Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshipping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website ecb .asia or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. The Presence, Living Life
with the Holy Spirit. This series has the purpose
of inviting us to grow in intimacy with the Holy
Spirit as we follow Jesus. Because the Bible
says that the moment you and I believed in Jesus
and gave our life to him, at that moment he gave
us his Holy Spirit as a seal that will stay there
until the day of redemption. And therefore, for
the rest of our lives, we will follow Jesus indwelled
by the Holy Spirit. And that relationship of
the Holy Spirit is crucial in our experiencing
God and following Him. And there's a dimension
of this following Jesus that has to do with experiencing
the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit
in a different dimension than we experienced
before. In one of the studies when we looked
at the life of Philip, we saw how he empowered
the calling of these people. But now we're going
to be talking about God's power in a different
way. And for that, I want you to read out loud
with me what the Apostle John wrote to us Christians
to understand our relationship with the Holy
Spirit in this dimension that we're going to
be exploring today. Let's read it together. is
greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
And suddenly, now the apostle John is saying,
look, you have the Holy Spirit in you, but in
the world in which we live, there's another spirit
who is not holy. And that spirit the Bible calls
Satan, Lucifer, the devil. And the Bible describes
this kingdom of darkness as an organized, almost
like a mafia. These are evil entities who oppose
God, who hate you because you were created in
the image of God, and who desire to oppose you
and attack you and distort truth so that you
will not experience. Intimacy with the Lord.
And as we follow Jesus in this world, we have
to understand that we live in a spiritual reality
where we have God, but God is not the only spiritual
reality. We also have a devil that is a spiritual
reality. And I know for some of you, you're already
scared about this sermon. And you say, you know,
I don't believe in those kind of things. I'm
a very rational person. I believe in science.
What are you talking about? Mythology here. Trust
me. This is not mythology. Just keep listening.
The Bible describes this reality from the very
beginning. If you look at this map, you will
see the region of the world in which the church,
in which Jesus started ministering and the gospel
started spreading first. But if you look at the
region of Jerusalem, Israel, and all that section,
that entire section used to be the focus of the
Old Testament. conquering that land, leaving
Egypt to go to the Promised Land. And all of
that area was the focus of the writings of the
Old Testament. In the New Testament, that expanded
all the way to Asia Minor and Greece and the
area of Europe because the gospel started spreading
that way. But if you go back to the Mesopotamia
area, the Promised Land region, The Bible said
something to God's people in the Old Testament
that was very specific. And we're going to find
three specific warnings that are given to us
in this dimension of engaging in following God
while they're acknowledging all the spiritual
reality. The first warning. We can capture it
right there in the book of the Mosaic Law. In
Deuteronomy chapter 18, God tells the nation
of Israel, as they are being born, as they are
being formed at the very beginning, before they
go into Canaan and the Promised Land, when you
enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,
be careful not to imitate The detestable customs
of the nations living there. There were nations
living there. And they practiced things that
God says those are detestable. It's like completely
wrong. Don't even engage with that. What are
those practices? It tells us right there. For
example. Never sacrifice your son or daughter
as a burnt offering. Do not participate. Or agree
on the killing of a child or your offspring.
Because engaging in the killing of your offspring.
Is something that is completely contrary to God's
will and design. And then he says. And do not
let your people practice fortune telling. Or
use sorcery. or interpret omens, or engage in
witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums
or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the
dead. Do not engage with psychics, mediums, contact
the dead, none of that. Because this is part
of the detestable practices that these nations
have been engaged in. Anyone who does these things
is detestable to the Lord. It is because the
other nations have done these detestable things
that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead
of you. The very reason why I'm bringing you
Israel into this land is because I'm calling
you to be a nation. After my design and my heart
and my truth. And I want that light to permeate
all this darkness. But because these people have
engaged in all of this darkness. I am judging
them and I am driving them out of this place.
But once you get there, do not imitate those
practices. Because it is detestable. I do not
know if you have ever eaten something that you
hate. And you go like, let me taste. And you
go like, you will say, this is detestable. You
don't use that word. But that's the strength
of that word. This is so just wrong that I cannot
engage with that as God because it's completely
contrary. To me. And you see from the archaeology.
That it was no joke. These nations have all these
deities. And all of these deities were worshipped
in different ways. And some of them were worshipped
through the killing of children. And we still
have today the archaeological remains of that.
Babies that were severed in half, their heads
cut off, their bodies burnt, and we still have
those remains today. Also, the worshiping by
consulting mediums and spirits and all of these
different things. So Israel was warned, do not
be like them, but they did not listen and they
became just like them. And you fast forward in
the Old Testament and you move throughout centuries
of history and you see the decay, the decay,
the decay of the nation until you have the book
of the prophets in the Old Testament. And in
the book of the prophets, some of the prophets
will confront the nation on these things because
they had even brought all of these idols and
turned the temple of God into a house of worship
for idols. But it had become part of the culture,
the mindset of people. And in the book of Isaiah,
this is a second warning. It tells us God confronting
the nation and says, look, someone may say to
you, let's ask the mediums and those who console
the spirits of the dead with their whisperings
and mutterings. They will tell us what to do.
I need guidance for my business. I need to make
some financial decisions. So let me go to the
psychic. Maybe the psychic will give me direction
for my life. I'm dating this guy. I'm not sure
whether I should pursue it or not. So let me
ask the medium. Let me pay the psychic some money
to read the tarot for me so I can figure out
whether I should pursue this romantic relationship
or not. And this is how The nation was operating.
And God tells them, but shouldn't people ask
God for guidance? Who are you paying the psychic
to tell you about the future when I am the one
that knows the end from the beginning? Should
the living seek guidance from the dead? Who are
you trying to pay? Someone. To call the Spirit
of your Father so your Father can guide you on
something when in reality you have the living
God and the Holy Spirit living in you to guide
you. Look to God's instructions and teachings.
People who contradict His Word are completely
in the dark. And now you can see part of the
problem. Is that when people started turning
into these practices. They started replacing
God. The one true God. And this relationship
of intimacy with God. With things that belong
to spiritual darkness. And then. Jesus comes.
He becomes the savior of the world. The gospel
starts being preached throughout the nations.
And now you go back to the map. And all of these
nations of the Roman Empire were not different
from the Mesopotamian nations. They all had idols.
They worshipped spirits. They used psychics and
mediums. It was the same thing, just repackaged.
So when the apostle writes to the Christians
in Corinth, which is an area in Greece. You can
still visit Corinth today. In fact, I got the
privilege of visiting it several years ago and
stand right there in the ruins of the market
and you see the hill right there on top with
a temple ruins that were on top where people
worship all of these things. And they sacrificed
animals to these deities. And when the apostle
Paul writes to these Christians, he gives them
this warning. He says, what I'm trying to say
to you, well, am I saying that food offered to
idols has some significance or that idols are
real gods? No, not at all. Idols are just wood
shaped into something, stone painted with ice
and stuff. They are just nothing. They're not
gods. However, there's a spiritual reality behind
those idols. This is what I'm saying. I'm saying
that the sacrifices are offered to demons, not
to God. So if you're going to sacrifice an animal
to an idol, you're actually engaging with demons.
And the problem is that if you are following
Jesus and you have the Holy Spirit in you, I
don't want you to participate with demons. You
cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from
the cup of demons too. You cannot eat at the
Lord's table and at the table of demons too.
And now when the Apostle Paul brings this, now
we understand why the language in the Old Testament
is so strong. These things are detestable, God
says. It's because engaging in these things is
directly engaging with the kingdom of darkness
and with the spiritual entities that the Bible
calls demons or unclean spirits. And throughout
history, the majority of understanding of what
demons were is that these were fallen angels
that were part of Satan's kingdom. There have
been other theories proposed in later theology
about maybe these are the spirits of the people
that died in the flood, or some of those spirits
of the people that were the offspring of angels
and humans that the Bible talks about in Genesis,
and all these theories. But the reality is that
these entities, these are spiritual beings. And
Derek Prince uses a phrase in his book where
he talks about all this aspect of they shall
expel demons is the name of the book. He uses
a phrase that I like. He says, look, demons are
persons without bodies. These are intelligent
entities that have one mission. And that is to
oppose God and anything that God cares about
and God cares about you so they will oppose you
too. This is the warnings. And this becomes completely
eye -opening. Because it means that as I'm following
Jesus, I live in a world that the Bible calls
a kingdom of darkness with the prince of the
kingdom of the air. And I live following Jesus
in a territory that is hostile to God. And the
more I am involved in areas that have idol worship,
the more demonic presence there is. Because engaging
with idols is engaging with demons. And this
matters because the first thing that you and
I need to understand as we follow Jesus is that
you have to follow Jesus anticipating and understanding
that following Jesus is an experience that will
be opposed by spiritual darkness. And if you
don't understand that, you will live your life
thinking that there are only two agents involved,
God, and me. And when there are things you experience
in your life, you will only interpret it from
the perspective of God and me. And when things
happen you don't anticipate, you will blame God
because why is this happening to me? I know that
you have been watching the World Cup. I know.
Congratulations and my condolences depending
what country you come from. But imagine that
I enter that field to play a game and I'm surprised
when the opposing team scores against us. It's
like, of course you should expect it. Even if
you think you are the best player in the world,
you have an opposing team that has one goal and
that is to score against you. You cannot play
the game of following Jesus Thinking that you
don't have an opposing team trying to score against
you. There is. There is God, there is me, and
there is spiritual darkness. And therefore we
have to be prepared to experience and face this
spiritual oppression properly. And this... It's
where we get the picture of the New Testament
in the book of Acts because they did experience
it. And we're going to take a look at the rest
of this study. We're going to look at three experiences
that the Apostle Paul had. First of these experiences
was in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus is in the
area of Turkey today. You can still go and visit
these ruins. You can go to that place, you can
do a Bible tour, you can go there, or you can
just go on your own, rent an Airbnb in Turkey
and then drive to this location. You can see
Ephesus, the very place where the Apostle Paul
visited. He spent over two years there preaching
the gospel, teaching the people, teaching the
word of God to them. And we are told in the book
of Acts that something happened in that city.
A group of Jews was traveling from town to town,
casting out what? Oh, they were evil spirits.
And these were a group of Jews. They were not
Christians. They believed in God of the Old Testament,
but they didn't believe in Jesus. But they had
heard about Jesus and Paul, the apostle. And
they had heard about the power that the apostle
Paul had over these entities. They tried to use
the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation,
saying, I command you in the name of Jesus whom
Paul preaches to come out. They were trying their
best. Any incantation that works, then if it
worked for him, it may work for me. And they
tried it. Seven sons of Jehovah, a leading priest,
were doing this. But one time when they tried
it, the evil spirit replied, I know Jesus and
I know Paul, but who are you? You are not indwelled
by the Holy Spirit. You do not belong to Jesus.
So who are you? You have no authority over me
because you do not have the spirit that is greater
in you than the spirit that is in us. So this
is not about formulas. This is about identity.
They didn't realize that. They thought it was
just formulas, incantations. Let's repeat the
phrase and it will do the magic trick. No. This
is a spiritual reality. And look at what happened.
Then the men with the evil spirit leaped on them,
overpowered them, and attacked them with such
violence that they fled from the house naked
and battered. I've seen several of these sessions
where an evil spirit manifests in the person's
life and then is cast out. And some of them are
vicious. The hate and the anger and the physical
force is really strong. Sometimes you need to
have five, six people trying to hold them. And
these guys were seven of them. And they all fled
naked and wounded. Why were there so many people
struggling in Ephesus? with spiritual oppression
like this, with demonic manifestations like that
happening. Why? Well, the text continues. It
says, the story of what happened spread quickly
all through Ephesus to Jews and Greeks alike.
A solemn fear descended on the city and the name
of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. Because
they had all these idols. But they had no power
over these entities. But Jesus had power over
these entities. But you had to have a relationship
with Jesus to have that power flow through you.
And these guys didn't have a relationship with
Jesus. Therefore, the evil entity overpowered
them. And then we are told something else. Many
who became believers confess their sinful practices.
Ah, okay, now I understand. The reason, one of
the reasons why there's so much demonic activity
happening at Ephesus is because many of the people
are engaging in what? Sinful practices. The Holy
Spirit is holy. Evil spirits are evil. So every
time I engage in things that are contrary to
God, I'm engaging with spiritual darkness. And
the more engaged I am, the more I'm opening the
door to spiritual oppression from these persons
without bodies that are opposing God and you.
So when these people heard the gospel and started
coming to know Christ, they started following
Jesus. But they had to close the door that they
had opened through their sinful practices. And
the only way to close that door is by confessing
it, bringing it to light. Because when it's brought
to light and repented of, spiritual darkness
no longer has authority over you to oppress you
in that area. But the second thing we're told,
a number of them who had been practicing sorcery
brought their incantation books. And buried them
at a public bonfire. And the value of the books
was several million dollars. Oh. This was so
much part of the culture. That people had the
books. They had done the incantations. They had
memorized them. They were engaging with the mediums.
They were engaging with witchcraft. They were
engaging with all of these things. And now that
they started following Jesus, they still went
back home and there were the books in their bookshelf.
They still had the statues right there in the
garden. But now they realized these things are
contrary to God. They are detestable. And therefore,
now that I am following God, I have to remove
these things. And you can imagine the struggle.
It's like, But I paid like $10 ,000 for this
book. I'm not going to burn it. It's too much
money. And the Holy Spirit convicting them. This
is detestable. Well, let me sell it to somebody
so I can get some of the money back. No, it's
detestable. Well, let me give it as a gift. No,
it's detestable. Get rid of it. So then they
started getting rid of the stuff and they burnt
it. And then we're told that the message about
the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
When God's people started coming to know Christ
and they started following God and they started
closing the door to the spiritual oppression
that they had opened, suddenly the flow of power
increased. And now the word of God started spreading
in that region. This happened. So if you are
experiencing spiritual oppression in your life,
the symptoms vary. Sometimes you are waking up
in the middle of the night with these nightmares.
Sometimes you feel physical presence. Sometimes
you are feeling like there's something that is
opposing you. Everything that you are trying
to do, it just hits a wall. Almost like you are
under a curse. Sometimes there are illnesses
that come out of the blue. They have no scientific
explanation. Sometimes you are feeling things
that are wrong at home. There's this heaviness.
You cannot explain it, but it's like the atmosphere
is different. You name it. You just know that
this is not from God. And this spiritual oppression
that you may be experiencing, the first thing
that you have to ask is, did I open the door?
Because demonic oppression, spiritual oppression
will happen based on authority. These entities
have authority that has been given to them. And
if you have given them the authority by engaging
in sinful practices that you have not confessed,
or if you have objects that are cursed because
they were used for spiritual darkness and you
still have those, then you are opening the door
to spiritual oppression. You have to confess,
bring things to light, trust in God's grace.
And also, remove the objects, destroy them. It
doesn't matter the value they have. Imagine that
your husband was dating someone before he met
you and married you. And the previous girlfriend
was very nice. She gave him a couple of shirts,
a nice tie. And they were so nice and so expensive
that he kept those. So he still wears them. And
when he's putting that tie on to go to work,
he's looking at himself in the mirror and he
says, that's such a nice tie. What's wrong with
that? It's just a tie. It's expensive. Ah, why
does it make you uncomfortable? Because it's
not just a tie, is it? This represents something.
This represents a love you had in your life before
you met me. And every time you find joy in it,
it feels almost like you're being unfaithful
to me. And that is detestable. Can I ask you
something? Would you get rid of that tie for
me? Ah, you are too much. Are you being too much?
You see the problem here? If God has called you
to follow him, why do you still have the pictures
of your ex? Why do you still have the statues
of your ex? Why do you have all of these things
that are the spirit of darkness that God saved
you from? God is calling you to remove those.
You may be wearing today a bracelet that somebody
gave you or you bought because that was going
to bring good energy to help you in your job
and you're still blessing that. That is not from
God. Why are you still wearing it? God doesn't
need crystals and bracelets. To guide you and
bless you. But my friend gave it to me. It doesn't
matter who gave it to you. You are following
Jesus now. And he demands your full heart. And
anything. That you are still using. From the
power of darkness. You are inviting oppression
in your life. It works this way. I may be at
home in my apartment trying to enjoy a nice documentary
or something. They're sitting and suddenly it's
like, you know, it's like a mosquito starts flying.
I may want to try to kill that mosquito, but
then another appears. Where are these mosquitoes
coming from? Ah. The question is the right question.
Because it doesn't matter how many I kill, the
problem is that they're still coming in. So there's
a window I need to close. There's a door that
I need to close. That is going to solve the problem.
And if you have opened a door to the mosquitoes
of the devil to oppress you, you will need to
ask God, God, what is the door that I open so
I can close it? And may you ask the Lord today
and may he answer the question for you so you
will have clarity on how to deal with that. But
there's a second experience that the Apostle
Paul has, and this is in Philippi. Philippi was
another city, also in Greece, above Corinth.
And that was a Roman city, a Roman area that
was much more developed, and they had people
from all over the place, but there was lots of
idolatry as well. And when the Apostle Paul reaches
that place and starts preaching the gospel, something
happens. By the way, you can still go today to
that city in Greece, and you can still look at
the ruins and walk through those places. But
this is what we are told happened. One day, as
we were going down to the place of prayer, we
met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled
her to tell the future. And she earned a lot
of money for her masters by telling fortunes.
So this was a woman who could foretell the future.
Maybe like a psychic or something, she was reading
people's hands, or she was reading cards, whatever
they were doing. And what was the source of the
things that she was doing? It says there, she
had a spirit, a demon, demonic presence behind
what she was doing. So the apostle Paul is preaching
the gospel there. He passes by that area. There's
the sign that says psychic services, you know,
and he's passing by. And one day she followed
Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are
servants of the most high God and they have come
to tell you how to be saved. Well, that's a nice
thing to say, except that is coming from. The
ex. So it's like, I don't want to be involved
with that. So he says, look, I'm not going to
put up with this. So he turns to the woman. This
went on day after day. And Paul got so exasperated
that he turned and said to the demon within her,
I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her. And instantly left her. Why
could the Apostle Paul do that? Because greater
is the one that is in you than the one that is
in the world. He had the Holy Spirit in him.
He has the authority of Jesus in him. It's not
just an incantation like the other guys try to
do. This is the real thing. This is a follower
of Jesus with the Holy Spirit in. With the authority
of Christ that has authority over the enemy and
that is the same Holy Spirit you have and is
the same authority of Christ that you have. Any
follower of Jesus has this. And the Apostle Paul
turns to this woman and says, in the name of
Jesus, demons come out. And the demon had no
other option but to come out. And at that moment,
Her master's hopes of wealth were so shattered
now, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged
them before the authorities and at the marketplace.
And the whole city now is in horror because of
these Jews, they shouted to the city officials.
And they are teaching customs that are illegal
for us Romans to practice. So a mob quickly formed
against Paul and Silas and the city officials
ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden
rods. And they were severely beaten. And then
they were thrown into prison. And the jailer
was ordered to make sure they didn't escape.
So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon
and clamped their feet in the stocks. Oh, the
Apostle Paul did not see that coming. It's like,
there's a punch against you, devil. And then
the devil punched back. Because he can. And now
they are wounded, hurting, in prison. And they
were just there trying to share the gospel with
people. What do you do when people who are serving
these idols, who are therefore worshiping demons,
are used by the devil to oppose you and attack
you? What do you do? I'm going to tell you what
you're not going to do. go on your knees and
start blaming God and say, why did you let this
happen to me? That's not what you will do. You
have an enemy that is attacking you. And when
the enemy attacks you, you do one thing. You
attack back. And this is what Paul and Silas
did. Look at what the text says on the next verse.
Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners
were listening. What did they do? The two right
things you do. You pray because prayer is the
shield of the spirit to help you stand against
the attack of the enemy. And secondly, they worship.
They are proclaiming from their hearts their
allegiance to the Lord. And you know, it reminds
me that several years ago I visited Hong Kong
and I got to visit a ministry that works with
drug addicts. And as we were... Looking at the
entire facilities and the whole program they
had, the founder of the ministry said to us,
you know, there are moments in which there are
fights that start happening in some of the houses
because they have all these houses where people
go and live there to be able to get over the
drug addiction. And she says, we have learned
that when that's happening, that's part of spiritual
oppression. So what we do is that we go in there
and we immediately start worshiping. And we discover
that worship is part of a spiritual weapon that
we have against the enemy. And when we start
worshiping, things calm down. Very interesting.
And that's what Paul and Silas did. They prayed,
they worshiped. And as they did that, the text
says that... Everybody was listening, even the
jailer. But they did not anticipate that an earthquake
will happen, that the cell doors will open, and
that the jailer was going to panic, thinking
everybody escapes, so I'm going to kill myself
before the Romans find out and they kill me.
So, at that moment, Paul and Silas says to the
jailer, don't kill yourself, we're all still
here. And at that moment, the guy who had been
in charge of making sure that they remain in
the cell, had heard their prayers, had heard
their worship. So he came to them and said, what
should I do in order to be saved? And they shared
the gospel with him. And at that moment, it says,
even at that hour of that night, after he heard
the gospel and believed, the jailer cared for
them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone
in his household were immediately baptized. And
this entire household rejoiced because they all
believe in God. It is like, There's this woman
with a demon that is manifesting and Paul punches
back. And then the demonic forces punch back.
And now the apostle Paul and Silas punch back.
And who is in the ground? The story ends with
the victory of Jesus because stronger is the
one that is in you than the one that is in the
world. And this household became saved. There
are times in which you're going to be opposed
by the enemy and you have to start wondering,
is this opposition something that is coming from
the enemy? And if it is, then you go on your
knees and you start using your spiritual weapon
to fight back. Maybe you right now are being
the target. And it really feels like you're being
targeted. There's a position at work that has
nothing to do with you or your performance. There's
something that is against you. And you just know
it. If the enemy is attacking you, you need to
attack the spiritual forces of darkness back.
And not in your power, not with your weapons,
but in the power of Jesus, in the name of Jesus,
with the strength of the Holy Spirit. And on
your knees. And when you do that. Something.
Will change. This stuff is real. And there's
one more experience that the Apostle Paul had.
As he went to Thessalonica. Or Thessalonica.
In this area which was also in Greece. Which
you actually can visit today as well. Once you
go to Thessalonica. It's a much more. modern
city. But in this place, the apostle Paul went
there, he preached the gospel, he fell in love
with these people, and then time passed, he wanted
to visit them, but he couldn't. And look at what
the text says as he writes to them in Thessalonians.
Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated
from you for a little while, though our hearts
never left you, we try very hard to come back.
Because of our intense longing to see you again,
I really wanted to see you again. And I really
wanted to see you again. We wanted very much
to come to you. And I, Paul, tried again and
again. I really tried. But I couldn't go. Why?
What does the text say? But Satan... Prevented
us. What? Maybe you're trying to do something
and the reason why it's not happening is not
because it's not God's will. It's because Satan
is opposing you. These are not people anymore
turning against you. This is you being targeted
by the devil himself. And he tried. Door closed.
He tried, door closed. He tried, door closed.
So he changed strategy. He says, you know what?
I'm not going to go. Timothy, you go. So Timothy
went. And with him, he took a letter. First Thessalonians.
And I can just imagine in those moments, the
text doesn't tell us much more. But I can imagine
the Apostle Paul. being opposed by Satan on these
things. And if he doesn't understand that he
has an enemy, he can become resentful towards
God. God, I'm doing everything in my power. Why
are you not letting me do this thing? As if God
is the only person on the equation. There is
an enemy that can oppose you. What is the mystery
is that we do not know why God did not push back
and allow Paul to go. The text doesn't tell you.
But you know what? Looking back, I'm so glad
that Paul didn't get to go. You know why? Because
it's the very reason he did not go that he had
to write two letters to them, which today we
have in our Bible. First Thessalonians, second
Thessalonians. So the pain that he had to suffer
for not seeing his friends. resulted in the blessing
for generations and thousands and millions of
people. And in those moments, the only thing
that you can do is to trust God's sovereignty
and his plan and his heart. If he's not opening
the door for you, he knows he's doing something
you cannot understand. And rather than turning
against God and doubting his heart or his power,
I just change strategy. We'll do it this way.
But if I have to write the letters, I'll write
the letters. God knows what he's doing. A very
interesting experience because it doesn't tell
us more about it, but he really loved these guys
and the enemy did not want them to reconnect.
Thank God that they reconnected through the letters
and through Timothy. Did you realize that you
have an enemy? And that following Jesus means
that you're going to be targeted by the enemy?
Did you realize that we live in a world that
is antagonistic towards God and towards you because
there are forces of darkness called demons, evil
spirits, unclean spirits that are a mafia organized
to oppose you and oppose God's plans? Did you
realize that that is what it means to follow
Jesus? Now that you realize that, you will have
to understand two things. First is that you have
the Holy Spirit in you. And secondly, you have
the authority of Christ in you. You are the winning
team. So go and play that game and score. Because
you're going to win it. Even if you get scored
back. But let's read the verse that we read at
the beginning. And now in its fullness. Let's
read it out loud. But you belong to God, my dear
children. You have already won a victory over
those people because the spirit who lives in
you is greater than the spirit who lives in the
world. And for that reason, we can follow Jesus,
not with fear, but with confidence. And when
we are experiencing any spiritual attack, we're
going to stand firm. If we open the door, we're
going to close it. If I have something that I
need to remove, I'll remove it. It doesn't matter
how much value it has. If I am being opposed
by people who are serving the enemy, I'm going
to go on my knees and I'm going to fight back.
But if I'm opposed by the enemy and God is not
giving me the breakthrough, I'm going to trust
God with the outcome. I'm not going to let bitterness
towards God get hold of my heart. Greater is
the one that is in us, Lord. That's what you
have said, and Holy Spirit, thank you for coming
to live in us, to guide us, to shape us, and
I ask you, in Jesus' name, to give your people
a breakthrough from demonic oppression, no matter
what form, what shape, how deep or how light.
Lord, you are greater than the enemy. So we stand
in your power and your authority and I'm asking
you in Jesus' name, give your people a breakthrough
and let any demonic oppression be broken in Jesus'
name now and any demonic oppression be released
in Jesus' name now. We worship you, Jesus, and
we call on your name because your name is greater.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you for tuning
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