The Supernatural Realm: A Gospel-Centered Perspective

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning Freedom House!
[00:00:54] How many of you are glad that you are in the house of the Lord?
[00:00:57] This is a great way to start your week off, isn't it?
[00:01:02] Well, I am glad even though you couldn't be with us in person, we have Sweden joining in, Tennessee, South Carolina, Nebraska, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, and other North Carolinians.
[00:01:19] Welcome to Freedom House.
[00:01:21] We have been in a series called, what's it called?
[00:01:27] Hot Seat Summer and it's all about those questions that a lot of people would just as soon leave alone don't touch those and and the reason that there are some questions that we don't necessarily talk about in church is because they require further explanation and sometimes we'd rather just you know hit the surface
[00:01:50] But that's not how we are at Freedom House.
[00:01:53] So we've been answering all of the hard questions or the deeper level questions.
[00:01:59] So today we are going to dive in.
[00:02:02] The question today is, are angels and demons real?
[00:02:09] We're going to be talking about the supernatural.
[00:02:13] And one of the things when we talk about the supernatural is this.
[00:02:17] There are a lot of people that would just assume, kind of skirt over that.
[00:02:24] Because see, they are all about human logic.
[00:02:28] I want to be able to dissect it.
[00:02:31] I want to be able to measure it, to quantify it, to qualify it.
[00:02:36] And if I can't, then I'm going to discard it.
[00:02:40] They might think of the supernatural being a little archaic, primitive, or maybe even a bit childish.
[00:02:48] Because, you know, we've got to measure everything.
[00:02:51] It's got to be proven scientifically.
[00:02:55] And you see that kind of erupting right now in society where everything is about intellect, is about head knowledge.
[00:03:05] And the reason that the supernatural is so amazing is because there are things that are so far beyond our scope.
[00:03:12] As a matter of fact, until there was a microscope developed, we wouldn't have even known there are things that we can't even see.
[00:03:22] And the only reason some will acknowledge it is because we developed an instrument to be able to see it.
[00:03:28] There are also things that we can't hear.
[00:03:30] But I can tell you, you blow a dog whistle, my dog will hear it.
[00:03:36] You see, there are things beyond our capacity.
[00:03:40] And what we have to understand about the supernatural is that when God's super comes on your natural, your natural's giving in.
[00:03:50] And if we don't understand that, we're going to discount something because our brain isn't big enough or powerful enough to understand.
[00:04:03] Now, as we dive into this, what we're gonna do is the first thing is we're gonna read a scripture here about why this is, why we struggle.
[00:04:17] In 1 Corinthians 2.14 it says, But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.
[00:04:27] Nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
[00:04:34] Not with our intellect.
[00:04:36] People struggle with the supernatural because they are trying to understand the spiritual realm with their natural minds.
[00:04:48] Now, let's take it even further.
[00:04:50] 2 Corinthians 4.
[00:04:52] But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God, should shine on them.
[00:05:11] Hmm, maybe if I acknowledge that God is real,
[00:05:16] and the supernatural is real, then maybe I'll have to acknowledge that sin has consequences too.
[00:05:22] And maybe I'll have to face some truths that maybe I didn't want to face.
[00:05:31] Let's get into this deep.
[00:05:32] Let's dive in on the supernatural.
[00:05:37] First, as we talk about angels, I want us to understand a little bit about the commander of the angel armies, God himself.
[00:05:46] God is in charge.
[00:05:48] He enlists His angels.
[00:05:50] God is omnipotent, all-powerful.
[00:05:56] God is omnipresent, which means He's everything, everywhere, all at once.
[00:06:04] God is omniscient which means that he is all-knowing.
[00:06:10] That is the God that we serve.
[00:06:13] God is without beginning or end.
[00:06:18] Now, the reason I say that is because when we contrast and we look at the enemy, we understand that he has a beginning because he was created, not in the state that he's in now, but he has an end, thank God.
[00:06:38] Thank God.
[00:06:41] In regards to angels, they were created by God.
[00:06:47] They are spiritual beings that preceded humanity.
[00:06:52] They are masculine.
[00:06:56] I don't care what your grandma, what picture she had hanging over the mantle of this woman-looking angel.
[00:07:04] Angels are masculine.
[00:07:06] There is not one scripture to the contrary in the Bible, nor anyone that has had an experience with an angel ever described them as anything other than masculine.
[00:07:20] They are not fat babies in diapers with halos.
[00:07:27] I think sometimes the enemy tries to paint that picture because who wants to be on the side of a team with fat babies and diapers?
[00:07:36] Not me, right?
[00:07:41] Let's keep talking further about angels.
[00:07:47] I want to explain to you that they are created beings created by God and they have free will just like you and I do.
[00:07:59] I want to give you some things that have been experiences that we have walked through and I know many of you have had experiences.
[00:08:07] I'm going to start with something that my husband experienced first and it was the most intense thing that had ever happened to him in his entire life.
[00:08:18] I want you to know as I describe it, it is a little bit difficult for me because it is such a holy and a
[00:08:26] In the winter of 1996 we were living in Richmond, Virginia.
[00:08:50] As a matter of fact, it was during the blizzard of 96.
[00:08:55] We got 12 to 18 inches of snow.
[00:09:00] But our church was holding a revival and we'd already had the guest in from another country.
[00:09:05] So they decided to keep it open.
[00:09:09] Keep it where anybody that wanted to come, they could come.
[00:09:14] But you didn't have to drive in the blizzard.
[00:09:17] My husband said he was going to drive in the blizzard.
[00:09:21] I was at home that night and
[00:09:25] He went, and here's the thing about his responsibility at the church.
[00:09:30] He was the one that kinda made sure everything in the service went the way it was supposed to go.
[00:09:35] He sat directly beside our senior pastor on the front row.
[00:09:39] Now there was a distance, their area was larger, so it'd be like to our second row.
[00:09:45] And here's my husband sitting on the first row,
[00:09:52] And he gets up in the middle of our guest speaker talking.
[00:09:56] Now remember, my husband is the one that is supposed to keep the service under control.
[00:10:02] He gets up during the man speaking.
[00:10:06] He's got a dazed look on his face.
[00:10:09] He gets up, he walks all the way to the front, and he turns and he looks to his left.
[00:10:17] And then he goes and he sits back down.
[00:10:21] A couple minutes later, he gets up again, he walks up to the same spot, and this time he does like a full circle, turns all the way around.
[00:10:35] And then he goes and he sits back down.
[00:10:39] The next thing he does, as the one responsible for the service, he gets up and he leaves.
[00:10:48] He walks out.
[00:10:49] There was a stairwell over on this side of the auditorium and in the stairwell was a men's restroom.
[00:10:58] He goes into the men's restroom.
[00:11:01] He gets down on his hands and his knees and he begins sobbing uncontrollably.
[00:11:08] Now if you know my husband, he's not a crier.
[00:11:12] Like at all.
[00:11:13] Even sometimes where I think he probably should show some emotion.
[00:11:17] He doesn't.
[00:11:20] But he is in this bathroom in a blizzard sobbing his eyes out.
[00:11:28] The next thing that happened is there's a light in the bathroom and he sees an outline walk in and he knows that it's Jesus that is standing there.
[00:11:42] He's still sobbing and he just says, anything you want me to do, anything you want me to do, anything you want me to do, anything you want me to do, anything you want me to do.
[00:11:52] He just kept saying it over and over and over and over.
[00:11:56] And Jesus reached out, touched his mouth, and touched his hands.
[00:12:02] And here he is uncontrollably sobbing.
[00:12:05] It went on for two hours.
[00:12:09] They had actually closed off the bathroom and had somebody standing and guarding it because they knew that something intense was happening.
[00:12:22] Later that night, they are checking on him to see if he's okay to drive.
[00:12:28] He makes it home and I was upstairs in our loft.
[00:12:35] And as soon as the door opens, I knew something significant had happened.
[00:12:42] And I leaned over and I said, what happened?
[00:12:47] And he couldn't even speak to tell me.
[00:12:49] He was trying to speak and he couldn't.
[00:12:52] And he comes upstairs in the loft, sits on the sofa across from me, and we sit and we stare at each other for two hours.
[00:13:02] Two straight hours.
[00:13:11] When the supernatural starts happening, things get stirred up in the spirit.
[00:13:21] You understand?
[00:13:22] So the power of God was brought home and it transferred on to me in the house and we sat there for another two hours and we stared at each other.
[00:13:43] Come here.
[00:13:45] This is what happens.
[00:13:48] No.
[00:13:49] Here's what happens.
[00:13:50] Come on.
[00:13:54] Thank you Jesus.
[00:13:57] The name of Jesus.
[00:14:01] You guys see what happens?
[00:14:05] Don't be afraid.
[00:14:07] Don't be worried.
[00:14:09] This is what happens.
[00:14:11] When the supernatural comes, the enemy doesn't like it.
[00:14:17] And we were already forewarned.
[00:14:22] So when this scenario happened, we're sitting across from each other for two hours, and it took him two days before he was able to speak.
[00:14:36] And when he was able to speak, do you know what was so
[00:14:41] Incredible, what was so amazing that happened is we have often said that things happen in the spirit before they happen in the natural.
[00:14:56] And so God actually showed him what was happening in the natural when he went and he stood up.
[00:15:07] He took the spirit and he brought it into the natural and allowed him to see.
[00:15:12] The first time when he got up and he looked over here, you literally see he saw a door.
[00:15:18] Now the ceilings were about 30 to 40 feet high in our auditorium.
[00:15:23] And you literally see all the way from the top to the bottom, you see this huge door open.
[00:15:31] and it wasn't like sideways it was top to bottom door and then you see him go sit down that's all that happened the first time the second time he gets up and he does the 360 there were angels that were lined all over the auditorium 30 or 40 feet high and all you could see was up to their neck their heads were above the roof line
[00:16:01] They were massive.
[00:16:03] They weren't fat babies in diapers.
[00:16:10] They're powerful.
[00:16:17] And it's so incredible because the supernatural realm, we don't always get to see into it, but sometimes God will peel the layer back and let us see what is happening.
[00:16:30] and we can see in the natural sometimes when things get stirred up when God's super comes on our natural and our bodies begin to break under that or when demonic influences try to stir up we can see we can't necessarily see the demons themselves all the time but we can see their effect and so we've got to understand that the supernatural
[00:17:00] is real and what I'm going to do is I'm going to talk to us about the way and the hierarchy of angels and then we're going to go into demons but understand that angels have a spiritual rank and they have very specific roles very specific
[00:17:24] Colossians 1.16.
[00:17:26] Now the way that Paul groups things together is the way that I'm going to classify them today.
[00:17:33] But Colossians 1.16 says, For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.
[00:17:55] Ephesians 1 20 says that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places far above all rule all authority power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come
[00:18:21] Romans 8 28 says for I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord
[00:18:44] Now Paul uses Greek terms to show these power structures.
[00:18:50] And they are organized much like a royal court or military.
[00:18:57] These ranks are listed that I'm about to give you of the angels, not in order of importance, but in order of proximity to the throne.
[00:19:08] There are three triads.
[00:19:11] The first triad is the heavenly worship and glory triad.
[00:19:16] These angels serve God directly, not humans.
[00:19:22] They are devoted to worship, to praise, and to revelation of divine glory.
[00:19:28] The first is seraphim.
[00:19:31] Seraphim are all about worship and adoration.
[00:19:36] They surround the throne crying, holy, holy, holy.
[00:19:43] That is their job.
[00:19:46] Seraphim means burning ones.
[00:19:49] They are radiant, they are purifying.
[00:19:51] As a matter of fact, in the book of Daniel, you see, or no, in the book of Isaiah, you see a seraph in chapter six touches Daniel's lips with a hot coal to purify him.
[00:20:07] That is their job.
[00:20:09] They are about purity.
[00:20:12] The cherubim, number two, guard divine mysteries and glory.
[00:20:18] And you can read about these two all throughout the Bible.
[00:20:23] You see them guarding Eden, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Holy of Holies.
[00:20:31] You also see in Ezekiel chapter 28 where Lucifer
[00:20:37] which was satan's name as an angel before he was thrown out of heaven was actually called a cherubim he had close proximity to the throne which is why he was so jealous he turned and he got prideful and he actually wanted to be god
[00:21:04] He didn't want to worship holy, holy or as a burning one.
[00:21:10] He wanted to be God.
[00:21:13] Then we see number three, Thrones.
[00:21:16] They were about justice and order.
[00:21:20] Now, when you and I think about thrones, we're not looking in Paul's day and time.
[00:21:26] They are using it to classify a role of what angels did.
[00:21:31] It's not God's recliner.
[00:21:33] It is actually angels who have authority.
[00:21:38] They execute decrees and they are submitted.
[00:21:42] Spiritual beings that are associated with God's rule.
[00:21:47] In ancient Jewish and Christian traditions, they use metaphors to describe this spiritual rank.
[00:21:56] So you will see that continually.
[00:21:59] The second triad is governing the cosmos and the spiritual realm.
[00:22:05] And these angels are further from God's throne.
[00:22:09] They are involved in the administration of the universe, cosmic order, and divine authority.
[00:22:17] Number four is dominions.
[00:22:20] They oversee lower angels.
[00:22:22] They are not directly interacting with humanity.
[00:22:26] They govern and they keep angelic realm in order.
[00:22:31] The next we see is virtues.
[00:22:34] Now virtues are not what you and I would look at it as far as moral character here.
[00:22:39] It's a level and a ranking.
[00:22:41] And they are about miracles, signs, and wonders.
[00:22:45] Now I'm gonna read virtues and powers together because
[00:22:51] It's like, okay, if virtues are miracle signs and wonders, why is powers listed out separately?
[00:22:58] Why wouldn't they be together?
[00:23:00] Powers here are the warrior angels.
[00:23:04] Very specifically, ones who enforce spiritual boundaries and heavenly military.
[00:23:12] When there's a demonic uprising, they are the first that are on the scene.
[00:23:19] Now let me explain to you the difference between virtues and powers.
[00:23:25] Virtues, that word comes from Latin, virtus.
[00:23:31] And in our New Testament, it's Greek.
[00:23:36] And that word in the Greek is the word dynamis or dunamis.
[00:23:42] And what does that mean?
[00:23:43] Well, it's the word where we get dynamite from.
[00:23:47] Explosive power.
[00:23:50] That is what virtues means.
[00:23:54] Now, why is powers listed?
[00:23:58] If that means power and dynamite, why is powers listed separately?
[00:24:04] Well, powers listed there comes from the Greek word exousia.
[00:24:11] And that means you have power because of the position or the authority that you hold.
[00:24:20] Let me give you an example of virtues and powers working together.
[00:24:27] Virtues is power because of that dynamite where that word power's there, that word exousia is kind of like a police officer's badge.
[00:24:41] He has power and authority because of what has been bestowed upon him by Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
[00:24:53] So when he stands up in a room, he has power and authority.
[00:24:59] That word exousia means authority because of his badge.
[00:25:06] Now, virtues
[00:25:11] means dynamite dunamis so in other words if you don't listen to the exousia you're gonna have to deal with the dunamis
[00:25:26] They both mean power, but one of them has to do with the authority, the other has to do with explosive.
[00:25:36] So that is the difference between those two words.
[00:25:43] When I look through, and we haven't even gone through the third triad yet, when I look through this, it makes me understand the importance of prayer, knowing that there are angels ready to be dispatched
[00:25:57] that there is power ready to be loosed.
[00:26:02] Prayer is heaven's invitation into earth's need.
[00:26:09] Prayer isn't like, oh yeah, I prayed for you today.
[00:26:11] Prayer is power.
[00:26:14] It is literally the dispatch call that summons heaven's unseen armies to earth's visible battles.
[00:26:27] It's a big deal.
[00:26:28] This third triad is connected with earth and humanity.
[00:26:34] And these angels interact directly with humanity, acting as messengers, as guides, and as protectors.
[00:26:45] Number seven is principalities.
[00:26:47] They govern nations and regions.
[00:26:51] Number eight is Archangels.
[00:26:54] They carry out major missions.
[00:26:56] They oversee other angels.
[00:26:58] They engage in high level warfare.
[00:27:01] And in Daniel chapter 12, you see where Gabriel and Michael, Gabriel's trying to bring a message down to Daniel because he's been praying and fasting, believing God for an answer that God will show him about the dreams and the visions he's had.
[00:27:19] And then you see,
[00:27:20] this angel immediately day one was dispatched but then because of the principalities and the the powers and the rulers of the darkness then you see what happens is Michael who who is a warrior an archangel has to come and help break through the demonic atmosphere to be able to get the message to God's people to Daniel
[00:27:50] So it is important that when we pray, we believe God answers and that angels have been dispatched.
[00:28:00] I also think it's important to note that Michael is mentioned by name as an archangel who battles Satan in Revelations and defeats him and he gets thrown into the lake of fire.
[00:28:17] I think that's pretty good news.
[00:28:18] I don't know about you.
[00:28:21] And then number nine, we have angels that are guardians and messengers.
[00:28:26] Those are the most familiar group.
[00:28:29] And I love where it says in Psalms that he has given his angels charge over you.
[00:28:35] Man, I don't want to negate the supernatural realm and what God wants to do.
[00:28:42] Prayer is not just talking to God.
[00:28:45] It is enlisting heavenly hosts to act on our behalf.
[00:28:52] It's incredible.
[00:28:56] There are overall functions and there are four that I want to give you in regards to angels.
[00:29:03] The first is messengers.
[00:29:06] Then we see ministering spirits.
[00:29:09] We see angels as agents of judgment.
[00:29:13] And then we see them as spiritual protectors.
[00:29:17] Now,
[00:29:18] Let's talk about Satan and his demonic forces for a minute.
[00:29:23] The thing I want you to understand is that when you walk in the authority of Jesus Christ, you don't get scared by the enemy's tactics.
[00:29:36] Do we understand?
[00:29:37] What we understand
[00:29:43] is that the enemy is under our feet and that he is a defeated foe and so when you get nervous or scared when you see the devil raising his ugly head it's because somewhere on the inside of you you don't know your authority or you don't know your place
[00:30:07] Because my Bible says that the demons tremble at His name.
[00:30:12] And I carry His name.
[00:30:14] And if you are a believer, you carry His name.
[00:30:20] And you carry it with you wherever you go.
[00:30:25] So Paul lists some structures here that we are gonna read, but they're not as detailed as the angelic structures.
[00:30:35] Ephesians 6.12, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
[00:30:51] Understand that Satan is not omnipresent like God.
[00:30:55] He's not omniscient like God.
[00:30:57] He's not omnipotent like God.
[00:31:00] He rules through delegation.
[00:31:03] He enlists demons to do his bidding.
[00:31:06] He was a created being named Lucifer who was cast out of heaven.
[00:31:12] In essence, he had a beginning and he's got an end.
[00:31:20] Right?
[00:31:22] He's known as the father of lies in John 8, 44, and he tries to veil or camouflage himself as to look harmless.
[00:31:32] That's why he inserts himself in kids cartoons, video games, to catch you unaware.
[00:31:41] So he looks harmless.
[00:31:43] So you think he's this little red cape-bearing, pitchfork-bearing demon.
[00:31:54] He is powerful, but the good news is, is that he's on a rope.
[00:32:00] He's on a rope.
[00:32:03] And we just have to understand how to wield the power that God has put in us.
[00:32:10] Satan's goal is not just to manifest through evil.
[00:32:15] That's part of it.
[00:32:16] But it's to convince people that he doesn't even exist.
[00:32:19] Because if you don't think that you have an enemy, your guard is not gonna be up.
[00:32:25] And that allows you to be susceptible.
[00:32:28] and we don't want to be caught off guard.
[00:32:31] Now let's talk about demons specifically, what they are.
[00:32:35] They are disembodied evil spirits that actively oppose God and seek to harm humanity.
[00:32:44] They're also called familiar spirits or unclean spirits.
[00:32:48] Where do they come from?
[00:32:50] They're fallen angels who followed Lucifer in rebellion against God.
[00:32:57] In Revelation 12, four it says, his tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
[00:33:07] We obviously see that imagery again, which is how they would write a third of the stars was a third of the angels that was cast out along with Lucifer.
[00:33:18] They are not flesh and blood but seek physical expression and they crave to inhabit human bodies.
[00:33:26] What is their assignment?
[00:33:29] They rarely show their true nature.
[00:33:31] They tempt, they lie, they accuse, and they mimic the Holy Spirit.
[00:33:37] They try and present themselves as an agent of light.
[00:33:42] So you won't be too concerned and you'll just kind of go along with things and your guard will not be up.
[00:33:49] I saw this happen all through 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.
[00:33:56] The devil used empathy and he weaponized it to take down a lot of Christians who were caught off guard because we were wanting to coddle and be kind and sweet.
[00:34:11] And listen, there's a place to be kind and sweet, but there's also a place to be a strong, bold warrior with your shield up and your sword wielded.
[00:34:29] They're not flesh and blood, but they seek physical expression and they crave to inhabit humans.
[00:34:37] They rarely show their true nature, as we just said, which is why we have to be able to understand the difference and we have to feel the Holy Spirit inside of us is kind of like that blinker light that tells you when to change lanes.
[00:34:57] It signals you.
[00:35:01] What do they look like?
[00:35:03] Well, they can take on different forms.
[00:35:06] I'm going to share with you the two forms that I've seen.
[00:35:10] There are more that are described in the Bible.
[00:35:13] In fact, one of the forms that I've seen isn't even described in the Bible.
[00:35:17] The Bible just talks about animal forms.
[00:35:23] But this happened early days of the church
[00:35:28] We were still meeting in a school, University Meadows Elementary.
[00:35:34] It was after church.
[00:35:35] We had broken down the building because we were set up in breakdown.
[00:35:40] People were putting away chairs.
[00:35:43] And I look over and I see a woman that has this monkey-like figure sitting on her shoulder.
[00:35:53] And I was like, oh my, in church.
[00:35:57] We're putting chairs away.
[00:36:00] What do I do?
[00:36:01] I heard the Lord say, go and talk to her.
[00:36:05] And I'm kind of perplexed as do you want me to just say, hey, what's that thing on your shoulder?
[00:36:12] Like, how do you want me to do this?
[00:36:15] But I walk over to her.
[00:36:18] And I said, hey, are you doing okay?
[00:36:22] To which she responded that she was not, that she had been having these voices in her head and that she had been contemplating taking her life.
[00:36:36] And I told her, I said, I just want you to know that's actually not your voice that you're hearing.
[00:36:43] It's actually a demonic voice.
[00:36:45] It's an assignment that has been sent to try and take you down.
[00:36:50] And I said, there is literally a demon that is sitting on your left shoulder to which she replied, it's in my left ear, it's in my left ear.
[00:36:59] And I let her know that it had to flee in the name of Jesus if she wanted to be delivered.
[00:37:07] And she said she did, so we prayed.
[00:37:09] It jumped off of her shoulder.
[00:37:13] It ran down the side of the room and went out the exit door.
[00:37:18] And I'll explain to you that in a second because I didn't understand why it didn't just go through a wall.
[00:37:26] It actually left through a human entry, an exit.
[00:37:34] That scenario happened when our church was about two years old.
[00:37:41] I've had different encounters, but another scenario that happened probably two years ago, maybe three, is I was having a conversation with someone, and have you ever seen those stickers where you kind of move them a little bit and you see two different pictures?
[00:38:00] I'm having a conversation with this guy and that happens I can literally see a flicker of it looked like a reptile on the inside of him and you do see in scripture where Satan tries to manifest himself as a reptile but I'm seeing this and
[00:38:25] I understand and I know the spirit of Leviathan is what the Bible calls it.
[00:38:30] And it's pride and arrogance.
[00:38:33] It is a narcissistic type of a spirit.
[00:38:41] And I remember talking to my spiritual advisor.
[00:38:45] I'm just saying, hey, is there any rhyme or reason to things?
[00:38:51] Because I've had a few encounters with
[00:38:56] Things that look like monkeys and things that look like reptiles.
[00:39:02] What helped me understand and why did the monkey go out of a door instead of through a wall?
[00:39:11] Why would it follow a human path?
[00:39:14] That doesn't make sense to me.
[00:39:16] And he said there are laws in the supernatural that have to be abided by.
[00:39:23] And demons are not like angels.
[00:39:26] They can't just morph like an angel can.
[00:39:33] And he said, think about, have you ever cast a demon out of somebody?
[00:39:36] And I said, absolutely.
[00:39:38] And he said, and what happens?
[00:39:39] I said, well, they always usually, it will, they'll start choking, wanting to throw up, and it comes out of their mouth.
[00:39:47] He said, right, it doesn't just pass through their body.
[00:39:49] They don't have that type of authority.
[00:39:51] They can't do that.
[00:39:54] They have to obey human laws to a degree.
[00:40:00] And I said, okay, why the difference, the monkey, the reptile?
[00:40:06] He said, the reptiles are higher ranking and you're usually dealing with pride.
[00:40:14] And pride, God himself says he resists the proud.
[00:40:19] and that is a higher level spirit that you deal with and I said this man was a narcissist totally getting it and he said the monkeys they're usually just all talk they chatter and I thought that's what happened it was on her shoulder so some of these things I have experienced
[00:40:40] but there's not one scripture that says a demon took on the shape of a monkey you just see in the bible where they can change shapes into animals okay so some of these things are experiences that i've walked through but the thing that i want you to understand
[00:41:02] is that they have spiritual ranks just like angels do.
[00:41:07] Not as organized, not as detailed.
[00:41:12] The first is principalities.
[00:41:14] Those are high-ranking territorial spirits.
[00:41:20] You see in the book of Daniel, the prince of Persia is who Michael had to fight through in order to get the answer to Daniel.
[00:41:31] You also see in Mark chapter 5, and I'm going to read this one.
[00:41:35] This is Jesus who is literally just casting out demonic spirits.
[00:41:41] It says, For he had said to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.
[00:41:45] Then Jesus asked him, What is your name?
[00:41:48] He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many.
[00:41:54] and he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.
[00:42:00] They had territory over that region.
[00:42:05] Let me give you another scenario that didn't happen to me, but I was present.
[00:42:12] I was speaking in Seattle, which is where my husband is actually speaking today, not the same church, a different church.
[00:42:18] But I was speaking in Seattle, and I had four services to do that weekend.
[00:42:23] I had done two of them, and I was up for the next service, and I had taken Pastor Diana, her and her husband oversee our south end campus.
[00:42:31] I had taken her with me and I said, hey, they've asked me to come and really break through some spiritual strongholds in this area.
[00:42:41] And I don't know these people like I know a lot of pastors.
[00:42:47] This is the first time I've been here.
[00:42:49] So I would love for you to go with me.
[00:42:51] I do know the pastor because he was a race car driver turned pastor.
[00:42:56] But other than that,
[00:42:57] I don't know them that well and she said absolutely I'll go be your wingman so we went and right when I'm getting ready to get up and speak I see her like hightail it to the back of the church and she's pacing back there and I have no idea what she's doing but I keep on with the service service is over she says to me you are not going to believe what happened I said try me
[00:43:26] She said, right when you were getting up, this witch started circling right above the building and literally flying around the building.
[00:43:36] And I said, lovely, thank you for praying because she saw it and she immediately started doing spiritual warfare.
[00:43:46] Please understand, prayers are not passive.
[00:43:51] She was doing spiritual warfare
[00:43:54] Thank you, Jesus.
[00:43:56] And service is over now, and we're going out to eat with the pastor, his wife, and 10 to 15 of their staff members.
[00:44:04] And I said, do me a favor.
[00:44:06] Let's keep this between you and me.
[00:44:08] I don't know these people like that.
[00:44:12] Please do not tell them that you saw a witch flying around their church.
[00:44:18] She said, got it.
[00:44:20] So we go to lunch, we're eating lunch, and I said, can you guys explain to me, I know why you had me in, talk to me about Seattle, talk to me about Tacoma, and the area that I was in, I went to several of their campuses, this particular area was called Shonomish.
[00:44:39] and I said talk to me about the area and they said well there are six witch covens that surround this area and they have taken hold of this city and we wanted you to come in to help break that bondage and that spiritual hold and I said okay Pastor Diana tell them tell them what you saw tell them right now
[00:45:06] We've got to understand that the spiritual realm is real.
[00:45:11] We can't treat it flippantly.
[00:45:15] We've got to understand, thank God she was sensitive to the things of the spirit.
[00:45:24] The second type of demons are powers.
[00:45:29] Very similar to the angels in the fact of they are enforcers.
[00:45:33] That's the word exousia there.
[00:45:36] The authority that they've been given.
[00:45:38] Number three, rulers of darkness.
[00:45:41] Those are commanders of large scale deception.
[00:45:45] Number four, spiritual wickedness in high places.
[00:45:53] This is where your thoughts, temptations, there is direct activity where demonic influences are sent to try and get a hold of your thoughts.
[00:46:04] Here's what I want you to understand today.
[00:46:07] That demons operate on spiritual legal rights.
[00:46:15] They do not have access to you unless you open a door.
[00:46:23] which is why Ephesians 4.27 says, do not give the devil a foothold.
[00:46:30] If you leave even so much as a crack in the door where he can stick his foot in and wiggle his way in and push that door open, we don't want to do it.
[00:46:45] We've gotta be careful what we put in front of our eyes, what we listen to.
[00:46:53] Be vigilant.
[00:46:55] 1 Peter 5 says be alert and of sober mind.
[00:46:58] Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
[00:47:06] How do they gain access?
[00:47:11] Number one is unrepentant sin.
[00:47:17] Unrepentant sin.
[00:47:21] Number two is through occult activity.
[00:47:24] Messing around with stuff we have no business messing around with, whether it's Ouija boards, whether it's occultic type video games.
[00:47:35] Tell you, that's where the enemy tries to come in, putting stuff in kids' literature, video games.
[00:47:45] That invites that spirit in, messing with fortune telling and tarot cards.
[00:47:51] Number three and number four are the two that I see the most.
[00:47:57] I'm gonna read number three to you, and it will probably shock most of you, but I'm going to explain it.
[00:48:05] A way the enemy can come in is through trauma and abuse.
[00:48:11] And you might say, but wait, wait, wait, that wasn't my fault.
[00:48:16] What happened to you
[00:48:19] might not have been your fault.
[00:48:21] It's what you do with it now that is your responsibility.
[00:48:28] What can happen is fear and shame and disassociation where we detach ourselves from our feelings to try to numb ourselves up because of things that happened in our past.
[00:48:41] This is where pornography comes into play.
[00:48:44] Drugs, excessive alcohol,
[00:48:48] All of these things come in because of trauma and abuse because of shame.
[00:48:56] Insecurity.
[00:48:57] Do you know how many women I've had to deliver from demonic things because they let insecurity take root in them?
[00:49:09] When we believe who God says we are, we're not going to walk around insecure.
[00:49:14] We're going to look at the devil like a little gnat and we're going to flick him.
[00:49:21] We've got to understand our spiritual authority and who God has called us to be.
[00:49:27] And you guys, I've got as traumatic past as they come.
[00:49:32] There wasn't anything that wasn't done to me.
[00:49:35] Physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, trauma, trauma, trauma.
[00:49:42] But we don't get to live a victim.
[00:49:44] And if we do, we invite that demonic activity into our life.
[00:49:52] That victim mentality, men will hold you hostage.
[00:49:57] Number four is bloodlines and generational curses.
[00:50:01] I don't care if your mama was poor.
[00:50:03] I don't care if your daddy had a sex addiction.
[00:50:06] I don't care if cancer runs 15 generations.
[00:50:09] Cut the bloodline off.
[00:50:14] Your bloodline when you become a Christian is now attached to the bloodline of the tree of Jesus Christ.
[00:50:27] And that washes over us.
[00:50:30] We don't get to live a pitiful life.
[00:50:33] We don't get to live a victim.
[00:50:36] You can't be a victim and a victor at the same time.
[00:50:40] At some point you gotta pick.
[00:50:46] My father died an alcoholic.
[00:50:51] Pastor Troy's father died an alcoholic.
[00:50:55] Listen guys, I don't care what your bloodline says.
[00:51:02] My bloodline says I shouldn't be up here.
[00:51:04] The blood that flows from Calvary
[00:51:15] Still flows through you and me and we're not going to make excuses.
[00:51:24] Number five is unforgiveness.
[00:51:27] When we hold unforgiveness in our heart, we allow the enemy to come in as it says in Matthew 18.
[00:51:35] The last one.
[00:51:37] is inner vows what do I mean by inner vows let's just use me for example because of all the things that I've gone through I could make an unhealthy inner vow that says I will never let another man tell me I will never let another man hurt me I will never and that gives birth to demonic
[00:51:59] Influences and movements like Women's Lib.
[00:52:04] I don't need a group of women to liberate me when the King of Kings already liberated me.
[00:52:09] And that group wasn't rising up to say give women their rights.
[00:52:16] They were rising up and trying to tear men down.
[00:52:20] There's a difference.
[00:52:26] Jesus liberated us already, ladies.
[00:52:29] and men are not competition.
[00:52:35] So how do you remove these demonic influences?
[00:52:41] If you see that they've been operating in your life, and there's a difference between a full-on possession, which is the lizard that I told you guys, that reptile, and oppression, which was outside of the woman on her shoulder.
[00:52:57] There's a difference.
[00:52:58] But regardless, how do we get rid of this from our life?
[00:53:02] First and foremost, submit to Jesus.
[00:53:05] Submit to Jesus.
[00:53:08] And we can do that today.
[00:53:10] If you don't know Jesus, I invite you to know Him.
[00:53:14] I'm not just talking about know about Him.
[00:53:16] The Bible says even the demons know and they are fearful and tremble.
[00:53:22] It's not a knowing in our mind, it's a knowing here, a relationship.
[00:53:29] The next, how do we remove that from our life?
[00:53:33] As we close the door.
[00:53:36] Demons cannot override human will without access or consent.
[00:53:44] Number three.
[00:53:46] We command them to leave in the name of Jesus.
[00:53:50] When you say the name of Jesus, they don't have a choice.
[00:53:55] They have to flee.
[00:53:58] There is no name in heaven or in earth by which men can be saved other than the name of Jesus.
[00:54:05] Every knee will bow.
[00:54:08] Every knee will bow.
[00:54:09] Stand up on your feet.
[00:54:11] Every knee will bow.
[00:54:15] Here's the last thing.
[00:54:16] Here's the last thing.
[00:54:20] How do we keep them out?
[00:54:22] We fill the house.
[00:54:24] We fill the house.
[00:54:28] What do I mean by that?
[00:54:29] I mean we don't flirt with sin.
[00:54:33] We aren't on the computer late at night searching, clicking, sliding into somebody's inbox that we're not married to.
[00:54:42] We don't make eyes at somebody at our work.
[00:54:47] We aren't repeating behaviors from our past, any addictive type behaviors.
[00:54:56] We aren't looking at ourselves like we're small compared to somebody else.
[00:55:02] Insecurity, insignificance, and we certainly aren't acting prideful or arrogant.
[00:55:08] We walk with humility, but we also operate in bold confidence, knowing who our guarantor is.
[00:55:21] We watch our thought life.
[00:55:25] We are careful.
[00:55:27] We keep gate.
[00:55:29] We don't let things in.
[00:55:30] Just because it tries to come in doesn't mean we don't get it out.
[00:55:35] Thoughts that don't line up with the Word, they don't get to stay.
[00:55:39] You surround yourself with Spirit-filled believers.
[00:55:42] Can I tell you how important it is to be in God's house?
[00:55:48] because when he tries to mess with you we're all coming after him do you see that you try to mess with one you got us all don't get out of the boat don't get out of the boat because the enemy will pick you off
[00:56:10] Here's what I want to ask you to do today.
[00:56:12] I want you to close your eyes.
[00:56:14] I want you to bow your hands.
[00:56:15] And if you know that you aren't where you need to be with Jesus.
[00:56:20] Man, you could have made this declaration before and maybe you walked away from Him.
[00:56:26] But you just know you're not where you need to be.
[00:56:29] You've been complacent.
[00:56:31] Or maybe this is the first time.
[00:56:34] I want to introduce you to my savior my king my lord my deliverer my healer if that is you and either of those I want you just to lift your hands up right where you are man you know you need a fresh start you need a do-over thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you who else
[00:56:53] Who else?
[00:56:55] Thank you.
[00:56:55] Thank you in the back.
[00:56:56] All three of you together.
[00:56:58] Father, I just pray over them right now in the name of Jesus.
[00:57:02] I pray over these three together in the name of Jesus.
[00:57:06] May your power fall on them right now in the name of Jesus.
[00:57:11] Thank you, Father God.
[00:57:12] Who else?
[00:57:13] I want to know who I'm praying for.
[00:57:14] Thank you.
[00:57:15] Thank you.
[00:57:15] Thank you.
[00:57:16] Thank you.
[00:57:16] Thank you.
[00:57:17] Thank you.
[00:57:17] Thank you.
[00:57:18] Thank you.
[00:57:19] Thank you.
[00:57:20] Thank you.
[00:57:21] Who else?
[00:57:21] Who else?
[00:57:22] Thank you.
[00:57:24] Here's what we're going to do.
[00:57:26] We're going to pray and these guys are going to sing because we're believing.
[00:57:33] We're believing for the impossible.
[00:57:35] We're believing for miracles.
[00:57:36] We're believing for God to touch us right where we are today.
[00:57:42] so I want to just worship just give me like one minute of your lungs pouring out to God because we know when we are worshiping we are joining in with the angels crying holy holy holy so can you guys come on up here

[00:58:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I'm the impossible, but I say a miracle
[00:58:55] We trust in You