The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. My brothers and sisters, I greet the church of the rapture with the sweet and wonderful peace of our Lord Jesus. My beloved, can you hear my voice? Praise be to God. Welcome everyone to this live stream dedicated to the word. We have a meeting every Wednesday, don't we? I believe through the eyes of faith that our friend their holy spirit of God was already waiting for us here.
As I always say in my sermons, the voice is mine, but it is the Holy Spirit of God who will minister the word. Dear ones, receive the sweet and glorious peace of the Lord Jesus. Amen. On this night of the word before we begin meditating on the scriptures, we are in the midst of major preparations for the upcoming campaign. It will be three months of prayer, fasting, and consecration, offering our bodies as a living and pleasing sacrifice.
I want to share something here with the sisters who are married to unbelievers. The purpose of this campaign is obviously to mortify the flesh and to be clothed with the power of God. If we are not clothed with power, we will not overcome the enemy of our souls. We can only defeat the enemy of our souls if we seek to be clothed with power from on high and equipped with armor. We cannot defeat the devil unarmed.
So for the sisters who wish to participate in the campaign and are married to an unbeliever as a matter of spiritual vigilance, the proper course during any campaign we undertake for God is to abstain from sexual relations to refrain from consummating the marriage. That is what I learned from the Lord. It is a matter of vigilance, purely vigilance. When both spouses serve Jesus, they can come into agreement on this.
But for those whose husbands do not serve Jesus, when things get intense, you may engage in sexual intimacy with your husbands. Amen. It is simply a matter of vigilance. I learned from the Lord himself that when I enter the spiritual realm, I must dedicate myself fully. I have to surrender and throw myself into it completely. That is what I learned from the Lord regarding spiritual warfare, fasting, prayer, consecration, and spiritual campaigns.
It was the Lord Jesus himself who taught me this. I did not learn from him that I could enter the spiritual realm, satisfying both the spirit and the flesh at the same time. From the start of my work on this channel, I learned through the spirit that whenever I set myself apart for my bridegroom, I fully commit and surrender myself for I want to be completely focused on that. But many people ask me, "How do I handle this at home? What if my husband doesn't serve Jesus? Three months is a long time."
So for the sake of spiritual vigilance, some sisters will be able to do it. Amen. I'm sharing this so you don't get caught up in a struggle. There are sisters who want to participate in this campaign. Sister Ruth, I want to do this campaign, but I have this obstacle. Now, when both spouses serve God, the right thing to do is for both to be in agreement. Sisters, the proper way is to fast during the day so you can be in fellowship.
Let's not fast foolishly and end up with health problems. The method I'll use is one day I do a rigorous fast, the next day a lighter fast, then a rigorous one again. Let's just use an example. If I fast for 12 hours one day, the next day I'll fast for 6 hours. Why? Because I am flesh and blood and I don't want to get gastritis. I want to meditate on verse 1. I was going to start from verse three, but I want us to understand the context of the word a bit.
Finally, brothers, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that just as you received from us instructions on how you ought to walk and please God, you should walk in that way so that you may abound more and more. For you know well what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. And that no one should oppress or take advantage of his brother in any matter.
For the Lord is an avenger. His word is beautiful, but when we aren't aligned, it cuts, doesn't it? It cuts because his sword truly cuts. Yet no blood flows. This is the word of our God. It cuts both ways for the one who preaches and for the one who listens. For it is written that his word is like a two-edged sword that cuts in both directions. This passage written by the Apostle Paul exhorts Christians who call ourselves servants of God and Christians to live in purity.
I really like that word purity. To live in sexual purity and sanctification, controlling one's own body with honor. When the Bible speaks of a vessel, it is referring to our bodies. Paul teaches the believer that they must learn to master their instincts and passions. We must not treat our bodies with carnality. Rather, we must treat them as something sacred. Because from the moment we enter through this door called grace, we must treat our bodies as instruments for praising God and for sanctification.
Personally, I don't fit the typical mold of a missionary. I'm referring to someone who doesn't preach about sanctification and sexual purity. Yet, that is exactly what I preach about most. Because there are Christians living in sexual impurity even within their first marriages, and they are destined for hell if they do not repent. I preach about the importance of holiness in body, soul, and spirit.
The word of the Lord remains the same, doesn't it? It does not change. Yet, the renewal it brings is distinct. The renewal of the Holy Spirit and the renewal of the word are unique experiences. If you preach on a specific passage in different situations, the Holy Spirit of God will never use you in exactly the same way. It will always be different because there will be people there hearing that word.
Then at another service or opportunity, you might preach that same word and the Holy Spirit of God will bring a fresh renewal. Yet the word of God hallelujah is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same applies to his holiness. It remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. Beloved, there is great danger in living without holiness. So I ask the church against whom are you fighting and are you fighting armed or unarmed?
Because we know that spiritual warfare is real. There are attacks we cannot see with our limited physical eyes. There are battles that cannot be won by the strength of one's arm or by human might. There are moments when our families, our minds, our marriages, our children, our purposes, and our entire spiritual lives face a direct confrontation. Has it ever happened to you, my dear friend, that you feel as though everything is conspiring against you?
It seems as if Satan wants to strike at every area of your life, your marriage, your spiritual life, your communion with the Holy Spirit of God, your family, and your finances. Hallelujah. You've likely said, "My God, what kind of battle is this?" There isn't even time to breathe. Sometimes Satan comes wanting to strike at your marriage or your calling. Sometimes he wants to strike at your husband who may not be a servant of God or at your daughter or son.
Sometimes he wants to strike at your calling. And sometimes, beloved, it feels like it's all happening at once and you're just taking a beating, crying out, "God, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me." There are moments like that. So, hallelujah. Praise be to God. Today, when we speak of something important like a holy life in God's presence, it is non-negotiable. Sometimes we overlook this holiness.
It isn't just about stereotypes, clothing, a tie or physical appearance. It is about a lifestyle, a testimony, and our lives placed upon the altar of the Lord. Hallelujah. So the question is, who are we really fighting against? Who are we actually fighting, my brothers? Are we truly fighting against Satan, against the darkness, against his demons? Or are we fighting against those who give way to the flesh?
Because the number of believers giving way to the flesh is staggering. Only the mercy of the lamb can handle it. And another question we must ask ourselves is whether we are living guided by the word when we go through these storms. It is vital to be enlightened and guided by God's holy word. For it is our defense against the enemy of our souls. God's word is a sword. It is the Lord's sword before us, facing Satan, who seeks to accuse us day and night.
He wants to accuse us constantly because talking about spiritual warfare while being spiritually weak is dangerous. You might know Bible verses. I do too. We can speak of God's authority. We can pray. We can fast. We can make declarations. We can prophesy. We can rebuke. But if you are spiritually weak, it is because you are not clothing yourself in God's authority and power. You won't be able to make it through the struggle.
You won't be able to withstand the battle. So beloved, it is dangerous to walk into Satan's slaughter house, living a life devoid of holiness, living a double life. Because based on what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, if you are tolerating sin in your life, you are heading to the slaughter house. If you are tolerating it, or normalizing things that is sin, it is wrong to normalize what stinks in the nostrils of the Lord and his spirit to harbor as a pet that which stands against the word of God. We know that his grace and mercy abound in our lives.
We know that his grace and mercy are ever present. We know his mercy is so vast, so vast that it is the reason we are not consumed. Just as the word of the Lord declares. But to live in sin, to embrace sin, to normalize sin, to normalize what is wrong is to invite Satan's accusations in the spiritual realm. It is walking straight to Satan's slaughter house. Harboring evil thoughts and engaging in anti-Christian conduct feeds Satan.
It feeds the devil. Living in disobedience, trying to hide things that wound God's word, trying to hide behind a Bible, while concealing matters that you and I know displease our God's heart, things that stink in his nostrils and provoke his wrath is dangerous. For it is written that he is an avenger. When a person is in this state, they are defenseless against Satan. How can one fight the devil while doing the devil's will, church?
How can one fight Satan if one is doing the devil's bidding and not living a life of repentance? Beloved, that is why when we enter into battle, when we engage in the fight, when we face conflict, the Bible tells us we must examine ourselves. The first thing we must do is look at the state of our lives on God's altar. We must examine our lives. Church of the Lord, sometimes a person faces a struggle or a battle, and it isn't necessarily an act of retaliation.
Rather, it is the person themselves who opened the door to Satan who gave the devil a foothold and then he comes and steals the blessing. Let us not play dumb when we know the state of our lives before God. Let us not pretend we don't understand. We cannot feign ignorance regarding the things of God because a life of holiness is non-negotiable for those who wish to dwell in heaven. Holiness is not merely a doctrine.
It is our way of life, our testimony. The holiness of God, the holiness he requires of his church is a non-negotiable condition for our lives before him. Because if you and I truly want to be victorious, we must live out this holiness in obedience. And rest assured, church of the Lord, that we will sing a hymn of victory unlike any sung before. If we live this holiness without hypocrisy, we will sing that unprecedented hymn of victory.
But when the devil begins to remove the fear of God from people's hearts, he is gradually bringing them down. When Satan succeeds in stripping the fear of God from the heart of a man or woman who once possessed it, he is effectively bringing that person down little by little. And Paul speaks here, Paul says that the will of God is your sanctification. The will for this is the will of God. Your sanctification.
Your sanctification. Paul is not speaking only to a select few. He is not addressing merely 10 people, five people, or just a handful of Christians. He is referring to the church to your sanctification, meaning yours and mine. This is God's will. I've heard people speak like, "I know this is wrong. I know this is bad, but I know that God knows my heart. I'm on my third, fourth, or fifth marriage, but God knows my heart."
No, brothers. No, that is a trick of the devil. That is a scheme of the adversary. I'll just put on a little makeup, but God knows my heart. I'll put on high heels. They are justifying themselves regarding things that do not please God, things that have no part in the kingdom of God, things that grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Beloved, when it comes to sin, our God is always ready to forgive us. Isn't that true?
When it comes to sin, the God of Israel is always ready to correct us because a father who loves his son corrects him. He pulls his ear. He shows him the way. But the lack of sincerity, the lack of purity in the church is not excusable. Those who love God obey God. Those who wish to dwell in heaven strive to do so. For the Bible says that heaven is taken by force. That is how Satan operates. He seeks to entangle us in sin.
Sin is like spiderweb. One gets caught in Satan's web. One becomes entangled in sin, normalizing what is sinful, normalizing what is wrong. One loses the fear of God. One loses sight of God. And when that happens, brothers, Satan succeeds in bringing that person down little by little. Therefore, we cannot justify sin before our God. When we sin and fail, but what must we do? Confess. Ask for forgiveness and forsake it.
God is an avenger. That is why the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is a fearful thing to fall. So rebellion and disobedience, living without holiness—the danger of living a life without holiness in God's presence is that I hand myself over to Satan. And God himself sometimes hands us over to our enemies. Then the devil comes and wreaks havoc on a person's life.
Have you ever seen someone who has strayed, someone who has let go of Jesus' hand? They get completely entangled in the wrong things. So what Satan has placed in many hearts and minds today is the idea that people can fulfill God's purposes while living in rebellion and disobedience. The Bible says that whoever loves the world makes himself an enemy of God. Satan is God's enemy and yours and mine. Satan is our enemy, and his main goal is to stop us in our march, our fellowship, and our relationship with God.
So what I see today, my brothers and sisters, given the many messages I receive and how I try to help where I can, is that I like to listen carefully so I can offer counsel based on the word. After all, advice is only useful when it aligns with the word. Christians today want to win battles against Satan's spiritual battles while keeping sin as a pet. But when a person treats sin like a pet, it is like swimming against the current. It is like walking unarmed in the spiritual realm. The believer's weapon is living in holiness.
The Christian's weapon is living in holiness. The Christian's weapon is shunning even the appearance of evil, the things that stain our garments. I have heard many say, "I want to hear God's voice. I want to know God's will." But when God's voice rebukes sin, some do not like it. When God's voice rebukes sin, many do not like it. If a person truly wants to hear God's voice, the Lord will say, "Child, give up sexual immorality. Woman, give up your adultery. Man, give up your cigarettes. Give up your alcohol. If you truly wish to live with me, are you or are you not truly my servant? Give up your adultery. Give up your sin. Give up your vices. If you were to hear God's voice today, my brother, what do you believe he would say to you? Would he say, 'Here is my servant'? Or would he rebuke you for something you are doing that has no place in a life with him?
That's why I don't put my faith in people who are used for revelations. I don't. And this isn't about passing judgment. I don't put my faith in prophets and prophetesses who only deliver harsh, heavy-handed revelations to others, yet their own lives are a total wreck. And God doesn't seem to show the state of their lives. What is that all about? That's not how it works. I don't put my faith in prophets and prophetesses whose rebukes are meant only for others, where the heavy hand of revelation is reserved only for other people. They only preach against sin when it concerns others. But what about them?
Because when you have the gift of revelation or vision, God shows you the state of your own life. Brothers, God shows us the state of our lives. Even without mentioning that the word of God itself is the greatest revelation regarding our condition, the word of God already reveals the state of our altar before him. It already shows whether we are truly living a sanctified life, a life of self-denial. Holy is the name of the Lord Jesus.
People say, "I want to know God's will." But when God uses a vessel of clay to point out something that isn't right, they get hurt or upset. You know, they don't want to be exhorted. Exhortation means correction, being corrected, right? Being corrected by God. They want to hear things that don't align with their actual lives or reality. They want God to use his spokespersons to deliver messages that don't match how they are actually living. They want God to use his spokespersons, his little vessels of clay, to deliver something that doesn't match their reality.
So holiness unto God means forsaking sin. Holiness unto God means forsaking sin because holiness unto God is non-negotiable. Heaven hasn't undergone a renovation, church. It never will. Man might widen the gates, modernize the word, modernize the gospel, and say, "God is with me. God is with me." But when everything is wrong and contrary to the word, it is of no use. Satan is deceiving. The devil is deceiving. Satan is deceiving. Rest assured, beloved, Satan is deceiving.
So disobedience to God is spiritual death. Disobedience to God is death. Disobedience to the Lord is death. If I want to live out God's purposes, and if you truly want to live out God's purposes, we must look to the word of the Lord, to what God requires of his church. If God wants to set the church right, we let ourselves be set right. If God wants more self-denial, we embrace self-denial. Let us view this as divine grace, God's love in our lives. God's love is correction. God's love is restoration. God's love is forsaking sin. That is grace. Grace, grace, grace, grace.
God's grace exalts us. God's grace corrects us. God's grace commands us to forsake sin. Oh, glory. God's grace, blessed be the Lord, exalts us and corrects us. But what does the devil want to do? Yes, every kind of game is a sin. It is the devil who plays along with us. Every kind of game belongs to Satan. Bingo. Card games. Every single type of game belongs to Satan because he is the one playing with us. Holy is the name of the Lord.
Brothers, as long as we live on this earth, there is a process of daily sanctification. Sanctification happens every day until the end of our journey. We accept Jesus. We leave sin behind, and he casts into the sea of forgetfulness everything we used to do when we were slaves to sin, slaves to Satan, slaves to our own carnality. He wipes it all away. He casts it all into the sea of forgetfulness. And then there is a new beginning with Jesus, a life where we renounce the old ways and live in holiness every day, striving daily to dwell in heaven.
Blessed be the Lord of hosts. So when a person loses the fear of God, they are gradually losing their salvation. The crown stealer, the crown stealer will manage to steal that person's crown of salvation. When a person loses the fear of God, they are surrendering themselves to their enemy, Satan. Everything is in shambles. Everything is a total mess. As we say back home, it's all a mess, my brothers.
You know, I don't mention the names of any specific ministries here so as not to cause trouble. And sister Mayin, keep an eye on the comments. Amen. This is a live stream focused on the word. Amen. Everything is a mess. People go to church, then go to the brothel. They go to church and as soon as they leave, they smoke a cigarette. They go to church and upon returning they go out at night to prostitute themselves. They go to church putting on a show of being a believer, then leave and smoke marijuana. They go to church, come home, fight with their wife, and hurl all kinds of insults at her. They go to church, and a little later they're off with prostitutes at the brothel. That's how it is, my brothers.
The devil is laughing in these people's faces. And a person living a life without holiness before God, without obedience, how can they fight against Satan? How can they fight against the devil? How can a person fight against Satan? They go to church, come back, and watch pornography. They go to church, come back, and go to the bathroom to do well. You know what? The altar is broken. God is calling for restoration. God is calling for it, my brothers.
Blessed is the one who accepts God's correction in love so that God doesn't have to strike the flesh. I want to experience God's grace and mercy through obedience and love. May it not be necessary for him to give me cancer. May it not be necessary for me to end up in a wheelchair. May it not be necessary. And he inflicted an illness upon me. Because sometimes this happens, dear ones. Brothers who have been walking in this grace for a long time, I believe they have many stories to tell. Look, sister Ruth, she was a blessing. That pastor was a blessing. He was a blessing. That sister too was a blessing. She was used by God. Then Satan set a trap. She fell for the devil's smooth talk. And this, that, and the other happened.
So I have learned, my beloved, that there are two types of retribution. The retribution God allows to test us because a soldier must be tested. And the retribution a person undergoes because they are giving the devil an opening, giving the devil legal grounds. Things are a mess. It's all in disarray, my brothers. The devil is wreaking havoc. He is removing the fear of God from people's hearts. People want to serve God however they please, living a sham, keeping up appearances.
I cannot hide inside the Bible, behind the Bible. I mean, because it is God who searches our hearts. It is God who sees who belongs to him, who is truly living for him. A person who refuses to be rebuked or corrected will not go to heaven. You can be certain of that. Why, my brothers? Because we are all sinners. We sin all the time, don't we? But there is a sin that leads to death. I might sin with a glance. You might sin with a word. A deadly sin. A sin leading to condemnation, a life without repentance, trifling with grace, trifling with God's mercy, trifling with God's goodness.
When the devil manages to remove the fear of God from the heart of a man or woman who claims to be a servant of God, that person has already surrendered their crown to Satan. When a person loses the fear of God, my brothers, when a person loses the fear of God, they have already surrendered themselves to Satan. Satan has seared their mind. Satan has closed their heart to the correction of the Holy Spirit. We must ask the Lord God to place fear in our souls, fear in our hearts. Why? Because he is the God who opens and closes the grave. He is the master of life and death. He holds the keys to hell and death.
People today fear the devil more than they fear God himself. Have you seen it? There are believers who fear the devil more than the very hand of God. They fear Satan, a defeated foe whom the Lord already conquered on the cross, more than the hand of God himself. They have lost the fear of God's hand, yet they fear the devil. They fear the devil more than God, yet they do the devil's will.
Oh my, God is speaking to people in this live stream. God is speaking to people right here. The devil is succeeding in removing the fear of God from the hearts of those who call themselves Christians. They want to wage war against the devil and the powers of darkness. Yet they are making deals with the devil. But the church has nothing to negotiate with the devil. The devil has nothing for you and nothing for me. What the devil offers is defeat. What the devil offers is death. What the devil offers is destruction.
And when you or I happen to give him a foothold, an opening for him, he comes and knocks us down. He comes and destroys us. The blood of Christ has power. Church, there is no time to live a double life. There is no time to live a double life. There is no time to play games with the holy things of God. There is no time for these things, these childish follies, this playing around with the holy things of God, this pretending to serve him, pretending to please him. You either are or you aren't. You either serve him or you don't.
Satan is furious. I can hear him cursing me right here. My spiritual hearing is tuned in. There is no time. There is no time left. That is what he wants to do: take away the fear of God. The fear of God is what will help me march, help you march, and help us serve God and be saved. Do not normalize what is wrong. Do not normalize alcohol. Do not normalize cigarettes. Do not normalize prostitution. Do not normalize pornography. Do not normalize lying or hypocrisy. Do not normalize a second or third marriage by saying, "God wants me to be happy," because that is what the devil plants in your mind.
Does the Lord know my heart? He certainly knows exactly where you are. Because when Satan attacks the church, he targets its weak points. The enemy of our souls knows our weak points and exploits them. If your weak point is pornography, he will work on that. If your weak point is pride, he will work on that. If it is family, he will work on that too. If it is resentment, he will work on that. And he will use the word because he uses the word to accuse us. Sometimes he distorts the word to deceive those who want to be deceived. Satan has used the very word of God to shackle those living in ignorance.
But the word of God did not come to shackle us. The word of God came to set us free. And that is a different thing entirely. Your word, Father, came to set us free. It came to give us a new opportunity. Your word is life. It is powerful and mighty. Your word sets you free and sets me free. It holds the power to liberate us. That is why every time we immerse ourselves in it, the Lord opens our vision and our understanding, allowing us to know if we are truly pleasing the heart of our God.
But if you and I fight against the devil while doing his will, normalizing the things he likes that displease God's heart, we will lose the war. We will lose the battle. That is why there are people who say, "Sister Ruth, pray for my life. Pray for me here so I can be set free." Yet sometimes God requires us to forsake sin. Sometimes God will not bring deliverance through a prayer alone. Deliverance comes through the person's own actions and attitude.
