Church of the Word Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Text: James 4:6, 7, 10. When you submit in marriage and in other relationships, God's grace is released. Satan hates submission, because that was the area in which he fell. God's grace makes it possible for us to walk in His plan. Submission is not agreement. You submit to someone else's will when you do not agree with it. If we don't submit to the one God has put us under, we will not submit to God. Who should submit to whom? We should submit our flesh to our born again spirit (1 Corinthians 9:27); children to their parents; the wife to her own husband; the younger to the elder (1 Peter 5:5); employees to employers (Titus 2:9, 10); and citizens to their governing authority (Romans 13). The head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God (1 Corinthians 11:3). It is not the husband's job to make the wife submit. Your job is not to make the other spouse submit. The wife decides to submit. Ephesians 5:22-24 tells about the wife and 5:25-30 tells about the husband. Wives, submit to your own husband in everything. The husband's role is to love his wife and to be constant. Her role is to submit to her husband, even if he is being ugly or mean. Your role is your role to the end of time. Colossians 3:18 tells the wife to submit to her own husband. Submission and obedience are not the same thing. Obey God. Peter submitted to the authorities, but he obeyed God when he was told to not preach in the name of Jesus. Marriage is a God-ordained relationship. Slaves are to submit to their masters, even if they are harsh (1 Peter 18-25). Submission brings grace. In the same way that slaves are to submit to their masters, so the wife is to submit to her own husband, even if he does not obey the word, so that those without the word, may be won by their wife's conduct (1 Peter 3:1, 2). If your husband is abusive, and you can stay by faith, God's grace will come to you. If you are not in faith, you may need to get out. A husband is to live with his wife with understanding, giving honor to his wife (1 Peter 3:7). Jesus became obedient to the point of death. Because He submitted, God gave Him grace (Philippians 2:8-15). Submit in your relationships. It allows God's grace to work for you.

[Brother Cohn ministered under the anointing to an individual.] Praise puts a beautiful garment on you. God hides things for us, and the way to find them is to dig into the Word night and day. Then He can make our way prosperous, and then we can have good success. Even unbelievers can get results if they apply Biblical principles. The last great frontier is walking in the life of God every day. You can see God on people. Genesis 1:26-28 shows us that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit were in the creation of man. God turned to Jesus and the Holy Spirit when He said, "Let Us make man in our image." We were made after God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and their image. In the Hebrew language this Scripture means that when God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all came together, Jesus and the Holy Spirit got their instructions from the Father. They yielded to the Father. Image means representation. In Ephesians 5:1 we are told to be followers or imitators of God as dear children. We should imitate Him in everything. Be a creator by the words of your mouth. Create a new world. We can frame our world by our words. God made man to look, sound, act, create, and speak like God.

Text: James 4:6-10. Submission is always your choice, because it cannot be forced on you. You choose to submit when you do not agree. The world thinks of submission in terms of bondage, but godly submission requires humility and opens the door for the person who is submitting to receive God's grace. When we submit to God's will, God tells us that He will lift us up. Satan did not submit to God, and he hates when we do, so he comes to steal the truth from us immediately. We are to submit to God and resist the devil. Satan wants to rob God's grace (His power) from you by stealing your submission from you. Submission means under in rank, but not under in value. What is submission? 1) It is not agreement. 2) It is not easy. 3) It is not being forced. 4) It is not weakness. You have to be humble to submit. It is a safety net against deception. Who do we submit to? 1) To God. 2) To your own spirit. 3) Children to their parents. 4) Wives to their husbands. 5) Younger to the elder. 6) Employees to employers. 7) Citizens to civil leaders. (Pastor Syd cited Scriptures for each of these.) The time to not submit to authority is when the one over you directly goes against what the Word tells you. Philippians 2:8-15 says that Jesus humbled Himself by being obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. God exalted Jesus for His obedience and gave Him the name above all over names. When we submit to God, His grace can come to us.

Your faith can cause someone who is in unbelief to receive from God. You are the church. Do not let others' unbelief stop you, but be bold and step out. You do not need a word from the Lord to pray and lay hands on someone. Have compassion. There is a world that needs Jesus. To fight for freedom is to fight to serve. Christ came to set you free. If you are free, you will not allow Satan to get to you. We are to re-present true love. Everything Jesus did was done in love. Homosexuality is a deceptive spirit. It comes out of wanting attention, rejection, as well as from other things. Our mission is to bring heaven to people. Jesus came to manifest glory to God. You fulfill God and are messengers of deliverance, love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Live a life of love. To not rest is a sin. Jesus only did what God told Him to do. Be effective by having a relationship with the Father. He did the Father's agenda. Do not be a slave to works, but spend time with the Father, loving Him above loving the work of the kingdom. Homosexuals do not know who they are but have a spirit of confusion. Matthew 5:11 tells us that living out the Beatitudes is persecution. If someone does not hate you, you are probably not representing Jesus. Satan tries to get you into self-pity. Loving Jesus strongly will bring persecution. Deliverance for the homosexual is a one-step process: JESUS! Matthew 5 leads to Matthew 6, which instructs us to pray, give, and fast in love. Treasure Jesus, and do not treasure the work of the kingdom, which is a works mentality and will not cause people to change. Walk in love and get yourself out of the way. Your needs are already met.

(Marie shared her testimony.) Fathers, do not take the fight out of your strong-willed boys but direct them. We need men and boys with backbone. Have we forgotten what men are? Text: Revelation 12:7-11. Fight the right thing. God wants us to overcome - by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, loving not ours lives unto death. Know what you are fighting for and against. The Ukrainians do not what they are fighting for, because they have not experienced it. They understand family, but they do not understand freedom. The fight needs to come back into the church. (Apostle Dale shared about a leader in the Armenian church who was killed in Syria a couple days ago.) What really matters? Revival will come when what is not important and is not of content goes. Catch the spirit to fight and go. Be tough. What is your concept of overcoming? Pray for all in authority. There is purpose in overcoming. Get rid of the apathy. A rebuke is spoken. The illegitimate child does not receive chastisement from the Lord, because He is not their Father. Overcoming is based on Jesus' blood and by our using our mouths to say something. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. When we praise God, we set the stage for God to do it again.

What is the purpose of crisis? In Exodus 14 and 15 God used the Israelites as a trap to get Pharaoh, because he wanted to destroy Egypt. God does not always tell us what He is going to do and how it will turn out. Sometimes we think, "God, what are You doing?" The promises of God look like they are not working when things look hopeless. The children of God went out of Egypt and captivity with great boldness, but it turned to great panic in a short time. We can get into great fear and the strategies of the enemy, but we need to realize that God has a plan. God told them, "The enemy you see today, you will never see again." The breath of God blew and separated the waters of the Red Sea. What is stopping you from entering the promises of God? God has a plan to destroy the enemy and to bring glory to Himself. We may get something from God, but then something else tries to stop it; it sees God and then becomes afraid (Psalm 77:1-20). We do not know God's plan and how He will remove what is stopping us. The earth and the sea are alive. In Psalm 114:3 the sea saw it and fled and the Jordan River turned back. Satan is afraid of you. Psalm 85:13 says that righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway. Do not worry. Here comes God. Why do crises come? To destroy the enemy and to glorify God. Trust Him. There is always victory. The three Hebrews did not lose the victory when King Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fire. We lose the victory when "we are marching to the fire", and say, "It didn't work!" God is willing to deliver us. Can you trust God in a crisis to do a miracle? Change can cause a crisis. In Mark 4 the disciples had a crisis when it looked like the boat they were on was going to sink. When a crisis comes, focus on the crisis controller (God), and your boat will not sink. Moses and Paul almost despaired, but when they refocused on God, He "resurrected" them (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Trust in God. Every miracle was first a crisis. God wants to work a miracle in you. Say, "This is just a crisis, a miracle in the making." Sometimes we have a crisis because of wrong decisions. Even so, every crisis can be a set-up for a miracle. DO NOT LET CRISES TALK TO YOU! Do not listen to the repetitious recording, but listen to God's Word. God is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). Jesus' life sacrifice was the greatest change, and so is your salvation, healing, and deliverance.

God can move and revival can come when our marriages reflect Christ and the Church. Satan wants us to think truth is bondage. God's commands carry power and authority. Irreconcilable differences in a legal sense mean that there is no chance a marriage can be saved and the two partners can no longer agree. The point you disagree on opens the door to seeing more points of disagreement. Focus on what you agree on and find the common ground. The only solutions that will work are God's solutions. Submission is not bondage, because God is not the author of bondage. We need deliverance from strife in our marriages, not from our marriages. Submission applies to the man as well as to the woman. James 4:6 tells us that He gives greater grace. He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pride is the nature of Satan. We should say, "I am pleased with …" rather than saying, "I'm proud of …". Pride is being unteachable. Pride cares about looking good. Pride is 100% devil. James 4:7 instructs us to submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. You only successfully resist the devil when you submit to God. There are demonic spirits working in the disobedient (Ephesians 2). The spirit of rebellion is deadly and opens the door to destruction. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up. Submission literally means "under the mission", to be under, to yield to, and taking your place under the person God told you to be under. We submit by making Jesus Christ our Lord and king. We all have the same rights to the kingdom of God, but we are not of the same rank. Submission is NOT: 1) agreement, 2) easy, 3) being forced or made to do something, nor 4) weakness. It takes great strength to submit. Meekness is not weakness. Jesus and God had two different wills, but He submitted to God's will. God may ask you to lay down your life. Jesus suffered when He submitted. Submission is done in the heart. Submission was required in the Godhead (1 Corinthians 15:28). 1 Corinthians 11:3 tells us, "Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ." Some people mistakingly call love, submission. It is God's anointing that gives leadership to the man. He is the one who is to lead. Hebrews 13:17 reminds us to obey those who are leading us and to submit to them. Today many pastors are not shepherds, but hirelings. The man is the head because he is ordained by God. Respect the place, even if you do not respect everything. Respect the place, but you may not everything he does. A mark of submission is humbleness. His grace will come to you. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

(Communion was received during praise and worship time.) Mini-sermon: The disciples were kingdom-minded (Acts 1:8). They waited for the Holy Spirit and power, and they became witnesses. Being a witness means you share what you have seen and experienced of the Lord and what He has done for you. Allow God to move through you. Sermon: Text: Ephesians 5:22-33. Your marriage should reflect Christ and the church. God loves us because we are part of His own body. Like Christ, the husband provides, protects, and gives gentle care-taking. In Matthew 1:1, 16 the Bible records that Joseph was the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ. In Luke 1:26-35 the angel appeared to Mary and told her that her son would be called the Son of God. Then she went to Elizabeth, and she came back three months pregnant. Luke 3:23 records that Mary's baby was thought to be Joseph's child. Mary became one with Joseph and took on his lineage. When a couple marries, the wife takes on the husband's lineage, and they become one. This is not about headship in the home. In the same way we take on Jesus' identity. Your body is your spouse's (1 Corinthians 7:1-6). The body is for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). There is a covenant of oneness between spouses. Christ is the image of God over all creation. Colossians 1:15-23 tells about the image of being one.  Christ is the head of the Body. He presents us as holy, blameless, and above reproach. A husband should lead.

The Word of God is a revelation of Jesus Christ, who is the Word. Jesus Christ is greater than the written Word. When we read the Word, we need to engage the author. The Book is not greater than the author. Your theology should match your experience, so you live out the Word in your life. Your barrenness only reveals the greatest battle, yet the greatest victory to be had in your life for the fulfillment of the promises of God. Where are you barren, hurting, sick, or in a broken relationship? That is the place where God wants you to live. We are to face it with the fullness of God. He wants to mend and to fill the barren place. Contend for the fullness of God in the area that you are in the most need of it. Ephesians 4:11-14 says that the purpose of the five-fold offices is so that the Body is built up and there is unity of faith in the Body. Build, encourage, and attain His fullness. In His presence there is fullness of joy and more (Psalm 16:11). We have God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit in us, the measure of His fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9; Galatians 4:6). How do we live in the fullness of God? We begin by understanding that the fullness of God lives in us. Embrace the mystery of experiencing His love that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). His love is the centerpiece. When have you experienced God's goodness? Moses experienced God's goodness and was changed. Release hope. God will teach you all things that He has (John 16:15). What fills you will come out. Moses was full of the law. Jesus was full of grace. When you are full, it is easy for heaven to come to earth. Earth's atmosphere is perpendicular to heaven. Where you feel you are disqualified, that is where He wants to come in with power inside of you. Stir up the gift of God which is in you (2 Timothy 1:6-7). Everyone has a gift. Use your gift. We need each other's gift.

(There was a time of prayer and a powerful testimony by John) The answer to every question in your marriage can be answered by the relationship of Christ and the Church. Satan attacks marriage because it should resemble Christ and the Church. If someone should be caught or snared in wrongdoing, those who are spiritual should restore him/her (Galatians 6:1-2). Those who are developed spiritually in love carry one another's burdens. To restore means to repair, build up, and lift up out of the trap. Restore with a spirit of gentleness, humility, being quick to listen and not being full of pride. The greatest problem in marriages is selfishness. Watch out for yourselves, spy on yourself, take aim at, and keep an eye on yourself. A fleshly person examines others for faults. You can be tempted by pride. Flesh and the devil always want more. Temptations begin in your desires. Each person is tempted by his own evil desires (James). Is your flesh ruling you? Tempted means to be drawn away, enticed, lured, and baited. Satan tempts you based on your desires. He often gets blamed for what is really your own flesh. Remember, Satan is not omnipresent. He just gives the order for his fallen angels and demons to do his work. Just like Satan with Jesus in the wilderness, he overplays his hand. Satan wants you to go against the Word of God. Take authority over both Satan and your flesh.