Living Life with the Holy Spirit - Part 7: The Empowering Presence | Pastor Pablo Morales

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

Deuteronomy 18 · chapter mention

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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you.