WEBVTT 00:00:09.449 --> 00:00:14.289 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:16.589 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:19.769 with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:22.989 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:22.989 --> 00:00:27.210 you are through our website ecb .asia or our 00:00:27.210 --> 00:00:31.030 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.030 --> 00:00:35.429 by this week's sermon. The Presence, Living Life 00:00:35.429 --> 00:00:39.920 with the Holy Spirit. This series has the purpose 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.899 of inviting us to grow in intimacy with the Holy 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:47.240 Spirit as we follow Jesus. Because the Bible 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:49.979 says that the moment you and I believed in Jesus 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:53.259 and gave our life to him, at that moment he gave 00:00:53.259 --> 00:00:56.539 us his Holy Spirit as a seal that will stay there 00:00:56.539 --> 00:01:01.100 until the day of redemption. And therefore, for 00:01:01.100 --> 00:01:04.140 the rest of our lives, we will follow Jesus indwelled 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:07.260 by the Holy Spirit. And that relationship of 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:11.420 the Holy Spirit is crucial in our experiencing 00:01:11.420 --> 00:01:15.579 God and following Him. And there's a dimension 00:01:15.579 --> 00:01:20.459 of this following Jesus that has to do with experiencing 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:23.280 the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.799 in a different dimension than we experienced 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:29.840 before. In one of the studies when we looked 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:33.140 at the life of Philip, we saw how he empowered 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:35.560 the calling of these people. But now we're going 00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:37.900 to be talking about God's power in a different 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:42.319 way. And for that, I want you to read out loud 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.739 with me what the Apostle John wrote to us Christians 00:01:45.739 --> 00:01:49.200 to understand our relationship with the Holy 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.099 Spirit in this dimension that we're going to 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:57.780 be exploring today. Let's read it together. is 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:00.980 greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:06.319 And suddenly, now the apostle John is saying, 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.819 look, you have the Holy Spirit in you, but in 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:13.719 the world in which we live, there's another spirit 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:19.740 who is not holy. And that spirit the Bible calls 00:02:19.740 --> 00:02:24.680 Satan, Lucifer, the devil. And the Bible describes 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:30.439 this kingdom of darkness as an organized, almost 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:36.659 like a mafia. These are evil entities who oppose 00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:40.479 God, who hate you because you were created in 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:45.199 the image of God, and who desire to oppose you 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:49.719 and attack you and distort truth so that you 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.139 will not experience. Intimacy with the Lord. 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:59.300 And as we follow Jesus in this world, we have 00:02:59.300 --> 00:03:02.939 to understand that we live in a spiritual reality 00:03:02.939 --> 00:03:07.120 where we have God, but God is not the only spiritual 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.780 reality. We also have a devil that is a spiritual 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:16.280 reality. And I know for some of you, you're already 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.270 scared about this sermon. And you say, you know, 00:03:19.330 --> 00:03:20.909 I don't believe in those kind of things. I'm 00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:23.650 a very rational person. I believe in science. 00:03:24.050 --> 00:03:28.430 What are you talking about? Mythology here. Trust 00:03:28.430 --> 00:03:32.110 me. This is not mythology. Just keep listening. 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:40.069 The Bible describes this reality from the very 00:03:40.069 --> 00:03:43.419 beginning. If you look at this map, you will 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:46.539 see the region of the world in which the church, 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:50.000 in which Jesus started ministering and the gospel 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.020 started spreading first. But if you look at the 00:03:53.020 --> 00:03:57.879 region of Jerusalem, Israel, and all that section, 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:02.340 that entire section used to be the focus of the 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:06.610 Old Testament. conquering that land, leaving 00:04:06.610 --> 00:04:10.210 Egypt to go to the Promised Land. And all of 00:04:10.210 --> 00:04:14.289 that area was the focus of the writings of the 00:04:14.289 --> 00:04:17.930 Old Testament. In the New Testament, that expanded 00:04:17.930 --> 00:04:20.589 all the way to Asia Minor and Greece and the 00:04:20.589 --> 00:04:24.050 area of Europe because the gospel started spreading 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:28.029 that way. But if you go back to the Mesopotamia 00:04:28.029 --> 00:04:33.540 area, the Promised Land region, The Bible said 00:04:33.540 --> 00:04:36.600 something to God's people in the Old Testament 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:42.259 that was very specific. And we're going to find 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:47.100 three specific warnings that are given to us 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:50.819 in this dimension of engaging in following God 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:53.500 while they're acknowledging all the spiritual 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:59.290 reality. The first warning. We can capture it 00:04:59.290 --> 00:05:04.490 right there in the book of the Mosaic Law. In 00:05:04.490 --> 00:05:09.410 Deuteronomy chapter 18, God tells the nation 00:05:09.410 --> 00:05:12.810 of Israel, as they are being born, as they are 00:05:12.810 --> 00:05:16.430 being formed at the very beginning, before they 00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:20.670 go into Canaan and the Promised Land, when you 00:05:20.670 --> 00:05:23.110 enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, 00:05:23.529 --> 00:05:28.069 be careful not to imitate The detestable customs 00:05:28.069 --> 00:05:31.009 of the nations living there. There were nations 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:34.170 living there. And they practiced things that 00:05:34.170 --> 00:05:38.629 God says those are detestable. It's like completely 00:05:38.629 --> 00:05:42.829 wrong. Don't even engage with that. What are 00:05:42.829 --> 00:05:45.550 those practices? It tells us right there. For 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:50.810 example. Never sacrifice your son or daughter 00:05:50.810 --> 00:05:57.139 as a burnt offering. Do not participate. Or agree 00:05:57.139 --> 00:06:02.259 on the killing of a child or your offspring. 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:06.500 Because engaging in the killing of your offspring. 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:10.879 Is something that is completely contrary to God's 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:16.180 will and design. And then he says. And do not 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:20.639 let your people practice fortune telling. Or 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.959 use sorcery. or interpret omens, or engage in 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:29.399 witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:33.199 or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:40.019 dead. Do not engage with psychics, mediums, contact 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:45.439 the dead, none of that. Because this is part 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.600 of the detestable practices that these nations 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:54.370 have been engaged in. Anyone who does these things 00:06:54.370 --> 00:06:57.990 is detestable to the Lord. It is because the 00:06:57.990 --> 00:07:00.430 other nations have done these detestable things 00:07:00.430 --> 00:07:04.569 that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead 00:07:04.569 --> 00:07:09.209 of you. The very reason why I'm bringing you 00:07:09.209 --> 00:07:12.829 Israel into this land is because I'm calling 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:17.930 you to be a nation. After my design and my heart 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:21.649 and my truth. And I want that light to permeate 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.550 all this darkness. But because these people have 00:07:24.550 --> 00:07:27.209 engaged in all of this darkness. I am judging 00:07:27.209 --> 00:07:30.269 them and I am driving them out of this place. 00:07:30.750 --> 00:07:34.509 But once you get there, do not imitate those 00:07:34.509 --> 00:07:43.000 practices. Because it is detestable. I do not 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:46.579 know if you have ever eaten something that you 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:51.680 hate. And you go like, let me taste. And you 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.660 go like, you will say, this is detestable. You 00:07:55.660 --> 00:07:57.779 don't use that word. But that's the strength 00:07:57.779 --> 00:08:04.199 of that word. This is so just wrong that I cannot 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:07.500 engage with that as God because it's completely 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:17.399 contrary. To me. And you see from the archaeology. 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:22.519 That it was no joke. These nations have all these 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:26.800 deities. And all of these deities were worshipped 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.420 in different ways. And some of them were worshipped 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:34.519 through the killing of children. And we still 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.539 have today the archaeological remains of that. 00:08:38.540 --> 00:08:42.799 Babies that were severed in half, their heads 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.419 cut off, their bodies burnt, and we still have 00:08:46.419 --> 00:08:52.960 those remains today. Also, the worshiping by 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:57.200 consulting mediums and spirits and all of these 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:01.580 different things. So Israel was warned, do not 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:04.820 be like them, but they did not listen and they 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:10.059 became just like them. And you fast forward in 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:12.639 the Old Testament and you move throughout centuries 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:15.580 of history and you see the decay, the decay, 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:18.500 the decay of the nation until you have the book 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:20.840 of the prophets in the Old Testament. And in 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:22.940 the book of the prophets, some of the prophets 00:09:22.940 --> 00:09:26.279 will confront the nation on these things because 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.399 they had even brought all of these idols and 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:32.360 turned the temple of God into a house of worship 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:36.909 for idols. But it had become part of the culture, 00:09:36.970 --> 00:09:40.850 the mindset of people. And in the book of Isaiah, 00:09:41.250 --> 00:09:48.529 this is a second warning. It tells us God confronting 00:09:48.529 --> 00:09:51.090 the nation and says, look, someone may say to 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:54.850 you, let's ask the mediums and those who console 00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:57.990 the spirits of the dead with their whisperings 00:09:57.990 --> 00:10:00.529 and mutterings. They will tell us what to do. 00:10:01.409 --> 00:10:04.860 I need guidance for my business. I need to make 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:07.559 some financial decisions. So let me go to the 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:11.700 psychic. Maybe the psychic will give me direction 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:16.120 for my life. I'm dating this guy. I'm not sure 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.200 whether I should pursue it or not. So let me 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:23.120 ask the medium. Let me pay the psychic some money 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:27.179 to read the tarot for me so I can figure out 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:29.600 whether I should pursue this romantic relationship 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:34.590 or not. And this is how The nation was operating. 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:39.850 And God tells them, but shouldn't people ask 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:44.309 God for guidance? Who are you paying the psychic 00:10:44.309 --> 00:10:47.809 to tell you about the future when I am the one 00:10:47.809 --> 00:10:52.789 that knows the end from the beginning? Should 00:10:52.789 --> 00:10:56.230 the living seek guidance from the dead? Who are 00:10:56.230 --> 00:11:00.600 you trying to pay? Someone. To call the Spirit 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.120 of your Father so your Father can guide you on 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.080 something when in reality you have the living 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:10.000 God and the Holy Spirit living in you to guide 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.940 you. Look to God's instructions and teachings. 00:11:15.980 --> 00:11:19.519 People who contradict His Word are completely 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:24.000 in the dark. And now you can see part of the 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.919 problem. Is that when people started turning 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:29.320 into these practices. They started replacing 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:32.899 God. The one true God. And this relationship 00:11:32.899 --> 00:11:36.340 of intimacy with God. With things that belong 00:11:36.340 --> 00:11:44.139 to spiritual darkness. And then. Jesus comes. 00:11:45.100 --> 00:11:48.460 He becomes the savior of the world. The gospel 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:50.779 starts being preached throughout the nations. 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:56.220 And now you go back to the map. And all of these 00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:59.639 nations of the Roman Empire were not different 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:04.679 from the Mesopotamian nations. They all had idols. 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:08.360 They worshipped spirits. They used psychics and 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:12.000 mediums. It was the same thing, just repackaged. 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:15.980 So when the apostle writes to the Christians 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:20.519 in Corinth, which is an area in Greece. You can 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.779 still visit Corinth today. In fact, I got the 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:27.039 privilege of visiting it several years ago and 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.799 stand right there in the ruins of the market 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:33.899 and you see the hill right there on top with 00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:36.580 a temple ruins that were on top where people 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:40.039 worship all of these things. And they sacrificed 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:44.480 animals to these deities. And when the apostle 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:47.039 Paul writes to these Christians, he gives them 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:50.000 this warning. He says, what I'm trying to say 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:54.120 to you, well, am I saying that food offered to 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:57.639 idols has some significance or that idols are 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:02.019 real gods? No, not at all. Idols are just wood 00:13:02.019 --> 00:13:05.440 shaped into something, stone painted with ice 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.840 and stuff. They are just nothing. They're not 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:13.490 gods. However, there's a spiritual reality behind 00:13:13.490 --> 00:13:19.769 those idols. This is what I'm saying. I'm saying 00:13:19.769 --> 00:13:25.470 that the sacrifices are offered to demons, not 00:13:25.470 --> 00:13:30.409 to God. So if you're going to sacrifice an animal 00:13:30.409 --> 00:13:35.370 to an idol, you're actually engaging with demons. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.580 And the problem is that if you are following 00:13:39.580 --> 00:13:42.899 Jesus and you have the Holy Spirit in you, I 00:13:42.899 --> 00:13:45.799 don't want you to participate with demons. You 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:48.080 cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.179 the cup of demons too. You cannot eat at the 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:53.539 Lord's table and at the table of demons too. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:59.899 And now when the Apostle Paul brings this, now 00:13:59.899 --> 00:14:02.960 we understand why the language in the Old Testament 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.360 is so strong. These things are detestable, God 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:11.179 says. It's because engaging in these things is 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:16.120 directly engaging with the kingdom of darkness 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:18.820 and with the spiritual entities that the Bible 00:14:18.820 --> 00:14:27.840 calls demons or unclean spirits. And throughout 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:33.840 history, the majority of understanding of what 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:38.029 demons were is that these were fallen angels 00:14:38.029 --> 00:14:43.309 that were part of Satan's kingdom. There have 00:14:43.309 --> 00:14:47.830 been other theories proposed in later theology 00:14:47.830 --> 00:14:51.210 about maybe these are the spirits of the people 00:14:51.210 --> 00:14:55.549 that died in the flood, or some of those spirits 00:14:55.549 --> 00:14:58.710 of the people that were the offspring of angels 00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:02.009 and humans that the Bible talks about in Genesis, 00:15:02.129 --> 00:15:07.779 and all these theories. But the reality is that 00:15:07.779 --> 00:15:11.860 these entities, these are spiritual beings. And 00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:14.759 Derek Prince uses a phrase in his book where 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:17.059 he talks about all this aspect of they shall 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:19.799 expel demons is the name of the book. He uses 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:22.840 a phrase that I like. He says, look, demons are 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:27.840 persons without bodies. These are intelligent 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:33.860 entities that have one mission. And that is to 00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:36.840 oppose God and anything that God cares about 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:39.860 and God cares about you so they will oppose you 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:47.720 too. This is the warnings. And this becomes completely 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:53.539 eye -opening. Because it means that as I'm following 00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:56.639 Jesus, I live in a world that the Bible calls 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.820 a kingdom of darkness with the prince of the 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:04.210 kingdom of the air. And I live following Jesus 00:16:04.210 --> 00:16:08.830 in a territory that is hostile to God. And the 00:16:08.830 --> 00:16:13.909 more I am involved in areas that have idol worship, 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:19.710 the more demonic presence there is. Because engaging 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:33.700 with idols is engaging with demons. And this 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:37.740 matters because the first thing that you and 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.600 I need to understand as we follow Jesus is that 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.659 you have to follow Jesus anticipating and understanding 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:51.100 that following Jesus is an experience that will 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:55.220 be opposed by spiritual darkness. And if you 00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:58.399 don't understand that, you will live your life 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.340 thinking that there are only two agents involved, 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:06.809 God, and me. And when there are things you experience 00:17:06.809 --> 00:17:09.609 in your life, you will only interpret it from 00:17:09.609 --> 00:17:14.549 the perspective of God and me. And when things 00:17:14.549 --> 00:17:16.930 happen you don't anticipate, you will blame God 00:17:16.930 --> 00:17:22.849 because why is this happening to me? I know that 00:17:22.849 --> 00:17:26.009 you have been watching the World Cup. I know. 00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:29.730 Congratulations and my condolences depending 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:34.720 what country you come from. But imagine that 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.700 I enter that field to play a game and I'm surprised 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:43.940 when the opposing team scores against us. It's 00:17:43.940 --> 00:17:47.279 like, of course you should expect it. Even if 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:49.339 you think you are the best player in the world, 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:52.740 you have an opposing team that has one goal and 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:58.059 that is to score against you. You cannot play 00:17:58.059 --> 00:18:02.430 the game of following Jesus Thinking that you 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.549 don't have an opposing team trying to score against 00:18:04.549 --> 00:18:08.670 you. There is. There is God, there is me, and 00:18:08.670 --> 00:18:11.789 there is spiritual darkness. And therefore we 00:18:11.789 --> 00:18:15.329 have to be prepared to experience and face this 00:18:15.329 --> 00:18:20.539 spiritual oppression properly. And this... It's 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:22.660 where we get the picture of the New Testament 00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:25.299 in the book of Acts because they did experience 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:26.859 it. And we're going to take a look at the rest 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:29.799 of this study. We're going to look at three experiences 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:32.559 that the Apostle Paul had. First of these experiences 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:36.240 was in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus is in the 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:40.299 area of Turkey today. You can still go and visit 00:18:40.299 --> 00:18:44.180 these ruins. You can go to that place, you can 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:46.339 do a Bible tour, you can go there, or you can 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:48.920 just go on your own, rent an Airbnb in Turkey 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:51.740 and then drive to this location. You can see 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.599 Ephesus, the very place where the Apostle Paul 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:58.799 visited. He spent over two years there preaching 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:02.279 the gospel, teaching the people, teaching the 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:05.359 word of God to them. And we are told in the book 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.099 of Acts that something happened in that city. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.069 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town, 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:15.549 casting out what? Oh, they were evil spirits. 00:19:16.390 --> 00:19:18.710 And these were a group of Jews. They were not 00:19:18.710 --> 00:19:23.269 Christians. They believed in God of the Old Testament, 00:19:23.450 --> 00:19:26.109 but they didn't believe in Jesus. But they had 00:19:26.109 --> 00:19:29.410 heard about Jesus and Paul, the apostle. And 00:19:29.410 --> 00:19:31.230 they had heard about the power that the apostle 00:19:31.230 --> 00:19:35.789 Paul had over these entities. They tried to use 00:19:35.789 --> 00:19:38.230 the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, 00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:41.740 saying, I command you in the name of Jesus whom 00:19:41.740 --> 00:19:47.160 Paul preaches to come out. They were trying their 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:49.700 best. Any incantation that works, then if it 00:19:49.700 --> 00:19:51.940 worked for him, it may work for me. And they 00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:55.880 tried it. Seven sons of Jehovah, a leading priest, 00:19:56.059 --> 00:19:59.660 were doing this. But one time when they tried 00:19:59.660 --> 00:20:05.339 it, the evil spirit replied, I know Jesus and 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:11.170 I know Paul, but who are you? You are not indwelled 00:20:11.170 --> 00:20:14.190 by the Holy Spirit. You do not belong to Jesus. 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:19.269 So who are you? You have no authority over me 00:20:19.269 --> 00:20:22.609 because you do not have the spirit that is greater 00:20:22.609 --> 00:20:27.589 in you than the spirit that is in us. So this 00:20:27.589 --> 00:20:30.289 is not about formulas. This is about identity. 00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:33.750 They didn't realize that. They thought it was 00:20:33.750 --> 00:20:36.230 just formulas, incantations. Let's repeat the 00:20:36.230 --> 00:20:39.390 phrase and it will do the magic trick. No. This 00:20:39.390 --> 00:20:43.309 is a spiritual reality. And look at what happened. 00:20:44.849 --> 00:20:47.789 Then the men with the evil spirit leaped on them, 00:20:47.990 --> 00:20:51.349 overpowered them, and attacked them with such 00:20:51.349 --> 00:20:54.710 violence that they fled from the house naked 00:20:54.710 --> 00:21:03.170 and battered. I've seen several of these sessions 00:21:03.170 --> 00:21:06.049 where an evil spirit manifests in the person's 00:21:06.049 --> 00:21:10.009 life and then is cast out. And some of them are 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:14.509 vicious. The hate and the anger and the physical 00:21:14.509 --> 00:21:19.109 force is really strong. Sometimes you need to 00:21:19.109 --> 00:21:23.490 have five, six people trying to hold them. And 00:21:23.490 --> 00:21:26.569 these guys were seven of them. And they all fled 00:21:26.569 --> 00:21:34.930 naked and wounded. Why were there so many people 00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:37.819 struggling in Ephesus? with spiritual oppression 00:21:37.819 --> 00:21:41.099 like this, with demonic manifestations like that 00:21:41.099 --> 00:21:46.740 happening. Why? Well, the text continues. It 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:49.279 says, the story of what happened spread quickly 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:53.500 all through Ephesus to Jews and Greeks alike. 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:58.619 A solemn fear descended on the city and the name 00:21:58.619 --> 00:22:02.559 of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. Because 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:06.559 they had all these idols. But they had no power 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:09.960 over these entities. But Jesus had power over 00:22:09.960 --> 00:22:15.640 these entities. But you had to have a relationship 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:19.519 with Jesus to have that power flow through you. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:22.420 And these guys didn't have a relationship with 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:26.240 Jesus. Therefore, the evil entity overpowered 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:31.839 them. And then we are told something else. Many 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:36.059 who became believers confess their sinful practices. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:42.079 Ah, okay, now I understand. The reason, one of 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.640 the reasons why there's so much demonic activity 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:48.619 happening at Ephesus is because many of the people 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:56.079 are engaging in what? Sinful practices. The Holy 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:03.859 Spirit is holy. Evil spirits are evil. So every 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:07.640 time I engage in things that are contrary to 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:11.980 God, I'm engaging with spiritual darkness. And 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:16.119 the more engaged I am, the more I'm opening the 00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:19.920 door to spiritual oppression from these persons 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:23.140 without bodies that are opposing God and you. 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:28.579 So when these people heard the gospel and started 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:31.720 coming to know Christ, they started following 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:35.369 Jesus. But they had to close the door that they 00:23:35.369 --> 00:23:38.470 had opened through their sinful practices. And 00:23:38.470 --> 00:23:42.369 the only way to close that door is by confessing 00:23:42.369 --> 00:23:45.329 it, bringing it to light. Because when it's brought 00:23:45.329 --> 00:23:48.809 to light and repented of, spiritual darkness 00:23:48.809 --> 00:23:51.589 no longer has authority over you to oppress you 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:55.589 in that area. But the second thing we're told, 00:23:56.109 --> 00:24:00.049 a number of them who had been practicing sorcery 00:24:00.049 --> 00:24:03.569 brought their incantation books. And buried them 00:24:03.569 --> 00:24:06.349 at a public bonfire. And the value of the books 00:24:06.349 --> 00:24:15.750 was several million dollars. Oh. This was so 00:24:15.750 --> 00:24:19.589 much part of the culture. That people had the 00:24:19.589 --> 00:24:21.650 books. They had done the incantations. They had 00:24:21.650 --> 00:24:25.829 memorized them. They were engaging with the mediums. 00:24:25.829 --> 00:24:28.049 They were engaging with witchcraft. They were 00:24:28.049 --> 00:24:32.009 engaging with all of these things. And now that 00:24:32.009 --> 00:24:34.250 they started following Jesus, they still went 00:24:34.250 --> 00:24:36.789 back home and there were the books in their bookshelf. 00:24:38.150 --> 00:24:40.390 They still had the statues right there in the 00:24:40.390 --> 00:24:47.910 garden. But now they realized these things are 00:24:47.910 --> 00:24:53.890 contrary to God. They are detestable. And therefore, 00:24:53.890 --> 00:24:57.029 now that I am following God, I have to remove 00:24:57.029 --> 00:24:59.950 these things. And you can imagine the struggle. 00:24:59.990 --> 00:25:04.299 It's like, But I paid like $10 ,000 for this 00:25:04.299 --> 00:25:07.660 book. I'm not going to burn it. It's too much 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:14.059 money. And the Holy Spirit convicting them. This 00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:16.859 is detestable. Well, let me sell it to somebody 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:19.619 so I can get some of the money back. No, it's 00:25:19.619 --> 00:25:22.359 detestable. Well, let me give it as a gift. No, 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:28.980 it's detestable. Get rid of it. So then they 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:31.420 started getting rid of the stuff and they burnt 00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:38.680 it. And then we're told that the message about 00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.720 the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:45.900 When God's people started coming to know Christ 00:25:45.900 --> 00:25:48.579 and they started following God and they started 00:25:48.579 --> 00:25:50.519 closing the door to the spiritual oppression 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:54.559 that they had opened, suddenly the flow of power 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:57.609 increased. And now the word of God started spreading 00:25:57.609 --> 00:26:04.029 in that region. This happened. So if you are 00:26:04.029 --> 00:26:07.230 experiencing spiritual oppression in your life, 00:26:07.450 --> 00:26:14.269 the symptoms vary. Sometimes you are waking up 00:26:14.269 --> 00:26:15.990 in the middle of the night with these nightmares. 00:26:16.730 --> 00:26:19.710 Sometimes you feel physical presence. Sometimes 00:26:19.710 --> 00:26:22.690 you are feeling like there's something that is 00:26:22.690 --> 00:26:24.569 opposing you. Everything that you are trying 00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:27.970 to do, it just hits a wall. Almost like you are 00:26:27.970 --> 00:26:32.990 under a curse. Sometimes there are illnesses 00:26:32.990 --> 00:26:36.150 that come out of the blue. They have no scientific 00:26:36.150 --> 00:26:42.930 explanation. Sometimes you are feeling things 00:26:42.930 --> 00:26:47.460 that are wrong at home. There's this heaviness. 00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:49.720 You cannot explain it, but it's like the atmosphere 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:55.019 is different. You name it. You just know that 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:59.440 this is not from God. And this spiritual oppression 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.619 that you may be experiencing, the first thing 00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:06.059 that you have to ask is, did I open the door? 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:09.539 Because demonic oppression, spiritual oppression 00:27:09.539 --> 00:27:14.569 will happen based on authority. These entities 00:27:14.569 --> 00:27:18.150 have authority that has been given to them. And 00:27:18.150 --> 00:27:21.130 if you have given them the authority by engaging 00:27:21.130 --> 00:27:23.430 in sinful practices that you have not confessed, 00:27:23.730 --> 00:27:28.150 or if you have objects that are cursed because 00:27:28.150 --> 00:27:30.430 they were used for spiritual darkness and you 00:27:30.430 --> 00:27:33.990 still have those, then you are opening the door 00:27:33.990 --> 00:27:37.009 to spiritual oppression. You have to confess, 00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:39.730 bring things to light, trust in God's grace. 00:27:40.619 --> 00:27:43.980 And also, remove the objects, destroy them. It 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:51.539 doesn't matter the value they have. Imagine that 00:27:51.539 --> 00:27:55.839 your husband was dating someone before he met 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:59.980 you and married you. And the previous girlfriend 00:27:59.980 --> 00:28:04.480 was very nice. She gave him a couple of shirts, 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:11.809 a nice tie. And they were so nice and so expensive 00:28:11.809 --> 00:28:22.470 that he kept those. So he still wears them. And 00:28:22.470 --> 00:28:24.910 when he's putting that tie on to go to work, 00:28:25.150 --> 00:28:27.049 he's looking at himself in the mirror and he 00:28:27.049 --> 00:28:33.490 says, that's such a nice tie. What's wrong with 00:28:33.490 --> 00:28:40.140 that? It's just a tie. It's expensive. Ah, why 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:43.019 does it make you uncomfortable? Because it's 00:28:43.019 --> 00:28:46.759 not just a tie, is it? This represents something. 00:28:48.339 --> 00:28:51.460 This represents a love you had in your life before 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:55.440 you met me. And every time you find joy in it, 00:28:55.559 --> 00:28:57.839 it feels almost like you're being unfaithful 00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:04.420 to me. And that is detestable. Can I ask you 00:29:04.420 --> 00:29:07.000 something? Would you get rid of that tie for 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:14.920 me? Ah, you are too much. Are you being too much? 00:29:16.660 --> 00:29:21.859 You see the problem here? If God has called you 00:29:21.859 --> 00:29:25.059 to follow him, why do you still have the pictures 00:29:25.059 --> 00:29:29.599 of your ex? Why do you still have the statues 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:33.019 of your ex? Why do you have all of these things 00:29:33.019 --> 00:29:36.319 that are the spirit of darkness that God saved 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:41.869 you from? God is calling you to remove those. 00:29:42.930 --> 00:29:47.970 You may be wearing today a bracelet that somebody 00:29:47.970 --> 00:29:49.869 gave you or you bought because that was going 00:29:49.869 --> 00:29:53.930 to bring good energy to help you in your job 00:29:53.930 --> 00:29:58.269 and you're still blessing that. That is not from 00:29:58.269 --> 00:30:03.589 God. Why are you still wearing it? God doesn't 00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:08.450 need crystals and bracelets. To guide you and 00:30:08.450 --> 00:30:15.809 bless you. But my friend gave it to me. It doesn't 00:30:15.809 --> 00:30:18.910 matter who gave it to you. You are following 00:30:18.910 --> 00:30:25.670 Jesus now. And he demands your full heart. And 00:30:25.670 --> 00:30:29.769 anything. That you are still using. From the 00:30:29.769 --> 00:30:32.710 power of darkness. You are inviting oppression 00:30:32.710 --> 00:30:40.900 in your life. It works this way. I may be at 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:46.779 home in my apartment trying to enjoy a nice documentary 00:30:46.779 --> 00:30:49.480 or something. They're sitting and suddenly it's 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:54.319 like, you know, it's like a mosquito starts flying. 00:30:55.500 --> 00:30:58.900 I may want to try to kill that mosquito, but 00:30:58.900 --> 00:31:02.940 then another appears. Where are these mosquitoes 00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:07.589 coming from? Ah. The question is the right question. 00:31:07.950 --> 00:31:10.109 Because it doesn't matter how many I kill, the 00:31:10.109 --> 00:31:12.490 problem is that they're still coming in. So there's 00:31:12.490 --> 00:31:14.589 a window I need to close. There's a door that 00:31:14.589 --> 00:31:17.109 I need to close. That is going to solve the problem. 00:31:17.589 --> 00:31:20.009 And if you have opened a door to the mosquitoes 00:31:20.009 --> 00:31:23.490 of the devil to oppress you, you will need to 00:31:23.490 --> 00:31:25.910 ask God, God, what is the door that I open so 00:31:25.910 --> 00:31:29.410 I can close it? And may you ask the Lord today 00:31:29.410 --> 00:31:31.369 and may he answer the question for you so you 00:31:31.369 --> 00:31:35.839 will have clarity on how to deal with that. But 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:37.680 there's a second experience that the Apostle 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.180 Paul has, and this is in Philippi. Philippi was 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:45.640 another city, also in Greece, above Corinth. 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:49.920 And that was a Roman city, a Roman area that 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:54.680 was much more developed, and they had people 00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:57.380 from all over the place, but there was lots of 00:31:57.380 --> 00:32:01.640 idolatry as well. And when the Apostle Paul reaches 00:32:01.640 --> 00:32:03.680 that place and starts preaching the gospel, something 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:07.500 happens. By the way, you can still go today to 00:32:07.500 --> 00:32:10.460 that city in Greece, and you can still look at 00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:13.799 the ruins and walk through those places. But 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:16.700 this is what we are told happened. One day, as 00:32:16.700 --> 00:32:19.359 we were going down to the place of prayer, we 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:22.680 met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled 00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:25.240 her to tell the future. And she earned a lot 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:27.599 of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:31.319 So this was a woman who could foretell the future. 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:34.579 Maybe like a psychic or something, she was reading 00:32:34.579 --> 00:32:37.440 people's hands, or she was reading cards, whatever 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:42.420 they were doing. And what was the source of the 00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:48.619 things that she was doing? It says there, she 00:32:48.619 --> 00:32:57.680 had a spirit, a demon, demonic presence behind 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:01.890 what she was doing. So the apostle Paul is preaching 00:33:01.890 --> 00:33:05.130 the gospel there. He passes by that area. There's 00:33:05.130 --> 00:33:09.210 the sign that says psychic services, you know, 00:33:09.210 --> 00:33:14.950 and he's passing by. And one day she followed 00:33:14.950 --> 00:33:17.950 Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are 00:33:17.950 --> 00:33:20.349 servants of the most high God and they have come 00:33:20.349 --> 00:33:26.009 to tell you how to be saved. Well, that's a nice 00:33:26.009 --> 00:33:29.660 thing to say, except that is coming from. The 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:33.319 ex. So it's like, I don't want to be involved 00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:38.900 with that. So he says, look, I'm not going to 00:33:38.900 --> 00:33:42.500 put up with this. So he turns to the woman. This 00:33:42.500 --> 00:33:45.819 went on day after day. And Paul got so exasperated 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:48.900 that he turned and said to the demon within her, 00:33:49.059 --> 00:33:52.400 I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:58.430 come out of her. And instantly left her. Why 00:33:58.430 --> 00:34:02.309 could the Apostle Paul do that? Because greater 00:34:02.309 --> 00:34:05.069 is the one that is in you than the one that is 00:34:05.069 --> 00:34:09.289 in the world. He had the Holy Spirit in him. 00:34:09.429 --> 00:34:11.869 He has the authority of Jesus in him. It's not 00:34:11.869 --> 00:34:13.869 just an incantation like the other guys try to 00:34:13.869 --> 00:34:16.769 do. This is the real thing. This is a follower 00:34:16.769 --> 00:34:20.670 of Jesus with the Holy Spirit in. With the authority 00:34:20.670 --> 00:34:24.389 of Christ that has authority over the enemy and 00:34:24.389 --> 00:34:26.610 that is the same Holy Spirit you have and is 00:34:26.610 --> 00:34:28.750 the same authority of Christ that you have. Any 00:34:28.750 --> 00:34:33.789 follower of Jesus has this. And the Apostle Paul 00:34:33.789 --> 00:34:35.809 turns to this woman and says, in the name of 00:34:35.809 --> 00:34:38.230 Jesus, demons come out. And the demon had no 00:34:38.230 --> 00:34:41.670 other option but to come out. And at that moment, 00:34:42.300 --> 00:34:45.340 Her master's hopes of wealth were so shattered 00:34:45.340 --> 00:34:49.019 now, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged 00:34:49.019 --> 00:34:51.000 them before the authorities and at the marketplace. 00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:55.079 And the whole city now is in horror because of 00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:57.579 these Jews, they shouted to the city officials. 00:34:57.820 --> 00:34:59.980 And they are teaching customs that are illegal 00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:03.860 for us Romans to practice. So a mob quickly formed 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:06.780 against Paul and Silas and the city officials 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:09.519 ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:13.219 rods. And they were severely beaten. And then 00:35:13.219 --> 00:35:16.280 they were thrown into prison. And the jailer 00:35:16.280 --> 00:35:18.579 was ordered to make sure they didn't escape. 00:35:18.659 --> 00:35:21.860 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon 00:35:21.860 --> 00:35:27.099 and clamped their feet in the stocks. Oh, the 00:35:27.099 --> 00:35:30.139 Apostle Paul did not see that coming. It's like, 00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:33.460 there's a punch against you, devil. And then 00:35:33.460 --> 00:35:42.920 the devil punched back. Because he can. And now 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:46.860 they are wounded, hurting, in prison. And they 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:48.900 were just there trying to share the gospel with 00:35:48.900 --> 00:35:56.340 people. What do you do when people who are serving 00:35:56.340 --> 00:35:59.239 these idols, who are therefore worshiping demons, 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:03.800 are used by the devil to oppose you and attack 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:08.199 you? What do you do? I'm going to tell you what 00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:11.059 you're not going to do. go on your knees and 00:36:11.059 --> 00:36:13.159 start blaming God and say, why did you let this 00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:17.019 happen to me? That's not what you will do. You 00:36:17.019 --> 00:36:20.239 have an enemy that is attacking you. And when 00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:23.019 the enemy attacks you, you do one thing. You 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:26.400 attack back. And this is what Paul and Silas 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:28.739 did. Look at what the text says on the next verse. 00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:32.760 Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying 00:36:32.760 --> 00:36:35.340 and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners 00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:39.599 were listening. What did they do? The two right 00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:43.500 things you do. You pray because prayer is the 00:36:43.500 --> 00:36:47.260 shield of the spirit to help you stand against 00:36:47.260 --> 00:36:50.199 the attack of the enemy. And secondly, they worship. 00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:53.260 They are proclaiming from their hearts their 00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:56.920 allegiance to the Lord. And you know, it reminds 00:36:56.920 --> 00:36:59.980 me that several years ago I visited Hong Kong 00:36:59.980 --> 00:37:02.440 and I got to visit a ministry that works with 00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:06.460 drug addicts. And as we were... Looking at the 00:37:06.460 --> 00:37:09.039 entire facilities and the whole program they 00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:11.539 had, the founder of the ministry said to us, 00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:14.159 you know, there are moments in which there are 00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:17.579 fights that start happening in some of the houses 00:37:17.579 --> 00:37:19.800 because they have all these houses where people 00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:22.239 go and live there to be able to get over the 00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:25.000 drug addiction. And she says, we have learned 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:27.199 that when that's happening, that's part of spiritual 00:37:27.199 --> 00:37:30.360 oppression. So what we do is that we go in there 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:34.730 and we immediately start worshiping. And we discover 00:37:34.730 --> 00:37:39.730 that worship is part of a spiritual weapon that 00:37:39.730 --> 00:37:42.469 we have against the enemy. And when we start 00:37:42.469 --> 00:37:46.469 worshiping, things calm down. Very interesting. 00:37:47.389 --> 00:37:49.869 And that's what Paul and Silas did. They prayed, 00:37:49.889 --> 00:37:52.849 they worshiped. And as they did that, the text 00:37:52.849 --> 00:37:55.929 says that... Everybody was listening, even the 00:37:55.929 --> 00:37:58.349 jailer. But they did not anticipate that an earthquake 00:37:58.349 --> 00:38:01.610 will happen, that the cell doors will open, and 00:38:01.610 --> 00:38:04.090 that the jailer was going to panic, thinking 00:38:04.090 --> 00:38:06.090 everybody escapes, so I'm going to kill myself 00:38:06.090 --> 00:38:08.190 before the Romans find out and they kill me. 00:38:08.710 --> 00:38:12.769 So, at that moment, Paul and Silas says to the 00:38:12.769 --> 00:38:15.090 jailer, don't kill yourself, we're all still 00:38:15.090 --> 00:38:17.889 here. And at that moment, the guy who had been 00:38:17.889 --> 00:38:21.449 in charge of making sure that they remain in 00:38:21.449 --> 00:38:24.780 the cell, had heard their prayers, had heard 00:38:24.780 --> 00:38:27.199 their worship. So he came to them and said, what 00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:30.880 should I do in order to be saved? And they shared 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:33.920 the gospel with him. And at that moment, it says, 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:37.059 even at that hour of that night, after he heard 00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:39.699 the gospel and believed, the jailer cared for 00:38:39.699 --> 00:38:42.820 them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone 00:38:42.820 --> 00:38:45.219 in his household were immediately baptized. And 00:38:45.219 --> 00:38:47.340 this entire household rejoiced because they all 00:38:47.340 --> 00:38:52.159 believe in God. It is like, There's this woman 00:38:52.159 --> 00:38:58.539 with a demon that is manifesting and Paul punches 00:38:58.539 --> 00:39:02.159 back. And then the demonic forces punch back. 00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:05.400 And now the apostle Paul and Silas punch back. 00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:12.440 And who is in the ground? The story ends with 00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:14.760 the victory of Jesus because stronger is the 00:39:14.760 --> 00:39:16.639 one that is in you than the one that is in the 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:22.480 world. And this household became saved. There 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:24.920 are times in which you're going to be opposed 00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:27.159 by the enemy and you have to start wondering, 00:39:27.260 --> 00:39:30.000 is this opposition something that is coming from 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.320 the enemy? And if it is, then you go on your 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:38.639 knees and you start using your spiritual weapon 00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:44.039 to fight back. Maybe you right now are being 00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:47.760 the target. And it really feels like you're being 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:51.900 targeted. There's a position at work that has 00:39:51.900 --> 00:39:56.199 nothing to do with you or your performance. There's 00:39:56.199 --> 00:39:59.760 something that is against you. And you just know 00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:05.159 it. If the enemy is attacking you, you need to 00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:08.480 attack the spiritual forces of darkness back. 00:40:08.719 --> 00:40:10.820 And not in your power, not with your weapons, 00:40:11.059 --> 00:40:13.539 but in the power of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, 00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:16.599 with the strength of the Holy Spirit. And on 00:40:16.599 --> 00:40:21.739 your knees. And when you do that. Something. 00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:31.480 Will change. This stuff is real. And there's 00:40:31.480 --> 00:40:33.320 one more experience that the Apostle Paul had. 00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:36.400 As he went to Thessalonica. Or Thessalonica. 00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:40.179 In this area which was also in Greece. Which 00:40:40.179 --> 00:40:43.559 you actually can visit today as well. Once you 00:40:43.559 --> 00:40:46.489 go to Thessalonica. It's a much more. modern 00:40:46.489 --> 00:40:49.929 city. But in this place, the apostle Paul went 00:40:49.929 --> 00:40:52.849 there, he preached the gospel, he fell in love 00:40:52.849 --> 00:40:56.070 with these people, and then time passed, he wanted 00:40:56.070 --> 00:40:59.329 to visit them, but he couldn't. And look at what 00:40:59.329 --> 00:41:02.090 the text says as he writes to them in Thessalonians. 00:41:03.429 --> 00:41:07.429 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated 00:41:07.429 --> 00:41:10.590 from you for a little while, though our hearts 00:41:10.590 --> 00:41:13.869 never left you, we try very hard to come back. 00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:17.780 Because of our intense longing to see you again, 00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:21.500 I really wanted to see you again. And I really 00:41:21.500 --> 00:41:25.840 wanted to see you again. We wanted very much 00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:29.719 to come to you. And I, Paul, tried again and 00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:35.159 again. I really tried. But I couldn't go. Why? 00:41:38.260 --> 00:41:45.429 What does the text say? But Satan... Prevented 00:41:45.429 --> 00:41:51.449 us. What? Maybe you're trying to do something 00:41:51.449 --> 00:41:53.769 and the reason why it's not happening is not 00:41:53.769 --> 00:41:56.210 because it's not God's will. It's because Satan 00:41:56.210 --> 00:42:03.670 is opposing you. These are not people anymore 00:42:03.670 --> 00:42:06.889 turning against you. This is you being targeted 00:42:06.889 --> 00:42:13.820 by the devil himself. And he tried. Door closed. 00:42:13.920 --> 00:42:16.179 He tried, door closed. He tried, door closed. 00:42:17.900 --> 00:42:21.280 So he changed strategy. He says, you know what? 00:42:21.380 --> 00:42:25.559 I'm not going to go. Timothy, you go. So Timothy 00:42:25.559 --> 00:42:32.699 went. And with him, he took a letter. First Thessalonians. 00:42:34.280 --> 00:42:36.739 And I can just imagine in those moments, the 00:42:36.739 --> 00:42:40.840 text doesn't tell us much more. But I can imagine 00:42:40.840 --> 00:42:44.199 the Apostle Paul. being opposed by Satan on these 00:42:44.199 --> 00:42:46.539 things. And if he doesn't understand that he 00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:48.440 has an enemy, he can become resentful towards 00:42:48.440 --> 00:42:51.619 God. God, I'm doing everything in my power. Why 00:42:51.619 --> 00:42:54.139 are you not letting me do this thing? As if God 00:42:54.139 --> 00:42:56.639 is the only person on the equation. There is 00:42:56.639 --> 00:43:03.519 an enemy that can oppose you. What is the mystery 00:43:03.519 --> 00:43:07.559 is that we do not know why God did not push back 00:43:07.559 --> 00:43:10.880 and allow Paul to go. The text doesn't tell you. 00:43:11.369 --> 00:43:14.409 But you know what? Looking back, I'm so glad 00:43:14.409 --> 00:43:21.190 that Paul didn't get to go. You know why? Because 00:43:21.190 --> 00:43:24.289 it's the very reason he did not go that he had 00:43:24.289 --> 00:43:27.469 to write two letters to them, which today we 00:43:27.469 --> 00:43:31.050 have in our Bible. First Thessalonians, second 00:43:31.050 --> 00:43:34.809 Thessalonians. So the pain that he had to suffer 00:43:34.809 --> 00:43:38.539 for not seeing his friends. resulted in the blessing 00:43:38.539 --> 00:43:41.659 for generations and thousands and millions of 00:43:41.659 --> 00:43:45.440 people. And in those moments, the only thing 00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:48.519 that you can do is to trust God's sovereignty 00:43:48.519 --> 00:43:52.300 and his plan and his heart. If he's not opening 00:43:52.300 --> 00:43:55.820 the door for you, he knows he's doing something 00:43:55.820 --> 00:43:58.380 you cannot understand. And rather than turning 00:43:58.380 --> 00:44:01.500 against God and doubting his heart or his power, 00:44:01.860 --> 00:44:05.260 I just change strategy. We'll do it this way. 00:44:05.980 --> 00:44:07.920 But if I have to write the letters, I'll write 00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:13.099 the letters. God knows what he's doing. A very 00:44:13.099 --> 00:44:15.380 interesting experience because it doesn't tell 00:44:15.380 --> 00:44:18.420 us more about it, but he really loved these guys 00:44:18.420 --> 00:44:21.340 and the enemy did not want them to reconnect. 00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:24.800 Thank God that they reconnected through the letters 00:44:24.800 --> 00:44:31.880 and through Timothy. Did you realize that you 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:35.500 have an enemy? And that following Jesus means 00:44:35.500 --> 00:44:37.179 that you're going to be targeted by the enemy? 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:41.239 Did you realize that we live in a world that 00:44:41.239 --> 00:44:44.219 is antagonistic towards God and towards you because 00:44:44.219 --> 00:44:47.659 there are forces of darkness called demons, evil 00:44:47.659 --> 00:44:51.219 spirits, unclean spirits that are a mafia organized 00:44:51.219 --> 00:44:54.539 to oppose you and oppose God's plans? Did you 00:44:54.539 --> 00:44:56.860 realize that that is what it means to follow 00:44:56.860 --> 00:45:01.579 Jesus? Now that you realize that, you will have 00:45:01.579 --> 00:45:04.519 to understand two things. First is that you have 00:45:04.519 --> 00:45:07.300 the Holy Spirit in you. And secondly, you have 00:45:07.300 --> 00:45:10.460 the authority of Christ in you. You are the winning 00:45:10.460 --> 00:45:14.980 team. So go and play that game and score. Because 00:45:14.980 --> 00:45:18.400 you're going to win it. Even if you get scored 00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:22.760 back. But let's read the verse that we read at 00:45:22.760 --> 00:45:26.119 the beginning. And now in its fullness. Let's 00:45:26.119 --> 00:45:30.340 read it out loud. But you belong to God, my dear 00:45:30.340 --> 00:45:33.739 children. You have already won a victory over 00:45:33.739 --> 00:45:36.940 those people because the spirit who lives in 00:45:36.940 --> 00:45:41.000 you is greater than the spirit who lives in the 00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:44.099 world. And for that reason, we can follow Jesus, 00:45:44.260 --> 00:45:48.679 not with fear, but with confidence. And when 00:45:48.679 --> 00:45:52.059 we are experiencing any spiritual attack, we're 00:45:52.059 --> 00:45:55.980 going to stand firm. If we open the door, we're 00:45:55.980 --> 00:45:58.880 going to close it. If I have something that I 00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:01.159 need to remove, I'll remove it. It doesn't matter 00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:06.139 how much value it has. If I am being opposed 00:46:06.139 --> 00:46:08.840 by people who are serving the enemy, I'm going 00:46:08.840 --> 00:46:10.679 to go on my knees and I'm going to fight back. 00:46:13.099 --> 00:46:17.039 But if I'm opposed by the enemy and God is not 00:46:17.039 --> 00:46:19.039 giving me the breakthrough, I'm going to trust 00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:23.039 God with the outcome. I'm not going to let bitterness 00:46:23.039 --> 00:46:28.800 towards God get hold of my heart. Greater is 00:46:28.800 --> 00:46:32.199 the one that is in us, Lord. That's what you 00:46:32.199 --> 00:46:35.460 have said, and Holy Spirit, thank you for coming 00:46:35.460 --> 00:46:38.800 to live in us, to guide us, to shape us, and 00:46:38.800 --> 00:46:43.260 I ask you, in Jesus' name, to give your people 00:46:43.260 --> 00:46:46.739 a breakthrough from demonic oppression, no matter 00:46:46.739 --> 00:46:50.480 what form, what shape, how deep or how light. 00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:57.500 Lord, you are greater than the enemy. So we stand 00:46:57.500 --> 00:46:59.860 in your power and your authority and I'm asking 00:46:59.860 --> 00:47:03.420 you in Jesus' name, give your people a breakthrough 00:47:03.420 --> 00:47:07.480 and let any demonic oppression be broken in Jesus' 00:47:07.639 --> 00:47:10.739 name now and any demonic oppression be released 00:47:10.739 --> 00:47:14.699 in Jesus' name now. We worship you, Jesus, and 00:47:14.699 --> 00:47:17.639 we call on your name because your name is greater. 00:47:18.079 --> 00:47:27.340 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you for tuning 00:47:27.340 --> 00:47:31.500 in to the ECB sermon podcast. Whether near or 00:47:31.500 --> 00:47:34.659 far, if you are looking for community or are 00:47:34.659 --> 00:47:38.219 in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage by 00:47:38.219 --> 00:47:43.699 sending us an email to office at ecb .asia. If 00:47:43.699 --> 00:47:46.159 God is calling you to support our ministries, 00:47:46.280 --> 00:47:48.920 you will find giving options on our website. 00:47:49.659 --> 00:47:53.159 And remember to join us next week. God bless 00:47:53.159 --> 00:47:53.400 you.