WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.840 You want to always be begging for God for a miracle. You don't want to look like victory. 2 00:00:03.840 --> 00:00:07.600 You want to keep getting your butt kicked by Satan. Don't pay attention to what I'm going to say. 3 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:11.280 But I've made a decision. As for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. 4 00:00:11.280 --> 00:00:13.760 And it's a decision I've made for this church as well. 5 00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:17.440 You're not going to get your butts kicked. You're not going to be half-stepping with the Lord, 6 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.760 doing the hoki-poki, one foot in, one foot out. 7 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.120 You're going to be a shining example of his goodness and grace. 8 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:25.360 You're going to be a trophy to the goodness of the Lord. 9 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.560 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. 10 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:34.960 Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. 11 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.360 If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. 12 00:00:41.360 --> 00:00:44.000 That's citylightnyc.com. 13 00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:51.840 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. 14 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.800 As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, 15 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:02.480 that you are surrounded by his grace, and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 16 00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:09.920 Well, let's begin this morning in John chapter 11, verse 43. 17 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:17.440 This is that the resurrection of Lazarus. Many of you have read this account already. 18 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:22.800 Where Jesus is friend Lazarus, he was sick. 19 00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:28.480 It's a real funny passage because Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, 20 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:33.680 hey, the one who you love, Lazarus is sick, and then it says he loved him so much, 21 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.760 he stayed an extra two days. Isn't that funny? I mean, I'm not going to preach on that because 22 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:42.720 it's a whole message in itself, but Jesus loved Lazarus so much that he took his time getting to him. 23 00:01:42.720 --> 00:01:44.080 He took him so long he died. 24 00:01:44.160 --> 00:01:50.800 I mean, you think it would say if he loved him so much, he doubled time back to Lazarus, 25 00:01:50.800 --> 00:01:52.560 but he didn't. He stayed an extra two days. 26 00:01:53.600 --> 00:01:57.520 Whole separate message, but it just shows you that God is never late. He's always on time, 27 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:02.560 and sometimes you think certain things are happening, and from God's side, it's like, 28 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:06.960 Lord, if I were you and you were me, I would come and have helped you already, 29 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.080 but God knows exactly what he's doing, amen. 30 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:18.800 So here's Jesus, God in the flesh, he's standing over Lazarus's tomb, 31 00:02:20.160 --> 00:02:26.160 and he cries with a lot of voice, Lazarus come forth, and he who had died 32 00:02:28.480 --> 00:02:36.240 came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. 33 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:39.040 This is how they buried him, and it was a type of mummification. 34 00:02:40.320 --> 00:02:46.560 This is a picture of coming to Jesus. This is a picture of the new birth being born again. 35 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:53.200 This is a picture of you and me when we became Christians. A resurrection happened. 36 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:01.040 We went from darkness to light. We were made new. We got new life. We were raised from the dead. 37 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:09.040 However, when we were raised from the dead, we weren't already fully sanctified. Notice that 38 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:14.800 Lazarus didn't come out wearing a crisp clean tuxedo, but he came out with the grave clothes on him, 39 00:03:16.480 --> 00:03:21.040 and he was all bound. I mean, this was a gruesome sight, and Jesus had to say, 40 00:03:21.040 --> 00:03:27.760 lose him and let him go. So Lazarus comes forth, but it's like Revenge of the Mummy, you know. 41 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:36.000 And that's a picture of every single one of us when we come to the Lord. We still have a lot of baggage, 42 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:44.240 a lot of stuff, and what has to happen is we have to open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit, 43 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:54.960 to lose us, to release us, to get the grave clothes off of us. Listen, God's desire, his will, 44 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.120 is for every single one of his children to be living and walking in victory, 45 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:04.160 to be living and walking in the peace of God, to not have the baggage of yesterday year, 46 00:04:04.160 --> 00:04:10.080 the hooks, the demonic hooks of the past still in you, weighing you down, pulling you back. 47 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:16.320 It was for freedom that he has set you free. Amen. But there is a process, and really that's 48 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:22.160 what church is about. Church is about your spiritual formation, making disciples that happens 49 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:28.720 in the context of community, and it's you learning and getting the tools from the Word of God, 50 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:34.000 and how to live this life of victory. I'm greedy for the things of God. I don't want to get to heaven, 51 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:40.640 and then see, oh, I only received half of what Jesus paid a very expensive price for me to have. 52 00:04:40.640 --> 00:04:48.400 I want it all, like that old lady song, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now, 53 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.400 everything, and it's okay to be greedy for the things of the Lord. Amen. 54 00:04:57.760 --> 00:05:02.160 Yet there are Christians 10 years into their relationship with the Lord still hobbling about. 55 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:06.480 They smell like mummy. You don't want the breath of the crypt keeper. 56 00:05:10.400 --> 00:05:16.960 You want that? The divine fragrance of the freshness. So how do we get there? 57 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:24.880 Let's look at Romans 12, verse 2. I want you to understand, man, I'm telling you right now, 58 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:38.320 the enemy does not want me preaching this message, and I distinctly heard from the Lord to 59 00:05:38.320 --> 00:05:43.280 preach this message. Pastor Monos, because he got the sermon title either on Monday or Tuesday, 60 00:05:45.280 --> 00:05:49.360 because there are times where I don't know, I'm been waiting on the Lord all week and I don't know 61 00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:55.360 till Saturday night. Those are not fun weeks. I like these. One of the messages has been cooking 62 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:01.520 in the oven for a week, you know? But there are times where if you ever go on YouTube and there's 63 00:06:01.520 --> 00:06:06.960 a generic title, pray for me that Saturday night. Yeah, you're having fun that Saturday and I'm 64 00:06:06.960 --> 00:06:12.000 literally rolling around. I'm at office floor. God, I need a word from you. God speak to me, 65 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:18.160 because what I won't ever do is just pull out a random sermon and go, this will do. 66 00:06:19.440 --> 00:06:23.760 And you'll know it right away. I've never done it. I'd rather get up here and then just make the 67 00:06:23.760 --> 00:06:29.680 whole service worship than me just preach any old thing. It has to be the now word of the Lord. 68 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:35.760 It has to be fresh bread from heaven. It has to be something that you need. And this specifically came 69 00:06:35.760 --> 00:06:44.720 to me and I haven't preached along these lines in too long, frankly. Here's the bibles, 70 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:52.000 recipe, prescription, I should say, for how to actually experience life transformation. We can 71 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:58.160 all agree. There's two kinds of Christians both are heaven bound. Just one is experiencing a whole 72 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:02.160 lot of hell while on earth and the other one is experiencing heaven on earth. But there's two kinds 73 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.800 of Christians. There's the Christian that's actually filled with joy, walking in victory, 74 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:11.760 receiving answers to their prayers, is helping other. Their cup is overflowing. And then, 75 00:07:11.760 --> 00:07:17.280 unfortunately, there's also the Christian that's beat up and bruised, smells like the grave still, 76 00:07:17.280 --> 00:07:22.400 still looks like a mummy and is just hobbling about. And for whatever reason, 77 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:27.440 just hasn't utilized the keys. Maybe they never got them. The Bible says, 78 00:07:27.440 --> 00:07:32.640 my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. They haven't gotten the keys. They haven't learned 79 00:07:32.640 --> 00:07:38.800 yet how to actually live the victorious life. So a key here, a biblical prescription, 80 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:44.800 is do not be conformed to this world. That means you don't allow the world to shape you, 81 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:50.480 you actually exert pressure and you shape the world. Man, we really strayed from that one 82 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:58.000 in the last 15, 20 years. But that too is another sermon for another time. But be transformed 83 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:06.000 by the renewing of your mind. So transformation happens by the renewing of your mind. That's one 84 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:13.600 key. It's not the only key, but it is a major key. Transformed by the renewing of your mind, 85 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:21.280 that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So in that journey of 86 00:08:23.280 --> 00:08:29.360 resurrection, still with a grave close to actually living, enjoy, and in freedom, and in victory, 87 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:34.800 there has to be a renewing of the mind. There has to be a mental transformation. That's where the 88 00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:42.240 battle is in your mind. And you see this exact same picture with the children of Israel, the biblical 89 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:55.760 Israel. Amen. The biblical Israel. Hallelujah. The Israel of the Bible. Amen. And see when you follow 90 00:08:55.760 --> 00:09:03.040 the Holy Spirit, you can preach about all the isms one week, feminism, and racism, and Zionism, 91 00:09:03.040 --> 00:09:06.240 and the next Sunday you're preaching against taking authority over Satan. Amen. 92 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:16.560 Exodus 16 verses two through three. This is also a picture of salvation. The children of Israel 93 00:09:16.560 --> 00:09:21.280 coming out of Egypt. That's a picture of our salvation. But what you see in the children of 94 00:09:21.280 --> 00:09:26.880 Israel time and time again is that they came out of Egypt, but Egypt never came out of them. 95 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:34.320 And so they just continued in this new life, but walking according to what they had learned. 96 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:39.520 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the 97 00:09:39.520 --> 00:09:46.160 wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord 98 00:09:46.160 --> 00:09:52.240 in the land of Egypt. I mean, this is like days after they witnessed the mighty power of God. 99 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:58.560 They saw the red sea split open. They saw the enemies consumed. They were liberated from slavery. 100 00:09:58.560 --> 00:10:04.480 But here they are whining and complaining. Many of them wishing death upon themselves, suicidal why? 101 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:12.080 They got out of Egypt. Egypt represents the world. Egypt represents Satan. They came out of that, 102 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:20.640 but it still had its hooks in them. When we sat by the pots of meat and we ate bread to the full, 103 00:10:20.640 --> 00:10:26.240 for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill us, this whole assembly with hunger. 104 00:10:27.680 --> 00:10:32.240 Oye, they. Chapter 32 verses one through five. 105 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:38.640 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered 106 00:10:38.640 --> 00:10:43.920 together to Aaron and said to him, come, make us gods that shall go before us. 107 00:10:44.400 --> 00:10:51.040 For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has 108 00:10:51.040 --> 00:10:56.080 become of him. Yeah, he's up in the mountain talking face to face with God. He's up in the mountain 109 00:10:57.280 --> 00:11:02.400 getting the commandments. He's in the glory of God. He wasn't really up there that long. 110 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:10.880 But very quickly, they got antsy. And what do they do? They did exactly what they used to do in 111 00:11:10.880 --> 00:11:17.120 Egypt. In fact, the golden calf that they built was one of the Egyptian gods. 112 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:26.800 Come, make us gods that shall go before us for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the 113 00:11:26.800 --> 00:11:32.080 land of Egypt. We do not know what has become of him. And Aaron said to them, break off the golden 114 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:36.720 earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters and bring them to me. 115 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:44.400 They're going to have a good old smelting party. Verse 3. So all the people broke off the golden 116 00:11:44.400 --> 00:11:50.080 earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. Like, how is this happening? So quickly. 117 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:57.680 Because they got out of Egypt, but Egypt never got out of them. Listen, it's up to you. How do you 118 00:11:57.680 --> 00:12:05.600 want to live this life? It really is. Nobody can come here and live this life for you. I just made a 119 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:12.720 decision. I want to see how far God can take me. I see in the scriptures he is so good. And when 120 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:18.560 he gives, he gives in an overflowing manner. So Lord, let's see, what can you do to a completely 121 00:12:18.560 --> 00:12:27.200 surrendered and yielded life? What can you do? And he can do so much. Blow your mind, make you 122 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:31.920 want to pinch yourself, you'll think you're dreaming. So all the people broke off the golden earrings 123 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:37.440 which were in the ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and he 124 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:42.720 fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. Then they said, this is your God, 125 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:48.800 O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar 126 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:53.760 before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, tomorrow is a feast of the Lord. 127 00:12:53.760 --> 00:13:20.240 Verse 6. I'm in the punch line. You know, I have, I have 25, sorry, 32 verses 25 and 26. 128 00:13:20.880 --> 00:13:26.640 Sorry for that confusion. I'm sure you were terrified when you heard me waiting for a scripture. 129 00:13:26.640 --> 00:13:32.400 I repent to that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for whatever emotions ran through your body right then. 130 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:39.120 I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I love, I can't even see his back. I love you. Gentleness with the media 131 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:48.880 team. I love you. Everything's okay. It's never your fault. It's mine. It's that. And when Moses saw 132 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:56.080 that the people were naked, this is the same party. They they melt down their jewelry. They make a 133 00:13:56.080 --> 00:14:01.600 golden calf. Like, if you actually look at this, they go, what is going on? But it's so easy to judge 134 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:08.000 them in the scriptures. Yeah, we behave this exact same way. You know, you look at the disciples, 135 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:13.840 they're watching the miracles happen in real time. And then at the next day, they're in doubt 136 00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:18.000 and I'm belief you go, how could they be this way? We're the same way. These things are our 137 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:23.920 examples. And it's an admonition to not be that way. And here they see the mighty miracle working 138 00:14:23.920 --> 00:14:30.080 power of God. We've seen the same thing. They tasted of God. We've tasted of God. Yet a few 139 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:34.720 demonic lies, we let it go into our minds. We let them take a foothold. And then we're doing the 140 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:39.760 same exact thing. They saw the people were naked for Aaron and made them naked unto their shame 141 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:48.000 among their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? 142 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:53.280 Let him come unto me and all the sons of Levi gather themselves together unto him. So this, 143 00:14:53.280 --> 00:14:59.680 you know, if the Bible were a book, I'm not going to say it'd be x-rated, but definitely NC 17. 144 00:15:01.680 --> 00:15:07.520 You notice the Bible isn't squeamish and it paints vivid pictures. Yet somehow it's still 145 00:15:07.520 --> 00:15:14.080 holy. I never had to shut the Bible and go, oh, wow, that's real. But they keep it real. God 146 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:22.560 keeps it real. And you say, wonder why they got naked? Oh, they got naked. They got naked because 147 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:30.320 they were given over the perversion and they were having an orgy. Yeah, it's kind of lustful. 148 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:37.680 How? How is it possible? How is it possible in a Christian's life? Because they got resurrected 149 00:15:37.680 --> 00:15:42.320 and they still got the grave clothes on. They've come out of Egypt, but Egypt hasn't come out of 150 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:50.640 them. So there has to be a holy brainwashing. Now, if you're content to live as a Christian with 151 00:15:50.640 --> 00:15:57.280 your demons, if you're content to be a Christian but still live under demonic oppression, 152 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.080 you want to always be begging for God for a miracle. You don't want to look like victory. You want 153 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:05.440 to keep getting your butt kicked by Satan. Don't pay attention to what I'm going to say. 154 00:16:06.160 --> 00:16:10.160 But I've made a decision. As for me in my house, we're going to serve the Lord. And it's a 155 00:16:10.160 --> 00:16:14.880 decision I've made for this church as well. You're not going to get your butts kicked. You're not 156 00:16:14.880 --> 00:16:19.360 going to be half-stepping with the Lord doing the hoki-poki, one foot in, one foot out. You're going 157 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:24.320 to be a shining example of his goodness and grace. You're going to be a trophy to the goodness of 158 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:30.560 the Lord. And that trophy looks like victory. It looks like freedom. Amen. But there has to be 159 00:16:30.560 --> 00:16:37.760 a renewing of the mind. And just PS, if you're doom-scrolling paganism. So what's, what do you mean, 160 00:16:37.760 --> 00:16:46.560 paganism? Paganism. The world. Everything out there. That's paganism. If that's what you're 161 00:16:46.560 --> 00:16:51.040 getting into your eye gate. If that's what you're getting into your ear gate. For hours of 162 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:55.280 day, you are being indoctrinated. You are being brainwashed. You said, I don't like to choose the word 163 00:16:55.280 --> 00:17:00.640 brainwashed. You're already getting brainwashed. The algorithms are doing their job. They're brainwashing 164 00:17:00.640 --> 00:17:07.200 you. You have to push back. You have to say, I will not be conformed to this world. There is a 165 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:14.240 reason why, by the way, now we have more therapists than ever before. We have more psychiatrists than 166 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:21.920 ever before. More psychoanalysts than ever before. And also, we have more people in depression than 167 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:27.040 ever before. More people in anxiety than ever before. More people battling suicidal thoughts than 168 00:17:27.040 --> 00:17:33.600 ever before. There is something about the world that we live in because it's now not just trickling 169 00:17:33.600 --> 00:17:39.920 in the paganism, the worldliness, the carnal thinking, the secularism. It's not just trickling 170 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:46.000 and it's being pumped in by the gallon. And Christians can just let their guard down and just 171 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:51.040 consume it. And then wonder why they don't have the victory of the Lord in their life. You're 172 00:17:51.040 --> 00:17:56.640 going to be transformed by the renewing of your mind and you won't be conformed to this world. 173 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:01.280 Come on, if you believe it and you want it, shout amen. Hallelujah. 174 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:11.760 So second Corinthians 10 verses three through five. Actually, let me pause there. Let me just pause 175 00:18:11.760 --> 00:18:21.200 there. We won't do that one yet, not yet. Because when this message came to me, it came to me in the 176 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:27.280 form of a question and I knew I had to ask this question of you. And the question was, when was the 177 00:18:27.280 --> 00:18:34.560 last time you took a stand? You actually took a stand against Satan. When was the last time you 178 00:18:34.560 --> 00:18:41.600 actually commanded him and broke his power over your life, over your home, over your family? 179 00:18:42.800 --> 00:18:51.920 And I just felt in my spirit that a disproportionate amount, I mean like 80%, which 80% of the people, 180 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:58.000 you have not taken a stand for your life verbally, not thought about it, not oh God help, 181 00:18:58.560 --> 00:19:06.400 but verbally rose up in your God-given authority and said devil no more in Jesus name. 182 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:13.280 Because it makes all the difference in the world. You have been given authority over the devil. 183 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:19.440 And by the way, there is a devil. This is the Satan is not a metaphor for evil in the world. 184 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:25.440 Satan is not just like an old timey belief for just the negative things in the universe. 185 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:33.280 He actually is a person. God is a person. Satan is a person. He once was Lucifer. He tried to ascend, 186 00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:38.880 pride was found within him. He said I will ascend and be higher than God. He was thrust down. A 187 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:45.440 third of heaven's angels rebelled along with Lucifer. They were thrust down and cast out of 188 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:52.080 heaven too. Those angels are now demons. Lucifer is now Satan and he hates you. You don't even 189 00:19:52.080 --> 00:19:57.680 know how much he hates you. Do you know why he hates you so much by the way? Because you have his 190 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:05.600 old job. Jesus said you're the light of the world. I felt the anointing there. His name was Lucifer. 191 00:20:05.600 --> 00:20:12.000 He used to be the light bearer. That's why immediately in the garden when he saw who God had created 192 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.560 and they were made in the similitude of God. They were made in the image of God and he saw that 193 00:20:16.560 --> 00:20:22.960 holy ghost outshining from them. He knew I want to sabotage them right away. I hate them. I'm 194 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:29.520 envious of them. I want to destroy them. And by the way, he has no limits. If you've ever been 195 00:20:29.520 --> 00:20:35.360 in the dark place, if you've ever had your home really attacked by Satan, you realize he doesn't 196 00:20:35.360 --> 00:20:39.840 have any limits or boundaries. He's never destroying you and then all of a sudden feels bad and 197 00:20:39.840 --> 00:20:45.680 goes, wow, I really, I did a number on them. I'm going to back off and let them catch your breather. 198 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.160 He has no limits. He will keep destroying and keep pushing until that Christian rises up in their 199 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:59.120 God-given authority and commit, yes, I said, come, come, come, man's him to stop. And there's people 200 00:20:59.120 --> 00:21:03.120 right here. I'm not angry by the way. I got to preach in a certain way because there are spirits 201 00:21:03.120 --> 00:21:07.040 right now that don't want me saying this. So if it seems like I'm aggressive, it's not at you. 202 00:21:07.040 --> 00:21:16.880 I love you. I kiss you. I hug you. But there is a heavenly fury that must seize you because 203 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:20.960 he will not relent. He's not meek. He's not gentle. 204 00:21:25.520 --> 00:21:31.920 So let me just pause in the direction I was going and then just talk to you about what Jesus has 205 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.680 given you after the cross because a lot of people, they're getting their butts kicked by Satan and 206 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:44.880 they don't even know they can do anything about it. I got an early lesson in this right as I was 207 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:49.520 getting saved. Thank God that the church, that the Lord first brought me to, they understood there 208 00:21:49.520 --> 00:21:55.600 is a spirit realm. They understood that the devil is real. They understood that Jesus meant it 209 00:21:55.600 --> 00:22:01.680 when he said Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. Then he said, I've come that you might have 210 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:06.320 life and that you would have it in abundance. But when I was getting saved, I was in that Burger King 211 00:22:06.320 --> 00:22:12.240 across the street from the church. And the man bringing me to the Lord, he had me repeat after him. 212 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:16.480 And he said, say this, the blood of Jesus. I went to blood of Jesus. He said, say it again, but with 213 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:23.520 all your heart. Oh, no, the blood of Jesus. And then he said, say Satan, I renounce you in Jesus 214 00:22:23.520 --> 00:22:28.560 name. And I said, Satan, I renounce you in Jesus name. And I felt like somebody just unplugged me 215 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:35.120 like, woo, like just a swirl in my head, but a good swirl, like one of relief. I'm 16 years old. 216 00:22:35.120 --> 00:22:40.480 It was my first time sensing something like that, feeling the supernatural like that. 217 00:22:41.280 --> 00:22:47.520 And I went, woo, I went to Burger King. Burger King napkins, all crushed all over for me, blown 218 00:22:47.520 --> 00:22:51.760 my everything out. I've been crying. They're just listening to him. Tell me the gospel. And I open 219 00:22:51.760 --> 00:22:56.000 my eyes and he goes, did you feel that? I'm like, yeah, he said, I just saw two evil spirits 220 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:00.640 fly off from your head. Now, if somebody says just says that to you, if somebody said that to me, 221 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:06.480 I would have said, you know what? I don't know if Bellevue is still open, but Bellevue mental 222 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:09.360 hospital is going strong in the early 90s. That's it. You've got to get to Bellevue. 223 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:18.480 But I sensed it. I felt you can lie to me. I felt stuff. Leave me. And I'm, it was like, I can 224 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:22.400 breathe and see for the first time. And he said I saw two evil spirits. So I believed him. 225 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:29.680 So I want to give you just three scriptures. And if you're having trouble in this area, 226 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:36.160 because no, if you're a Christian, you cannot be possessed by the devil. But you can be oppressed. 227 00:23:36.800 --> 00:23:41.680 Possession is on the inside of your spirit. Your spirit is born again. Your spirit is filled with 228 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:46.400 the Holy Spirit. But there's a lot of Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit. But from the 229 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:53.760 outside in, the devil is harassing them, oppressing them. They feel heavy. They feel stuck. 230 00:23:53.760 --> 00:23:58.160 They feel like just moving through life that they're pushing up against the concrete wall. 231 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:02.720 They're tormented with night terrors at night. Their flesh is out of control. They're doing 232 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:09.920 their engaged in sin that they don't even like. But they find themselves defiling themselves. 233 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:15.360 And they're going, I don't even know why I keep doing this. It's satanic bondage. And Jesus 234 00:24:15.360 --> 00:24:20.480 has given you the keys. And Jesus has set you free. You got to walk through the door, though. 235 00:24:21.120 --> 00:24:25.200 By the way, did you know that the anointing, when Jesus announces the anointing in 61, he said, 236 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:30.800 I've come to proclaim liberty to the captives. Not to set them free. But I've already set you free. 237 00:24:30.800 --> 00:24:34.720 What are you doing? It's like coming up to a prison cell and prisoners are in there with a crusty 238 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:41.600 bread, you know, tin water cup. And the doors wide open. I've set you free. Walk through the door. 239 00:24:41.600 --> 00:24:52.800 All right, Luke 10, 19, we're talking about why you have the authority to take control of your 240 00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:59.040 life. Of course, submitted to God, but not allow Satan to mess with you. When was the last time 241 00:24:59.040 --> 00:25:07.040 fathers? You took authority over the devil. Christians have one or two problems. One, they never 242 00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:15.600 even take authority over the devil. And they just get buffeted for years on end. Or they learn 243 00:25:15.600 --> 00:25:19.120 something like this. And then all they're doing is casting out demons and talking to the devil 244 00:25:19.120 --> 00:25:24.720 all the time. And that's how you get a crazymatic, which is a crazy charismatic. And that's why 245 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:30.160 some Christians get weird and get goofy. And everything is, you know, they see a demon behind 246 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:38.720 every bush. Don't be that person. But also don't be the Christian who's just waiting for God to do 247 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:44.960 it. When God has already done it, you have to rise up in his authority now. Hallelujah. 248 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:54.400 Some of you need to pace your home and say, Satan, I forbid you. I forbid you in Jesus' name 249 00:25:54.480 --> 00:26:00.480 to have any activity here. Consecrate your home. You have to do it. I can't do it for you. 250 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:05.840 You know why? Because you have authority over your life. You have way more authority over your 251 00:26:05.840 --> 00:26:12.320 own life than I have over your life. You get the spiritual implications. Like every week I pray for 252 00:26:12.320 --> 00:26:16.480 a city light, Lord, let your hand be a ponsent. We as a staff will oftentimes we plead the blood of 253 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:22.640 Jesus on the church. That's good. That's right for us to do. But it's a general sweeping kind of 254 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:30.960 carpet prayer. And that's good. But nowhere near as effective as when you, over your own life, 255 00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:37.520 said, declare, Satan, I cancel your plans over my life. Because he has plans for you. And they're not 256 00:26:37.520 --> 00:26:45.600 nice. But you can break them and you have to open up your mouth. I say that because a lot of people 257 00:26:45.600 --> 00:26:51.120 do a whole lot of thinking. It's not real until you say it out loud. That's why Satan battles you 258 00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:59.120 so much when you try to say it out loud. Oh, I'll sound crazy. Oh, I'll sound weird. Oh, just feels 259 00:26:59.120 --> 00:27:09.120 off. Look at the biblical pattern. They didn't whisper. They didn't think thoughts. They spoke. You 260 00:27:09.120 --> 00:27:16.640 received salvation by opening your mouth and speaking and saying, Jesus is Lord. Hallelujah. So here's 261 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:23.440 a foundational verse. Behold, I give you the authority. This is Jesus giving you authority. You 262 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:31.600 know what authority is delegated power. I haven't seen the old time the 80s meter maids. 263 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:40.560 Not the meat, but the traffic cops, not meter maids, but the traffic cops. Back in the 80s, it was lit. 264 00:27:41.360 --> 00:27:46.000 They would have their walkman on and they would be dancing in the streets. This is back like New 265 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.320 York was so different. They're rollerbladers. It was like crazy in the streets. And then you'd have 266 00:27:50.320 --> 00:27:53.760 the traffic cop. I'm not going to dance for you, but you know, they'd be doing like, huh? 267 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:03.920 Well, like dancing would headphones on. 120 pound woman stopping a Mac truck. How does that happen? 268 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:10.560 They see that white glove go up and the Mac truck has to grind to a hold. Why? Because she has 269 00:28:10.560 --> 00:28:17.600 authority, which is delegated power. He's not stopping because Nancy put her hand up. He's 270 00:28:17.600 --> 00:28:22.480 stopping because Nancy now in her role is a representative of the state and city of New York. 271 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:27.360 And when that white cloth glove goes up, I better stop because I don't want to ticket. You have been 272 00:28:27.360 --> 00:28:34.720 given authority, which is delegated power. Jesus gave it to you to do what? To trample on 273 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:39.440 serpents. And there should be no Christian who's afraid of Satan. There should be no Christian 274 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:45.280 whoever gets night terrors. There should be no Christian who is afraid to claim their house for 275 00:28:45.280 --> 00:28:51.040 the Lord, to claim their life for the Lord and to break Satan's power. Some of you are getting set 276 00:28:51.040 --> 00:28:56.240 free. Some of you are hearing this for the first time and you're about to be loosed and let go. 277 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:03.200 Those mummy clothes stink. You're going to put on a nice crisp dress or a nice crisp tux, hallelujah. 278 00:29:05.120 --> 00:29:10.160 Gender appropriate too. Amen. That's how delivered you're going to be. You're going to know the 279 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:19.920 difference no matter what culture tells you. Hallelujah. Behold, I give you the authority to trample 280 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:26.480 on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing, shout nothing. 281 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:33.520 Nothing shall by any means hurt you. Hallelujah. 282 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:48.720 You ever feel stuck? That's not oftentimes. I mean sometimes not everything is the devil. 283 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:54.640 I'll concede to that. Not everything is the devil, but he's behind a lot of things. 284 00:29:55.200 --> 00:30:00.160 And you can get stuck in life and it feels like you're just on a treadmill or just you have no 285 00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:07.920 the spark is gone. The hunger is gone. It's like the juice stopped flowing. The energy is gone. 286 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:13.120 There is a demonic agenda to keep you stuck. What do you do? You have to do something. You have 287 00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:18.720 to open your mouth. You have to declare. And most of this happens obviously in the privacy of your 288 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:26.800 own home. Satan, I break your power in Jesus name. You foul spirits trying to slow me down. 289 00:30:26.800 --> 00:30:31.760 I break your power in Jesus name. These are quick. This whole thing takes about 10 seconds or less. 290 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:37.840 You're not being invited to have debates with demons to engage in big conversations. 291 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:43.520 It's like talking to a dirty old mangy dog. Give the command, do it once and believe it took effect. 292 00:30:43.520 --> 00:30:49.280 Amen. But some of you got to start speaking. This whole thing is being birthed out of some of you. 293 00:30:49.280 --> 00:30:56.000 You're getting your butts kicked and it's unnecessary. You just need to take a stand. 294 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:05.520 Let's look at that next verse. Mark 16 and 17. Do you know that two thirds of Jesus' ministry 295 00:31:05.520 --> 00:31:15.200 was healing the sick and casting out demons? You actually hear so little about demons, Satan. 296 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:21.280 I mean, in spirit-filled circles, you hear it often enough. But there's whole branches of 297 00:31:21.280 --> 00:31:26.960 Christianity where they now believe Satan is just a metaphor for evil. Not really a being. 298 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:36.320 And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak 299 00:31:36.320 --> 00:31:42.320 with new tongues. It's really crazy with Jesus. This is like one of his last sentences on earth before 300 00:31:42.320 --> 00:31:48.400 he was caught back up. And he talks about healing the sick, casting out devils, speaking in the 301 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:56.800 Rima Stolara Precrefarama Shantara Rabanda. Tongs. Today, if they were to put Jesus's last words, 302 00:31:56.800 --> 00:32:02.240 so many Christians would say, and Jesus, departing them, said, now remember, be really, really sweet, 303 00:32:02.800 --> 00:32:10.720 and be really, really kind, and super, super extra tolerant, and above all, don't be judgmental, 304 00:32:10.800 --> 00:32:18.160 because that's the greatest sin of all. Oh, he's so much supernatural stuff. Hallelujah. And it's 305 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:28.240 applicable today. Ephesians 119, I'm giving you this because when you begin to exercise your authority, 306 00:32:29.040 --> 00:32:36.000 Satan's not going to just go, oh, wow, look at you. I'm terrified now. No, he's going to challenge you. 307 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:41.280 You say, how will he challenge me? In your mind, a question will arise. Hey, how do I get to do 308 00:32:41.280 --> 00:32:48.480 this? Is this even right? I never heard what Pastor said on Sunday. Maybe he's off. Maybe he, I mean, 309 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:57.760 he will do anything to get you to stop. So you need to have scripture, because forget what I say, 310 00:32:57.760 --> 00:33:03.520 but definitely don't forget what the scripture says. You need a biblical foundation. That's why I'm 311 00:33:03.600 --> 00:33:09.600 giving this to you. So when Satan challenges you and causes questions to arise, all he wants to do 312 00:33:09.600 --> 00:33:18.480 is get you to be squeamish, back down, and just take it. And he is terrified of the Christian who 313 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:25.600 actually arises in their God-given authority. So here is one of the chief passages that talk about 314 00:33:25.600 --> 00:33:32.800 why you get to, why you get to take authority over the enemy. Where did this authority come from? 315 00:33:32.800 --> 00:33:38.320 I gave you two scriptures in Luke, another one in Mark, third time to charm, because it led out of 316 00:33:38.320 --> 00:33:43.360 the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything be established. Paul is praying for Christians that 317 00:33:43.360 --> 00:33:50.080 they would know what is the exceeding greatness of his power, toward us who believe, according to 318 00:33:50.080 --> 00:33:58.480 the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and 319 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:03.840 seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Hold on. So where is Jesus right now? 320 00:34:05.760 --> 00:34:18.320 Seated in heavenly places, right? All right. Far above. All principality and power and might and 321 00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:22.800 dominion. Now if you're new, you're like, all right, well, what is principality and power and might 322 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:30.560 and dominion? These are actually specific terms for demonic hierarchies, because they're not all 323 00:34:30.560 --> 00:34:38.880 itty bitty passenger demons. There is a demonic hierarchy, and you see this again in Ephesians 6 when 324 00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:44.000 he says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, spiritual 325 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:49.920 wickedness and high places. He's right now just establishing that Jesus isn't just above these 326 00:34:50.000 --> 00:35:00.000 things, but as an added, he says far above. Jesus has been lifted up far above every demonic hierarchy. 327 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.960 Now question, and the answer is in Ephesians 2.6, where are you in all this? 328 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:11.200 Someone came so close, you're so far. I'm not going to pick on him. 329 00:35:13.680 --> 00:35:18.320 Someone said next to Jesus, that's close, but it's even better than that. It's actually within him. 330 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:27.120 You are seated in Christ, in heavenly places. Are you catching this? Seems like you're but in the 331 00:35:27.120 --> 00:35:34.480 physical, in the naturalism, 4401 Broadway, but in the spirit, you're seated within Christ. 332 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:37.040 You have to know this man, this has to be a reality in your life, 333 00:35:38.720 --> 00:35:45.200 so that when you give the command to any evil spirit, it's not you shouting in desperation. 334 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:52.400 I've seen some Christians that haven't been taught, right? It actually looks, I say this with 335 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:59.920 love in my heart, but just like pathetic. Like, leave me alone. You are not crying out helplessly. 336 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:07.520 You are royalty. Jesus has made you so. Your sins are forgiven. You have been made righteous, 337 00:36:07.520 --> 00:36:12.560 and then Jesus took you in. You're in the body of Christ, and you've been exalted. You've been 338 00:36:12.560 --> 00:36:20.320 elevated. You're, even though your physical butt is at 4401 Broadway, in the spirit, you are 339 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:28.720 within Jesus on the very throne room, the very throne of God, so that when you give a command, 340 00:36:28.720 --> 00:36:34.160 because now you, in Christ, you're far above all principality and power, might and dominion. 341 00:36:34.720 --> 00:36:36.400 You're actually talking down to that thing. 342 00:36:36.560 --> 00:36:45.360 When I go somebody's experiencing demonic oppression, I realize I'm talking down to this thing. 343 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:54.000 It must obey, because I'm in Christ, and he's given me authority, and I'm seated in heavenly places 344 00:36:54.000 --> 00:37:00.560 in Christ, far above all might and dominion and principality and power, and every name that is 345 00:37:00.560 --> 00:37:06.160 named, not only in this age, but in also in that which is to come, oh, it gets better watches, 346 00:37:06.160 --> 00:37:11.360 and he put all things under his feet. So somebody here, you said, you know what, pastor, 347 00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:16.960 this sounds nice, but I got saved last week, and I realize I'm in the body of Christ, but I feel 348 00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:24.560 like I'm just like the little toe on the foot of the body of Christ. Well, even if you're the little 349 00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:33.040 toe, you're still under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church. 350 00:37:33.040 --> 00:37:38.640 That simply means he gave Jesus to be the head for the church's sake, which is his body, 351 00:37:38.640 --> 00:37:52.320 the fullness of him, who fills all in all. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. 352 00:37:54.560 --> 00:38:00.240 All right, we got to get to second Corinthians. Thank you, Jesus. 353 00:38:06.560 --> 00:38:12.160 Thank you, Lord. You feel like your finances are just being squeezed? 354 00:38:16.080 --> 00:38:19.680 When was the last time you out loud, and there's a key to that, 355 00:38:20.080 --> 00:38:26.720 because Satan's not afraid of your naughty thoughts against him. Oh, you thought devil back off. 356 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:33.280 What was the last time out loud? Husbands, get in the habit of agreeing with your spouse. 357 00:38:34.720 --> 00:38:39.280 You know how long it takes to agree 15 seconds. You're like, that's all I'll ever agree with them 358 00:38:39.280 --> 00:38:45.120 about. 15 seconds. Good enough. It's a good start. You keep agreeing for those precious 15 seconds 359 00:38:46.080 --> 00:38:49.680 that it'll get prolonged, and then be a couple of minutes, then you'll be just 360 00:38:49.680 --> 00:38:53.120 lo and behold, walking in agreement as God intended with your spouse. 361 00:38:54.960 --> 00:39:01.120 But you get together in out loud. Just learn to say Satan, I break your power in Jesus name. 362 00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:08.160 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 363 00:39:09.200 --> 00:39:14.160 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical. They're not natural. They're not carnal. 364 00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:20.880 But mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, I'll just stop right there. 365 00:39:22.240 --> 00:39:28.080 A stronghold. Can anybody tell me what a stronghold is? Like in biblical language, 366 00:39:28.080 --> 00:39:33.360 or middle English language, or you know, you're like Lord of the Rings. 367 00:39:36.080 --> 00:39:43.760 A fortress. That's a stronghold. A keep. A castle. A big house. A stone house. 368 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:54.080 A fortress, whatever. That's a stronghold. Paul is saying we have these weapons for the pulling 369 00:39:54.080 --> 00:40:00.800 down of strongholds. What are strongholds? Because this is a key to how Satan operates in our lives. 370 00:40:01.680 --> 00:40:07.200 Let's allow the Bible to define the Bible, because then it lists what a stronghold is in verse 5. 371 00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:17.600 Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, 372 00:40:17.600 --> 00:40:26.720 bringing every thought, shout thought, thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So listen 373 00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:36.880 now. A stronghold is a house or fortress made of thoughts. And there's different kind of strongholds. 374 00:40:36.880 --> 00:40:40.880 Now you even have motivational speakers who will teach on this. They just take Jesus out. 375 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:46.960 And they won't use the term stronghold, but they'll talk about mindset, your mindset, 376 00:40:46.960 --> 00:40:53.680 your mental position, your mental stance. There's a stronghold of poverty. See, when you were 377 00:40:53.680 --> 00:40:58.080 four or five years old, you said, mommy, daddy, can I get that? And they said, no, we can't afford that. 378 00:40:58.080 --> 00:41:04.720 And you went, oh, we can't afford that. And there was a brick called poverty. And the brick 379 00:41:04.720 --> 00:41:09.040 went along with the thought we can't afford. And then you heard that about a couple of hundred more 380 00:41:09.040 --> 00:41:12.640 times in one form or another. Now you got a couple of hundred bricks making that fortress. 381 00:41:13.680 --> 00:41:20.000 Then you went to school, you came out, you struggled, and then you kept receiving these lies from 382 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:28.080 Satan. Each brick is a lie. It's a self-destructive thought. And then a stronghold is when you've amassed 383 00:41:28.080 --> 00:41:33.760 enough bricks. Now you have this mindset, this fortress that's contrary to the truth of God, 384 00:41:33.760 --> 00:41:40.400 built up in your mind. And that's how Satan operates. So what do you do? What can you do? 385 00:41:41.120 --> 00:41:46.080 Well, there's only one thing that eradicates a lie. And that's the truth. 386 00:41:46.160 --> 00:41:53.760 So when you're presented with a lie, the Holy Spirit will, as you walk with Him, He will alert you. 387 00:41:55.360 --> 00:42:01.120 You then have to find the truth of God's word and speak that out loud to cause that brick to be 388 00:42:01.120 --> 00:42:06.720 dismantled. And over time, and how long it takes is up to you and how aggressive you want to be with 389 00:42:06.720 --> 00:42:12.320 this. But over time, you will dismantle it, brick by brick by brick until the whole fortress comes 390 00:42:12.400 --> 00:42:20.240 crumbling down and you're completely free. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. 391 00:42:23.200 --> 00:42:28.400 There's people who have a stronghold of, I'm always going to struggle in life. And you know how 392 00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:34.320 that starts? Satan whispers. You get the thought, life is hard. I'm always going to struggle in life. 393 00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:39.840 It's not your thought. It's a demonic thought. You have your thoughts, but have you ever had 394 00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:43.600 intrusive thoughts? It's kind of like a fiery dart being chucked into your cerebellum. Oh, 395 00:42:45.520 --> 00:42:50.560 I'm always going to struggle. But you don't go to the truth of God, you go, yeah. And then a 396 00:42:50.560 --> 00:42:55.760 thought comes with a memory. Yeah, I struggled when I was 12. I struggled when I was 50. And 397 00:42:55.760 --> 00:43:01.440 internally, you say, yeah, I guess I will always struggle. Oh, now you just partnered with that lie. 398 00:43:02.560 --> 00:43:08.320 See, even though you're saved, even though technically it's illegal for Satan to mess with you, 399 00:43:08.320 --> 00:43:13.120 but when you partner with his lies, you now open the door, open a window and say, hey, come on in. 400 00:43:15.200 --> 00:43:19.520 And then he does it again. You're struggling and goes, see, all you do is ever struggle. You go, 401 00:43:19.520 --> 00:43:24.880 oh, yeah, all I do is ever struggle. And brick by brick, you now concoct the fortress made of 402 00:43:24.880 --> 00:43:30.080 lies. And that's a stronghold. That's how the devil operates. You've got to receive the truth 403 00:43:30.080 --> 00:43:36.880 of God's word. Hallelujah. Enemy tells me, oh, all I do is struggle. Well, the word of God says 404 00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:42.880 that the way of a transgressor is hard and full of sorrow. But Jesus said, my yoke is easy. 405 00:43:42.880 --> 00:43:51.360 And my burden is light. That's the truth. Hallelujah. Oh, the devil tries to get me to think like. 406 00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:59.200 But the truth is that the Lord is my shepherd. I will not lack. He makes my cup to overflow. Hallelujah. 407 00:43:59.840 --> 00:44:09.760 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. And then I want to talk about one final thing, which I preached 408 00:44:09.760 --> 00:44:16.240 on years ago, the Lord pushed me to preach on it. And I honestly thought this has no audience here 409 00:44:16.240 --> 00:44:20.720 at City Light. And I preached on it. And then I was mobbed up to service by all the people saying, 410 00:44:20.720 --> 00:44:26.560 thank you so much for talking about that. And that's actually about witchcraft and the occult, 411 00:44:26.560 --> 00:44:34.240 because it makes no sense to know your authority in Christ and who you are in Christ. But meanwhile, 412 00:44:34.240 --> 00:44:42.240 you've allowed Satan to come into your life because you have inroads into your life specifically 413 00:44:42.240 --> 00:44:48.960 from witchcraft. And I know I had a background in that, but I didn't think so many people would 414 00:44:48.960 --> 00:44:58.800 identify. But the reality is that the reality is that Satan has tried to destroy this country, 415 00:44:58.800 --> 00:45:03.600 has tried to destroy Christian them in this country. And when you allow tens of millions of 416 00:45:03.600 --> 00:45:11.520 pagans to come in with their paganism and false gods and new ages, it's going to affect 417 00:45:12.480 --> 00:45:22.080 the climate and culture of a nation, amen. So when I was in sixth grade, 418 00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:29.760 I had a spiritual hunger. Now remember I was raised as an agnostic atheist. You say, 419 00:45:29.760 --> 00:45:35.600 which one we didn't know. We were so confused. My parents and I. But I had a hunger for the 420 00:45:35.680 --> 00:45:43.280 supernatural. And in my class, there was a girl. And she let me know how her aunt was a witch. 421 00:45:44.080 --> 00:45:48.560 And that intrigued me because I was so hungry for the supernatural. I knew there was more to this 422 00:45:48.560 --> 00:45:52.800 world. Even though I had no Christian upbringing or training or discipleship, I knew there was more 423 00:45:52.800 --> 00:46:00.160 to this world than the physical realm. And she said, my auntie is a witch. And she kind of intrigued 424 00:46:00.240 --> 00:46:06.400 me. And then I went to the library and I got books on witchcraft. And there were spells there. 425 00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:13.040 And some of the spells I would mimic. And then there was this, I was raising four stills 426 00:46:13.040 --> 00:46:20.480 queens in the, in the mini mall. There was this new age store. I got a Ouija board. I got tarot 427 00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:28.000 carts. I actually got multiple Ouija boards and multiple tarot carts. I was searching for something. 428 00:46:30.160 --> 00:46:34.640 I remember one time I slept on that deck of tarot carts because she said my auntie, 429 00:46:35.360 --> 00:46:40.800 who's a witch, said, you need to sleep on them for a week before you use them. 430 00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:47.280 Wrap them in silk. I said, mom, do you have a silk scarf? Yeah. Can I borrow that? 431 00:46:47.280 --> 00:46:53.680 And I would try to sleep on them. I will never forget. I tossed and I turned. And this isn't 432 00:46:53.680 --> 00:46:58.080 the princess and the peak kind of thing like a little bump. It was underneath the mattress. I 433 00:46:58.080 --> 00:47:06.560 remember tossing and turning and being sweaty from head to toe. I was, I was activating something 434 00:47:06.560 --> 00:47:11.920 that was not right for me to activate. And that's the problem with witchcraft and sorcery and 435 00:47:11.920 --> 00:47:18.480 any of these things. It's your going and touching on a realm that God has not given you dominion 436 00:47:18.480 --> 00:47:24.160 over. At least definitely not to go there on your own. If you're going to go there, go like how 437 00:47:24.160 --> 00:47:28.640 John did in the book of Revelation. The Lord took him up. Amen. He was wrapped in the spirit's 438 00:47:28.640 --> 00:47:44.000 power. Hallelujah. And so then after I got saved, I had these blazing headaches that would come. 439 00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:50.240 And it only happened like a few weeks after I got saved. And my parents didn't know yet 440 00:47:51.200 --> 00:47:55.360 that I'd become a Christian. I couldn't tell them. I don't know what the consequences would be. 441 00:47:56.000 --> 00:48:01.600 When my dad found out they were not good. But God is faithful and he had both of them come to the 442 00:48:01.600 --> 00:48:06.560 Lord. But we lived on the 12th floor and I couldn't make the call. My dad was working from home 443 00:48:06.560 --> 00:48:12.000 before it was cool to work from home in the 90s. I couldn't do it from within my home. So I went 444 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:17.280 down to the lobby and used the payphone. And the man that I that led me to the Lord, I said, 445 00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:21.520 man, I'm getting all these blazing headaches. And thank God for the Holy Spirit and the gifts of 446 00:48:21.520 --> 00:48:25.280 the Holy Spirit. Because most Christians, someone said I'm getting blazing headaches. They'd be like, 447 00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:31.520 huh, have you tried IV hydration packets? Are you getting enough water? Maybe a good multivitamin. 448 00:48:31.520 --> 00:48:37.280 I said, I'm getting these blazing headaches. And he went, mm, mm, mm, mm, is rustle. You know when 449 00:48:37.280 --> 00:48:44.480 rustle starts, mm, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are working. Do you have some witchcraft stuff 450 00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:49.840 in your house? When he said that, I went, oh, yeah, yeah, but I don't, I don't mess with it. 451 00:48:49.840 --> 00:48:53.600 I don't, he said, you need to get that stuff out of your house. I still have the tarot cards, 452 00:48:53.600 --> 00:48:58.880 the Ouija board and all that stuff. Let me read to you some scriptures. Why am I talking about this? 453 00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:04.800 Because believe it or not, there's people right now here and you're trying to get the victory 454 00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:10.400 and you have this, this garbage that's a portal to the demonic realm in your home. All right? 455 00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:18.400 And you need to destroy it. Do not sell it and pass the demon to somebody else for profit. 456 00:49:19.600 --> 00:49:22.720 All right, you got a Jade Buddha? Destroy it. 457 00:49:27.120 --> 00:49:34.400 Go and shave it off and get a nice Jade Circle. You got a 22-carat Hindu God with 19 arms and 458 00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:42.320 15 legs and well, you can melt that down, smelt that down. But destroy it, amen. 459 00:49:43.760 --> 00:49:50.160 If you want to know a good smelter, I know a guy on 47th Street. It will smelt gold down. 460 00:49:50.160 --> 00:49:55.440 It only charges a couple hundred dollars and give you, no, really, I know him and if you ever do, 461 00:49:56.720 --> 00:50:02.400 no, it's time to cleanse some houses, amen. There's Christians, they're still open to astrology. 462 00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:08.160 They still, the thing that psychics are cool, oh, I just read the horoscope. So Tihi, I want, 463 00:50:08.160 --> 00:50:12.400 back in the day, remember 20 years ago, you get that stupid email, send us to 10 friends to get 464 00:50:12.400 --> 00:50:26.480 good luck. I delete that right away. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You want the stuff as far away from you 465 00:50:26.480 --> 00:50:35.600 as possible? Deuteronomy 18 versus 10 through 11. There shall not be found among you, 466 00:50:36.720 --> 00:50:43.920 anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, 467 00:50:43.920 --> 00:50:51.440 or a suitsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or 468 00:50:51.440 --> 00:51:00.640 a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead, for all do these, all that do these things 469 00:51:00.640 --> 00:51:05.680 are an abomination to the Lord. So, you know, there's sin, there's iniquity, and then there's 470 00:51:05.680 --> 00:51:10.800 this highest level of abomination. So, God is just letting you know that He's serious about this 471 00:51:10.800 --> 00:51:19.440 stuff. You cannot play in the spirit realm when you're outside of God's will, you are going to get 472 00:51:19.440 --> 00:51:26.480 hurt, and you need to cleanse your house, repent of anything you've done before. Oh, looking at me 473 00:51:26.480 --> 00:51:34.000 like I'm preaching to the wrong people. There's 161 nations and queens. 50 nations represented 474 00:51:34.000 --> 00:51:41.040 at City Light. That means we have some catching up to do. Amen. I want the other 111. Amen. 475 00:51:43.040 --> 00:51:48.400 But when you have that, you're going to get a hodgepodge of weird pagan beliefs mixed in. My 476 00:51:48.400 --> 00:51:54.000 own weird come from former Yugoslavia. My mother, when she got saved, she still, after she got saved, 477 00:51:54.000 --> 00:52:00.240 she came out of Egypt. Egypt hadn't come out of her. She would still at work. When I was 17, 478 00:52:00.240 --> 00:52:04.080 I visited her at work, and I never forget she's sitting there with her girlfriends for the lunch 479 00:52:04.080 --> 00:52:09.040 break. They're smoking and drinking coffee. And just the funny memory, because that was normal 480 00:52:09.040 --> 00:52:13.600 in the early 90s, you could just smoke in an office on lunch break. Today, they'd have like a five 481 00:52:13.600 --> 00:52:20.000 alarm fire, the fireman would come and douse you out. And then she lifts up the cup of coffee, 482 00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:23.840 what they would do is turn the Turkish coffee upside down and leave it for about 15-20 minutes. 483 00:52:23.840 --> 00:52:28.560 And then as the coffee would coat the inside of the cup, it would create these weird images, 484 00:52:28.560 --> 00:52:34.560 almost like hieroglyphics and just random patterns, but then they would use it to foretell the future. 485 00:52:36.240 --> 00:52:40.480 I know some did it with surprising accuracy. By the way, demons don't know the future. 486 00:52:40.960 --> 00:52:47.120 You don't want to know how that works? A demon says, I see your marriage is going to fall apart. 487 00:52:47.120 --> 00:52:52.080 And then the person who believes that, now they partner with that and the marriage falls apart. 488 00:52:52.080 --> 00:52:56.400 It didn't predict the future. It made that future happen when the person partnered with a lie. 489 00:53:04.800 --> 00:53:08.480 For all who do these things are an abomination. We read that, didn't we? 490 00:53:08.480 --> 00:53:14.000 All right, second chronicles, 33-6. I don't want to reread an Old Testament verse more times 491 00:53:14.000 --> 00:53:19.280 than I have to. Because there's always that harshness, right? All who do, I mean, right? 492 00:53:19.280 --> 00:53:24.240 There's a reason why in Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino had him read from the Old Testament, 493 00:53:24.240 --> 00:53:31.680 not from you. Even though it's a made up verse. Well, I lost you on that one. 494 00:53:31.840 --> 00:53:39.520 Also, if Sherman Doll was watching us right now, he's so happy. 495 00:53:41.360 --> 00:53:46.000 Also, he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the Sun of Hinoam. 496 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:49.840 He practiced suits saying, use witchcraft and sorcery and consulted mediums and 497 00:53:49.840 --> 00:53:54.960 spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. 498 00:53:57.920 --> 00:54:08.000 Leviticus 1931, give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits. Do not seek after them to be 499 00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:15.200 defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. Revelation 21-8. You're all good? 500 00:54:16.160 --> 00:54:24.240 All right. This is great for Revelation 21-8. Because it's listing the characteristics of people 501 00:54:24.240 --> 00:54:33.840 who are hellbound. And notice what it puts first, but the cowardly, the unbelieving, 502 00:54:36.080 --> 00:54:39.760 then it lists some pretty heinous stuff, but just note for your own personal use 503 00:54:40.400 --> 00:54:47.760 that we are cautioned to never be cowardly. Stuff I preached last week. 504 00:54:50.960 --> 00:54:54.800 I feel like, you know, some pastor friends watched and they said, we're just going to get the 505 00:54:54.800 --> 00:55:01.040 word out that you are not suicidal after preaching that. You have no suicidal thoughts whatsoever. 506 00:55:01.360 --> 00:55:08.960 I want you to rise up. God will protect you. God will take care of you. 507 00:55:09.600 --> 00:55:14.400 Honestly, I would rather die and be with the Lord than be a coward on earth. 508 00:55:15.280 --> 00:55:24.160 Coward. One of those scrawny, small, on the inside. I'd rather just be at home with the 509 00:55:24.160 --> 00:55:30.800 Lord than be one of those people. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, 510 00:55:30.800 --> 00:55:36.480 murderous, sexually moral sorcerers, idolaters, and I just want people to see. You might say, 511 00:55:36.480 --> 00:55:41.280 why are you hammering this already? I get it because you have another conversations I've had 512 00:55:41.280 --> 00:55:46.560 with some Christians. When they get that witchcrafted demonic occultic hook in them, it is very 513 00:55:46.560 --> 00:55:55.600 hard for them to let go. Can I just keep my crystals? You know what I'm talking about. 514 00:55:55.600 --> 00:56:00.080 I should have asked you to give a testimony. If anything comes up, just raise your hand. 515 00:56:02.080 --> 00:56:08.960 Cassandra comes from that. When we first had dinner, the four of us, we bonded over some of that stuff. 516 00:56:09.280 --> 00:56:16.880 No, because you're very rarely meet somebody. No, but not in that weird way. She was described, 517 00:56:16.880 --> 00:56:21.040 but she was the only one who ever described something that I experienced, but she was way more 518 00:56:21.040 --> 00:56:25.920 deep than me. I was in the realm of what you were called, what do they call that? Adabler. 519 00:56:26.880 --> 00:56:32.560 She was eyebrow deep. I was knee deep. So honestly, people should come to you if they have any 520 00:56:32.560 --> 00:56:42.560 questions. All right, let's just worship team come on up. Acts 19. Acts 19. I'll close with 521 00:56:42.560 --> 00:56:49.680 Acts 19 verses 17 through 20. Remember, you have authority over Satan. Do it out loud. 522 00:56:52.080 --> 00:56:56.080 I'm just going to bless you and your little guy, all right? I want you to stretch your hands 523 00:56:56.080 --> 00:57:02.960 towards them. And this I'm doing just to teach so you can learn. Learn to command out of your 524 00:57:02.960 --> 00:57:11.440 mouth. God has given you commanding power. Say this in the name of Jesus. We bless you in the name 525 00:57:11.440 --> 00:57:23.280 of Jesus. You are free. Satan has no more authority. We break his power over your life. You will 526 00:57:23.280 --> 00:57:30.880 serve the Lord. You will prosper in our God. You will show forth his victory from this day on 527 00:57:30.880 --> 00:57:44.320 word. Everything changes. Be blessed. Amen. Amen. I felt that. Look at him. Come here, little man. 528 00:57:44.320 --> 00:57:51.040 Come here. Look at how old is he? Right here. Uncle Bobo. Come here. Look at this guy. 529 00:57:52.080 --> 00:57:59.280 How old is he? He's three, but the three, but he knows how to respond to the movement of the 530 00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:09.360 Holy Spirit. Look at that. Can you see him? You got it. Hold on. Look at that countenance. Look at him. 531 00:58:09.360 --> 00:58:27.600 Big jump. Come on. Let's close with Acts 19 because they just had an amazing crusade. 532 00:58:29.200 --> 00:58:36.000 A bunch of people got saved. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus 533 00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:43.920 and fear fell on them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Now we leave this out 534 00:58:43.920 --> 00:58:49.200 too many times in church, but they didn't leave it out. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks 535 00:58:49.200 --> 00:58:55.440 dwelling in Ephesus. Come on, next verse. Many who had believed came confessing and telling their 536 00:58:55.440 --> 00:59:03.200 deeds. Also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and then they 537 00:59:03.200 --> 00:59:10.800 put them on eBay to sell because they spent a lot of money. No. Together and burned them in the 538 00:59:10.800 --> 00:59:17.600 sight of all and they counted up the value of them and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver. 539 00:59:18.480 --> 00:59:26.000 It lists that specifically. I had a tarot card and Ouija board bonfire. I was 16 years old. 540 00:59:26.880 --> 00:59:31.120 I got a friend who had led to the Lord. He was around 14, 13 or 14. He was actually my friend's 541 00:59:31.120 --> 00:59:36.320 little brother, but he got saved as a brother, wouldn't. I said, I'm going to go burn this. 542 00:59:37.040 --> 00:59:42.960 I said, can I come? Yeah. Back then, New York City didn't have the waste baskets. It does now 543 00:59:42.960 --> 00:59:48.640 that are like a mesh. It had the 55 gallon drums and we put it in there. There was already some trash 544 00:59:48.640 --> 00:59:52.640 in there. I'll never forget. We tossed the match in there and it started burning. We were like, 545 00:59:53.200 --> 00:59:58.160 and then within 60 seconds, we'd turn around and it was a black thing of smoke. I just wanted to 546 00:59:58.160 --> 01:00:03.920 risk a lot of fire. That's a little too much fire. But in the early 90s in New York, nobody called 547 01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:11.920 the cops. Nobody showed up. But the reason why it says the cost specifically is to let you know, 548 01:00:11.920 --> 01:00:16.160 don't think what you may be hoarding or holding onto is too valuable. If it's a portal to the 549 01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:26.240 demonic realm, destroy it. Hallelujah. All right, let's all stand. You got to make a declaration 550 01:00:26.320 --> 01:00:32.720 over your life. This doesn't take long, but you have to know who you are in Jesus and say it with 551 01:00:32.720 --> 01:00:39.360 your whole chest. If you've never done this before, now's your chance. But say this in the name of 552 01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:52.080 Jesus. I belong to the Lord. I am His. And He has given me authority. Satan. I break your power 553 01:00:53.040 --> 01:01:04.640 in Jesus name. I cancel your plans over my life in Jesus name. The blood of Jesus on me, 554 01:01:05.520 --> 01:01:15.680 on my home, and on my family. I am the Lord's. I am blessed. And I have victory. Now shout a big 555 01:01:15.680 --> 01:01:29.840 hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Well, let's worship and honor the Lord with 556 01:01:29.840 --> 01:01:36.000 our tides and offerings. The giving and for you can be seated. The giving information is on 557 01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:42.720 the screens to my left and to my right. Just remember, we do have a full-time staff, a wonderful 558 01:01:42.720 --> 01:01:50.720 elite Navy SEALs team. If you have more questions about this, if you need help, if you're looking, 559 01:01:50.720 --> 01:01:54.480 if you're brand new and you heard something like this, you might feel absolutely overwhelmed and lost. 560 01:01:54.480 --> 01:01:59.200 We're not just sending out, okay, you got some info deal with it. We are here for you. But how do I 561 01:01:59.200 --> 01:02:04.640 get a hold of you? If you listen to past your mouth, see the beginning stages getting connected with 562 01:02:04.640 --> 01:02:12.560 us. Connection card. Info at CityLightNYC.com. But we want to help you and lead you in the things 563 01:02:12.560 --> 01:02:19.120 of God. Also the ministry team on my left, you're right, in that blue lit area. If something I said 564 01:02:19.120 --> 01:02:25.760 resonated with you, go up for prayer. Go up for prayer and ministry team will lay hands on you and pray 565 01:02:25.760 --> 01:02:37.200 with you and for you. But the great clothes are coming off. The musty mummy sense will be replaced. 566 01:02:41.200 --> 01:02:47.280 And I pray right now that the Lord will multiply your giving back to you. If you need to go, 567 01:02:48.000 --> 01:02:55.760 go. But if you can't stick around for a few more songs, because one of the greatest proactive ways 568 01:02:57.760 --> 01:03:06.080 that really is real spiritual warfare is praise and worship. We'll see you next week. And 569 01:03:06.960 --> 01:03:12.080 let's believe God for a mighty harvest of souls on Easter, two Sundays from now. Be blessed, CityLight. 570 01:03:12.080 --> 01:03:13.840 Be blessed. 571 01:03:42.080 --> 01:03:45.760 God loves you. And that you are surrounded by grace.