Thank you, Father. We give you praise this morning in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our hearts are open to receive your word today. We receive it with faith, gladness and meekness in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord God, for understanding In Jesus mighty name. Amen. Now, if you have your Bibles with you, I'd like us to read the Scriptures, 2nd Samuel, chapter 15, verse 31. So turn there quickly. 2nd Samuel 15:31. The Bible says. And one told David saying, ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, o Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Eithophel to foolishness. Wow. I'm going to be sharing with you this morning the subject that I've titled Frustrating the Council of Eyedophel. Now, it's important for you to know that Aeda fellow was a wonderful fellow. He was a wonderful counselor. And it was said that if Aeda fel gave a counsel, it was as good as God bringing it to you. He was that excellent. And now at this point, David's son Absalom had started rebelling against David. And the man Ahithophel had to shift camp. He became Absalom's ally and David was troubled. And David began to pray to God and prayed a simple prayer. He said, O Lord, I pray thee turned the council of either fel to foolishness. To foolishness. And that happened. Now, I need to define to you what the Council of Eithophel is all about. When we say the Council of Eyefeld, we're talking about. We're not just looking at today, just a man, a man's counsel while looking at that counsel that is not from God. And more. You see. Now, the Council of Idahofl represents wicked counsel, all
right? Wicked counsel. It represents demonic strategies. It represents satanic intelligence and betrayals designed to overthrow destinies. You see, it's actually human intelligent, but spiritually poisonous. And this is a fact. And so I'm going to be showing you the nature. I'm going to be showing the nature of Ayatofella's counsel. Firstly, I want you to see that it issubtle and strategic. 2nd Samuel 17. Reading from verse one and two into verse two, I'm paraphrasing now, the Bible says, Eli to fellow advised Absalom to pursue David immediately while he was weak. So took advantage. He took advantage of David's weakness to go after him about this time. So the devil's counsel often come as a wise advice. But you see, it's a trap disguised in wisdom It's a trap disguised in wisdom. So the nature of a universe council is that firstly, it is subtle but highly strategic. Secondly, it is meant to destroy destiny. So his words came to have David destroyed by Absalom. But thank God the prayer of David worked. So it is meant to
destroy destiny. We're talking about satanic counsel aimed to stop your progress, to scatter your divine relationships, to divert your purpose. That's all we're talking about. It's on that nature of either verse counsel. Another thing you need to observe about Aidover's counsel and you need to discover about Aether verse cancer is that it comes from trusted
people. Many times remember Peter, when Jesus said he was going to die, Peter revolted and said he would not die. Okay. And physically everything appears though Peter was saying what was right. But thank God, Jesus understood the mind of God. He understood God's counsel concerning him and so instantly could tell that this wasn't Peter talking, but Satan. And so he rebuked the devil that was talking through Satan. So that counsel from Peter was not fromGod. You can also say it was a council of idol. Hallelujah. So it is meant to destroy destiny. And it comes from trusted people. From trusted people. That's number three. It comes from trusted people. Psalm 44, 9. The Bible says, Ye, my own
familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. You see? So it comes from trusted people. Sometimes those you've trusted, you've given yourself to them and they deliberately give you counsel that are not of God. So you see, betrayal is often a tool of either fell, often a tool of idol fell. And fourthly, it is
humanly irresistible but divinely frustratable when it comes. Sometimes it appears that this is the only way to go. But it's always out of God's will. So all that Ayatophel was doing was outside of God's plan, outside of God's will. He had no
business being with Absalom. He had no business being there. He had no business giving the kind of counsel he was given to Absalom. No, physically it was fine. But spiritually he was out of place. But thank God, David prevailed. David didn't fight aitophel physically. He prayed and he prevailed. He prayed and he prevailed. David's prayer response was amazing. It shook his world. When I say he shook his world. It turned things around when he said, o Lord, I pray thee turn the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness. That was in 2nd Samuel, chapter 15 verse 3. Turn the counsel of Ahedophel to foolishness. So when the adversary comes against you with his words, his counsel that are designed to destroy your life, don't panic. But pray, don't confront from the physical standpoint. Pray. And you see, when God intervenes, the smartest of counsel turns to foolishness. Tongues of foolishness. And here's a beautiful thing about the result of David's prayer. In 2nd Samuel, chapter 17, verse 14, the Bible says, and Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the counsel of Ushai the archite is better than the council of Haithel. For the Lord had appointed to defeat the council the good counsel of idol. So what did God do after David prayed? God raised another man who said words. And his words were taken. And immediately the counsel of Aedu fel became foolishness. God is raising people for you. Yes, the Lord is raising people for you. And he's turning the things that have been said about and against your life, things that are contrary to your life, things that are going to be destroying your life. The Lord is turning them around because he's planted men and women in strategic places to be of help to you. Their counsel will work for you. Hallelujah. So God planted divine confusion in the camp of the adversary. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Now, how do you frustrate the counsel of either fell? How do you frustrate the council of Eithophel? You do that through prayers. That's number one. You do that through prayers. Jeremiah, chapter 33, verse three. He says, Call upon me and I will answer thee. And Isaiah, chapter 8, verse 10. The Bible says, Take counsel together and shall come to nought. Speak the word and it shall not stand, for the Lord is with us. So he says, take counsel together. It's going to come to naught. Speak. The word shall not stand, for the Lord is with us. So prayer is the weapon that turns satanic intelligence into foolishness. So this is one way to turn the counsel of idol to foolishness, by prayer. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Like David said, you know, he said, father, turn the counsel of Ahidova to foolishness. If there is any counsel working against your life or that is meant to destroy you today, you can also pray that prayer. Father, turn the counsel of these adversaries, turn the counsel of a fell to foolishness, and that is what will happen. Hallelujah. Secondly, you frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel by divine wisdom. You say, the wisdom of God is from above. It is not from this realm. It is not earthly, it is not sensual, it is not devilish. But the counsel of Aithel is. So the wisdom of God is superior to any counsel. The wisdom of God is the counsel of God and is superior to any counsel of the wicked? Yes. So God can give you a counter strategy, like Oshai, a divine idol that cancels demonic ideas. Yes, he can do that. You know, sometimes the counsel of Aeda Fell can come from the mouth of a demon that you submit yourself to. And they whisper things that you shouldn't take into you. And those things end up destroying lives, destroying your life. So you must understand that God, God's word, is his wisdom. God's word is his own counsel. So when the counsel of the wicked is coming against you, you want to ask yourself, is this from the word of God? Is this one backed by scripture? If it is not, then you should know that it's not of God. It's not a counsel that you should go by. All right. Now, number four, you frustrate the counsel of Eitophel by the presence of God. God lives in you. But you need to understand something about his manifest presence. In Psalms chapter 91, verse 1, the Bible says, he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He didn't say, he that visits the secret place, he that dwells there. God is our Father. He lives in us. The Holy Spirit resides in us. But you see, we must have. We must develop intimacy. And this can help to. To cause his manifest presence to be revealed. And I dare say this to you, there's no counsel of the wicked that can do that, that can penetrate that presence that you carry. You see, when David, sorry, the children of Israel left Egypt, something happened. The Bible says a pillar of fire followed them at night, covering them and giving them warmth. And a pillar of cloud accompanied them during the day. And that was a huge blessing. So that was the manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Today we can still carry that presence wherever we go. It may not appear like a physical cloud or physical fire, but this wonderful aura that you aura that you move with, that no counsel of the wicked can penetrate or cause you to be destroyed. You see, this is needed in this wicked world that we live in. All right. And then number four, you want to frustrate the council of the wicked, the council of Ahitophel. You do this by prophetic declaration. The Bible says in Job 22:28, and thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto Thee. Hallelujah. Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee. He make decrees to turn the counsel of Ahithophel to foolishness. You decree confusion and division in the camp of every Ahithophel walking against you. Yes. You do that. Yes. The Bible says, surely shall gather together, but not by me. And whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. So you make declarations to destroy their gatherings and turn their counsel to emptiness. That's what you do. You make decrees. The Bible says you shall decree a thing and shall be established unto you. And it says, whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed. That's Mark, chapter 11, verse 23. Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea. And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. So make decrees and turn the words or the counsel of the Ahithophel or the wicked to foolishness. You declare words. You say, father, let their words become empty. Let their counsel become empty. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the Baptist, speak the word you shall not stand for the Lord is with us. Father, I declare their words will not stand. Their word has become foolishness in the ears of them that hear them. Yes, when you do this, it starts working. It starts working by trusting God's sovereignty. Have you read Romans 8:28 lately? The Bible says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. You see, even when the enemy plots, God can use it to elevate you like he did for David. He can still use it to elevate you. And this is the truth. He can use it to elevate you. He says, all things work together for your good. Hallelujah. All things work together for your good. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Say, dear Father, I thank you because you frustrated the vice of the crafty so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. Declare that every counsel of Ahether fell against my destiny is nullified. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, declare that God reigns over your life. He reigns over your home. He reigns over your ministry. It reigns over all that concerns you. It reigns over your neighbor. And you see, what the enemy meant for evil, God has turned for my lifting. Say that so what the enemy meant for evil, God has turned for my lifting. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. The hand of God is upon you. You will not be frustrated in your life. The counsel of the wicked against you shall not stand. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, the Lord is with you. The Lord with you. No words of the wicked can bring you down. No, they can bring you down. The Bible says, surely they shall gather together. But not by me. Whosoever shall gather together against thee, they shall fall for thy sake. And so I decree tonight that every conspiracy of the wicked against your life, that they come to not. In the name of the Lord Jesus. They come to naught. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Their words will not stand. In the mighty name of. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are blessed. You are favored in Jesus, mighty name. Amen.