Commanding Salvation Over Territories Part 1 by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Two Dimensions of the Gospel

The gospel is divided essentially into two dimensions.

The first is the message that saves — the revelation of the love of the Father, revealed in and through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus His Son. Man and creation are the object of that love and that sacrifice. This is God's plan to reach out to man and salvage him from the power of sin, the power of Satan — accomplished through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. This is the basis for the believer's salvation.

What does it mean to believe? You must believe in His incarnation — that He was the Word that became flesh. You must believe that He walked upon the earth and lived a sinless life. You must believe that He died, was buried, and descended to Hades. You must believe that He resurrected on the third day. And you must believe in His ascension — for it was at His ascension that His high priestly duty was performed in the heavenly tabernacle. He offered His blood once and for all upon that heavenly tabernacle. Salvation requires that you personally understand this message and exercise personal faith in Jesus. No one can believe on your behalf.

The second dimension is the gospel as an ideology that transforms society and transforms territories. For a long time, believers have been thoroughly taught the side of the gospel that presents the message of personal salvation — but most have not been taught the gospel as an ideology that transforms society.

God's desire for the believer is not only to be saved, but to be saved, then transformed, then empowered:

1. The greatest need of the unbeliever is salvation
2. The greatest need of the believer is transformation
3. The greatest need of the transformed believer is empowerment
4. The greatest need of an empowered believer is character — humility, which guarantees continuity

Territories Can Be Saved

You can always know which of these two sides of the gospel has been received by looking at individuals within a territory — and at the territory itself. When you find a territory that experiences advancement — technologically, educationally, and otherwise — it means the value system of the kingdom has been adopted, even if those people do not acknowledge that these principles come from God. If you ever see anything that looks like heaven on earth, it is because something about heaven was there.

You can also find a territory where you do not see anything that looks like heaven, but you can see individuals who are saved and sincerely love Jesus — yet those individuals remain victims. Why? Because the territory is yet to be saved. Both the believer and the territory need salvation.

It is not only men that should be saved — territories can be born again too.

When a territory is born again, the same thing that happens to an individual happens to that territory. Individuals can backslide; territories can backslide. Individuals can be transformed; territories can be transformed. The challenge is that the focus has been almost exclusively on personal salvation, while the transformation of territories has been neglected.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus connected the witness of His disciples directly to territories: "You shall be witnesses unto Me — in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." He was not speaking casually. He was declaring a territorial mandate.

This message is part one of a two-part series titled Commanding Salvation Over Territories. Part one focuses on the witness of mighty works.

The Witness of Mighty Works — Acts 4

In Acts 4, a man who had been lame from birth was healed at the Beautiful Gate. The religious leaders gathered and interrogated Peter and John — not because they were doing wrong, but because the miracle had reached the entire territory of Jerusalem. The council acknowledged:

"A notable miracle has been done by them, and it is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it."

Their fear was not about the man — they admitted they could say nothing against him. Their fear was that it would spread to the territory. They said: "Let us straightly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name." They were not banned from doing ministry. They were banned from doing ministry the way that works — in the name of Jesus.

Results have a voice. The territory is the audience of that sermon. When the Holy Spirit speaks to you as an individual through a preacher, it edifies you personally. But when it has to do with your territory, sometimes it is not your voice that should be the preacher — because the territory may not hear your voice. There is a kind of language the territory has been trained to hear, and the Bible calls it mighty works.

Mighty works are also evangelists. Results are also messengers. Their assignment is to convert the territory the same way the individual has been converted. The same way we are grieved when no one gets saved through our personal witness, we must also grieve when our territories are not being saved.

In Matthew 5:13–16, Jesus taught:

• "Ye are the salt of the earth" — Salt that has lost its savor is good for nothing
• "Ye are the light of the world" — A city set on a hill cannot be hidden
• "Let your light so shine before men" — So that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven

The candle does not give light to only one person — it gives light to all who are in the house. There is a territorial component to your salvation. Your light should not just illuminate one person — it must give light to all who are in the house.

When God wants to bring salvation to territories, the first thing He does is bring salvation to individuals. Then He uses those individuals as symbols of salvation to the territories. The mighty works of the saints can compel a territory to come under the lordship of Christ.

Why Believers Fail to Produce Territory-Changing Results

In Genesis 19, Lot was a man in fellowship with God — he had the discernment to recognize angels. Yet his territory was not saved. Even with that personal relationship, he was not safe, because the men of Sodom came and pressed in on his household with violent demands. Eventually, the angels struck the men outside with blindness — and even blind, those men wearied themselves trying to find the door.

Blindness is associated with hardship. The door to victory, the door to peace, the door to advancement — they wore themselves out trying to find it, because of blindness. This is the state of individuals, families, and territories that live under perpetual defeat.

There are four reasons why believers are not able to command the kinds of results that witness to a territory:

Four Reasons for Powerless Walks

1. Overdependence on the Strength of the Flesh

   Proverbs 3:5–6 says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him."

   1 Samuel 2:9 says: "By strength shall no man prevail."

   We live in a world where people pride themselves with a sense of invincibility — where the more you seem not to need assistance from faith, the more "intelligent" you are considered. But any nation that rejects the assistance of the God of heaven is a nation that will eventually plunge to decadence.

   God gave us brains, technology, connections, and education — these things are not wrong. But God gave them to us in a way that we must exalt Him above them. That is the only way they profit us.

   • A microphone can amplify your voice, but it cannot impart the anointing
   • Volumes of intellectual dissertations do not have the power to transform — you can finish speaking intelligently, give an altar call, and not one person will respond
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   • Technology does not fast. Technology does not pray. Technology can help you hear a message, but until you pray, until you build your spirit man and have a track record with God, you are not equipped
   • Presence supersedes principles. Principles only work when presence is in place.

   Go and learn the mystery of the worship of the twenty-four elders. They removed their crowns to worship. Your knees are useless until your crown is on the ground. Many of us kneel down with our crowns still on — and God is asking: "So who is king now?"

   Whatever God does for you, when people begin to idolize you, point them to Jesus: "I thank God for using me, but let me tell you sincerely — there is One who is mightier than I am. I am only a vessel."

2. Ignorance and Disobedience to God's Principles

   Ecclesiastes 10:15 says: "The labor of the foolish wearies every one of them, because he knows not how to go to the city." There is a relationship between the destination and the knowledge of how to get there.

   Ephesians 4:18 speaks of those who are "alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts."

   Jesus the Way is a capture of the methodologies, the modus operandi of the Kingdom. There are two options for producing results in this earth:

   • The way of the Kingdom
   • The way of the world — which can seem to bless you, but brings sorrow with it (Isaiah 31:1–3)

   Isaiah 31:3 declares: "Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit." Whatever or whoever you trust that is not aligned to the principles of the Kingdom will eventually cause you to fall alongside them.

   The keys of the Kingdom unlock what cannot be opened by physical strength. As big as a truck is, it is a key that starts it. Jesus said: "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven" — with those keys, you bind and you loose. It is at the instance of the mysteries of the Kingdom that we reign, rise, and thrive.

   Deuteronomy 7:12–15 and Deuteronomy 28:2–12 show clearly that all these blessings — health, increase, fruitfulness, open heavens, and the ability to lend and not borrow — are conditional on hearkening to the voice of the Lord. Obedience is not a small thing.

   Obtain grace from God to fight ignorance thoroughly, and obtain grace for complete obedience.

3. Demonic Oppression

   Ephesians 6:12 says: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

   1 John 5:19 says: "The whole world lies in wickedness."

   1 Thessalonians 2:18 says: "We would have come to you, even I Paul, once and again — but Satan hindered us." Satan can fight influence, joy, visibility, giftings, ministries, businesses, families, and dreams.

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   There are people who have gone to bed in peace and seen demonic entities in their sleep — and have woken up with physical conditions that cannot be medically explained. The realm of the spirit is real and it can find expression here.

   A warning from Leviticus 20:6 and Deuteronomy 18:10–12: In this season, believers must not resort to occultic or demonic alternatives. Do not allow pressure push you to invite Satan into your life for help. Satan does not help men — he only destroys. The believer in Christ must not consult familiar spirits, wizards, or diviners. Those who go down to Egypt for help — and their horses are flesh and not spirit — when the Lord stretches out His hand, both the helper and the helped will fall together.

   The Bible does not leave us in the dark about the adversary — but it also equips us. The full armor of God in Ephesians 6 exists precisely because there is an enemy who looks for unfortified places. No weapon fashioned against you will prosper when you stand in the whole armor of God.

4. Trivializing the Place of Spiritual Empowerment

   Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."

   Isaiah 10:27: "His yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing."

   Spiritual empowerment is not for ministers only — it is for all who desire to produce the kind of results that bring glory to the name of the Lord. God's results cannot be produced by the strength of the flesh alone. It will take God's ability to produce God's dimension of results.

   • It takes power to stay healthy in this world — more than exercise and good food
   • It takes power to represent Jesus with authority
   • It takes power to produce signs and wonders
   • It takes power to be an effective preacher
   • It takes power to be a father, a mother, a leader
   • It takes power to remain alive and well in this wicked world
   • Strong men retain wealth — one government change can bankrupt you overnight; it takes spiritual strength to stay (Psalm 66:3)

   In Acts 2:1–4, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, there came a sound from heaven as a rushing mighty wind. They were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues. And in Acts 4, when the disciples prayed again under threat, the building shook and they were filled with the Holy Ghost afresh.

   Jesus Himself waited in Jerusalem for the endowment of power before beginning public ministry. He said: "Tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high."

   A territory that has many believers but does not see the witness of mighty works will continue in darkness. It will take men and women of fire — people who understand the dynamics and administration of spiritual power — for territories to come under the lordship of Christ.

The Call to Commanding Results

Your results are also preachers. They can preach different sermons at the same time:

• To one, the sermon is: There is a God in heaven
• To another: God is almighty
• To another: God loves you
• To another: Look what God can do with men who are yielded

You have been the evangelist alone — let your results be an escort with you, so that both you and your results are preachers. When you say "God lifts," let your results also say "God lifts." When you say "God restores," let your results also say "God restores."

We must trust God for notable results. Not results that leave people doubting — but results that are undeniable. When the council in Acts 4 gathered, they said: "We cannot deny it." That is the standard. When God turns a life around, when He brings a child to the barren, when He wipes out a debt supernaturally — that is the witness that makes a territory stop and listen.

You are saved — but your territory needs to be saved. And it will be by a display of supernatural power.