Advance Conference, 2026, Day 3- Ascend & Multiply by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Revelation 4:1 — After all that John had already witnessed — the letters to the seven churches, the vision of Christ in His glory — he still looked. It takes determination to look again after major encounters. After the success, he still looked. After the victory, he still looked. And when he looked, he saw that a door was open. A voice called through that door: "Come up hither."

Even though John was already in a heavenly experience, there were things he could not see from that height. He needed to come up higher. It was only when he came up that he saw the worship of the Lamb — something he never saw in chapters one, two, or three.

There is always room for more. No matter what God has done in and through a life, there is always room for more.

Moving higher immediately suggests moving against gravity. Just as a plane ascending fights the tides — with its most critical moments being the lift and the landing — so it is in life. Once a plane lifts, the ascendance continues until it reaches its cruising altitude. Moving upward is always against gravity.

The gravity of history will want to pull you down. The gravity of systems will want to pull you down. The gravity of antagonists will want to pull you down. All of these carry an emotional and psychological gravitational force. Your background, the default resistance of systems, and those the Bible calls "wicked and unreasonable men" — for it says not all men have faith — can become instruments of opposition against your ascent.

The Price of Ascendance

There are keys that double as prices — what it costs for a person to ascend against the tide of history, background, systems, and antagonism. These are not optional for those who desire to advance.

The Five Prices of Ascendance

1. A Burning Desire

   Micah 2:10 — "Arise ye and depart for this is not your rest."

   The first price is a burning desire — a genuine desire for growth, increase, and advancement. It must be a desire that eats you up, that overcomes the inertia of status quo.

   This is a good place, but it is not your rest. This is a great financial level, but it is not your rest. It is a great dimension of the anointing, but it is not your rest. At certain levels, you cannot conquer much land.

   It makes sense to rise and leave the place of failure. But if you have to rise and leave success for greater success, it is difficult. Many people begin to lose at the exact moment they last succeeded.

   Paul, speaking to the Philippians, said: "This one thing I do — forgetting the things that are behind." He never said forgetting the bad things. He said forgetting the things that are behind — whether yesterday's trophy or yesterday's success. Once they are behind, he forgets them and reaches forth for the things before. Then he uses one word: I press.

   • He pressed against gravity.
   • He pressed against popular opinion.
   • He pressed against what had never been done before.

   When the angel announced the coming birth of John to Zechariah, and the name was declared, it was unprecedented — no one in the family had ever borne that name. Zechariah's mouth was shut so that he would not use his anointing to resist what God was doing. When the family protested at the naming, his mouth would not open until he agreed and wrote: John. The fact that something has never been done before does not mean it is wrong. Somebody must always start a new order, a new dimension.

   The grace to pioneer new frontiers in the spirit, in life, in destiny — let that grace be released upon you.

   One of the ways to cultivate a burning desire is to examine the consequences of stagnation.

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   • Jesus said in John 15: "Every branch that does not bear fruit, I will cut off."
   • When Jesus encountered a fig tree that bore no fruit, he did not advise it or counsel it — he cursed it. He said, "No man eat of thee again." By morning it had withered. Jesus had zero tolerance for unfruitfulness — no excuses whatsoever.
   • With five loaves and two fish, when the disciples wanted to send the crowd away, Jesus said no. "Get them something to eat." He would not leave them without provision.

   Many people have a casual, passive, replaceable desire — not a burning one. When you still have excuses, your desire is not strong enough.

   What pursues you determines how you run. If it is a fly, you wave it away. But when you hear the roar of a lion, you run with the might of a warrior.

   Those who know the consequences run differently. Those who know what it means not to pray, not to fast, and who have seen what destroyed those who went before them — they run with urgency.

   I pray that God will open your eyes to see the destinies connected to you — the lives that are connected to your obedience. That your saying yes means the arrival of many people in their place of destiny. And whatever stagnates you, I decree and declare: may it give way.

   A burning desire drives you to pray until you break through. A burning desire makes you invest in your mind before your body. My body should not look finer than my mind — because my mind will strip my body of what it is wearing now.

2. The Price of Transformation — Contending for a Superior Belief System

   One of the greatest investments anyone can make in life, second only to a relationship with Jesus Christ, is the investment to host a superior belief system.

   • There is a winner's mentality and a loser's mentality.
   • There is a mindset called an unbeliever and one called a vibrant Christian.
   • There is a mindset called mediocre and one called champion.

   When you call someone disciplined, you are not just describing a personality — you are tagging them to a mindset. Laziness is a mindset. Spiritual vibrance is a mindset. Laxity is a mindset.

   The version of you that receives your assignment is not the version that can fulfill it. There needs to be intellectual and spiritual evolution. You must be molded into a more superior version — more emotionally intelligent, more psychologically stable.

   Most believers do not know it is their responsibility to use the Word of God to develop what is called a winner's mentality — a mentality that insists on the Word until it works.

   A superior belief system is not about being more western or more technological. Being sophisticated does not mean being superior. You can be a more sophisticated confused person. A superior belief system is measured by its compliance with the Word — not by cultural exposure.

   There are essentially five ways mindsets are formed:

   1. Background and history — your upbringing and every formative experience
   2. Culture — every culture shapes how you see life, and while some of it is wonderful (especially concerning respect and moral excellence), certain aspects can subtly and destructively cause you to always lose
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   3. Past experiences — your past can do something to you that prevents you from being a winner
   4. Level of exposure — to be exposed means to be aware of what else exists, to broaden your horizon beyond your current scope. If you cannot travel physically, your mind can travel. Anywhere your mind gets to, it will eventually drag your body there. It is a law.
   5. The Word of God — the ultimate transformer of belief systems

   Your belief system is your official contribution to your failing or succeeding in life. Not just what you do — what you believe determines what you become. If you fail perpetually, your contribution to that failure is offering your mindset to be misused by the devil. If you succeed, your contribution to that rising is the investment of a healthy belief system.

   Proverbs 23:7 — "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he." As mighty as God is, a man can limit God in his life — in his church, in his business.

   Jesus did not win merely because He was the Son of God. He won because He invested in a superior belief system. When Satan came to Him, He said, "It is written." Not "I think." Not "they say." Not "what is trending."

   "It is written" is greater than "I saw." It is greater than "I heard." It is greater than "they said." It is greater than anything trending. Oh Lord, Your word is settled.

   Build your life around opinions and watch it crumble when civilizations change. Build it on the Word, and when the storms and floods come, it will stand like a house built on a rock.

   Your mindset tells the truth about what you believe — more than your confession ever will. If your confession perpetually betrays your reality, there is a conflict between your stated belief and your actual belief system.

   The body is helplessly obedient to the mindset that drives it. When you try to get results that are inconsistent with your mindset, the principle of cybernetics kicks in — just as an aircraft locked to a trajectory will auto-correct when it deviates — and your behavior will unconsciously revert until your results match what your mindset considers normal.

   That is why promotion is meaningless to some people. Their mindset does not register the promotion as real. Double the money — something will happen to deplete it. It will appear as a series of coincidences, but there is an exact spiritual law governing it.

   To be educated is part of the process of transformation — but it is not transformation. Education is like buying rice and leaving it in the bag. The potential to be fed is in the house, but if you do not know how to open and combine it, you can have ten bags of rice — call it your degree, call it your masters — and still be dying of poverty.

   The real miracle is not deliverance from demons. The real miracle is deliverance from thoughts and belief systems. With one word you can cast out a demon — but you cannot cast out ignorance. Ignorance is not a demon. You must invest a replacement. It will take a replacement.

   The Bible's law of replacement shows that you never gain dominion in a place until you overcome the force already there. Failure, as a king of your mindset, will hold your space until a more Word-compliant, more destiny-defining thought arrives and displaces it. That displacement is real warfare — warfare of thoughts. You are fighting ancient thoughts: the thoughts that made previous generations fail, inherited and transferred sincerely to you.

   Demon spirits hold territories not by attacking everyone one by one, but by creating a mindset and distributing that mindset like software to everyone — then assigning spirits as protectors of that mindset. That is what is called a stronghold: a faulty belief system with demon spirits protecting it to keep the victim perpetually thinking that way.

   Father, in the name of Jesus, I contend for a superior belief system. I contend. I contend for a superior belief system, in Jesus name I pray.

   Every high thing must come down. Every stronghold shall be broken. You wear the victor's crown. You overcome.

3. The Price of Building and Attracting Strategic Relationships

   There are three levels of relationship that must all be mastered:

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   • Relationship with God
   • Relationship with men
   • Relationship with things

   Most people focus only on relationships with men. But you need to know how to relate with God for your victory, how to relate with men, and how to relate with things. There was a man in the Bible called the rich fool — he did not know how to relate with things. 1 John 2:15 says, "Love not the world neither the things." An ungodly and unhealthy affinity toward things is destructive. You must know how to relate with money and material possessions in a way that they do not own you.

   The word "be fruitful" also means be relational — because both biology and spirituality teach us that fruitfulness at any level is a product of relationship. A single dot cannot become a line. But once you add another dot, you can draw a line. A line is defined as two connecting dots. Your destiny is at the mercy of the relationships that fund it.

   Your destiny is as expensive as the bankruptcy of your relationships. If you do not have strategic relationships, your destiny might become so expensive you cannot afford it.

   A relationship is an advantageous connection that is profitable to all parties involved. If a connection is disadvantageous, it is not a relationship — it is a threat.

   Relationships are bridges. They lead from where you are either toward destiny or toward decline. The Bible says God called Abraham — but Lot went with him. Lot never received a personal call, yet he traveled with a man who was called and was blessed by association. Genesis 12:4 — "And Lot went with him." That was it.

   • Relationships are a stream of income. The next time you list your streams of income — real estate, investments — add relationships. The easiest way to succeed is to join the chariot of wise people. Even if you do not know where you are going, the chariot can take you there while you figure it out.
   • Relationships are bridges toward destiny or decline. The story of the prodigal son illustrates this. He did not spend his inheritance alone — there were advisors initiating his rebellion. Nameless friends helped him spend it riotously. And when the money was gone, not one of them remained. Those who help destroy you do not intend to stop with you — you are only their current focus.

   Marriage was not designed to solve all emotional problems. There are certain levels of emotional comfort that only come from your relationship with Jesus. There is a level that comes from finding purpose. There is a level that comes from growth. Then there is a level that comes from a spouse. If you abandon Jesus, abandon purpose, and then expect a spouse to fulfill every emotional need — you will overwhelm the person. Marriage does not solve all emotional problems.

   There must be someone who believes in you and in your destiny. It is your assignment to have profitable relationships in your life — not marital relationships alone, but destiny relationships.

   The relationships needed for the next level of your life — may God connect you strategically. The relationships required for your next season, I release grace upon you. May you find those relationships.

   The value of wisdom is that it improves your decision-making capacity so that you make wiser, destiny-defining decisions. The real profit of wisdom is its ability to upgrade your capacity to make decisions. Decisions define destiny.

4. The Price of Spiritual Warfare

   1 Corinthians 16:9 — "For a great door and an effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries."

   With every great door come adversaries. There are giants on every mountain. The fact that there are giants does not mean it is not your possession — but you must arise and fight. You fight to displace the giants before you can enjoy the milk and honey of the land.

   Luke 8:22–28 — As Jesus and the disciples launched forth for the other side, a great storm arose. The presence of the storm did not mean they were in the wrong direction.

   In many regards, the presence of storms confirms that you are moving in the right direction. Excessive quiet may mean you are not going anywhere. The reason the storm arose was because they were going forward.

   The presence of adversaries confirms you are advancing — so you fight.

   There is a fight of faith to break through — contending against limiting thoughts, contending against territorial spirits. Knowing battles are coming before they arrive allows you to prepare. You prepare for battles when there is peace, not when there is trouble. When trouble comes, you cannot go to the market for what you need.

   Fight your battles with honor. Never be ashamed of your battle. Let others laugh while you fight. What trapped your father? What trapped your mother? Fight it. What the generations could not overcome — let it end with you.

   • Do not waste energy explaining your battles to everyone. Fight. The victory will tell the story.
   • Victors are too busy to explain themselves mid-race. When they win, then they tell the story. You do not explain your story on the journey — you explain it when you win.
   • In life and destiny, be guided by three things: the fear of the Lord, conscience, and posterity. Once guided by these, fire on all cylinders.

   When God shows that a great door is open, do not only put on fine clothes — put on a warrior's armor. The first thing you meet beyond that door is not milk and honey. The first thing you meet are giants. Bring them down. Then you eat.

   There are many contentions that are not about the human actors involved. A mantle is coming. A grace is coming. A door is opening. And the enemy begins to trigger everything that can give demons access: anger, pain, gaslighting from every direction. Your boss becomes petty and sarcastic. Your spouse becomes petty and sarcastic. It is not a spouse problem. It is a reaction from the realm of the spirit — and you must fight back.

   The grace of a warrior — receive it. You war with revelation. You do not merely rejoice over it — you war with it. In the name of Jesus, obtain grace to fight.

5. The Prophetic Advantage

   Exodus 14:14–15 — "The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Then immediately: "Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak — that they go forward."

   There is a dimension of going forward that is speaking-dependent. Not just movement — but speech. Speak that the door opens. Speak that the relationships come. Speak that you go forward.

   • Speak when it is comfortable. Speak when it is uncomfortable.
   • Speak when doors are closed. Speak when doors are open.
   • Speak when you are alone. Speak when you are in the midst of people.
   • Speak when you are laughing. Speak when you are crying.
   • Speak when there is peace. Speak when there is war.

   "As surely as I live," says the Lord, "as I hear you speak, so shall I do." Do not abdicate the power that is in your mouth.

   The things spoken in faith — however unlikely they appear at the time — will come to pass. A ministry started in a small classroom, speaking of nations inviting, of government-level access, of a location accessible to an entire metroplex — and every word came to pass. The law of speaking is real.

   The secret to never-ending advancement, among all the keys taught here, is to speak.