Possessing The Gates Of Your Enemies

Would you take your Bible, I hope you have it with you and turn with me to Genesis chapter 22. Last week we done, it was something of a one-off message though I felt it would probably lead to this. There was more to say, this isn't a series.

I've got a couple of other entire series that to be quite honest is weighed. I believe is very important for the body of Christ out there beyond us. And things I have to speak into on a worldwide basis, on a national basis.

And yet I go, that is not going to get dealt with. You know what's more important? I'm a shepherd, I deal with this house. I look for the will of God for your lives.

I will lead you aright. And I'm telling you even global things take a secondary place. That is the heart of a shepherd.

He goes after the one soul. One soul is very precious. And so these messages I believe and I've been saying this for weeks.

I've been priming you because of where we're at. Do not miss what the Spirit of God says. I'm not coming here with messages or merely to say something or trying to find something.

Saints of God, I believe God is speaking by His word. If God's word does not touch us, then what will? What does? If you try to create other means of healing. If the balm of Gilead doesn't heal, what is going to heal your soul? What's going to answer your questions? That's why we go to the word of God.

And I want to continue. Last week we dealt with Isaiah 28 verse 1 to 6. Dealing with turning. That God, the Lord would be strength to them that turn the battle against the gates of their enemies.

And I just want to continue here with a second message in the same line. But saints, we're going to war. We're in a fight.

I'm calling you. I'm reminding you. I'm calling you to be of one mind, heart, spirit, unified.

To listen to what I'm saying. Because I not only fight through for myself. I fight for you.

Already this week in this church, the crisis of seeing two kids knocked down. One almost drowning. Of seeing this with loss and families.

We're in a real perpetual war. And you know what? The devil knows a church that goes to war against him. And knows Christians that say, thus far and no further.

And who have a sword in their hand. I'm not about lying down. I am going to take someone to heaven with me.

I'm not going to let the devil bury me, discourage me, or put me out of the fight. By the grace of God, God help me, I'll drag someone to heaven. If I only get one person to heaven, my heaven will be two heavens.

Do you hear me? My heaven will be two heavens. If I just get one soul there, by the grace of God, because I followed him and believed him. It will be worth it all.

One side of Jesus, and you're going to say, all the trials, all the troubles, all the struggles, all the fights. It will be worth it all. When I see Jesus.

Will you turn with me this morning to Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. Reading from verse 13.

My message this morning. Possessing the gates of your enemies. I'm making this personal.

Turning the battles to the gates. This is your battle. I'm not speaking over your head.

Not speaking to people out there. Or on that camera. I'm speaking to you.

I'm in a fight. I was in a fight for my soul. Now I'm in a fight for your soul.

And I mean business. I'm not joking. I don't do everything right.

I wish I had the ability greater than I do. Or the wisdom. Or the time.

Or the stamina. I don't. But I'll tell you.

I will do something for the kingdom of God. I can stand here and fight. This is a boxing ring by the way.

Not a pulpit. It is a pulpit. But it's more than that.

I fight the enemy here. I pray. I pray throughout the week.

To stand here. This isn't mere words or a lecture. There is a warfare going on.

I look for one sentence that could pierce your heart. Break a lie of the devil. Give you encouragement or faith to walk with God.

Reading from Genesis 22. Verse 13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked.

And behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering. Isn't that interesting? A burnt offering in the stead of his son.

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jarrah. It's not about money. It's about a lamb.

It's about a ram. A sacrifice. Not about money.

Jehovah-Jarrah isn't about God giving you money. That's a false doctrine. Jehovah-Jarrah is that he sent his son to die on the cross.

This is where we get Jehovah-Jarrah. A lamb, a ram was provided instead of Isaac. And it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord, it shall be seen.

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. And said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord. For because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son.

That in blessing I will bless thee. And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven. And as the sand which is upon the seashore.

And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Let's pray together. Father, we come in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not with spear, not with sword, not with any human element of fighting.

We come here knowing the power of Jesus' name. I have seen the sick healed by that holy name Jesus. Lord God, I have seen sinners washed, changed, set free, sanctified by the blood of Jesus.

These are our spiritual weapons where we see lives changed. Where we see strongholds broken. Where we see hearts that have been bound for many years utterly radically changed.

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all them that believe. Father, thank you that our weapons are not carnal. But they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

Thank you God that right here this morning we can take every thought captive. Lord God, that we take every high thing that exalts itself above the name of Jesus. Above the word of God.

That exalts itself above the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of these things are enemies. Everything that contradicts your written word is an enemy.

It is a lie. It is a shadow. It is a demon.

Lord God, we are opposed to it. Your word is truth. And your word is highly exalted.

It is. Lord God, you don't let your words fall to the ground. You watch over your word to perform it.

Lord God, you said cast our bread upon the water. And it shall return to us not many days hence. Lord God, your word is truth.

And those that live in it, abide in it. Who follow it. Who listen to it.

Are very wise and very blessed of heaven. Bless us, oh God, here this morning. Bless every family, every individual, every child.

Lord God, we ask that you deliver us from the hand of our enemies. Lord God, that the very stratagems of hell will be broken. That we're going to turn this fight, this battle against the gates of our enemy.

That we're not merely going to be getting attacked, getting hit. But we're going to be proactive in attacking the very gates of our enemies. And Father, I pray, put courage in your saints.

Put faith in them. Lord God, renew hope. And Lord God, be very gracious to your saints here this morning.

That your name might be glorified and honored for Jesus' sake. Amen. My message from Genesis chapter 22.

And especially from the last sentence of verse 17. Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. My message, possessing the gate of your enemies.

What we have here in Genesis 22. Is the angel of the Lord, or Jesus Christ, appearing to Abram. After he was going to sacrifice his son.

The Lord actually said, I want your Isaac. What I've given to you supernaturally, I want it back. God does test the hearts.

God will try you. And I'm telling you, if you want the real blessing of God. He'll ask for the most precious thing that you have.

No more than that. What he gave you, he'll ask for it back. You don't have your Isaac.

You don't have freedom this morning. Until you give back to God what he has given to you. When it's laid on the altar.

When you have really handed it over. And he has full control. Then it's safe to be in your hands.

Some blessings aren't safe in the hands of Christians. You know why? They possess it. They hold on to it.

They have ownership over it. Well, it's not God's, is it? You own it. You're scared of losing it.

You know what? When you lay it on the altar and say, everything is yours. I'm submitted to you. I'm yielded to you.

Whether you take it or whether you leave it. I know that your word is true. You know what? You're in a place of utter freedom.

When you give the most precious things. Maybe it's your child. Maybe it's your job.

Maybe it's your future. Maybe it's your ministry. Maybe it's your gift.

Some of you are jealous over your gift. God can't even use what you have. Because you own it.

You're jealous for your own gift. God will never use it. You've never laid it down.

You know what? You better not lay it down unless you're willing to lose it. Because very many times in our life, we put something on the altar. God says, thank you very much.

I'll take that. You're not getting it back. Oh, I thought I was getting it back.

No, no. I know your heart. I know your ways.

When you lay it on the altar, you don't know whether you'll ever get it back or not. All I want is a heart that says, everything is the Lord's. You own it, whether you take it or not.

Very few Christians come to that place. But it's a walk of faith. It's a place of maturity.

That's the context. When the angel of the Lord, the Lord himself, appeared unto Abraham to bless him. Listen to what he says in verse 17.

That in blessing, I will bless you. Do you want your life to be blessed this morning? Do you know it's God's will to bless you? In blessing, to bless you. He repeats it.

Do you know what he's emphasizing? I, Abraham, I am going to bless you. He wasn't a perfect man. Prior to this, he'd failed God.

Failed in temptation. Failed in trials. But he was a man of faith.

He got up and he continued his journey. His eyes were on the Lord. He's going to obey the Lord.

He's going to keep going forward. He did get sidetracked at times. He did do the wrong thing at times.

His fears got the better of him at times. But do you know what? When faith is in the heart, it shall overcome. The angel of the Lord says, in blessing, I will bless thee.

In multiplying, I will multiply thee. Look, he's talking to a man who doesn't have a child. He stands alone as an individual couple.

He can't have children. God says, I'm going to multiply you. Do you not think a church like this can touch the world? The nations of the world? Do you not think that we could be the means of bringing so many people into the kingdom of God that you'd be shocked, utterly amazed, sitting here in this room? But I tell you, there's a God in heaven who says, I will bless you.

I will multiply you. And I will multiply your seed more than the stars of the heaven or the sand of the seashore. Some of you ought to go and count them.

And look how ridiculous. To say to this man, Abraham, your children, your spiritual seed, your physical seed will be more than the stars of heaven. You know, they say there's about 3,000 to 6,000 stars that you can count from the earth.

I've never tried it. You can if you will. But I guarantee you'll probably lose count.

But you know what? There's a whole load more stars up there. Go to the sand. You're going to have a bigger job.

Imagine saying to one man, your seed are going to so multiply. You can't have a child. It's utterly impossible.

But you cannot have a child. It's utterly impossible. Your wife is barren.

But yet God says, I am going to multiply. Either you believe it or you say, that's utterly impossible. Either you go, God, your word is not true.

It can never happen. Or else you simply say, if you say it, it's going to happen. It's not that I believe it and it's going to happen.

If God says it, that settles it. He doesn't need your faith to make a thing true. God is going to do it.

But saints, listen to the blessing. We've heard those things many times. But there's one sentence here that I've never heard preached on in my entire Christian life.

I've been to a lot of good churches, a lot of good conventions. Never once have I heard this sentence preached. That God's promise to Abraham was made.

Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Not once in my entire life. And I haven't preached on this once in my entire life.

Do you know what? But this scripture has been precious to me like last week's scripture. You know that turning the battle against the gates of my enemies? It's been fundamental to my Christian life for some 30 to 35 years. This scripture also has been fundamental to my Christian life for some 30 to 35 years.

But I've never preached on it. But I am this morning. We're going to look at this scripture, what it means.

Because I tell you, I'm caught up in the blessings of Abraham. Because one man would lay down the life of his son. Blessing has gone to all nations.

His seed are more numerous than can ever. Both spiritually and physically. Because he laid down the life of his one son.

He laid the life of Isaac on the altar. When God asks you for your Isaac, you better not hold on to it. See, you may think, I don't want to lose my Isaac.

I don't want to lose what I have. That's why you don't have anything. Some of you are pursuing the blessing of God.

And you have nothing. Because you haven't given what he requires. He says, give me this.

Oh no, I'm not going to give this. I'm serving you. I love you.

I obey you. But I'm not giving you my Isaac. Give me your Isaac.

You're so scared of losing one Isaac, that you'll never have a spiritual seed that will cover the earth. You see, if that's your mentality, if that's your attitude, if that's your faith, God asks you, but you won't give him what he desires. Possessing the gates of your enemies.

Here in Genesis 22, the Lord says to Abraham, thy seed, thy children, are going to possess the very gates of their enemies. He wasn't speaking to a pacifist or a spiritual pacifist. He was speaking to Abraham.

Do you realize that 40 years before this, Abraham was already a man of war. If you go back to Genesis chapter 14, verse 1 to verse 16, you have the first war in the entire Bible. More than that, you have the actual first war recorded in world history.

There's no older war before this. You can't record or find any single war that is older than in Genesis 14. It's the very first world war, or war between nations and peoples.

In Genesis chapter 14, it has a connection to a man of faith. Isn't it amazing? The first war in our world, and right at the heart of it was a man of faith. He was right there in the first war that ever waged in all of creation.

What's the backdrop to that war? We find it in Genesis chapter 13. In fact, it's got a connection to Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you remember in Genesis 13, verse 12, Lot, the nephew of Abraham, listen to what it says, Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and he pitched his tent towards Sodom.

Abraham and Lot were two men of faith. Lot was the nephew, journeyed from Ur, all the way through to the land of Canaan, down into Egypt, back into the land of Canaan. They lived in a tent together.

They shared the same faith together. They made the same journey together. But at a certain point, because of conflict and disagreement, it got into Lot's head, I believe because of his wife, to begin thinking differently.

We cannot dwell together. So Lot made a different journey. Lot took a different direction.

Lot moved his family away from Abraham, away from Hebron, away from the land of promise, and he set his tent door towards the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. What a dangerous thing. Do you know, we had a family once in this church, and I was preaching a short series on Sodom and Gomorrah.

And after part two, I didn't know how long I was going to preach it. I just started. Preach part two, and then I preached part three.

And before I preached part three, the wife and the daughter came into this church, and they came to me, and the mother laughingly, jokingly, lightly said, Oh, Keith, I said to her, first thing this morning, I hope he's not preaching on Lot's journey to Sodom again this morning. I didn't realize what was behind it. I actually came out of church feeling bad, going, I'm not preaching on Lot's journey to Sodom again.

I will find another message for next week. It affected me. So I was determined, I am not going to preach on it.

Guess what? All week long, the Lord said, preach that message. More was coming. I couldn't move.

I couldn't go anywhere else in the Bible. I searched. I looked.

I read. I couldn't preach. I had to preach it.

I preached a fourth message. I preached a fifth message. Little did I realize till later, an entire family are making a journey to Sodom and Gomorrah that's going to wreck them, that's going to bring spiritual desolation that to this day they have never recovered from.

And they removed themselves from the house of blessing. I couldn't have imagined how serious, how devilish, how wicked, and the war that was happening in that family. The father was the last to go, but he made a decision, a conscious decision.

Saints, I'm telling you, you can have a lot and an Abraham traveling together, and a lot makes a direction. You know what the Bible says about a lot? It says that when he lived in the city of Sodom, so you don't intend to go there, but you set your tent there. You're not being that extreme.

The Bible isn't sufficient. You use your own wisdom, but you find yourself far from the plan of God. The Bible says that when Lot was in Sodom, it vexed his righteous heart.

Lot was a righteous man. He was a redeemed man, a justified man, a man that would make heaven. But his decisions affected an entire family and took them where they would never recover from.

Do you know what he left? He left his tent. He left his altar. He left his spiritual friends.

He surrounded himself in an environment that vexed his righteous soul. The word vexed means to be tormented. Lot was in an environment.

He was too righteous to go to hell. But he was not righteous enough to save his family, and his own soul was in constant torment because he didn't agree with all that was around him of this world. But he was so in it, he couldn't enjoy the blessing of Hebron or the blessing of God.

He wasn't living in a tent. He wasn't on the mountain. He wasn't dwelling by the altar.

He'd lost the reality of that direction, and yet he was righteous. You need to beware where you are living and dwelling and where you come to rest. That's the context of this war.

Listen, just after this, Lot is living in Sodom. In chapter 14, verse 1, we begin to read about a war between five kings and four kings, the first war in world history. We're told about four kings.

There's five cities in the plain of Jordan with five kings, but four kings come from the Middle East, the king of Persia, the king of the Hittites, the king of Shinar, which is Babylon. And the king of the Assyrians. This is the most ancient war in all of history.

And we're told that these five Middle Eastern kings come right into the land of God and sweep through and attack the five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. And they destroy their cities, take their people. Guess what? Lot is living there.

And this great foreign army comes in and takes them, and Lot and his family are carried away with them. Chapter 4 of Genesis, and they're carried away. Guess what? A man of God called Abraham hears about it.

Oh, yes, he knew that his nephew was in disobedience. He'd chosen Sodom, moved away from the tent, moved away from the altar, but he did have real faith in God. It says in chapter 14, 14, And when Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive, he wasn't inactive.

He didn't say it serves him right. Let him get his Jew. Well, he made his bed.

Let him sleep in it. Never said any of that. See, this is a man of faith, a man of prayer, a man of God.

Guess what he said when he heard his brother was carried away by this massive army of nations that had just defeated four entire large cities. What would you do? Abraham's only a man of faith. It says that Abraham, he armed his trained servants.

The word armed means to pour out. In other words, you take everything you've got, every weapon, every sword, every stick, he pours out. He said, right, guys, get ready.

We're going to war. Think about it. How crazy is this? Let Lot go.

Look at the army. Abraham doesn't have one thought for his own defense, his own protection. You know what he's doing? We're taking the battle to the enemy.

I care about Lot. This is personal. He could have said, let them go at Sodom and Gomorrah.

Most of these are wicked, evil people. I tell you, there's something within the heart of a real believer says I'm not going to sit here and watch this happen. What made young David, when an entire army were in the trenches, they're all armed up.

They're very large men. King Saul, the anointed there, none of them moving. Guess what? One little shepherd boy, probably 17 years old, he looks at Goliath, says, who is this uncircumcised Philistine? You know what he'd done? He couldn't wear the armor of Saul.

He took a slingshot, said, I'll kill him. I'll go out against him. Since where is this faith again in the house of God? This is the will of God.

We need a few slingshots again. We don't need swords. We don't need armor.

We don't need numbers. All you need is faith in the name of God. You know what? We used to have missionaries go attack nations.

We used to have evangelists go into cities where there was no church, no Christians, no believers. We used to have pioneers, missionaries, martyrs. The church was filled with us.

Very few. Now we've got more than ever. But where are the real Christians in this hour? Abraham armed his trained servants.

You know what? Those in his house were trained. They were instructed. They'd been experienced.

If you sit here and don't become trained, it's not my fault, I want to tell you. I want to pour out arms upon you. I will train you.

I will spend time with you. Don't expect me to be something that I'm not. But you ought to arise, saints of God.

We need to be trained in the house of God. Do you know why? We're going to war. We're going to war for Ireland, for the nations of the world.

God has shown us what he can do through a church like this. But there's more ground to go and take. It says that he trained, that these trained servants, he armed them.

They're all servants born in his own house. 318. And he said he pursued this army.

Imagine a great army that's defeated four cities. Abraham, a man of faith, says 318 servants never fought in a war before. Guys, you better get armed.

We're going to war. Can I tell you, I don't care if you've never been in the army, never been in the battlefield, never been at war. We are at war.

You need to waken up to that. If you don't realize, the devil will destroy you, steal from you, and leave you like lot. You might get to heaven, but I'll tell you, you'll lose everything on the way.

You'll get there by the skin of your teeth, by the grace of God, by the fire of God. You'll get in the door. What have you got to show for it? Nothing.

He died for me. Saints, I don't want to go there like that. I'm not going there like that, saints of God.

There's going to be a trained house. We're going after the enemy. We're not compromising on holiness.

We're not compromising on the word of God. We're making a stand. We're going to fight.

We're not giving up the fight. What you have here with Abraham is they pursue after this great army, and it says in verse 16, and he, Abraham, brought back all the goods, and also brought again the brother lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. King David done this the same.

When he was chased out of the land by Saul, and they were a raiding party, building an army in a cave. We're told that when they are away from their camp, the enemy came, took their women, their children, their possessions. When they're away, when they come back, it's all gone.

You know what happened when David and his men got back? When they saw what had happened, all of David's men were going to stone him. They're going to stone him. This gets worse.

So now the enemy's come and stolen everything. Now his men, his soldiers that he's building into an army, they turn on him and say, this is your fault. We're going to stone you.

What David did, and he has to remember, he encouraged himself in the Lord. Then he said, let's pursue. We're going after them.

Think yet pursue. He says, we're all tired. I don't care.

We're going to get everything back. We're going after your wives, going after your children, going after your possessions. Saints, I'm not for turning or giving back.

I'm at war. I'm in a holy war. I'm a physical pacifist.

If you punch me, you'll find out. But I'm not a spiritual pacifist. I'm at war.

I don't roll over and play dead. I'm going after things here. Saints, this is the context of this chapter.

I'm telling you that Abraham is a man of war. God is speaking to him 40 years later. Do you know after that war, after Abraham rescued Lot and his family and his possessions, wouldn't you think that Lot would decide to stay with Abraham? No, he doesn't.

He goes back into Sodom and Gomorrah. This is chapter 14. But in chapter 19, God then sends angels saying, I'm sending judgment.

I'm sending fire. And he only tells Abraham. Abraham intercedes.

And that's how Lot gets out by the skin of his teeth. Two immoral daughters and one wife that looks back and gets turned into a pillar of salt. I think I'm going to stay in the tent of Abraham.

Saints of God, are you ready for this scripture? I've got one scripture for you. And I believe God gave this to Abraham. I want more promises from God.

I am a man of war. I always have been. But in recent times, like I told you last week, my feet almost went.

My heart was gone. My courage, my faith, my hope, my all. It went out of me for a period of weeks.

If you missed last week's message, go and listen to it. If you're here and heard it, you need to go and listen to it again. This isn't a sermon.

This isn't a teaching. I am giving you a word from God. No, something more.

I am bleeding from the heart. I am bearing my soul. I'm telling you, you need to hear where we're at.

We need to be a one mind saints of God. Because I'm telling you, things have happened this week in families that are very serious. There's a real devil.

There is a real God. We're caught up in real things. Don't play games with us.

The Bible says in Proverbs 17, 17, a friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. A real brother in Christ, a real sister in Christ, is born for a crisis time. A time of trouble when you can't stand.

You're struggling. You're fighting. The enemy's against you.

In fact, the enemy's sifting you. The enemy's bringing you down, lying to you, plaguing your mind. You feel you're bending.

You're losing. You're not sure you can stand. A brother, a sister, is born for adversity.

God help you if you're alone, isolated, at home, when the battle hits you like this, or the devil comes for you. Thank God Jesus prayed for Peter when the devil came to sift him. The devil is asked to sift you, but I prayed for you.

Prayer does make a difference. I've got five quick points for you here from this statement. Thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies.

Number one, I want you to notice the blessings, promises, and warfare. In the very same covenanted commitment of God, I swear that in blessing I'll bless you. Do you realize how determined God is to bless you? I swear.

That means God doesn't need to because he cannot lie. He is not a man that he lies. He cannot lie.

Why would God say I swear? We do that in the court of law for perjury to hold men accountable to say you have got to tell the truth, and most of them don't. But God swears. Why does he do that? For your sake.

He wants to establish your soul. It's for your sake to anchor your soul within the veil. God actually says I swear I'm going to bless you.

I'm going to multiply you. You are going to possess the gates of your enemies. Do you realize there is a statement of warfare in the blessing of God, in the covenant of God? You're here and say I want to be blessed in the covenant.

I want the promises of God. Can I tell you there's a warfare. If you want the real blessing of God, I know someone who'll steal it from you.

See, you got born again. You got saved by faith. You saw that Christ died for you.

You believed he changed your life. He washed you, filled you with the spirit. You had a whole new beginning, a whole new life.

You loved him. You saw. Do you think the devil's going to leave you alone? There is a warfare in this covenant.

In covenant with God, the Bible makes preparation. God's going to bless you. God's going to multiply you.

He's going to make your heart to burn. You'd be a bad devil if he left you alone, wouldn't he? You say I'm praying for my family. Okay, let's test it.

I'm praying for Ireland. Okay, let's test it. Praying for my wife.

Okay, let's test it. Praying for my holiness. Really, you're praying to be a man of prayer.

Oh, I'm going to pray. I want to be filled with prayers. Okay, there's a devil.

Test it. Inside this covenant is a warfare. Notice that in God's end, I'm going to bless you.

I'm going to multiply you. He also attaches to it. Thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies.

God takes for granted that those in covenant blessed by him are in a war. The gates of their enemies are against you. Remember what the gates are? That's where the enemy plans your destruction.

He plans to come against you and to attack you. And so within the covenant of God, everything God has said about you, every blessing spoken in this Bible, the devil's going to come against it. God has blessed you.

God has given you provision of Calvary. God sent his son to die for you. Don't you think that's under attack? There's an army against that saints of God.

There's a real devil against that. He'll come to steal the blessing of God from your family. I'm telling you, I'm determined this church goes through and the blessing of God.

We prayed for revival. We prayed for miracles. We prayed for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

We prayed to touch souls in this city. He'd be a very bad devil to roll over and die. He'll wait until you're struggling, you're fighting, and all hell will try to bury this church.

That's where we are at the minute. We have blessed many in other nations, but I tell you, the devil says, if I can help it, they'll never bless another soul. They'll never have faith to pray through again.

That's the first thing to realize, is there's a warfare in the covenant of God. All that he's promised, it's gonna get challenged. What about the promises you once believed? You once actually believed they're gonna happen.

Are you being challenged right now? Are you doubting them? Are you actually doubting the reality of them and not living in the blessing of it? You're in a warfare. Number two, this promise is for thy seed. Thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies.

You know what? Your seed's gonna take after you. Your children are gonna follow you. If you don't fight the enemy, if you don't rise up against your enemies, your children will not possess the gates of their enemies.

They're gonna inherit, actually, the fights that you fight. This is a promise made in covenant to Abraham. God says, your children, your spiritual seed.

See, I take this personally because that's all of you. This church, if I don't fight through, this church will not inherit the gates of their enemy. I am gonna fight the devil.

I'm gonna fight him in my mind. I'm gonna fight him in my heart. I'm gonna fight him in my home.

I'm gonna fight him in my ministry. I'm gonna fight him on this high street. I'm gonna fight him in this pulpit.

I am fighting a real enemy. Ultimately, you know what it's for? That you may possess the gates of your enemies. You see, the devil has always been against the seed.

In Genesis chapter 3 and 15, after Eve had sinned and then been restored, listen to what God says both to the serpent, the devil, and to Eve. I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This is perpetual war. Mothers, if only you realized, Satan has a war against your children. It's very personal.

We know ultimately this seed is Jesus Christ. It was a prophecy about the Messiah. From Eve is gonna come a seed, and that seed is gonna damage, is gonna bruise the head of the serpent once and for all.

The devil didn't know who it is. So all the days from Eve, he's going, who is that seed? He attacked the seed every single generation. In the days of Moses, he said, I know a deliverer is coming, someone to save the children of Israel.

400 years they're gonna be there. It's about now. I know a deliverer.

One of these children is a deliverer. I hate these children. I'll wipe out a whole generation because I'm after one.

In the days of the Messiah, when Jesus was gonna be born, there's the prophecies, a Messiah is coming, a deliverer, a savior, a light to the Gentiles. He's gonna be born in Bethlehem. Remember what happened? The devil roused up Herod.

Kill every child in that community. Every child. Guess what? He's only after one.

The devil only wants one. You know what I believe about this generation? No generation has seen more abortions in the womb and deaths of children outside the womb than this generation. This is the most aborted generation of any in all history.

Don't tell me that's normal. You see, I believe the devil is at war at this generation. It's infected your schools.

Do you think that's normal? It's infected politics, the legal system, the medical system, doctors, scientists, everything. There is a war waged against the child in the womb. I've told you it's the most dangerous place.

Not a battlefield. Not Ukraine. Most dangerous place is in that womb.

Aren't you glad these mothers giving birth in this church? We love these children. We're protective. We're praying for them.

We're bountiful. We're blessed here. We're having children.

God is in the midst. But I tell you, the devil knows that out of this generation, 2026, in the 2020s, 2030s, there's something going to happen in this generation. I'm fully convinced he knows.

He doesn't know who, doesn't know what church, doesn't know what country, but something is going to happen. See, God has put a promise here to Abraham, the father of the faith, that out of this seed, the seed shall possess the gates of the enemy. Remember what Jesus said in talking about building the church? He turned to Peter and said, the gates of hell, you know it well, don't you? The gates of hell shall not prevail against us.

I believe this promise in Matthew 16, 18, concerning the church, is connected to the promise in the covenant to Abraham. You shall possess the gates of your enemies. Saints of God, we need to realize this is a promise.

God will forgive you, cleanse you, make promises, answer your prayers. Guess what? You're in an attack. The devil is against you and will steal all of that from you.

My Bible says that Christ is going to build this church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. You sit here and say, I think the devil's prevailing. I think he's overcoming me in my holiness, my prayer life.

You need to get back into the word of God again. There is a foundational promise here. Christ says, I'm going to build my church.

If you hear me, what I began in your life, I'm going to finish it. I'm the alpha and the omega of your faith. I am a mighty God.

I prayed for Peter. He denied me three times. I prayed for him.

It was the devil behind the denials, his failure, his faltering, his denials. The devil was behind this. It was an attack from the devil.

It was an attack of the gates of hell against Peter, one of the great apostles. He faltered. He failed.

He denied. It was a night of darkness. Don't you think that you will have your night of darkness? But there is a Christ who has prayed for you.

You may be faltering right now. In this meeting, you may say, my faith is faltering. There's one called Jesus Christ who said, I prayed for you that your faith will not fail.

You will fail. You will falter, but not your faith in me. Your ultimate confidence in me.

That is the prevailing of the gates of hell. The gates of hell want to prevail against faith in Jesus Christ. Third of all, possessing the gates.

This is where I really get to my message, what I want to say to you this morning. God made as a part of the covenant. I'm going to bless you.

A child, a son, is going to be laid down and offered as a sacrifice. And because of that, all the nations of the world are going to be blessed. Abraham, you gave your Isaac.

You laid down your son on the altar. And I saw that, and because of that, I'm going to bless all nations of the world. That was a picture and type of God the Father sending his son to die at Calvary.

You know what he was sent? Because Jesus dies on the cross, all the families of the earth are going to be blessed. That includes your family. Since if I was you, I'd be saying my family is going to be blessed.

My marriage is going to be blessed. My children are going to be blessed. I'm not listening to the devil.

I'm not desperately trying to grab onto these things. I'm drawing a line. I'm going to say amen.

I don't care if my heart is raging within me. I don't care if I'm fainting, giving up, struggling. I'm going to say the word of God is true.

I may not be all I have to be this morning. I may not be able to believe it all. But you know what? God's word is true.

It will not falter or fall to the ground. God has said, this seed is going to possess the gates of their enemies. The word possess here means to occupy.

You are going to occupy the gates of your enemies. Since what are the gates of the enemy? That's where the enemy sits and connives your destruction. The destruction of this church.

The gates of the enemy is a place of leadership, planning, stratagems. That's the place of authority of the devil. It's from the gate that you plan wars, plan attacks.

It's at your gates that you march your armies out against the opposition. At the gates of hell, the enemy marches against this church LCC. He marches against your family.

He marches against you individually. At the gates of hell, or at the gates of our enemies that hate us, you know what? The devil plans your destruction. Let's fire these arrows.

Let's attack in this way. Let's come with these thoughts. Let's attack that area of their life.

Let's perpetually keep telling them the same thing. You'll never come to anything. Oh, no, they're just my thoughts.

Are they? You honestly believe that? Why is it having such an effect on you? What is it numbs you and paralyzes you more than anything else? See, God has made a covenant, given a promise both to Christ and to Abraham, to all the seed. I am the seed of Abraham. I am the seed of Christ.

I am of faith. Since I've got faith, I mix the word of God with faith. Who's this promise to? Me.

You don't want it? Fine. This promise is to me. I shall possess the gates of my enemies.

My seed shall. If I lead someone to Christ, if they become a member of this church, you are going to possess the gates of your enemies. I take this personally.

I want to see you have a breakthrough. I am saying, God, you've made a covenant with us. I'm not going to stop praying.

See, I've got a basis for my prayers. I'm not just praying out there. Oh, God, will you try to help these guys? I'm saying, Lord, you said, you said, you said.

This is about your honor, your glory. I care. I want the saints of God encouraged.

Possessing the gates of your enemies, this is what it means, to occupy. Oh, this isn't the gates of hell attacking you. That was last week.

Did you miss it? That was last week. This is this week. This is you possessing the gates of your enemies.

You're there batting down, going, the enemy's attacking me. Well, turn the battle. Oh, I can't.

I'm not making fun. I'm not mocking. I'm saying what we all say.

We lock ourselves down, going, he's attacking me. He's coming after me. Turn the battle.

It all changes when you turn the battle. He says, I will be strength unto you. I'm not saying defend your gates, defend your city, just batting down, just try to survive.

There comes a time where you have to go and possess the gates of your enemies. Oh, God said, I'm going to possess my gates. Where is it? You have to get out of your stinking gate.

Go attack the enemy. Oh, I'm waiting for it to come to me. You don't do anything.

Since you're to occupy the gates of your enemy, the word possess means to drive out the previous tenants. Possess their place. Seize it, take it, inherit it.

Brother Rory was talking about inheritance earlier. To expel the enemy, cast out the enemy, disinherit the enemy, dispossess the enemy. I'm talking about getting tired of the attacks of the enemy.

I'm going to go do something. You know what? I'm walking across the road or the corridor in my block, knocking on the door and saying, do you know Jesus loves you? Well, I'm not like that. I can't do that.

Who says? Why not stick a gospel tract through the door? Have you ever done that? Have you ever, okay, you're scared to speak to him. Put a tract through the door. Tell your neighbors.

Are you not tired of the enemy? Attacking, attacking, attacking, attacking. When are you going to turn this? Saints of God, you've got a promise. Your seed shall possess the gates of your enemies.

This is God's will for you. This is his plan for you. Turn the battle against your enemy.

Go to war against him. No, he's too strong. Oh, no, he's greater.

He's the devil. He's the enemy. I'm so weak.

I'm so unable. You have a promise from God. You have a covenant.

I'll strengthen you. I'll drive out your enemy, but I need you to walk. Remember what he said to Joshua.

Everywhere you put your foot, it's yours. I give you the whole land. Oh, forget that.

You're going to have to fight for it. Oh, no, I want the land without a fight. I want the devil to go away without rebuking him.

Doesn't work. Devil, please leave me alone. He's not going to go away.

I rebuke you in the name and authority of Jesus Christ. Last thing in your face. What are you going to do? I'm telling you something.

This doesn't feel very smooth or eloquent. I'll tell you what. You understand what I'm saying.

I'm going to do trouble to the enemy. The enemy knows I'm standing here this morning. Fourth of all, the gates of your enemies.

Listen very carefully. This is so important what I'm going to say. I'm being very practical.

You're going to possess the gates of your enemies. Let me come right down and make this very, very personal. I'm missing out parts, but don't worry.

You're going to hear what I'm going to say. If there was no warfare, there'd be no need for gates. You wouldn't need gates.

The enemy wouldn't be attacking you. Neither would the devil. Why does he have gates? Because he can be attacked.

Listen to me. Why does the devil have gates? He's at war. There's a war against his kingdom.

Do you know in the revivals, the evangelism, the devil led a young man called Evan Roberts in 1904. He ignored him. 1904.

He went to Bible school. Never preached. Never led anyone to the Lord.

At Bible college, he couldn't concentrate on the studies. Couldn't. All he could do is burn for the souls of men.

Every night, he prayed six hours. Wasn't natural. He wasn't trying to do that.

The spirit of God came on, and he prayed six hours every night for the nation. Sat in class and went, what am I doing here? He says, I know God's going to send revival. God's promised me 100,000 souls in Wales.

100,000 souls. God promised them. People laughed at him when he said.

The house where he was staying in, the landlady said, he walks up and down all the time praying, crying. She contacted the neighbors, said, the guy's crazy. There's something wrong with him.

They got him put out of the house. Said, he's not balanced. There's something definitely wrong with this young man.

Oh, she regretted it a year later. You just put a revivalist out of your house. He left Bible school, went back to his community, went around all the ministers saying, would you just let me speak in your church? God's going to send revival.

Like good, sensible ministers said. You've got to be joking. One of them got convinced, and he says, there's a youth meeting on tonight.

16 souls there. You can speak to them. The only meeting he could get.

That night, revival began. And in six months, 100,000 people had been swept into the kingdom of God. Wales was lifted up to heaven.

One young man who got a promise from God. God has promised me Wales, 100,000 souls. 26 years old.

Hadn't preached one sermon. Saints, do you know church history? Do you know your Bible? Say, I know this. I know what he's done time after time after time.

I know when he nearly buries me like he done a few weeks ago. I go, this is looking bad. I'm in serious trouble.

But I know how this goes. Oh, my soul, don't think just yet. I will yet possess the gates of my enemies.

See, hell has gates because it gets attacked. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the building of the church on the earth. Battles are won and lost at the gates, either your gates or the enemy's gates.

It says in Deuteronomy 2857, thy enemies shall distress thee in thy gates. Well, it's time we turn the battle. I've got four things here, four enemies, I believe right now we need to come against and possess the gates of our enemies.

Listen what the four are. Hopelessness, helplessness, pointlessness, and passivity. These are four gates of our enemies.

And we need to turn the battle. We need to take over the gates. Because see at that gate, there is a gate of hopelessness where the enemy has a stronghold.

He sits and connives hopelessness against the saints of God. What is hopelessness? Well, hope is always having a future. Hope is a future thing, not now.

You have an expectation. Good things are going to happen in the future. Hope is a future, earnest expectation.

It is a desire to see the promise of God fulfilled, to possess in reality what God has said. If you lose hope, it's a terrible thing. Proverbs 13, 12, it says, Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.

But when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. What it's saying is all the things you hope for, when it gets put off, put off, put off, the prayers don't get answered. It always seems to be hopelessness.

Your heart gets really sick, doesn't it? You lose hope, nothing's going to change, nothing's going to happen. Do you realize there's an enemy behind this? That's your gate. Hopelessness is when you lose all future expectation that anything can happen, that the promise is going to come to pass, the prayer is going to be answered, the thing is going to change.

There is a gate of hopelessness that attacks you. It'll come against everything that you are because it'll make the soul sick. If hopelessness comes into you, it is an enemy, it's a devil, it's an arrow.

It's a warfare. Hopelessness will ravage you. You will think through hopelessness.

Second of all, helplessness. What's helplessness? Inability. No power to do what you desire to do.

You may desire it, but you don't have the ability. You don't have the know-how. You do not have the weapons.

I've told you, I've always said in every trial, I lose my wife. Okay, Lord, I don't know how to fight, but you show me. There's a way for me to fight this.

Every situation in my life, I've said, okay, show me what to do. I don't know how to fight. But when you're helpless, there's nothing I can do.

I don't know what to do. I have no power, no ability, no strength, no energy, no stamina, maybe no desire. Do you know there's a gate of helplessness that stands against you? It'll attack you.

Why don't you attack it? Saints, I mean, get aggressive and say, I am tired of hopelessness. I am tired of helplessness. God is my strength.

There are hundreds of promises. You need to write them out. Put them on your mirror when you're shaving or washing your face or making your cup of tea.

I have these little notes from a certain person. I won't mention any names. This certain person.

I go to walk up my stairs to study, and there's these row of notes left for me. I go, I love you. Have to move them before anyone else sees them.

Sorry, I shouldn't be telling. Now I've forgotten what I was saying. You ought to write yourself notes on the mirror, on the kettle, wherever it is.

Write yourself notes. Remind yourself of the promises of God. He is my hope.

He is my help. He is my strength. You were strengthless when you were a sinner.

Third of all, pointlessness. What's pointlessness? What's the point? What's the point of fighting? These four are very similar but very different and unique. Hopelessness, helplessness, pointlessness.

I told you years ago when I was 21 years old, I went through a dark trial. As I walked, I had my Bible. I walked.

I was looking over the Rhine Valley in Germany. I was praying, and I was at a crisis, an utterly impossible situation. It was like a loud voice rolling in my mind.

I was hopeless. I was helpless. I was pointless.

I started to agree with it. What's the point? What's the point? I walked back to the house. I wasn't praying anymore.

I'd given up praying. I'm walking back to the house, 21 years old, walking to the house, got my Bible, and I'm going, what's the point? What's the point? What's the point? The lady in the house is on the phone. She looks at me, speaking in German.

Schweizerdeutsch. That's worse than German. She looks at me.

Says, yeah, yeah, he's walked in the door now. Says, stop. This lady on the phone has just had a vision of you walking in the door.

She's got a prophecy for the young man that's just walked in the door. She's just described you. She says, you've been praying, and you've heard a voice in your mind saying, what's the point? What's the point? What's the point? But I, the Lord, say unto you, lift up your arms and begin to praise me, for I have heard your prayer.

Do you know what that taught me at 21? I never needed another prophecy like that. I learned a lesson. A ruling thought of what's the point is not a natural thing.

It's the devil behind that. You see, hopelessness, helplessness, pointlessness are not just natural human things. They are.

But there's a gate of our enemy. And the Bible says, I'm going to possess the gates of my enemies. I'm going to attack helplessness and hopelessness and pointlessness.

What's the point? Souls depend on it. Your children depend on it. Life's in here depend on it.

Someone out there depends on it. There's a drug addict out on that street that's on his way to hell that doesn't believe anyone loves him, cares about him. He's driven by drugs.

Unless one of you fight through your thoughts, you're not going to be in that high street to reach him. You're going to talk your way out of it. The devil won't want any of you on the street, any of you's in the prayer meeting.

This year, we've broken down in groups in the prayer meeting most of the Friday night. We've gone in small groups. If you're not here, you don't even know that.

And we prayed personally, saying we're fighting for you. Week after week after week. Saints of God, fourth and lastly, passivity.

What is passivity? Also, when I was 21, I learned about passivity. And I've never given in to it again. Or at least tried not to.

Because I didn't recognize what it was then. I'd become utterly spiritually passive for a period of time. And the devil steamrolled me.

I went from a place of revival to utter barrenness in six months. Six months. And I woke up one morning and went, what's happened to me? It was passivity.

What is passivity? A state of just accepting what happens. Submission to it. Compliance, non-resistance.

No pushback. In chemistry, they talk about passivity. It's actually a metal that has a layer, a thin film, only a thin film over it that protects it and resists anything affecting that metal.

What's passivity? Nothing can touch you. You've lost the fight. You've given up.

You've yielded. You've surrendered. You've submitted.

Passive is a gate. It'll destroy you. These four gates will destroy you, will grind you into the ground.

Maybe you'll be like a lot. You'll make it to heaven. You will.

Because the righteous get there. You could lose your family. You could lose your wife.

You could lose your testimony. But you can still get to heaven. You can't be sinful.

Because no drunkard goes there. No fornicator goes there. No idolater goes there.

You can't get into heaven that way. I don't care what you say. The Bible is dogmatically clear.

But you can be a lot. Lot was righteous. His soul was righteous before God.

He's going to get to heaven. But it's not a defeat. I don't want to get there, not a defeat.

I don't want to be passive. I don't want to be resilient. Not listening to Abraham.

Moving away from the tent and the altar. Fifth and finally, let me finish. Verse 17, the very last statement.

After talking about possessing the gates of your enemies, why is God doing this for Abraham? And in thy seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. You can't be passive against the gates of enemies and say, God, you've got to do this and I'm just going to stand here. You know what? Hopelessness, helplessness, pointlessness, passivity are enemies.

They're gates. You need to go to war and say I'm going to ravage them. I'm not going to sit here.

Either you're going to die and they're going to destroy you or you're saying I'm invading the enemy's camps. Why is it that God is going to use us to bless all nations? Because thou hast obeyed my voice. The context is chapter 22.

Abraham, you laid down your Isaac. You gave your only begotten son. As for your Isaac, you laid him on the altar and said he's yours, God.

He is put beyond death. Isaac is on the altar. Then just as he raised his knife, the angel of the Lord appeared and said, Stop.

Now I know that you fear me. It doesn't matter if we fear God or not or obey God or not. Are you kidding? Are you really kidding? That's another gate.

You need to possess that gate because you're actually denying the written scriptures when you think obedience doesn't matter. Fear in God doesn't matter. It does.

All of this is happening to Abraham. Your seed is going to possess the gates of their enemy. Jesus is going to ravage the gates of hell and invade the kingdom of Satan.

This covenant is going to come to pass. Stand with me. We're in a warfare in this church.

Since things are happening with children and families, there's a war. We need to turn this battle. I've told you for weeks now.

We need to go to prayer. We need to go to fasting. You need to get aggressive.

You may feel like you don't have the strength. I understand. Then I'm going to fight for you.

I'm going to help you. I'm praying for you daily. I'm praying for you by name.

I'm calling this. I walk. Whatever I'm doing, I'm thinking of people, praying.

I'm resolute, saints of God. I wasn't three weeks ago. My heart was fainting.

But you know what? As soon as he breaks through on my behalf, I'm going to war. You'll do the same as soon as you get through. If you reach the lowest pit, hit rock bottom, and bounce back up by the grace of God, you're going to get back into the fight and saying, I'm going to war.

I'm going to war. I'm not fighting a defensive battle. I am going to war.

I'm not going to be passive. I'm not going to sit here and keep taking hits and shots all the time. Some of you, you can't be convinced to obey the word of God.

There's basic biblical things. You won't enjoy the blessing of God without it. You cannot.

There's got to be repentance and brokenness and then say, Lord, start afresh with me. I'm going to war. I'm not drawn back.

What the Bible says, if he says love your wife, you love your wife. That's not an option. You're not there yet.

That's okay. Let's go to war on him. Let's pray.

Let's believe. If you're there fainting and you don't have faith, tell me. I want to be praying for you.

Let's lift our hands. Lord God, we need you this morning. We need you, our God.

Why don't you just come and stand if you desire, just in this altar. I'm going to pray once for us all, just unitedly. Why don't you believe God? Why don't you just expect him to move on your heart right now? We are at war against the enemy.

I'm at war against the enemy that's raging against the McNamaras, against the Holmes, against Eileen and Cher's family. We are at war here in this church. Saints of God, just ask him to move in your house, in your family, in your homes.

Just lift your hands. Believe God this morning. My God, we agree together as the church of God, as the house of God.

We believe your word this morning. My God, we want to turn the battle against the gates of our enemies. And, oh God, you have promised, oh God.

You have sworn, you have covenanted that the gates of our enemies shall be possessed. We want to dispossess our enemy. Lord God, we come against hopelessness.

Lord God, we come against helplessness. We come against passivity this morning. We come against pointlessness.

In the name of Jesus, and we ask for your grace and your mercy. Lord God, will you help us? Will you strengthen us? In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus.