Thy Kingdom Come: The Believer And Gold 4 by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Two Worlds — Same Word

Mark 16:15 — Jesus gave an assignment to go into all the world. The Greek word for gospel, euangelion, means the message of glad tidings — it was originally used when a king went to battle and returned with a report of victory. So the gospel of Jesus is the declaration that Jesus conquered death. And the word translated "preach" — keruso — means to be a town crier, to announce the message of his victory. It is inherently offensive: go and attack.

1 John 2:15 — Now contrast that with this verse, which says do not love the world. God loved the world. We are told not to love the world. Which one are we doing?

In John 3:14-16, that word "so" in "God so loved" is not an adjective of intensity. It is a simile drawn from verse 14 — just as Moses lifted the brazen serpent in the wilderness and all who looked at it were healed, in like manner God gave his only Son. The "so" means "in the same way." God's love for the world is a decision, not a feeling. Once you introduce intensity into it, you reduce it from a decision.

The word "world" (cosmos) carries two distinct meanings in these two passages.

In Mark 16:15, cosmos refers to the world of people — the arena of human beings. In 1 John 2:15, cosmos refers to the broken system of the world — the organized rebellion of human culture against God. He defines it in the next verse: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These are not of the Father but of the world.

We are sent into the world as a location — but forbidden from adopting the world as an orientation.

This is what some call contact without contamination. We are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. We are in touch with the world because that is our assignment. But we are having contact without contamination.

Influence Goes Both Ways

Look at how Jesus related with sinners. He touched lepers and did not become leprous — because the greater always overpowers the lesser. He went to the house of Zacchaeus and did not drink there. Zacchaeus repented, because the lesser always submits to the greater. In every recorded encounter between Jesus and a sinner, the sinner ended up acknowledging that he was holy and they were unworthy.

If they are comfortable around you, they are influencing you.

In any group, one person is always leading. It may not be elected, but within two weeks, someone will be calling the shots. Those who are not influencing are being influenced. That is simply how life works.

The sign that your faith will not suffer shipwreck is that the people around you know you are different. When they are about to do something they should not, they say, "We know you are not with us on this." They may not yet change, but they acknowledge the distinction. If that distinction does not exist, come out from among them.

Reputation is important to your anointing. That is why Jesus could do no mighty works in his hometown — familiarity had diluted the perception of who he was. He left Nazareth and went to Capernaum.

One of the signs of genuine conversion is a change of friends. 2 Corinthians 6:14 — what fellowship does light have with darkness? But make this balance clear: do not go if you are not sent. Go into the world, but do not go before you are established. Going into environments of past weakness before you are spiritually fortified is how faith suffers shipwreck.

Offensive or Defensive?

There are two ways Christians can relate to the world. One is offensive — we are agents of change because Christ came. The other is defensive — we are waiting for the second coming before our world can have peace.

God's plan is that heaven invades here. Many Christians have an escapist mindset — let us die and go there. But heaven is trying to come here. His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven. He is telling us to colonize.

The kingdom of this world must become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.

If one Jesus could shake the world, how much more one billion? Jesus, after the resurrection, no longer heals directly in the way he did on earth — because in heaven nobody is sick. He deposited that healing capacity here, gave us his name, so that human beings can be fixing what is wrong with other human beings.

In Mark 16:17, he says these signs will follow those who believe: they will cast out demons — the word literally means to kick out — they will speak with new tongues. Just as praying in tongues comes naturally when we begin, every other sign should come just as easily. If you carry a mental model that it is hard, it will be hard.

He says they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. He does not say they might recover if they pray long enough. He says they will. That is not a defensive position.

And yet the average Christian is defensive. It shows even in how we pray. Most people are more fervent praying against something than praying for something. If told they would die in three days, they would fast immediately. If told they would be blessed in three days, they would say let it be unto me according to your word. We fight fear, but we do not fight for promises with the same intensity.

Faith is not reactive — faith is functional.

The Promised Land Requires a Fight

God told the children of Israel to leave Egypt and possess the land. He gave it — but not without a fight. The promise is more demanding than the process. When they were in the wilderness, manna fell. Once they entered the promised land, the manna stopped. God said, now start working.

If you do not carry that mindset, God will look like a liar in your life.

Three Levels of Demonic Manifestation

Ephesians 6:12-13 — For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

Level 1: Demonic Possession

This is the most visible level. A demon is inside a person and manifests directly. This is what you see when someone loses control, moves with supernatural strength, or exhibits compulsive behavior contrary to their own will. These are the foot soldiers — spirits that carry out direct personal attacks on individuals. They execute what the higher ranks design.

Wickedness, as used in that passage, is different from vengeance. If a demon is afflicting you, it qualifies as wickedness because you do not deserve it. If you deserved it, it would be revenge.

Level 2: Demonic Influence

These are what Paul calls powers — exousia — mid-authority spirits that operate in the sphere of persuasion and access. They do not necessarily indwell a person. They whisper. They are the ones that make you build something and then use anger to scatter it yourself. They whisper, "Leave your husband. Leave your wife. The grass is greener."

1 Chronicles 21:1 — Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. That is demonic influence. David was moved — it was not David's own initiative.

In 2 Samuel 24:2-4, you can see the progression: the king said go number the people. Even Joab objected. God had said not to count. But the king's word prevailed — and David was under demonic influence for nine months and twenty days.

Then 2 Samuel 24:10 — David's heart condemned him after he had done it. The cloud lifted. Some people say, "I don't know what came over me." That is not just an expression.

That one mistake cost seventy thousand men their lives. Demonic influence. If the devil cannot kill you directly, he will influence you to self-sabotage.

What some people call mood swings is demonic influence. It builds an internal stronghold — a pattern of thinking, a habit pathway — such that even if a demon were cast out, the habit continues to open the door. You can be delivered from the spirit of alcoholism but still have the habit of drinking.

Level 3: Systemic Penetration

This is what Paul calls principalities — the highest level. These are high-ranking spirits operating over regions, nations, cultures, governments, and ideological systems. They do not attack one person. They colonize structures.

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They bring darkness into law, into media, into education, into economics and worldviews, so that society normalizes what God forbids. The goal is to make evil systemic and normal. When sin is legalized, celebrated, and institutionally protected — that is systemic penetration at work.

Alice Bailey, founder of the new age movement, wrote a ten-point charter that reads like a roadmap of what has happened to Western culture since 1949:

1. Take God and prayer out of the educational system
2. Reduce parental authority over children
3. Destroy the traditional Judeo-Christian family structure
4. If sex is free, make abortion legal and easy
5. Make divorce easy and free people from the concept of marriage for life
6. Make homosexuality an alternative lifestyle
7. Debase art — make it run mad
8. Use media to promote and change mindsets
9. Create an interfaith movement where all paths are presented as leading to the same God
10. Get government to make these laws and get the church to endorse the changes

Eval these sectors: education (point 1), family (points 2, 3, 5), sexuality and morality (points 4, 6), culture and arts (points 7, 8), religion (points 9, 10), and government (point 10). Evil has an agenda. The church, by contrast, often does not.

When God sends someone to penetrate the marketplace, church people sometimes say he is just a motivational speaker. When God raises someone to think big for the kingdom, the most critical voices are sometimes inside the church.

Elijah had issues with Jezebel and quickly realized prayer alone would not resolve it. God told him to get Elisha — spiritual — Jehu — military — and Hazael — political. Three components: spiritual, military, political. Only prayer cannot defeat a Jezebel spirit operating at the systemic level.

Everything is not prayer. Even Jesus, who is God, said watch and pray.

The Devil Attacks Your Assignment

The devil always comes for you in the area of your specific assignment:

• Called to family ministry? Expect attacks on your marriage, on getting married, on your own home's stability — so your voice can be discredited.
• Called to preach and teach? Attacks on your voice, your reputation, your credibility, even a stammering in your speech when you are about to minister the gospel.
• Called to prophetic ministry? Confusion, doubt, a history of embarrassing misses — designed to make you distrust your own gift so you silence yourself.
• Called to raise children for God? Attacks on fertility, on the womb, or on the children themselves — like Hannah, Rachel, and Elizabeth.
• Called to intercession? Fatigue, spiritual dryness, a wandering mind every time you attempt to pray.
• Called to finance the gospel? Failed businesses, unexplainable losses, perpetual lack — people will say you are hardworking, but you will have nothing to show.
• Called to evangelism? The people closest to you will be the hardest to win, making you doubt whether you carry any real anointing at all.
• Called to healing and miracles? Chronic illness — on your own body, or on a loved one — so you conclude that you do not have the gift.

Moses was sent to deliver Israel in Egypt but was nearly killed at birth. Joseph was called to rule but sent to prison with a criminal record — to discredit the calling. David was called to be king but Saul made Israel believe he was a criminal. Jesus was called to give life but the devil wanted to put him to death.

God called a barren man the father of nations. If you judge Abraham by results, you will miss the hand of God on him — because his results did not yet match his assignment.

The devil appears more aware of your potential than you are. Just look at the weight of the attack on your life alone. Why is your mind a perpetual battleground? There is something God wants to bring out of that mind.

Rise and Speak to Yourself

When Abraham prayed for Abimelech's household, God opened Sarah's womb. He did not sort out his own situation first. He first did God's own, and his own then came.

Philemon 6 — the communication of your faith becomes effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing that is in you. Begin to acknowledge who God has called you to be. Call your name. Speak to yourself: