence and i don't know about you but i believe that we should do things in the kingdom of god with excellence i don't believe that the world and everybody else should well i thought i'd get a little bit of help there i don't want to do more for my job than i do for god i don't want to do more for everybody out there than i do for god but i want i want god's house to be a place of excellence amen because we do everything that we do for him and so thank you so much for your dedication to the kingdom of god and serving the lord with excellence amen judges chapter five verse number six bible says in the days of shamgar if you need a name suggestion having a kid anytime that's a good one shamgar i mean i like it i don't know champ guard bible says in the days of you know what it's okay to laugh y'all making me real nervous right now like my hands just started getting kind of sweaty i don't know in the days of shamgar the son of anath in the days of jael the highways were unoccupied and the travelers walked through the byways the inhabitants of the villages ceased they ceased in israel [Music] until that i deborah arose that i arose a mother in israel now i told you this morning i'll tell you again i don't speak fluent king james ease so i need some times for it to be put in layman's term and that last verse of scripture that we read verse number seven the bible says in the niv to make it a little plain for us [Music] that the villagers in israel would not fight they quit fighting things got a little bit tough and they decided you know what [Music] i'm just done i don't want to fight anymore they would not fight they held back until i deborah arose until i arose a mother in israel with the help of the holy ghost i want to help somebody get your fight back tonight i want to help somebody that's been a little weary and well doing i want to help you know today that your fight is what's going to secure your victory come on it's time to live to fight another day god's not done god's not finished but if you'll get your fight back can i tell you victory is just around the corner [Applause] i want to preach with the help of the holy ghost on this topic the finish is worth the fight i want you to turn your neighbor and tell them the finish is worth the fight the finish is worth the fight one more time why don't you put your bibles down lift your hands in the air and let's just pray together shall we god we thank you for your presence thank you for your spirit that is here lord we are hungry we are desperate for your spirit to move in this place in the name of jesus let something be said o god that would encourage your people lord let it not be the words of man but let it be the words of god that will speak in this place lord we won't we don't want to come with enticing words of man's wisdom and knowledge but let there be a demonstration of your power and of your spirit uplift your people encourage them lord remind them that you are with us we thank you lord in jesus name one more time clap your hands unto the lord amen you may be seated in the presence of the lord can you guys put that picture up of my family i think i sent it to you do we have that that's my family right there y'all i'm so thankful for my family i am one of four or rather one of five children and unfortunately i am the only boy so um i'll just let you guys figure out how my childhood went there was one time and this is not an exaggeration i was being held down by all four of my sisters at one time so uh yeah that's pretty much how that went but i'm thankful for my sisters and you know that wasn't the only time that we got into some things but my oldest sister i'm the second oldest in the family my oldest sister she's in the kind of mustard looking sweater right there her name is lauren and lauren and i are barely a year apart and so as a matter of fact all five of us were born within i think seven years so my mom just uh just yeah she did that thing that's all i got to say yes she did one after another boom boom boom boom boom amen no thank you love you mom but all all five of us were born within seven years but there was one occasion where my sister lauren and i were at my grandmother's house and my grandfather's house and we had been there because my parents had gotten this dream vacation of theirs together they had gone to the bahamas it was their very first time going to the bahamas they were on a cruise and they were at the bahamas and of course we were instructed to be on our best behavior don't do anything bad don't do anything wrong i will literally hop on a boat come back to america whip you and go back to the bahamas if you do anything you know typical threats and so we were on our best behavior at least we were supposed to be can you put up that picture of that tv but something happened now i don't know if you guys have ever seen a television like now some of our uh gen zers and um and and younger millennials you might not have ever seen anything like but this is a television believe it or not this is what they used to look like and some of you are like well what are the little things on the side well those are the little you know i don't even know what you call them the knobs that you would change the channel with you know what i'm talking about we didn't have remotes always and you'd actually have to go up to the tv and change the channel so there was one time we were in a room and my grandparents yeah there you go there it is right there my grandparents were off doing their thing and my sister lauren and i were the only ones in this room and my grandparents had one of these little tvs in this room and so we were watching and i believe my sister was watching sesame street i mean we were probably 9 10 so we were really into it you know we're really enjoying it but i decided i didn't want to watch sesame street any longer and so without uttering a word to her i just got up went i changed the channel and you know these types of tvs they made this type of noise whenever you would turn that knob and be like so i go up to the tv go back to bed hop on it we're just laying there chilling my sister doesn't say a word to me she just gets back up looks at me gets up goes over to the tv doesn't say word took him i'm like okay i know what that meant no word needed to be said there she goes back i get up again i'm like okay you want to you want to go there girl so i get i don't say and we're not saying a word i get up i go back to the tv i lay back down on the bed she gets up this time she goes back over to took up looks at me i'm like okay all right i know where this is going i get ready to get up from the bed to go back to the television again she says james she says you better not i go over to them i go back get back on the be i said lauren if you change that channel one more time i said i am going to punch you in your mouth now some of you are looking at me real crazy right now like you're gonna never fight with their siblings like that y'all y'all ain't fooling me i already know some of you kids close your ears do not do what i did okay i said i promise you girl i'm gonna punch you you get up again it's on she did not waste any time she hopped right back up went over to the tv i got up i went over to her and yes i did boom right in the mouth and of course you know how girls are i knew the moment that i hit her that my life was in danger because blood began to drip from her and you know how you know how girls are if they see any blood it's you know she's screaming going crazy blood is dripping all over the place i'm like oh lord what have i done what have i done now we're sitting there fighting and and this absolutely cannot be worth it she goes to my grandfather she begins to whine and complain to him and my grandfather says james you know what i have to do i said pat please i don't want i don't want it he said you know you know what i have to do brings me into the room and i get a whipping from my grandpa to this day i'm the only one that's ever been whipped by my grandpa he's such a sweet man he didn't do you know grandpa's are not supposed to whip grandchildren that's not the way it works you know any grand grandmothers and grandfathers you know what i'm talking about you can't whip the grandbabies but that day i learned that sometimes the end result the finish is not worth the fight it was not worth it to watch what i wanted to watch that day in that moment it felt real good to get some to get some retribution and to punch my sister back it felt really good but at the end of the day can i tell you that weapon i received was not worth it but can i tell you i used that little story to just kind of intro into this sermon and tell you today although that was not worth it although the finish in that scenario is not worth it can i tell somebody in this place today if you are fighting in your relationship and your walk with god the finish indeed will be worth every single time you have to fight i want to remind somebody in this place today that your walk with god is a fight it is not always going to be a cake walk things are not always going to work out the way that you want them to work out sometimes things are going to be hard sometimes things are going to be difficult sometimes you're going to have to cry yourself to sleep at night sometimes you're not going to know how in the world you're going to make it sometimes you're going to have to get like jacob and wrestle a little bit and get some determination but can i tell you in the end the finish will be worth the fight the reason i can fight on this world the reason i can fight on this earth is because i'm not living for right now right now it might be tough right now it might be difficult right now it might be hard but one day it will be worth it one day i'm gonna walk on streets of gold one day i'm gonna see jesus face to face one day i'm gonna one day i'm gonna walk through those pearly gates and it will be worth it every sipless night every time i had to cry every time i had to fight it will be worth it i don't mind a little bit of a fighting down here because i'm not living for down here but i'm living for a day when i won't have to cry anymore i won't have to fight anymore i won't have to toil anymore but i'm living for a day when jesus will wipe every tear from my eye and right now i'll endure the pain i'll enjoy the hurt i'll endure the fact because it will be worth it that old song they used to sing it's gonna be worth it all it's gonna be worth it all it's gonna be worth it all some beautiful happy day huh it's going to be worth every time that i had to cry it's going to be worth every time i had to struggle it will be worth it oh so beautiful happy day paul 2 timothy 4 and 7 begins to describe what it was like to live for god it's interesting what paul says paul says i finish the course paul says i've gotten to the end of my journey i finished the course and he could have used any term to describe what it was like to live for god but paul says this he says i've finished the fight i fought a good fight paul says this if there was one word that i could use to describe my relationship with god i would use the word fight and yet some of us think that we're going to escape fighting in our relationship with god but paul says if i had to describe what it was like living for jesus it wasn't easy if i had to describe what it was like living for jesus it wasn't easy he said but i have fought a good fight but he didn't stop there he said i've also finished my race i've also finished the course paul is simply saying this yes i had to fight yes i had to endure some things but at the end of the day i finished the race and i have to tell you the finish is worth every single time that i had to fight i've come to tell somebody that's been struggling in this place this not time to give up on god it's not time to throw in the towel it's not time to backslide but it's time to plant your feet and say yes sir the storm may be blowing around me yes the winds may be crashing around me but i've decided that i'm going to stay right here i'm going to fight come on somebody i'm gonna fight because i got something to fight for i got something to wrestle for i have something to live for if i if i was like everybody else i wouldn't have hope but i stand here today with hope because of the finish that is waiting for me oh somebody lift up your voice and praise god in this place or somebody lift up your voice and give god worship right now come on somebody lift up your voice and give god praise come on if there's a fight still left to your spirit i wonder if you would give god praise i wonder if you let hell know you tried to take me out or you tried to knock me down but devil i'm still here huh i'm still fighting god i'm still standing out i'm not going to be moved out i'm staying right here i'm going to stay in the fight come on somebody i said stay in the fight when you're weary stay in the fight with your backs against the wall stay in the fight when your families got out of the fight stay in the fight when your friends get out of the fight stay in the fight stay in the fight stay in the fight i know it's harder i know it's difficult but the fight finish his worth every single time that you have to fight i'm fighting for my family i'm fighting for my sanity i'm fighting for my peace of mind i'm fighting for my purity i'm fighting for my holiness i'm fighting for i don't want to fight anymore can i tell you we all know what it's like to be weary we all want to know what it's like to want to throw our hands up and say i'm done i'm done i'm done living for god but can i tell somebody in this place if you are fighting you're exactly where you need to be when god filled you with the baptism of the holy ghost you enlisted in an army [Applause] you did not join some group of people that were always walking through the tulips and everything was always good and nothing bad ever happened i don't know what brand of christianity that you think this is but can i tell you real christianity it's christianity that'll get in the grit that'll get in the mud that's willing to get dirtier that's willing to fight the real christianity he says the tougher it gets uh the more i'll stand up the tougher it gets the more i'll fight everybody else might be running up but i'm staying everybody else might be leaving but else i'll run to the fighter i'll run to the fighter because in the end it's going to be worth it in the end it's going to be worth it seeing my family's saved it's going to be worth it walk in the streets of gold it will be worth it i'm not living for right now i'm living for over there oh somebody lift up your voice right now and worship him some of you have been wanting to give up but i've come to preach to you it's time to stay in the fight it's time to stay in the fight the devil's tried to discourage you the devil's trying to tear you down knock you out but i would to god that there would be somebody that would say rejoice not against me oh my enemy when i fall i'm going to get back up you might have knocked me out to about me down but you did not knock me out you might have given me your best shot but hell i there's more where that came from there's a fight in mia there's a bulldog in me i'm not going anywhere i'm staying right here oh if you feel that way i wonder if you would give god praise right now if you feel that way huh i wonder if you let all hell know huh i decided to follow jesus and there is no turning back there's no giving up there's no throwing in the towel for me [Applause] oh i feel something flowing in this room right now oh i feel all hell trembling right now the devil's tried to take the fight out of you but somebody's getting their determination back somebody's getting there [Applause] it's going to be worth it and because the enemy knows that the fight is worth it because the devil knows that every trial that you're enduring right now will be worth it can i tell you it is one of the devil's chief aims to try to steal your fight the enemy don't mind if you come to church as long as you don't fight devil doesn't mind if you pay good tithes as long as you don't fight i'm thankful for every person that is faithful in their giving and their tithes we must have it i am not preaching against that we must have it but can i tell you the devil is not afraid of what you give to god financially if you are not giving anything to god spiritually the devil does not fear what you do for god i financially if there is not something in you that is willing to pray until his kingdom is shaken can i tell somebody we wrestle not against flesh and blood but we wrestle against principalities and powers and get spiritual wickedness and high places can i tell somebody you got to get enough you got to get enough holy ghost in you to pray until something happens you got to get enough of god's spirit in you to pass to fight come on the weapons of our warfare are not carnal they're not money they're not they're not anything that this world can buy but they are mighty through god to the pulling down if you want to fight in the spirit you got to pray in the spirit if you want to fight in the spirit you gotta fast [Applause] [Music] come to church have a good time do everything just don't fight the moment things get tough you relinquish control can i tell you this you can make a pact with the spirit world you can you can make a pact with the spirit world and say okay if you don't go this far if you'll go this far no further i won't go i will go no further than this i'll just come to church i'll just go through the motions i'll just be a good don't get me wrong i am not hear me i am not i'm not preaching against faithfulness i'm not preaching against doing your best that is not what i'm preaching against but what i am preaching against is this place that we get to to where we become spiritually apathetic and the first moment that adversity comes we're out the first moment that adversity comes we just decide to just be a shell of ourselves spiritually and not do anything when god is saying if you would just get in the fight if you would just begin to do some things i will show you my power my glory and ways you have never seen before i'm thankful that you're faithful to the house of god but it's time to get in the fight i'm thankful that you're faithful in your giving up but god wants more than just your money god wants you to serve him with everything that's within you god wants you to wreak havoc on hell's kingdom with your prayers with your fasting with your devotion god wants you in the fight and it's dangerous it's dangerous to lose your fight i've been there i'm not preaching something i have not lived i've been there before where things get so difficult and so tough in my life it's where i'm like god i'm just gonna coast through this season i'm just gonna i'm not because here's the truth of the matter the moment you know what i'm talking about the moment you start praying all hell breaks loose that's why some of us are afraid of praying because we understand it's more than just some some words that you say this but when you pray you literally you literally begin warring in the spirit you literally begin wrestling against things in the spirit so some of us have said i just i'm just i'm getting out i'm not praying i'm not because i don't want to deal with it i don't want to deal with the fight i don't want to deal with the attacks on my family i don't want to deal with the attacks on my mind i don't want to deal with the attacks against my finances i just want to give up but i've come to encourage somebody i've come to tell somebody in this place the reward for the fight it's greater than anything you will face the reward in the fight is greater than anything that you all come against uh come on victory is yours god's anointing is upon you you're not just average you're not just ordinary but god's anointing is upon you to win this fight got to hurry the enemy's chief aim to steal our fight bible says this is exactly what happens to israel listen to what the bible says the bible says in days of shamgar the highways were unoccupied and people travel through the byways if you'll study what happened here the people of god were literally avoiding walking the way that they used to walk because they were afraid of a little bit of adversity when things got a little bit tough they decided i'd rather walk different than fight i rather change the way that i'm walking than fight can i tell you that's the way that we are in this generation the moment that we face a little bit of opposition in the world you know what we do do sometimes in the church we say you know what it ain't worth it i'm gonna walk a different way to live a holy life it's not worth it it's too much of a fight too much attention on me too much i want to walk a different way my purity young people it's too much of a fight i'm going to walk a different direction there are too many people that are making fun of me it's too much of a fight i'm going to go a different direction the bible says that the highways were unoccupied the way that people used to walk the way that people used to talk the way the highway of holiness it was unoccupied because people were afraid of fights we can't be afraid of fight because the moment that we allow our fear of fighting to overtake us that's the moment where we begin to walk differently talk differently act differently than we used to can i tell you that there are people denominations that used to believe things that we believe but now they no longer do why because it was too much of a fight you think they got some revelation and some truth no the truth of the matter is they got tired of the media telling them how they should live and what they should do in opposing them every time they stood for what this book said it got can i tell you let it not be said of the apostolic church that we quit believing what we believe just because it got tough but i've made up my mind no matter how tough it gets i'm here for the fight i'm going to stay in this thing i'm not going to walk a different direction but the highway of holiness i'm gonna stay on it the highway of roger's sister i'm gonna stay on it it may cost me a fight it may cost me everything but i made up my mind in the end the finish is worth the fight come on huh it's time for us to stand like we've never stood before can i tell you the world climbing is not going to get better but you got to make up your mind no matter what happens i will stay in the fight [Applause] lift up your hands right now and pray in the holy ghost i'm fighting some things in the spirit right now because the devil doesn't want me to preach when i'm preaching the devil doesn't want some young person to get this because you've decided to give up on god because it's got a little bit difficult for you but can i tell you right now don't you leave the highway don't you leave the way that you've been walking don't walk a different direction just because it's easier come on but it's time to stay listen as human beings it is human nature for us to take the path of least resistance it is not normal or natural for us to deliberately decide to go down the path where we know we're going to face the most resistance that is contrary to our nature it's not in anybody's nature unless you're a little bit crazy to want to deal with confrontation and want to deal with fighting that's why it is much easier for us to go a different direction but can i tell you the path that god has caused us to embark on is not the path of least resistance it's not i know that we like to feel sometimes like when we live for the lord that it's just going to be easy but can i tell you many times most times the path that god sends us on is a path with most resistance it's sometimes a path where there's going to be fighting sometimes it's a path of toiling sometimes it's the path of crying yourself to sleep at night but in the end can i tell you it will be worth it [Applause] man you may be seated i'm hurrying right now bible lets us know that israel they quit fighting fight has been taken out of them so much so that the bible says they can't travel on the highway they begin cowering in fear and walking on the byways but the bible says all of a sudden out of the midst of this deborah arises bible says until i deborah arose a mother in israel however deborah is not the person that i would like to focus on for the next few moments and i promise i'm hurrying to a close the bible lets us know that there is a lady by the name of jail jl has had enough of being where she is jl has the revelation and the truth and the understanding that if i'm going to do anything for god if my family is going to be saved i've got to make up my mind to fight the bible says that jl's family does not want to fight how do you know that the bible says this the bible says that heber her husband has literally made an alliance with the adversary jael's husband has made an alliance with the enemy that has held them captive he's formed an alliance with them but jael makes up her mind that the finish is worth the fight and even if my husband does not want to live for god i'm going to live for god and i preach to somebody whose family is not in church i know that it's your desire for them to be in church and it's the will of god that they be saved and in church but can i also preach to you that you don't need everybody to be with you for you to live for god that is a lie from the devil but you can live for god whether your wife is living for god or not you can live for god whether your husband is living for god or not you can impact your lineage you can impact future generations by making up your mind i don't care what everybody else does i'm going to live for god a young person i don't care if mama's not living for god you can live for god i don't care if daddy's not living for god you can live for god you might be the only one but if you make up your mind to fight can i tell you you will be victorious you will be victorious jail says i don't need everybody to be with me i'm making up my mind to fight it's going to be worth it can i tell you it is worth it to fight so the bible i can imagine jail makes up her mind the next opportunity i get i am going to fight and again i told that now this is not in the bible this is just james james's imagination but i can imagine brother mccool she started training you know because if you if you're getting ready to engage in a fight you don't engage in a fight without doing a little bit of training unless you're an idiot you know what i mean you ever seen a boxer get in a box of ring without training i don't think so there's some so i can imagine jl was at the gym she was training you know what i'm talking about jl was that crazy girl at the gym some of you know what i'm talking about or that crazy guy at the gym the one that's grunting all the time you know like bro it does not take all that what are you doing jl was at the gym because jl was anticipating there's gonna be a moment where i'm gonna fight and when that moment comes i'm going to be ready the bible says so that jl began or rather deborah begin to go out to the battle to face the adversary the bible says that her and barack go out and they begin to fight against king jabin and against cicero the bible says that while they're out there fighting god begins to give them victory because the truth of the matter is this church the moment that we begin to fight victory is ours the devil cannot stand up against a fighting church the enemy's tactic is to try to convince you that you will not win but the moment that you ignore the voice of the adversary and begin to aggressively pursue him can i tell you the enemy will not be able to stand his kingdom will fall you will have victory it's going to be a fight but in the end you will be victorious the bible says they go out there they start fighting the bible says that they begin to win so much so that sisera gets off of his horse flees the scene and i love what the bible says the bible says that jail is anticipating sister you know how i know that the bible doesn't say that but the bible says this the bible says that jael she goes out and she meets cicero you know why because jl was anticipating a moment where she could begin to fight can i tell somebody in this place it is time for the church of the living god to get off the defensive and it's time for us to get on the offensive see some of us the only time that we fight is when the enemy comes and knocks on our front door kicks it down and begins to fight us but i would to god that there would be somebody that would go out and tell the devil devil it's time for your kingdom to come down come on the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church when you make up your mind to fight can i tell you there's no devil in hell that can stop you quit being on the defensive and get on the offensive oh but brother james you don't understand i may not understand and i'm not saying hear me i'm not saying to be unwise i'm not saying that be stupid you have to be careful when you're dealing with things in the spirit but what i am saying is you you need to make up your mind that i'm going to pray even when everything is going right in my world i'm going to pray even when everything is going great in my world because i'm engaging in this fight i'm engaging in spiritual warfare i'm engaging to wreak havoc on the enemy's kingdom the bible says jl goes out and she meets him jail does not wait for him to come or rather sis jail does not wait for cicero to come to her but jl goes out and she meets caesar bible said she invites him into the tent i can imagine cicera [Music] cicero looks jl jl is that you yes it's me hey is helper home no he's not here right now but come on in so he comes in comes in the door the bible says jose and i can imagine jl begins or rather sister begins to recount the happenings of the day to jl he gets to tell her man jail we were out there fighting you know you're saying we because he thinks they have an alliance you know this is heber's house hebrew has it alive so he thinks that he's safe and little does he know that jl has set this trap he's telling j.l jl we were out there fighting he said you know that girl deborah she said yes i know her well i said man that girl is crazy and man we got out onto the battlefield that girl started swinging that sword all around killing folks left and right he said man it got so crazy i had to get up out of there i left i bounced he said i just came here because i knew i would be safe here she says absolutely you know you're safe here i imagine you know why you got that look on your face oh what look i don't i don't know you're looking you you okay you're looking kind of weird oh i'm fine trust me i could not be better so i said i just said okay i don't know what's going on here he says hey listen he says i gotta tell you i'm i really you got anything to drink i'm kind of thirsty the bible says that sister asks jael for water but when sister asks jail for water the bible says that jael responds to him and says you can't have any water but you can't have some milk now that's significant for what reason because the truth of the matter is this water would have replenished him water would have given him strength and nourishment but has anybody ever had a glass of warm milk oh some of y'all looking at me like i'm crazy right now or maybe maybe you like your milk cold maybe you get a chocolate chip cookie and you dip it in some cold milk but you know what happens after you drink that glass of milk what do you want to do you want to take a nap some of you know what i'm talking about some of you did that today right after church service you went and got you some good old carbs you had you some milk and you took you a good old sunday afternoon nap the truth of the matter is this jl said i will not give my enemy something that will strengthen him i will not give my enemy something that will strengthen him but i determine to give my enemy only something that will weaken him can i tell somebody in this place today i determine those who have a fight not by what they give god but by what they give their adversary see some of us can come into the oh i give god my worshipper i give god my praise i do all this stuff but i don't determine how much fight you have by what you give god because it's easy to come in and give god your worship on a sunday it's easy to come in and give god your praise on a sunday but turn around and give the enemy something on a monday that will strengthen his kingdom but i've come to tell somebody those that really have a fight in them will say i will not give the enemy something that will strengthen his kingdom i've had people ask me before brother james why don't you write secular music why don't you do that can i tell you why because i refuse to give the adversary something that will strengthen his kingdom i don't care i don't it's easy to come in and give god my worship on a sunday morning and then turn around and give the devil my best on a monday morning but can i tell you i've got too much stock in this thing come on i am overtly on god's side therefore i will not give anything to this world that will strengthen this kingdom i will not give more to this world than i i will not give more to this world that i give to god i can tell i can tell how much fight is in you by how much you give to your adversary some of us give more devotion than to to our adversary than we do to god oh but i come in and give god my worship on a sunday morning that's great but what do you give your adversary because for years and years some of us have been feeding things that have been was jl sinning no she probably was not sinning by giving him some a little milk to drink but jl was so overtly for god jl was so overtly for the kingdom of god that she considered even the little things in her life and said i'm not going to give this enemy anything that will strengthen his kingdom i don't want the devil to have nothing nothing i will not give the enemy anything sometimes hear me sometimes it's not a matter of whether it's a sin or not sometimes it's a matter of whether or not this will strengthen the enemy's kingdom or weaken it and i do not want to give one advantage to my adversary i do not want to give one advantage that's why we don't do some of the things that we do it's not always a sin but sometimes you got to make up your mind i will not give room to the devil i will not give place to the devil but i'm going to make up my mind [Applause] to be overtly on god's side so jl says no i can't give you water but i can give you milk and her plan succeeds you know the story the bible says all of a sudden cicero begins to get tired i can imagine my guy's sister begins to yawn like j up i don't know i'm getting kind of tired she says why don't you just lay down and take a nap he says you know what i think i will so he stretches out imagine he puts his hands behind his head just kind of relaxes and kicks back and goes to sleep and right here at this moment it's the moment that jl has been waiting for now her moment has arrived jl is getting ready to fight she's been training for this she's been waiting for this she's been anticipating this she's been on the edge of her seat waiting for the moment to fight she's got them right where she wants them but then something occurs to jael that she had not considered before as he's laying there asleep she looks around her and realizes there is no weapon in sight and i can imagine at that point jl begins to just friend jael begins to really get nervous and i mean she's anticipated this moment she's waited for this moment she's trained for this moment and now it seems as if everything is off because she doesn't have a weapon she's not equipped but i can imagine and this is again my imagination jl is sitting there sister right next to her on that tent and maybe it was a windy day and jl's having a pity party and all of a sudden that tent begins to rot back and forth and jl's wondering what's going on and the wind is blowing that tennis rock and rock and all of a sudden the wind picks up and rocks that tent to the point that jl goes to stable the tent all of a sudden her hand lands on that tent peg and jael remembers she remembers the story of that man sham guard that we talked about bible says that shamgar was just like jael did not have a weapon did not have anything to fight with and all of a sudden the philistines calm hundreds of them and begin to surround him as he is out in the field plowing can i tell you that shem guard didn't have time to think about what he was going to do shamgar didn't have time to think about how he was going to figure out this situation but the bible says that shamgar as he's being attacked and the philistines are descending upon him i can imagine he begins to look around knowing the attack that is imminent all of a sudden shamgar realizes that he has something in his hand and the bible says that an ox with that ox gold which is not a weapon it's something that they used to hit the ox with to keep them plowing the bible says with an ox gold he begins to kill all those philistines in that day because of a man that fought those philistines were killed because the truth of the matter is this it does not matter what is in your hands it matters what is in your heart because when there is a fight in your heart what is in your hands is enough and some of us right now feel like we don't have enough because we feel ill-equipped we feel like we don't have the talent we feel like we don't have the ability to fight we feel like we don't have what it takes to be successful but can i tell you it does not matter what is in your hands what matters is the fight that is in your heart and when there's a determination in your heart what is in your hands will be enough see right now some of us have broken dreams in our hand and we feel like what in the is that a weapon but can i tell you your broken dreams when there's a fight in your heart is a weapon and that same thing that you feel like is going to crush you that same thing that you feel like is going to take you out can be the thing that god will propel you with the thing that god will use you will use as a weapon as a testimony to this world of god's keeping power all i have is my messed up family tree can god really use me can i tell you when you make up your mind to fight the thing that was not supposed to be a weapon now becomes a weapon in your hand your broken family your broken dreams all those things god will use as a tool to propel his kingdom the the thing that you've just got to make up your mind to do is to get in the fight the thing that you've got to make up your mind to do is to get engaged again and what god is calling and asking for you to do the bible says that day you know the story jail takes that tent peg and i can imagine that jl in that moment begins to say to herself i got enough i got enough i know it doesn't feel like i have enough but i i i think i got enough i think i got enough to be victorious i know this all that i have in my hands is is something that is not really a weapon and i know it seems unorthodox and if people saw me right now and saw what i was about to do they might laugh a little bit and they might think that it's crazy for me to try when i'm getting ready to try and crazy for me to step out on the lamb and do what i'm getting ready to do but do i have a fight in my heart therefore what god has given me is enough therefore what god has equipped me with it is enough some of us right now have crazy dreams crazy things that god is trying to get us to do and the enemy will like to sit on our shoulders and tell us that we don't have enough we're not talented enough we don't have what it takes to live for god we don't have what it takes to be victorious but i've come to tell somebody the devil is a liar you are enough god is with you and if god is with you there's nobody that can be against you you have enough you just got to make up your mind to get in the fight i want you to stand all across the room it's not about what's in your hands but because god will take what is in your hands he'll make it enough as long as there's a fight in your heart we know what happens next the bible says j.r jl rather that tint peg she takes it takes that that mallet that hammer takes that tent peg she drives it through the temple of sisra and that day israel was delivered because of a woman that decided i'm tired of not fighting i'm tired of just kind of going through the motions my family's not living for god my husband's not living for god an entire nation has turned against god but i'm deciding i'm going to fight as for me and my house we will serve the and lord day israel secures victory because of the fight of jail can i tell somebody in this place today that god has victory in store for you and i want us to come to the front here in a moment and i don't want us to come crying i don't want us to come depressed i don't want us to come sadly because there's getting ready to be a shout of victory that's getting ready to be released in this place and here's what i believe i believe that there are going to be people that are going to be delivered people that are going to be set free in this place by the hand of god simply because you decided to get back in the fight simply because you decided i'm going to be determined i'm going to be determined to live for god i'm going to be determined to be to be a person that is going to be in the prayer room the person that's going to pray that's going to fast all right i will let's just know and i referenced it earlier the weapons of our warfare 2nd corinthians 10 and 4 are not carnal they're mighty through god to the pulling down of strongholds don't allow the world to tell you what your weapons should be your weapons to other people may seem small inadequate inappropriate for what god has asked you to do but if you'll begin to exercise [Music] that weapon can i tell you victory will be yours you say brother wilson well i don't i don't have many weapons i'm not that talented i'm not that gifted i don't have that much how how do i get into fight truth of the matter is this we all have varying levels of gifting and talent and ability you know that's biblical but here's the thing god has given all of us a weapon god has given all of us a weapon that we can use to bring about victory and that weapon that i believe that god wants to us to use as a declaration of victory in this place is a weapon of praise [Music] because sometimes life is going to be difficult sometimes life is going to be hard and the only weapon that you're going to have on your side is the weapon of your praise and the weapon of your worship see some of us we think well that sounds real good but what does praise really do one of my favorite passages of scripture is psalm 149 the bible says in psalm 149 praise he the lord sing unto the lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of the saints let israel rejoice in him that made him let the children of zion be joyful in their kingdom let them praise his name in the dance let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and the harp for the lord taketh pleasure in his people he will beautify the meek with salvation let the saints be joyful in glory let them sing aloud upon their beds [Applause] oh it's time for somebody to single out upon their bed i know you might be afflicted right now but even in the midst of your affliction you can praise god even in the midst of your affliction you can lift up a praise and a worship to god and that weapon will secure you victory oh it continues on to say let the high praises of god be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron to execute upon them the judgment written listen this honor have all his saints can i tell somebody all the saints of god have this weapon in their hands you might not be able to sing like everybody else up you might not be able to do everything like everybody else but you can praise her and when you pray [Music] [Applause] when you praise her something will begin to happen this honor this honor have all his saints praise he the lord so here's what i want us to do they're getting ready to sing here in a moment but as they begin to sing i want everybody in this place that's been struggling everybody in this room that's been wrestling everybody in this room that's making up their mind i'm going to get back in the fight i want you to begin to use that weapon that we all have a praise in this room and i believe that's getting ready i believe that's getting ready to be victory that's getting ready to be released in this room some of you have come in heavy some of you have come in to press and down but as you begin to use what is already in your hands god is gonna baptize you with a fresh anointing come on right now i want you to lift up your voice uh and i want you to begin to praise us come on open up your mouth lift up your voice begin to magnify the lord [Music] come on this is how we fight our battle come on when we begin to play time when we begin to worship when we begin to lift up the name of jesus [Music] lift up your voice [Music] this is how my [Music] right [Music] [Music] this is this is [Music] could you just press a little bit in the spirit come on would you just press a little bit with your praise come on there's victory that's being released in this room right now come on there's healing that's being released in yes shout out to god with a voice [Music] here's what i want us to do [Music] there's getting ready to be a holy ghost explosion in this room i feel it right now but we've got to get out of the realm of the flesh and we've got to get into the realm of the spirit right now because some of us we don't feel things changing we don't feel things moving right now and sometimes we allow what we feel that dictate our praise oh brother wilson i don't feel any goosebumps therefore if i begin to praise and worship god then i'm fake no no no no you're not fake you don't have to feel god for you to worship god you don't have to feel god for you to praise god as a matter of fact we praise god not because it feels good we praise god because he's worthy of praise therefore if i don't ever feel him again i i'm still going to praise him i'm still going to worship him i'm still going to magnify i don't need to feel goosebumps for me to praise god but i praise him because he's good i praise him because he saved me i praise him because he does [Music] here's what i feel to do if you need something from god today if you need something special maybe healing in your body it be salvation you've never received the baptism of the holy ghost before here's what i want us to do can we create i'm going to create a little dance floor right here in the middle i want us to clear this come on i want you to clear this space right now this is a certified dance floor right here in the middle come on i i think i believe we're going to have more than that i want you to clear come on move over to the sides a little bit right now come on clear some space y'all know what i'm getting ready to do y'all know what i'm getting ready to do here's what i here's what i feel to do if you need something from god in this room i want you to come now hear me i want you to come down and i want you to get right here and i want you to begin to dance and worship god with everything that is within you now now listen if you're gonna get up here and just do a little i don't want you to get up here but if you're gonna get come on there it is right there come on if you're gonna get up here you're gonna dance come on it's time for you to use your weapon it's time for you to use your weapon of praise come on there's got to be somebody i want you to come right now when you come i want you to come dancing i want you to come shouting i want you to come praise it because there's getting ready to be deliverance i want you to worship us i want you to give god [Music] you sure come on [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's pretty good we got about 15 or 20 people right right here that i've just got on the dance floor can i tell you god is doing something but i believe that there's more people in this room that god has wanted to do something for and can i tell you the key to you getting what you need from god is you using your weapon i was preaching a youth camp in arkansas three or four years ago and the lord spoke to me i've never done this before since right never done this before this time and i have not done it since lord spoke to me i was preaching that youth camp he said i want you to get out i was preaching some of you preachers know what i'm talking about god speaks to you while you're preaching god interrupted my well-oiled machine of a sermon at least i thought whatever god says i want you to get out i want you to run the aisles and praise me and worship me i was like god now get this this was my first ever youth camp that i never you know like i'm like this is my first youth camp brother nate like god i can't blow this like this is my shop you know like this is my chance like for it like god if i if i start acting crazy like this they're never gonna god said run i said yes sir i took off off the plane i literally cleared all the steps took off running shouting praising god and worshipping god as i'm going i'm thinking yep this is it i'm gonna get back up everybody's gonna be looking at me like crickets like this guy's crazy but as i began to turn the back corner i looked and on the complete opposite side of the auditorium there is a young girl about 13 years old and she was streaking down the aisle beside me and as she got to the front of the altar she began to dance and worship and praise god like she lost in the entire place or went up and spoke there was a liberty that broke forth why because a young person decided i'm going to use my weapon of praise [Music] i mean we had an old school service young people literally were slain at the altars for three or four hours i left the i left the altar call because it was so long the young people were slain in the spirit speaking in tongues they were bringing them out of their drunkard why because they made up their mind i'm gonna praise god and when i praise god something begins to happen when i praise god i'm getting in the fight when i praise god i'm using the weapon that he's given me and come on churchill it's time for you to use your weapon it's time for you to use your weapon come on it's time for you to play something [Music] come on it's time to dance [Music] can't stop jesus [Music] jesus praise him jesus christ is i want you to keep worshiping the lord cause one of our babies is going down in jesus name how many times have i been around the altar pastor whitley and [name redacted] comes right down there beside us and starts worshiping he's been telling his family he sees his name his need to go down in the name of jesus we're going to worship as he goes down to walk in newness of life but we're going to keep worshiping and we're going to celebrate when he comes up out of the water hallelujah brother flannery take him down in jesus name [Music] [name redacted] confess your faith in the lord jesus christ and for the remission of your sins i now baptize you in the name of the lord uh i got a place here's what i want us to do the bible says o magnify the lord with me and let us exalt his name together there is something that happens in the spirit there's a synergy that happens in the spirit when you begin to unify with your brothers and sisters in christ and worship and praise to god [Applause] here's what we're going to do and i'm going to turn the service back over to brother whitley brother mccool whoever is going to take it but i want you to grab somebody right now by the hand i want you to put your arm around somebody right now this is your designated praise partner for the next few minutes of this service and i want you to begin to praise and worship god some of us haven't danced in a long time let me tell you something dancing is really simple you just pick up one foot put it down pick up the other foot put it down it doesn't have to be prettier it doesn't have to be fancy but i wonder if there would be somebody that would just begin to dance on the devil's head [Music] come on use your weapon right now churchill he can't tell y'all that's it that's it come on somebody that's who the devil's here come on somebody dance [Music] that's it healing is falling right now deliverance is falling right now huh [Music] come on if you need the holy ghost all you got to do right now is begin to praise and worship god and the holy ghost to follow you in the name of jesus receive you the holy ghost that's it that's it [Music] somebody just praise him right now like you've already got to victory somebody praise them in advance come on come on somebody do battle in the spirit somebody or in the spirit somebody fight right now huh come on somebody [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] yeah when i think of his goodness and what he's done for me when i think of his goodness how he set me free when i think of it foreign what the lord has done he healed my body he touched my mind he saved me just in time look what the lord has done just in time i'm gonna pray today each day [Music] is just he touched my mind he set me look what the lord deliverance is hey hallelujah is [Music] hallelujah is [Music] is is come on [Music] okay the yes is in the house i said revival is in this house glory glory glory it's not on the way it's here the model [Music] [Music] yeah yeah [Music] sister flannery several years ago when you and brother flannery said we're selling out we're going to tennessee took a lot of faith to make that step did we know we beat cena grandson baptized in jesus name tonight it's worth it all it's worth it all mr plan it's worth it all right [Music] would you give praise unto the lord right now give praise unto the lord right now he's doing great things he's doing great things right now [Music] this is why we're here this is what it's about we're here for revival we're here for refreshing renewing healing the holy ghost falling that's what's happening right now in jesus name in jesus name hallelujah glory glory glory glory i want us to lift our voices in prayer right now there's still those who are interceding in the name of jesus right now he had in the name of jesus right now lord open open a mouth lord let your spirit come in lord let the power of the holy ghost fall right now in your name jesus in your name jesus hallelujah yeah that's right yield completely let the holy ghost speak that's it let the yeah that's right that's it that's it yeah yeah yeah go on go out go on that's right that's right the holy ghost is falling in this house yes it is yes he is yes he is hallelujah come on let him speak through you open your mouth and let the holy ghost speak to you right now that's right that's right that's right hallelujah yes lord yes lord yes lord we believe it right now we believe it right now we claim it in jesus name we claim it in jesus name yay oh yeah hallelujah glory glory glory hallelujah hallelujah somebody came for a fight somebody came for a fight how yeah yeah yeah yeah hallelujah [Applause] [Music] hallelujah yes lord yes lord yes lord glory yay yeah hallelujah that's it that's it that's it that's it go on yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah hallelujah yes lord yes lord in your name yes lord in your name oh glory glory glory hallelujah [Music] holy ghost fall that's right yeah hallelujah yes lord yes lord glory hallelujah hallelujah thank you jesus thank you jesus glory yes lord thank you jesus thank you jesus thank you jesus hallelujah oh thank you savior thank you savior glory glory glory hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah