BATTLEFIELDS | Fashioned for The Fight | Philip Anthony Mitchell

welcome to the victory broadcast if this ministry has impacted you in any way please consider supporting the spread of the gospel by visiting us online and choosing the giving option that works best for you now we pray that this message will stir your heart and build your faith get ready to receive the word of god what's up victory family grace and peace to all of you wherever you are in the metro atlanta area and to all of our friends watching in cities around the country and even pockets around the world we welcome you to victory church so glad that you can join us here today albeit virtually um want to give a special shout out to some of the seasoned saints among us popping up in the chats every single week first of all my own mother sharon mitchell aka mother sharon watching in north carolina i love you mom i want to also give a shout out to uh miss ruby um reyna's mother watching all the way in north carolina i want to give a special shout out to our own sister janie barlow mother and mother barlow [Music] shout out to all of our seasoned saints we love you and we appreciate you um being amongst this community of millennials i'm so glad to see all of you in chats today and trust that you're ready for the preaching of god's word um you know family as of this sunday it's been uh exactly a year since the last time we gathered together uh in csk in person um some of you will remember on that sunday i took a few minutes to just make a shout and just really just enjoy the presence of community gospel community and i said to you it may be some time before we return here again and i just want to pause to just acknowledge the realities of the fact that while we have not gathered for a whole year i know that a lot of us have deal with some struggles over the course of the last 12 months i know there are a lot of you watching right now that you are you are tired and i am aware of that by the spirit i know there's a lot of you watching right now you are wary you are frustrated we hear the whispers for those who so desperately desire to return to in-person gatherings and uh and i get it and i feel the same way i know there's people in this trap right now you're covered weary and uh and there's a lot of mental and spiritual and emotional heaviness and uh but i just want to encourage you to continue to be faithful um in this space and uh once you know that we are not only desiring to return to in-person gathering but we're working diligently on that um our current gathering location still remains closed uh coretta scott king high school but we are aggressively working to find an alternate location and believe in god for an open door believing god for a miracle and uh trusting that he will come through for us whether csk or some other place and uh until then i just want to implore you to hang on to jesus with everything you have and uh just be faithful and uh and in this season when the devil's picking christians off to do all you can to stay connected all be it virtual stay in a small group virtual uh keep logging on to this sunday morning uh this this platform that we have and keep holding on to the hem of jesus's garment ultimately a lot of us are being tested was church your relationship with god or do you have a relationship with god for yourself and and now in the absence of the noise of that can we continue to be faithful to jesus without the people on our row let's continue to be faithful to jesus and um i will keep you updated on uh our search for an alternate location and ask that you would join me uh for that um in prayer a family this is week two of a narrative series that we tagged uh battlefields and uh right now everybody in this chat whether you acknowledge it or not you're standing on a battlefield and you will stand on many battlefields until jesus comes back to get you i'm standing on a battlefield and i'm taking three weeks to walk you through a very intense story that took place in my life in february i felt like the holy spirit spoke to me not to let that series or that story go to waste but converted that story into what we're calling a narrative series it's not theological series it's not topical i am pretty much using three weeks to tell you a very intense story a whole story and tagging to each section of that story principles that god reminded me about during the story during the incident during the drama with the trust that these principles would be a blessing to you they would inspire you encourage you strengthen you uplift you that you'll come out of this series stronger than you are right now more confident than you are right now more bold than you are right now um [Music] last week i shared with you the beginning part of this story everything that took place from monday to tuesday and uh i preached to you about snares of the enemy how we have an adversary that's always looking for opportunities to snare us to lead us away to distract us to discourage us to disengage us to derail us and that the way to avoid those snares is through wisdom and discernment that's what jesus did in the wilderness when he was being tested and uh i preached to you a message called snared but not subdued some of us have been snared some of us have been snared right now but we are not subdued we're not going to lay there i want to use this message to share with you the gritty events wednesday and thursday and tag this next message in the series called battlefields i want to preach to you a message today called fashioned uh for the fight fashioned for the fight we have been snared but we are not subdued and while we lay there on the ground we we get back up because we remember that we have been fashioned for the fight we have been equipped for warfare and uh and i want to preach that message to you so father in the name of jesus i just pray that you would silence the distractions in the hearts and minds of your people [Music] that you withdraw us to yourself that you yahweh will be glorified in us and in this series [Music] we thank you that the enemy is a defeated foe he will have no dominion when this is all over he has no dominion we thank you god you would reign and rule and that we are fighting from a place of victory and not for victory i pray you would minister now to your sons and daughters who are watching as they lean into this gritty message i pray that over them in the mighty and majestic and matchless name of the lord jesus christ amen and amen you've been fashioned for the fight you know family when i was a younger believer i was saved in november 2003 over a toilet seat in a bathroom in a small apartment in durham north carolina and when i was a young believer you know i had all these thoughts and opinions that you know the greatest parts of my christian story would be all of my mountain top experiences my accolades the things that i accomplished all of the blessings that we like to flaunt on social media you know the things we throw filters on and i thought as a young christian that those would be the best parts of my story i acquired i did i was able to pull off i accomplished i always saw the mountaintops as the best parts of the christian story um i was ignorant when i was 24 years old after walking with god for 17 years now and looking over my shoulder and spending time with men and women who are older than me and wiser than me and sitting at the feet of mentors and listening to their stories and even looking over the shoulder at my own stories i've come to realize that probably the best parts of my christian journey the the parts of the story i like to tell the most not all the mountaintops and all the things that i acquired and all the accolades and all the plaques we got on the wall with our name and what we accomplished in sudden said year and at such a such church when i look over my shoulder i think i've come to realize the stories i've told most at the kitchen table the stories i've told most to friends at dinner the stories that i've told most and have shaped me the most have been the stories of walking through valleys and coming out on the other side the stories i've told most the stories that have shaped me most the stories that get the most airplay are the battlefields i've stood on and how i fought on those battlefields how god came through for me in various seasons it is the drama that makes the book a good story nobody wants to read a book with just mountain tops from beginning to end that's a boring book and if we be honest with some of these same chapters we would try to rip out of our story if god knew some of the battlefields we would stand on we would do all we can in the weakness of our flesh to try to circumvent those battles we don't want to step onto battlefields we don't want to face enemies we don't want to fight for the things that rightfully belong to us but as we walk with the lord and we just continue to journey with him a little bit further we start to learn that the things that really pepper our story with the most seasoning and salt the things that that shape our character more than anything else the things that strengthen our muscles more than anything else it's not the plaque i have on the wall of what i accomplished in 2018 but it's the scars i have from the battles that i was coming through somebody say amen in the chats it's the stories like like what happened at pearl harbor on my birthday december 7th in the 1940s when we was bombed by the japanese and our response to pearl harbor dropping the first atomic bombs on two cities that ended a world war is these are the kind of things we go back and they define the story of a nation how we handle ourselves on the battlefield how we responded to adversity how we respond to drama did we roll over and die did we just tuck our tails and run did we just accept defeat was we waving the white flag the last time the enemy came through the crib was we waving the white flag the last time the enemy attacked the marriage was we waving the white flag the last time the enemy attacked the body so so it's how we respond to those things that really pepper our life story with the pages we really want to tell with the things that inspire and encourage people the most the things that inspire and encourage people to know is not all the stories of our mountaintops but it's how we survived on the battlefields how we came through trials and tribulation is how we came out of battle is when i lift up my shirt and i show you the scar from 2017 the scarf from 2008 the scarf from 2009 said this is what jesus has done for me anybody can testify that say amen in the chats last week i started this narrative story by telling you about the events of monday and tuesday just really quickly no details about this but i told you on monday i came home sat down at a kitchen table slipped into my dms and and there was set for me a snare in the place that i walked psalm 142 and by reason of a fake instagram account a dis demonic influence working through an antichrist organization snared me in a dark room and hijacked my instagram account the largest platform we have for our ministry and try to hold that account hostage i said to you my wife quickly recovered that account but while we slept at night on monday night we woke up on tuesday morning and while the people of god slept the enemy was busy while we slept because the enemy is busy he he likes to sneak in when we don't expect and he comes in when we're the most vulnerable and while my wife and i slept the enemy snuck in and hijacked my instagram account again i woke up to no platform and i woke up to the violation of an anti-christ organization that hijacked my instagram platform and was holding it for ransom for two hours my wife and i would send emails to instagram help center we need to get this account back two hours another email two hours another email two hours another email another email another email we will do that for all of 12 or 15 hours to the point that we was restless we was frustrated we was tired and we had to switch to another battlefield by tuesday night we made a very drastic decision man i got frustrated and wary like these people are not returning my email i can't get anybody on the phone facebook doesn't have a phone number instagram doesn't have a phone number they're not responding to our email we've sent 50 in the last 12 hours they're not responding and the longer we wait the less likely we is we'll be able to get this account back from the enemy so by tuesday night my wife and i made a radical decision i said lena i don't have time to waste man book me a one-way flight to california i'm going to silicon valley to knock on the front door of instagram and facebook i'm gonna fight like hell to get my platform back and my wife wasted no time because this is how we get down like we don't roll over and just let the devil just take we don't roll over and let the devil just ransack our home ransack our marriage ransack our church we not those kind of people right and so yeah we was we was knocked down we was we were snared i told my wife on tuesday night booked me a one-way flight to california and i'm not coming back until i come back with the spoils of warfare so my wife booked me a one-way flight on delta to silicon valley flew into san francisco on wednesday morning landed on san francisco on wednesday morning and on that four-hour flight just praying and meditating and seeking god for guidance and help and and still wrestling with the feelings of feeling violated and taken advantage of and punched in the face and believing god for some type of miracle i land in san francisco on wednesday morning and i hop off that plane i walked up that plane like a man on a mission i had no return flight i was determined to stay in california until i got my account back i hopped off the plane i went straight to my rental car i jumped in that rental car it was about 11 30 in the afternoon in san francisco and i drove all the way to the first campus of instagram they have two campuses in san francisco around that that silicon valley area and i drove to the first campus in san francisco it was downtown san francisco i pulled up to that campus beautiful clear glass building knocked on the door could not get in pound on the door could not get in kicked the door security guard came poked his head what do you want i pried the door open pray for me i'm still a work in progress i pried the door open pushed my way into the lobby he said you can't come in here we closed i said i need help and i said listen i traveled all the way from atlanta to georgia on a five-hour flight my instagram account has been hacked and taken over i have thousands of people on that platform i need to get it back i've been sending emails every two hours for the last 12 hours i can't get anybody to email me back i need some help who in this building can help me what office can i go to direct me to the place i need to go to he said to me he said sir i feel very sorry for you he was a very kind man he said i feel very sorry for you that that happened but unfortunately no one is here uh because of covid all of the staff for instagram are working remotely and so there's no one in the building except me and i for sure can't help you and and i stood there and i said to him are you sure there's nobody here he said yeah so if i like got on the elevator and went upstairs i would find just empty offices he was like yeah i said are you sure he was like yeah i said i see people coming out of this elevator like are these instagram employees he said no these are just people doing construction work they said there's nobody in the building i said okay i said don't they have a another uh campus a little bit further out on just outside san francisco he said yeah there's another campus just outside of san francisco i said okay i walked out the street onto the sidewalk and i remember my wife saying to me honey when you get there you knock on every door you talk to every person in the street you go in every starbucks you do whatever you got to do to find somebody that worked for instagram and facebook i came out on the sidewalk and sure enough i talked to every person every human being that walked by me on the sidewalk you know anybody that worked for facebook you know anybody that worked for instagram i mean i pounded the streets in front that building and told me i could be there no longer and i hopped in the car and i drove to the next campus that was just outside of san francisco a beautiful campus man i pulled up on that campus and every person i saw i would ride down the window and say do you know anybody that works for instagram no we don't work anybody works for instagram but those are the buildings right there i went to their first building security guard comes out and i told them my story my instagram account has been hacked i have thousands of people on that platform i flew here from atlanta georgia four hours i have no return flight i need to talk to somebody that works on instagram he said sir there's nobody at this campus they've been working remotely for a year the buildings are empty i say are you telling me there's nobody upstairs in this giant building that can help me he said no i'm so sorry there's nobody out here that can help me he walked me or i should say escorted me uh outside of the building they might have been uh nervous because of my appearance and walked me out of the building into the parking lot he said but there is another campus around the corner i think there's some people still in that building and so i walked around the corner to the next instagram facility and i got to that door and i was banging on that door and i guess they see some crazy black dude banging on the door they don't even open the door this time they just talk to me from a microphone yes sir what can we do for you listen i lost my instagram account it was hacked i'm just telling my story i lost thousands of people on that platform i need to get it back i flew here from north carolina from atlanta and i need help i'm sorry sir there's nobody in these buildings they're empty there's no one here who can help you and i'll reason with him back and forth but there is a help desk and he gave me the same email address i had been sending emails to for the last day or so i was denied at the first place denied at the second place the night at the third place and i walked back to my car and i gonna be honest by the time i got back to my vehicle i was very discouraged i was very discouraged i said to myself man i flew all the way to san francisco and all of these instagram buildings are empty there's nobody here man i shed a tear in that parking lot for just a moment thinking to myself that you know man did i did i waste my time coming out here did i waste my time stepping on to this other battlefield and uh i stood there in the parking lot just feeling very grieved very discouraged very alone very isolated and and just thinking about the fact that there's no one here to help me and i saw two guys standing in the parking lot they were working on the lawns and the grounds and man i said to those guys do you know anybody that worked for uh instagram they said nah bro we don't know anybody that worked for instagram but we know facebook is right around the corner on one hacker way and uh it's a bunch of multi-colored buildings maybe you could go down there and find help and i wiped that tear out my eye jumped back in the car and i drove over to facebook and when i got to facebook uh same exact story told my story security guard met me at the door all the buildings are empty we've been working remotely for a year i'm trying to plead my case with all these security guards in the parking lot and they showing enough escorted me off the grounds at this point i was very very discouraged again i felt very alone and i thought to myself man did i waste time flying all the way to california did i waste time stepping on to this battlefield i called my wife and i told her that i had struck out um at these headquarters and and i said to her you know should i should i come back home and she was like honey man did you work all of the streets around facebook i said no not yet there's some neighborhoods not that far from me saying you can't come back home yet um lena holds me down so you need to go pound all them streets until you find help and i'm gonna call who i can call and you call who you can call and i drove to a nearby area where there was a chipotle in stores and i talked to every person in every store do you know anybody that works with facebook or instagram i mean i pounded the streets trying to find help i went and got me a hotel and i told my wife i am not going to leave i'm going to stay in california until i get this account back i got to my hotel and found out that my wife had contacted one of my close friends his name was matt tuning he's a pastor of a church called netcast in boston i contacted a good friend named bradley de charon my two brothers from another father uh from the same father my wife is on the phone with matt chunning come to find out he's on vacation i'm on the phone with bradley and i'm telling brantley my story bradley takes up my case and he says you know what bro i'm gonna dedicate the rest of my week to help you get your account back uh brantley starts hopping on the phone with everybody he knows i said bradley do you know anybody that works with facebook he said i personally don't but i know a friend who was killed in a car accident he worked for facebook i'm gonna call his wife to see if i can get in contact with his boss i'm gonna do anything i can to make sure we get in contact with somebody that works inside facebook and so bradley gets on the phone he's calling everybody he needs to call i mean he's going hard he spends the rest of the day trying to contact everybody he could contact trying to find somebody that works for facebook my wife is talking to matt tuna and say matt do you know anybody that works for facebook he's on the beach he says no i don't know anybody that works for facebook but you know what i know a pastor who lives in san francisco he got to know somebody that worked for facebook let me put philip in contact with that pastor so he puts me in contact with that pastor in san francisco i get in contact with that pastor in san francisco that passed pastor news knew a facebook executive who attended his church he puts me in contact with the facebook executive who had been in a meet with mark zuckerberg the day before i get on the phone with the facebook executive i tell him my story come to find out he is a believer also he said i'll take up your case for you and i'll ex i'll escalate your case all the way to the top of facebook we're going to do everything we can to get your account back so now one executive is fighting to get my account back in san francisco another friend told brantley is talking to another executive he's on the phone with somebody from facebook so now i got a friend working with a friend who got in contact with somebody on the inside of facebook and then another friend is working with a pastor i met in san francisco who's working with an exec to get something inside of facebook and now we got two people working to get a message on the inside of facebook trying to get this account back for me by the end of wednesday night my friend brantley had called me he said he said philip i got some crazy news for you i said what's that bro he said i've been i've been chatting back and forth with your hacker i said i said for real he said yeah i went into your dms trying to act like i was trying to get in contact with you and the hacker responded to me in your dms and i had a whole conversation with your hacker i said for real he said yeah let me let me screenshot you what he said and and here's here's here's what he said for the hacker he said here why are you holding this account hostage my man philip is a good brother he's just trying to do good for the lord he has a family he passes a church whatever the case may be and and and the hacker let brantley know well you know um the priest is what he called me the priest look what he said he said why why is the priest wasting his time preaching about a false god that does not exist on an empty platform and so he's having conversations back and forth with the hacker come to find out the hackers of another great monotheism he's anti-christ he's on the other side of the world and he's calling me the priest he's saying he's wasting his time preaching about a false god on an empty platform he's going back and forth with the hack he said no i'm not going to release his account and he says that hacker what do you want he said i'll let you know when i'm ready he's going to hold this account hostage on thursday morning i wake up on thursday morning to an act of aggression the hacker goes on my instagram account and now he begins to post propaganda about his false god on my instagram account and not only that he invites all of his friends in his organization to come on that account with their propaganda and all throughout the chats on that post they're making mockery of jesus mockery of god mockery of christians they talk about look at the pastor he got hacked they're cracking jokes in me and they have a whole thread just cracking jokes and really they're mocking god mocking yahweh mocking jesus they're mocking me on my platform i saw that as an act of aggression and that in that moment i realized that this was not just a battle to get an account back this was much deeper than an instagram account i realized that i had been dragged into spiritual warfare that this was a battle for spiritual warfare and i called my wife and my wife she i said do you see what's happening right now on my country said yes honey they're posting they're mocking you right now on your account and i told my wife man that my i was deeply grieved by what what happened and i told my wife i said lena man this is much deeper than just my account i said lena man this is now spiritual warfare leader this is much deeper i mean they're mocking jesus on a christian account they're mocking yahweh on a christian account and something inside me was just so upset about that and i told my wife i told my wife i said later no matter what is gonna cost us now we have to get this account back we cannot allow this organization that continues to just a mock jesus on my account and now my prayers had a new direction my my my inside had a new direction no longer was it just trying to get the account back i mean i had my pictures i could re cover my pictures my content i would lose my content but now the battle had changed now it was not just a battle for account but now it was a battle for whose god is really god now was a battle for whose god is really god is it the god you serve or the god of the scriptures is it the god you serve or the god of the bible is it the god you serve or the god you're mocking and now this became a spiritual battle and as i thought about that spiritual battle and i thought about everything that was happening in that moment man everything shifted on that thursday i was spent thursday more aggressively trying to recover that account to no avail by the end of the day by the end of the day the count was still not recovered man i'm sitting in a hotel room had just prayed with some friends i called up rhonda johnson i said man get the whole prayer team praying man this is now warfare that we're in right now so the saints are praying at victory my wife is fighting in atlanta i'm fighting in san francisco these two executives who are all christians they're all fighting and now everybody's focus now has shifted because now we see the deeper implications of what's going on this is not something just happening on the surface no this is now spiritual warfare and i remember thursday evening sitting on the floor in my hotel at a very low point feeling very grieved about what was happening my friend brantley sent me a song said this is how i fight my battles by michael w smith and i listened to that song over and over and it began to change the way that i feel and how i prayed and i realized on thursday by thursday night everything was gonna have to switch and there were three powerful things that i was reminded of in that moment and i want to share those three powerful things with you that i was reminded of on thursday night these three important things i want to bring to your attention that was unfolded on wednesday and thursday in this story as it relates to battlefields and battle first we must learn to value and steward well number one listen to me the wealth of kingdom relationships now everybody look right at me we have to learn to steward well the wealth of kingdom relationships look right at me you cannot fight all of your battles alone in this life you will have battles you will have battles against your mind battles against your heart battles in your body battles and finances battles and marriages you will have battles in this life and in this life we will be wise to remember that we must steward well the wealth of our kingdom relationships we got to honor the relationships that god places in our lives we got to be careful about burning the bridges of the relationships that god places in our lives we got to be mindful of the divine connections that god places in our lives too often in this generation i see us trample under our foot the divine relationship that god places in our lives we treat people dishonorably with cut people off easily we throw away think about how hard and how long it takes to build a kingdom relationship and how easily and how foolishly we throw them away because somebody offended me or because i got hurt or because they confronted me or because they didn't answer my phone or because they didn't return my text think of how easily offense caused the throw away kingdom relationships not knowing that there is wealth in kingdom relationships because you will enter into some battles in this life that you will not survive those battles on your own and some of us watching right now you can testify of battles you've been that you could not get out on your own you had to pick up that phone you had to send a text you had to tell somebody pray for me fast with me fight with me we need kingdom relationships and we gotta steward the wealth of those relationships when it comes to spiritual warfare some of the greatest blessings you will ever have in your life will walk into your life on two legs and not money it is the favor and the blessings and the open doors that comes into our life into our lives through relationships and we got to learn to steward well the wealth of kingdom relationships it was matt tuning a relationship i have with a white brother whom i love all the way in boston who contacted a pastor in san francisco while i was in san francisco who put me in connection with that pastor who put me in connection with a facebook executive who was in a meeting with mark zuckerberg the day before the likelihood of that happening in the flesh is unlikely that is the providence of almighty god and the only reason i got in contact with a facebook executive was not because of an email it was not because of what i was doing alone it was because i knew how to steward the wealth of kingdom relationships and loved the people around me well and was able to call on them in a time of need we need kingdom relationships and god uses people as a to get us through our battles it is very important for us to honor and invest in and steward well our kingdom relationship because we will either be fighting with others or we'll be fighting watch alone we'll either be fighting with others or we'll be fighting alone and you will not survive this life and all the purposes of life just fighting battles alone no one walks off of every battlefield fighting alone if you know i'm telling the truth just say amen right now in the chats you need to steward well the wealth of your kingdom relate you have no idea the day will come when you find yourself in a heated battle and you got to pick up the phone and call somebody who was mistreating in the season prior david he's going to be an example for this whole message knew how to steward well kingdom relationships and the wealth of kingdom relationships david who would become the second king of israel after saul a man who was appointed by god to be the first king of ancient israel it was david in a difficult time in his life when he was in battles for his own life against king saul found favor with saul's son named jonathan and he had an intimate relationship with jonathan and jonathan and him was tight friends and david would steward the wealth of that relationship well and in a time of need it was not his sword that got him off the battlefield it was a relationship that helped him in his time of need and first samuel chapter 20 and verse 4 david comes to jonathan and talks and look at jonathan's response to david in the middle of his battle first samuel chapter 20 verse four jonathan said to david i love these words quote whatever not let me think about this let me see was you good to me last week you remember when we got into a fight three weeks ago because real friends forget that garbage when you pick up the phone they know listen we gotta put that stuff behind us it's warfare time right now whatever you want me to do watch what he says i will do for you look at jonathan's response david you're in trouble my own father is coming after you whatever you want me to do i will do for you see we need kingdom friends that will go to war for us like that right we need kingdom partners that will fight for us like that we need you and i everybody watching me look right at me you need to take inventory of your circle let me ask you a question could you get a prayer through everybody in your circle do you have people that know how to pray for you would they fast for you would they consecrate for you would they fight for you would they turn down their plate for you could you lean on a friend saying listen i'm going through this battle man i need you to pray with me i got friends in my life i call them up saying man i'm going through this i need you to turn your plate down with me for three days bro i got you i need you to pray for me about this bro i got you yo matt i'm going through this he's on vacation my dude i got you i'm on the beach trying to connect you with that pastor in san francisco take inventory of the people around you and ask yourself this one question are they willing to fight for you would they go to war for you when you look at your circle would your circle go to war for you because if your circle won't go full warfare you need to you need to reconsider the people you have on the inside of your camp can they pray can they fight and so we need to steward well the wealth of kingdom relationships secondly we must trust and lean on this thing number two the weapons of kingdom warfare the weapons of kingdom warfare look right at me look right at me especially for all the young believers look right at me look right at me look right at me the essence of spiritual warfare let's look right at me it's not are we boxing in the air listen to me the essence of spiritual warfare is really a battle for who controls reality look right at me the essence of spiritual warfare is really a battle for who controls reality does the word of god control reality or does the lies of the devil control reality this is going to hit you in just a second when the devil is lying to you in your mind and when he is punishing your heart with lies the battle the real essence of spiritual warfare is who controls reality do i believe the word of god or do i believe the lies of the devil and what i do i believe what the word says or do i believe what the devil says do i trust in the scriptures or do i trust in google do i trust in god or do i trust in what everybody's telling me on instagram the real essence of spiritual warfare is who controls reality what is real is there a spiritual world around us is there really a heaven and hell is there god is there a devil are there two opposing kingdoms right now the bible says we are in a war you and i are engaged in a warfare there are two powers at battle at work all the time the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of darkness and those who don't belong to god the bible says the devil uses them as instruments against god's people you don't believe me paul wrote to the church in ephesus in ephesians chapter 6 put on the helmet of salvation the sword he said which is the word of god the sword is talking about the breastplate of righteousness the shield of faith the belt of truth your shoes for the preparation of the gospel what is all of that that's armor watch that armor is not physical pastor i don't get it it's all spiritual armor is that we fight in the real world which is the spiritual world and watch the spiritual arm of ephesians chapter six look right at me it already prophesies to you a battle did you catch that the spiritual armor of ephesians 6 and already watch it promises you a battle battlefield is not if can you finish this statement in the chats battlefields is a matter of when you may be enjoying a season of peace right now but i assure you you'll either step onto a battlefield in a very near season or you'll get dragged into one like i got dragged into a battlefield during this week in february and the spiritual arm of ephesians chapter 6 it prophesies to you a battle it already tells you you've got to be prepared to fight but notice everything is protected except your back there's no armor for your back why because god don't expect us to be turning around and running that we're supposed to be pressing forward right so the spiritual armor of ephesians 6 it already prophesies to you a battle it already tells you you better prepare yourself for warfare why because god's mission and god's people they have an enemy his name is satan his name was lucifer an archangel he took with him a third of all the angels from heaven they're called demons they watch you know you they listen to your prayers and they have a mission their mission is to shipwreck your face to dismantle your purpose in your calling they work overtime to sit you down on the side of the sidelines they lie to you in your ears they pummel you in your heart with lies and whether you like it or not whether you're young or old you are on one you will be on one you may be standing on one right now you will constantly be on various battlefields fighting against the forces of evil and we read through the scriptures and what do we see in the scriptures don't have time to walk the way that we have weapons for war the weapons for war is not loathe ah gosh the weapons for war does not feel sorry for myself nah i don't want to hear this this is too real right this is for real the weapons for war is not it's not just sit in a dark room and be depressed for the rest of my life the weapons for war are not wish i i wish i wasn't going through this trouble i wish my marriage would change i wish my finances would change i wish my mind wouldn't feel so heavy i wish my heart wouldn't feels so every wish wish wish we don't live in a fairy tale we live in a kingdom the weapons of war is not i wish i wish i could i loathe i feel sorry for myself the weapons of war are not any of those things that's not the weapons of war the bible tells us all throughout the scriptures the various weapons of war man prayer is a weapon of war consulting god and getting them involved in the battle is a weapon of war the word of god is a weapon of war it is a sword the bible says it is sharp it divides it punctures it tells the truth it backs down the devil no jesus said three times when he was on a battlefield it is written it is written it is written he pushed the devil back with the word of god the word of god is a weapon of war feels like the devil's telling me lies i got to put my mind in the word of god when my heart feels heavy i put my mind in the word of god when my heart feels broken i put my heart and my mind in the psalms in the word of god i remind myself of what god said about me and the battlefields that i am on praise is a weapon worship is a weapon all these things that puts me in the presence of god that let the devil know i will not keep my mouth closed you will not have my testimony i will not be silent praise as a weapon worship is a weapon consecration put my all these things weapons intangible powerful weapons is why paul wrote to the church at corinth that we need to take every thought in our mind one of the battlefields we fight on the most look right at me some of you man you you stay on this battlefield i know i know it is good i remain on this battlefield the battlefield you'll fight on the most is in your mind and in the church and in your flesh and that's why paul said we need to take all those crazy thoughts and cast them down and make them captive to the obedience of god's word on thursday night i was in a low place in that hotel it was my friend brantley who sent me that song this is how i fight my battles and i sat there on the floor and i kept listening to the song this is how i fight my battles this is how i fight my battles it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded by you it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded by you it may look like i'm surrounded but i'm surrounded by you and over and over i listened to that song and my tears of frustration turned into tears of warfare like hold on i'm surrounded by god i got more with me than that dude got with him i got more with me than the hacker got with him i served the god of heaven and earth i served the god that answered elijah by fire on mount carmel i served the god that raised men from the dead i served the god that part of red seas i served the god that led men out of slavery after 400 years i serve that god it may look like i'm surrounded by this anti-christ organization that's mocking me on my page but i got more people with them with me than they do with them and my tears of sadness turn into tears of warfare my heart shifted it was praise and prayer that night that became my weapon it's like in first samuel chapter 30 the bible tells us about david before he became king he was living in a place called ziglag that was his home his crib him and his men went out to battle and when they came back all their wives were gone their children were gone their town was burned and the enemy came when they least expected it and snatched their children snatched their wives and made off with the spoils of war watch david and his men sat there and they cried and they wept they said we should kill david because he put us in this battle and while they cried and while they wept david remembered the one person that can help him in every battle the one person that fights our battle for us and in first samuel chapter 30 verse seven and eight david said this then david said to abi arthur the priests the son of ahimalak bring me the ephod what's that that's clothing for prayer he's dressing himself now for warfare abaya thought brought it to him and david washed this watch the weapons of warfare inquired of the lord gosh watch what he asked the lord man some of y'all me i'm trying to i'm trying to get that tail from between your legs he said to the lord lord shall i pursue this raiding party will i overtake them that is god should i just stay here and be depressed should i just cry about this for the rest of my life should i is what he's saying just accept defeat what god said to him pursue them he said you will certainly overtake them you will succeed in the rescue david's weapon of war was let me consult with the god of heaven he prayed as a weapon of warfare and god told him don't keep crying you get up and you pursue you will recover everything that was stolen from you i just want to say to somebody who's watching not everybody who's watching as you see god you will recover everything the devil has stolen from you if that's for you just say amen in the chats if that's for you in the studio somebody say amen and lastly we must believe that we will see number three the wages for kingdom boldness we will see the wages for kingdom bonus you get paid for boldness you get paid for courage on thursday night i got a revelation in san francisco that this what i was doing was not a fight for instagram page nah look right at me i wasn't fighting no longer for instagram page listen my admins back here was backing up my content i had all my pictures i said man i'm not fighting for this page anymore forget the instagram page you know what i was fighting on come thursday night i was fighting for god's glory look right at me i was fighting for god's glory i'm done family i was fighting for god's glory how dare these people mock yahweh on my page on a christian page to over 15 000 believers how dare you mock yahweh on my page and i sat there on the floor and it changed my prayers it changed my tears it changed my feelings no longer was a fight for just an instagram account that's shallow now i was fighting for the glory of christ for the glory of yahweh i refuse to let this anti-christ organization have dominion over me dominion how dare you say i serve a false god yahweh will not be mocked i said satan yahweh will not be mocked by this antichrist organized i got more with me than you got with you and what rose up in me on thursday night was holy anger man somebody saying men in the chest holy anger somebody drop that in the chats with some fire emojis holy anger sometimes you gotta get angry when you had enough in your mind you gotta get angry when you've had enough in your heart you gotta get angry like jlo in that movie enough when you've been beat down enough times you got to get some training and fight back i wish i had some jlo's in the chat now to put your gloves on and get in the gym and know how to give somebody else a butt whooping almost said a different word we got to let the devil know that we got authority in the earth we are not punks we are not supposed to just roll over and die a christian is not a doormat the bible never said anger was a sin and said be angry but sin not is what you do with the anger you know what i did with my anger i got down on my knees and i changed my prayers and i said god i'm praying to you right now this exactly says that god you are the god of heaven and earth the creator of all things you are jehovah god the lord of glory and god these people mock you on my account they say their god is god and there is no other god in the universe except you there is no other multiple ways to god there is no other gods all of them are lowercase g's there is only one god and his name is yahweh it is you i said god for the glory of your name not even for my own account back i pray you would return to me the spoils of warfare that these men will not have glory and they will not make mockery of your name and that was my prayer on thursday night the wages of warfare for me the wages of warfare for me when i release that burden unto the lord the wages of warfare what i got for my my wages was peace confidence assurance that god had heard my prayer i laid down for the first time in four days on thursday night in peace and assurance that god had heard my prayer it's like david when he was 17 years old i'm done family his father sends him to the front line of a battlefield with a lunch for his brothers he gets down to the front of the battlefield and there is a giant down there nine feet tall a champion of warfare mighty army he was the chief fighter of another army called the philistine army and he was standing in a valley mocking yahweh mocking god mocking the armies of israel david comes to the king and crying about that war and i want to read you what david said watch this and i'm done family first samuel chapter 17 verse 32 i love this everybody look david said to saul about this impending battle let no one lose heart on account of this philistine your servant will go and fight him if he said we need people like that i'm not gonna back down from some battle your servant would go and fight him look at what saul said saul said to him now this this is the stuff the wrong people be saying to us you got to pay attention to who you're listening to right the wrong people say stuff like this you are not able to go out against this philistine how many times that people said you can't you will never be able to you're not going to be able to man i don't like the words i can't i will never be able to they used to say that stuff to me in high school philip you're never going to amount to whatever you can't go out against this for listening and fight him you are only a boy and he has been fighting men from his youth but david said to saul watch this your servant has been keeping his father's sheep when a lion or bear came and carried off the sheep from the flock i went after it and struck it and rescued the sheep from his mouth when it turned on me i seized it by its hair struck it and killed it your servant has killed both the lion and the bear this uncircumcised philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living god i like that kind of language maybe because i'm from queens he has defied the armies of the living god the lord who delivered me from the poor of the lion and the poor of the bear will also deliver me from this philistine you see that the lord who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from this philistine why was david talking like that look right at me look right at me what gave david confidence for the battlefield he was about to walk on you what gave him confidence for the battle he was in what gave him confidence was the faithfulness of god in the battles he had already fought it's the battles we fight and win in the name of god that gives us confidence for the battles we're fighting right now there's some of you watching right now man you're in a difficult place you're in a difficult season you're fighting some battle in your mind your heart your body your marriage your home your children are not saved whatever the case may be has not god been faithful to you [Music] should we not pray and trust in him and wait for him to deliver has he ever lost a battle is he not the god that goes to war with you and i for you and i for his glory and for our good what was the wages of david's holy boldness it was his elevation from obscurity to notoriety it was honor it was increased faithfulness and god look right at me look right everybody look right at me in this life you will be dragged onto many battlefields and some of them look right at me i know you don't want to hear this some of them you have to walk onto them [Music] i know you've been trying to avoid that for how long you don't want to have that conversation for how long you don't want to confront that for how long some of these battles we got to walk onto the battlefield we will never conquer what we won't confront some battlefields you're going to get dragged on to them and you're gonna find yourself in a fight and you gotta learn how to fight on those fields other battlefields you gotta walk onto them with holy boldness and whatever battle we're in we're gonna learn in this life you can't fight alone on these various battlefields we need reinforcements we need godly friends we need people to know how to pray fast encourage us we need shoulders to cry on earth to listen we need the armies of the host of heaven in these battles we're not going to be able to fight effectively if we don't fight with the weapons of kingdom warfare prayer fasting worship praise consecration the word of god these battles they bring reward when we run watch towards our giants and not away from [Music] them [Music] you keep reading google let me tell you what the bible says that we are in a spiritual war that we have armor for that war and paul said to timothy that listen we need to please the one who has enlisted us as a good soldier you are in a battle whether you like it or not you have an enemy whether you acknowledge him or not and he is busy trying to dismantle your faith your home your mind your heart and i just want to encourage somebody watching me today i know you've been through some hell in the season some of you you're in a bad place mentally a bad place emotionally a bad place spiritually you're just waiting for god to come and rescue you and somebody you know maybe god maybe god is waiting for you to step onto the battlefield and he'll show up for you maybe when you step towards that goliath man he'll you'll find the stones around you in your life to throw one and knock him down your stones for your next victory might be on the battlefield not on the sideline where you're hiding man i went to california to put myself on another battlefield i changed my prayers on thursday night to get on another battlefield we got to learn how to fight listen you've been fashioned for warfare you've been fashioned for this fight it's in you and you gotta fight listen some of you you've been in a bad place for so many months you gotta fight your way out of that corner i'm talking to somebody right now you've been depressed for too long you gotta fight your way out of that you've been dealing with that mental health mental happiness for too long you got to fight your way out of that you got to be relentless to nations you got to get back up again some of you got to fight like hell for your home for your children who are not safe for your husband who's not saved your spouse fight for your marriage some of y'all got to fight you gotta fight for your peace go get that back the bible says seek peace and pursue it that means it can be taken but you gotta go get that back you gotta fight for your joy to keep that because it can be snatched you gotta fight for a sound mind because it can be pummeled with lies some of you gotta fight for your family you gotta fight for your marriage you gotta fight for your children fight for your ministry some of you gotta fight to just keep jumping on this stream every sunday till we get back to in-person gatherings man fight and fight like hell you've been fashioned for fighting [Music] i speak like to everybody right now i speak life to you who's in a battle and may god strengthen you for the battle that you're in may he strengthen you to wage war against the lies of the devil in your mind in your heart against the attacks about your body your home may you get up and fight your way out of that corner fight listen and even if you don't know what to do at least fight towards god get to his presence get to his lap get to his heart fight towards god then you can fight with god together on that battlefield and fight for god some of us your marriage you think it's just about you and boo staying together no it's about legacy for some of you you have no idea what god wants to do 10 years from now you got to fight for that thing some of us man we relinquish things i feel the spirit man i got to come down some of us we relinquish things too easily listen you can't just keep giving away your peace giving away your joy giving away you're filling the plane you got to know how to go back and get back the spoils of warfare some of those things they not coming back we got to go fight for them and get them back who am i talking to let me leave you with this thought battles are inevitable but how we fight them is a choice you heard what i just said to you this i'm i'm not giving you google i'm giving you real gospel truth battles are inevitable they're going to come for you you will stand on many battlefields but how you respond to them is your choice you can choose the right company or the wrong company in battle you can choose the right weapons or the wrong weapons in battle you could choose to be bold you could choose to be fearful as your choice [Music] you've been fashioned for this fight next week i'm gonna close out our series i'm gonna share with you the powerful and miraculous events that happen on friday in the final message of this series called battlefields and i just want to encourage everyone watching me that fight is in you fight if not for anything fight for the glory of god on social media the way we treat people on our job and how we post how we live how we love how we serve how we give men fight for the kingdom we live in the last days probably of the church age darkness is trying to take over the world there's a fight for truth who's true people talking about live your truth that's such a dangerous statement live your truth live your truth as a trick of the devil somehow you need to hear that because you'll be saying that foolishness live your truth there's only one truth and if it's not the scriptures there this is objective truth the scriptures and i live your truth my truth might be i don't want to forgive that's not truth we got to fight for the word of god we got to fight for the kingdom we got to fight for jesus we got to fight for the integrity of the spread of the gospel some of that fighting is against my own flesh against the lies in my own head is to take a stand for christ in the way that i live the way that i post the way that i love is the way i'm trying to disciple my children the way i love my wife the way i go back and say lena i am sorry man i ain't passing a church full of cowards somebody say amen somebody in the studio shouting men i'm not gonna pass their church for the cowards you were fashioned for for the fight so i prophesy to somebody then get up and find joy today find peace today find your mind today get your heart right today get in your prayer closet today and wage war on your knees yo you fight best on your knees hey jesus fight for your children on your knees fight for your marriage on your knees fight for your body all you need fight for god in culture you've been fashioned for fight you've been built for warfare shake that fear out of you we be damned we let the devil just take our wives and children and sit and zig lag and cry i'll be damn we sit in zig lag and cry god should we pursue i'ma tell you how he answered that question next week when i tell you about the miraculous things god did on friday don't write your story on a thursday wait to see what god did on friday with fashion for this i feel the spirit of god all in this chat all in this room all in this studio man fight man fight fight fight somebody just put that in the chat fight fight fight for i need to pray for you but i just gotta i gotta just jostle you just a little bit somebody came in here discouraged and you're waiting on god he's waiting for you to step onto that battlefield and step to that giant and fight some of you your next breakthrough is standing in the face of you defeating that giant man i put in your hand five smooth stones man throw them whoa man just throw one of them just throw one you don't got nothing to lose anyway [Music] you went on a plane on a one-way trip to california i had nothing to lose anyway [Music] and the battle shifted when i got to california you ain't got nothing to lose anyway [Music] and so eternal god and every wise father yahweh the creator of heaven and earth the lord of glory you who command the armies of heaven the host of heaven you who said in your word when you return you will return on a horse and a white garment dripped in blood with the armies of the saints behind you your eyes are like a blaze and fire you who told us that we've been fashioned for the fight we've been equipped for warfare you who gave us access to you in prayer and gave us your word as a sword and taught us how to wage war against all of the demonic forces of evil you who gave us truth you who said there no other god besides you you god i pray you would minister to all your sons and daughters when god now shake them from where they are and put a fight in their belly let them fight for their peace of mind fight for joy fight for hope fight for courage fight for their homes fight for marriage fight for unsafe children fight for unsafe family members teach them how to pray and worship and wage war against the adversary we are victorious people we are the gathering of conquerors you said greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world [Music] you who have never lost a battle father minister to your sons and daughters now [Music] let a fight rise up inside them and let somebody pillow their head tonight in peace i pray that over them all of these soldiers of jesus and the mighty and majestic and the uncomfortably unmatched name of jesus the name that's above every name over every false god over every antichrist organization we are not afraid satan the lord rebuke you said jude by the power of the holy spirit no weapon formed against you will prosper saith the lord every lying tongue that has risen against you will be condemned sayeth the lord who am i praying for calvar hallelujah father do that for us in the mighty name of your son i pray over all these soldiers and warriors say amen and amen and amen and amen now i don't know how you clap but if you could put a clapping hands in the chat or or something in the chat man just blow up the chats with amen come on amen ate churchy amen means so let it be just blow up the chat with amen [Music] come on blow up the chats right now with amen blow it up it means so let it be that i receive all of that for myself [Music] family i don't know what battlefield you [Music] want we won't fight alone we're gonna steward the wealth of our relationships we're gonna fight with the weapons of kingdom warfare we're gonna reap the wages for our kingdom boldness our courageousness listen family before we slide out here just do me a favor if this message spoke to your heart in any way would you do me a favor this week would you take this message and share it with somebody who needs to hear it somebody's hurting somebody feels weary somebody is tired they just need to be encouraged they need their weak hand strengthened would you take this message and share it with somebody that needs to hear it just do that for me family just just if this spoke to you in any way just share it with somebody else when it goes live tomorrow on monday and for everybody who's giving right now man thank you on behalf of my wife and i our whole staff we could not have survived the pandemic this far without you you mean everything to us for everybody praying and still serving thank you so much we don't want to bully you but man we just want to encourage you join us in supporting the spread of the gospel financially it is a very difficult time we need your help honor god with the first part of your increase be faithful in that and watch how god just ministers to your heart don't do it grudgingly just do it with joy that you are supporting a gospel ministry in a dark time in history a people who was determined to spread the truth as far as god would let us push us out we are believing god for facility that's gonna take resources we're trying to prepare ourselves for whatever open door god puts in our way would you please join us in just being faithful in your giving that if a door will open we don't have to beg but we will be prepared to take hold of whatever god has for us and family the mc's coming behind me to share with you some very important announcements and after that we're just going to hang out in the chat for a few minutes and encourage each other in the fight and i'll see you next week for part three the final message in this narrative series called battlefields snatching victory out of the hands of the enemy i love you family check out the announcements hang out in the chats and then go in peace in jesus name [Music] thank you for listening to the victory broadcast we prayed that message was a blessing to you if you have a story or a testimony to share we want to hear all about it send us an email to share at victorychurchatl.org or visit us online under share thanks for listening go in peace

Channel: Victory Church

Views: 1,217

Rating: 4.7590361 out of 5

Keywords: PhilipAMitchell, BATTLE, BATTLEFIELDS, Pray, fight, Victorychurchatl, warefare, nariative, weapons

Id: dlgiMNE5NTY

Length: 72min 5sec (4325 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 22 2021