To illustrate Jesus’ commitment to God’s will a little further, Derek points to His willingness to set aside His own will —no matter what that may have been —and do His father’s will instead. This death to self brings life to others. Jesus always looked to the end of something, the finished work He saw set before Him.

Today we look at some events in the life of Jesus where He practically worked out His commitment to do God’s will, and the results that followed. Jesus experienced physical restoration and a proper vision of the situation in his encounter with the woman at the well. His judgment was just because He sought God’s will first and so received discernment.

This week Derek asks us if we know what God has planned as our objective for living. He looks at the supreme example of Jesus—what motivated Him to fulfill God’s plan, that which was written about Him in Scripture. Derek then shows how our motivation should be the same, to find and do God’s will for us.

Using the pattern of the Old Testament Passover, Derek shows how this is a picture of Jesus, the Lamb who was sacrificed, and he brings out the importance of Jesus’ shed blood. The personal application of this truth comes when we testify about what the Word of God says the blood of Jesus does for us.

Derek focuses on weapons of warfare, not only on the basis of Scripture, but proven from his own experience. From Revelation 12:10–11 he begins a look at the blood of the Lamb, the Word of God, and the testimony of believers. These weapons are used for final victory and are available for us today.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection—His total defeat of Satan—we have been delivered out of the power of darkness. Jesus has given us authority over all of Satan’s forces, and we have been sent forth to administer His victory. Since we are in the kingdom of God, we have the authority of God vested in us.

How does Satan work against us? Today we look at some of the main ways, by keeping in mind his various names: adversary, the great dragon, serpent, murderer, and liar, among many others. Each one shows a facet of the ways Satan works against us.

Today begins a study about our conflict with evil. Derek reveals the truth of our situation—that we are dealing with someone, not something. That someone is Satan, who has a rival kingdom in the heavens. Our enemies are persons without bodies; we can’t see them, but we need to know how to deal with them.

In concluding this week’s teaching, Derek stresses that same elements that were in the early church are for the church today, both collectively and individually. We have a King who is coming back and it is up to us to proclaim that Jesus is alive, ruling in our midst. As we do, the Holy Spirit will confirm our witnessing with power.

Today we look at what the return of Jesus meant to the believers of the early church. Derek points to their motivation in preparing for Him —joy in having done their task, being blameless and holy, looking forward to their reunion with others who had died. Because of His return, there would be a higher plane and future age.