WEBVTT 00:00:03.766 --> 00:00:04.046 All right. 00:00:04.046 --> 00:00:09.375 So for the next couple of weeks we're going to be finishing up our current sermon series called Encounter. 00:00:09.375 --> 00:00:11.384 Have you learned something from Encounter? 00:00:11.384 --> 00:00:14.009 Have you been touched by God in some way? 00:00:14.009 --> 00:00:14.692 I hope so. 00:00:14.692 --> 00:00:18.850 It's all about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:00:18.850 --> 00:00:28.187 Derek did an amazing job last week talking about healing, and have some of you received some healing even this week as you've been praying and asking the Lord? 00:00:28.187 --> 00:00:29.835 Awesome, I see some hands. 00:00:29.835 --> 00:00:30.478 That's great. 00:00:30.478 --> 00:00:31.882 Praise God, praise God. 00:00:31.882 --> 00:00:38.584 One of the things we want to do tonight also is give room for testimonies and so things that God has been doing. 00:00:38.584 --> 00:00:41.090 We want to share those with the rest of the body. 00:00:41.892 --> 00:00:49.250 Today, I'll be speaking with you about the fact that Jesus came to set people free from demonic oppression. 00:00:49.250 --> 00:00:58.512 Now, before you shut off immediately and say I'm tuning out of that, I don't want any part of that, trust me, all of us need to hear this. 00:00:58.512 --> 00:01:13.771 We need to hear this not only for ourselves and walking in freedom ourselves, but how many of you know, we are surrounded by people in this world who are oppressed by the devil, and Jesus came to set the captives free. 00:01:13.771 --> 00:01:16.206 He came to set the captives free. 00:01:16.206 --> 00:01:17.242 That's one of his main. 00:01:17.242 --> 00:01:25.808 If you had to give Jesus a job description, that is, one of his main defining things is that he came to set those who are oppressed free. 00:01:25.808 --> 00:01:39.031 And not only do we want to walk in freedom for ourselves, but, how many of you know, we want to know how to help other people who are not yet walking in freedom, and so the title of today's message is the ministry of freedom. 00:01:39.031 --> 00:01:41.608 Let's turn in our Bibles to Luke, chapter 10,. 00:01:41.608 --> 00:01:44.219 Luke 10, verses 17 through 20. 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:44.766 And that's where we'll start this morning. 00:01:44.766 --> 00:01:46.790 Luke Luke 10, verses 17 through 20, and that's where we'll start this morning. 00:01:46.790 --> 00:01:48.733 Luke, chapter 10, verses 17 through 20,. 00:01:48.793 --> 00:01:59.573 I'm reading from the English Standard Version, the ESV the 72 returned with joy saying Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. 00:01:59.573 --> 00:02:04.323 And he said to them I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 00:02:04.323 --> 00:02:15.355 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 00:02:15.355 --> 00:02:26.399 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 00:02:26.399 --> 00:02:27.598 Let's pray together this morning. 00:02:27.598 --> 00:02:43.092 Father God, in the mighty name of Jesus, we thank you for our time together today and, lord, I pray, and I know that you have given me a word for this morning, and so I ask that you would open our ears, open our eyes, open our hearts to receive the truth from your word today. 00:02:43.092 --> 00:02:51.719 And, jesus, we thank you that you did come to set the captives free and so any area in our lives that we are still held captive by the enemy. 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:57.733 We pray that you would bring about a complete and total freedom in each of our lives. 00:02:57.733 --> 00:02:59.765 And, father, would you take it beyond that? 00:02:59.765 --> 00:03:08.090 Would you give us the ability and the courage to step into other people's lives who have not yet understood or walked in the freedom that you provide? 00:03:08.090 --> 00:03:14.709 Would you give us the ability to help them on their journey out of bondage and into freedom? 00:03:14.709 --> 00:03:29.987 We thank you that your spirit is here and he is the one who's in charge, and we take authority over anything that would try to to cause disturbance or bring about the purpose of Satan in this place, and we thank you for it in Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:31.671 --> 00:03:38.266 My wife, amy and I met on a Christian drama company called New Life Drama Company and we traveled all over the country. 00:03:38.266 --> 00:03:45.781 I went to 42 states in my time that I traveled and one of the places that we went was a little place called Humboldt, tennessee. 00:03:45.781 --> 00:03:48.067 Anybody know where Humboldt Tennessee is? 00:03:48.067 --> 00:03:50.832 It's north of Memphis, way, way out west. 00:03:50.832 --> 00:03:57.966 And Humboldt has a special place in our hearts because it's the first place that we both told each other that we loved each other. 00:03:57.966 --> 00:04:00.896 Yeah, so it has a special place anyway. 00:04:00.917 --> 00:04:11.824 But there's another reason why Humboldt comes to mind and that is because we were ministering at a church there and the pastor of the church asked us to go out on visitation with him. 00:04:11.824 --> 00:04:22.507 So it was a Wednesday, we were going to have a Wednesday night special service where we were going to do drama, but he asked us to go visit some people during the day and the pastor seemed extraordinarily stressed. 00:04:22.507 --> 00:04:28.024 Right, and we're all young teenagers and pretty ambitious and not young, I would say. 00:04:28.024 --> 00:04:30.369 We were 19, 20, 21. 00:04:30.369 --> 00:04:35.521 So I guess that's young, is that young, is that young? 00:04:35.521 --> 00:04:56.709 So anyway, we were fairly young and we were excited and, you know, ambitious and ready to go, and so the pastor took us and he didn't really say anything to us until we got to the house where we were going and as we got out and got on the steps, he turned around and told us, the woman on the inside of this house is demon possessed. 00:04:58.459 --> 00:05:07.595 She believes that she's a jaguar and she actually kind of transforms, manifests demonically in the form of a jaguar. 00:05:07.595 --> 00:05:11.226 She will claw at her children and her husband and at herself. 00:05:11.226 --> 00:05:13.411 She growls like a jaguar. 00:05:13.411 --> 00:05:19.250 She also will call out to somebody named Antonio and talk to them in Spanish language. 00:05:19.250 --> 00:05:23.627 She's never learned the Spanish language, but this is something that she does. 00:05:23.627 --> 00:05:31.963 She's very tormented, the family's very tormented, the children aren't even here because they don't feel like the husband doesn't feel like it's a safe place for them to be. 00:05:32.024 --> 00:05:33.125 And then he opens the door. 00:05:33.125 --> 00:05:42.466 So we were like, okay, here we go, are we prayed up? 00:05:42.466 --> 00:05:43.408 Are we ready for this? 00:05:43.408 --> 00:05:48.442 So we go into the room and the pastor begins to pray for the young lady. 00:05:48.442 --> 00:05:54.985 But he hasn't had a lot of experience in this area and that's fine, there's no judgment at all. 00:05:54.985 --> 00:06:07.333 But his way of praying for this lady was, to you know, to place the Bible on her forehead and, to you know, to do kind of what he'd seen in movies that you're supposed to do to try to bring about freedom for this woman. 00:06:07.333 --> 00:06:10.538 And she was responding even louder. 00:06:10.538 --> 00:06:15.291 The demons inside of her were making manifestations that were loud. 00:06:15.291 --> 00:06:29.427 She was I don't have to get sensational with it, you understand what I'm talking about and I just asked the pastor if we could just take a minute and just pray and if he would let us kind of step in and help a little bit more. 00:06:29.427 --> 00:06:44.769 And as we began to do that, I just took authority over the demon powers that were operating in this woman's life and all of us together, in the name of Jesus, broke that power off of her and commanded it to leave her and never return again. 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:51.146 And I say that like it was just so easy. 00:06:51.826 --> 00:07:02.987 There was a lot of tumultuous and intercessory prayer and time that was dedicated to this time of healing and freedom. 00:07:02.987 --> 00:07:10.067 This woman at the end of our time praying for her, her complete countenance changed. 00:07:10.067 --> 00:07:19.310 Everything about her was like we had never known, and her husband even was shocked. 00:07:19.310 --> 00:07:22.149 He was like speechless, he didn't know what to say. 00:07:22.149 --> 00:07:25.062 And so we asked her to sit down and we asked the husband to get her something to say. 00:07:25.062 --> 00:07:26.764 And so we asked her to sit down and we asked the husband to get her something to drink. 00:07:26.764 --> 00:07:30.262 And so she began to drink and we began to talk to her about Jesus. 00:07:30.262 --> 00:07:45.211 And within just a short few minutes of time she accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord and we prayed for her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit, completely transformed, and that'd be amazing if we walked out and that was the end of the story. 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:50.721 But that's not the end, because that evening we got to the church and there were only a few people there. 00:07:50.721 --> 00:08:00.456 But this lady came with her husband and her children and there was a whole row of people in front of them that we didn't know, and we began to do the ministry that night. 00:08:00.456 --> 00:08:01.901 We were all tired and worn out. 00:08:01.901 --> 00:08:03.345 There weren't a lot of people there. 00:08:03.345 --> 00:08:11.031 They weren't like that into the skits that we were doing, so it felt a little bit like a failure, if I'm being honest, like in the flesh. 00:08:11.031 --> 00:08:14.889 It's like we were really trying really hard and nobody's really responding. 00:08:14.889 --> 00:08:16.502 You know and so. 00:08:16.541 --> 00:08:24.213 But I'm still in the middle of giving my talk and all of a sudden, one of the men in the room stands up and he cries out I need Jesus. 00:08:24.213 --> 00:08:30.944 The man in the room stands up and he cries out I need Jesus. 00:08:30.944 --> 00:08:33.389 And, to be honest, my first thought was I haven't gotten to that part yet, sir. 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:36.758 Could you wait just a few more minutes. 00:08:36.758 --> 00:08:39.182 I'll let you know when we're ready for that, you know. 00:08:39.182 --> 00:08:44.854 But thankfully that was only a momentary glitch. 00:08:44.854 --> 00:08:47.238 Right, he ran down front. 00:08:47.238 --> 00:08:48.301 There was no stopping him. 00:08:48.301 --> 00:09:02.748 He ran down front, he fell on his face, began to cry out to God and then, all of a sudden, all of the people that were in that row of chairs got up and they found their way as well, and all of them gave their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ. 00:09:04.451 --> 00:09:16.163 At the end of the service I saw an older lady there when I say older now, looking at it, maybe she wasn't that old, she was older than us and she was weeping. 00:09:16.163 --> 00:09:22.014 She wasn't weeping sorrowful tears, she was weeping tears of joy. 00:09:22.014 --> 00:09:28.924 And I just went up to her and I said ma'am, do you mind explaining to me what's going on on the inside of you? 00:09:28.924 --> 00:09:44.706 And she said in her broken way I've been praying for my family for 35 years and none of them have become Christians to this point, and tonight all of them got saved. 00:09:44.706 --> 00:10:09.270 Jesus came to set the captives free, and freedom that is produced in people's lives causes the gospel to spread and to increase, and we need to be prepared to be involved with Jesus in the ministry of freedom. 00:10:09.270 --> 00:10:10.932 So that's what we're going to talk about this morning. 00:10:12.173 --> 00:10:14.875 The supernatural realm is completely natural to God. 00:10:14.875 --> 00:10:30.952 I know when we think about it, when we talk about these kinds of things, we think about it like science fiction or something that's hard to imagine or hard to believe or hard to understand, and I get that because we are in the natural, here, in this natural earth, in this natural life. 00:10:30.952 --> 00:10:35.751 It's hard for us to understand the supernatural, but for God it's completely normal. 00:10:35.751 --> 00:10:38.488 It's his way of doing life. 00:10:38.488 --> 00:10:47.150 But here's the key God wants us to enter into his supernatural way of doing things. 00:10:47.150 --> 00:10:58.446 He wants to use us in this earth to cause his supernatural life to invade this earth, this natural earth, so that he can touch people and make them whole. 00:10:59.047 --> 00:11:03.804 In our passage today that we read from Luke 10, there's a group of Christ followers and I want you to pay attention to this. 00:11:03.804 --> 00:11:05.989 Do you notice that there were 72 of them? 00:11:05.989 --> 00:11:08.553 Guess who was not a part of this group? 00:11:08.553 --> 00:11:16.655 Jesus was not with them, although he was right in spirit, but also the apostles. 00:11:16.655 --> 00:11:24.965 The apostles had already been sent out by Jesus to do something else, and now Jesus expands his reach and he sends out 72 more. 00:11:24.965 --> 00:11:44.113 So if you've ever been told that the gifts of the spirit and that the moving of God was only restricted or reserved for the 12 apostles, jesus must not have gotten that memo, because even during his ministry he's sending 72 other people out to do the work and to prepare the way. 00:11:44.173 --> 00:11:47.041 Jesus is getting ready to travel to these different towns. 00:11:47.041 --> 00:12:07.682 So he sends the 72 out kind of as a precursor to get ready for him to come to those places, and then when they return, they're jumping up and down, they are pumped about what God is doing and what they're experiencing, because these are things that they had only seen Jesus do up until this point in time. 00:12:07.682 --> 00:12:14.903 But now they're being used by God to perform the very same acts that they saw Jesus do. 00:12:14.903 --> 00:12:31.908 The sick were being healed, miracles were occurring and people were being set free from Satan's control in their lives and they came back dancing and rejoicing and laughing and having a good time and having a good time. 00:12:31.908 --> 00:12:34.714 Can you imagine being a part of something like that? 00:12:34.714 --> 00:12:40.131 Can you imagine being sent out by Jesus to minister to people at the point of their need? 00:12:40.131 --> 00:12:55.708 Can you imagine being filled with the Holy Spirit so that you have the ability to pray for people to be healed and they're healed, to see miracles happen, blind eyes open, to see people who have been tormented by Satan be completely and totally set free by the power of God. 00:12:55.708 --> 00:12:57.889 Guess what? 00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:06.282 That's exactly what God has called us to do and to be until he returns to this earth. 00:13:06.282 --> 00:13:23.099 Amen, it's good news, but before we get too deep, I wanted to take a little time to lay some groundwork so that we understand what we're talking about when it comes to the spiritual realm and why there's even a need for people to be set free. 00:13:23.099 --> 00:13:26.509 So let's start by talking about angels and demons's even a need for people to be set free. 00:13:29.009 --> 00:13:29.994 So let's start by talking about angels and demons. 00:13:29.994 --> 00:13:30.837 Okay, we're going to start at ground zero. 00:13:30.837 --> 00:13:33.589 First of all, we know that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are supernatural beings. 00:13:33.589 --> 00:13:34.672 They're eternal beings. 00:13:34.672 --> 00:13:38.580 They've always been, they are now and they always will be right. 00:13:38.580 --> 00:13:48.836 But we also know that they've created many different things and some of the things that they created many different things and some of the things that they created, some of the beings that they created are called angels. 00:13:48.836 --> 00:13:58.083 Angels are real beings who, because their spirits, are normally invisible to the human eye, although there are some people who have seen angels. 00:13:58.083 --> 00:14:06.139 Some in this room have probably actually seen the Lord's open their spiritual eyes so that they've been actually able to see an angel. 00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:07.261 What an amazing thing. 00:14:07.261 --> 00:14:11.995 According to the Bible, the total number of angels is innumerable. 00:14:11.995 --> 00:14:13.357 You can't count them. 00:14:13.357 --> 00:14:15.341 There's millions upon millions. 00:14:15.341 --> 00:14:16.572 You can't even quantify it. 00:14:16.572 --> 00:14:27.779 Often they are referred to by such terms as the host of heaven, the joyful assembly and the mighty ones of God Just different examples throughout scripture of what they're called. 00:14:28.330 --> 00:14:30.077 What does scripture teach about angels? 00:14:30.077 --> 00:14:34.301 First of all, angels worship God in heaven. 00:14:34.301 --> 00:14:50.471 Remember in the book of Revelations where it says that around the throne were angels who were swirling around the throne and every time they would come around they would cry out holy, holy, holy is the Lamb of God, worthy is the Lamb of God, holy is the Lord, god Almighty. 00:14:50.471 --> 00:14:51.793 They worship. 00:14:51.793 --> 00:15:01.956 They're creatures who live and thrive and every part of them lives to worship and honor and glorify God. 00:15:01.956 --> 00:15:05.303 Number two they serve as messengers for God. 00:15:05.303 --> 00:15:06.873 They are God's messengers. 00:15:06.873 --> 00:15:08.376 Can you imagine again? 00:15:08.376 --> 00:15:10.501 We're getting ready to hit the Christmas season. 00:15:10.501 --> 00:15:17.552 Can you think of any examples of messenger angels that came to this earth to deliver a message about Gabriel. 00:15:17.552 --> 00:15:21.873 A few messages there that you'll find earlier in this book, in the book of Luke, right? 00:15:21.873 --> 00:15:27.356 So they are messengers for God that will bring or deliver a message. 00:15:27.356 --> 00:15:31.532 Number three they make war against Satan and his demons. 00:15:32.033 --> 00:15:36.774 You remember the story of Daniel, when he had prayed for an answer from God and the answer was withheld. 00:15:36.774 --> 00:15:41.110 And when the angel appeared to give him the answer, guess what he said? 00:15:41.110 --> 00:15:44.817 We've been withheld in the heavens and there's been a great war that's been going on. 00:15:44.817 --> 00:15:51.153 And Michael the archangel which must be a big, bad dude Think about Rambo on steroids. 00:15:51.153 --> 00:15:55.725 Wait a minute, think about, think about just. 00:15:55.725 --> 00:16:00.796 You can't even imagine what this, what Michael must be like, right? 00:16:00.796 --> 00:16:06.404 So he showed up and made way for the answer to come from heaven to Daniel. 00:16:07.331 --> 00:16:10.340 Number four they offer special protection to God's people. 00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:19.283 Psalms, chapter 34, verse seven, for example, says the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and he delivers them. 00:16:19.283 --> 00:16:25.875 You believe that this morning, that God sends his angels to watch over you, to keep you safe in all of your ways? 00:16:25.875 --> 00:16:27.437 Yes, he does. 00:16:27.437 --> 00:16:31.614 There are many cases of miraculous angelic deliverance in the Bible. 00:16:31.614 --> 00:16:32.696 Back to Daniel again. 00:16:32.696 --> 00:16:39.283 Remember when he was thrown into the lion's den and the king came back and called out the next day Daniel, are you there? 00:16:39.283 --> 00:16:42.871 Daniel messed with him and didn't say anything for a minute. 00:16:42.871 --> 00:16:46.075 No, he said I'm here, king. 00:16:46.075 --> 00:16:49.519 And the king asked him how is it that you're still alive? 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:55.966 Remember what Daniel said the Lord sent an angel and he shut the mouth of the lions. 00:16:55.966 --> 00:16:59.669 God protected Daniel through angelic beings. 00:16:59.870 --> 00:17:05.537 Right, we also know an example in the New Testament when Peter was thrown in jail in Acts, chapter 12. 00:17:05.537 --> 00:17:06.738 And what happened? 00:17:06.738 --> 00:17:11.943 An angel came and set him free and led him out of the jail that he was at. 00:17:11.943 --> 00:17:31.375 I always love that story, because they go to the house and he knocks on the door where everybody's praying for his release, and the maid comes to the door and opens the door and there's Peter standing there at the door and she slams the door in his face and goes back in and says, hey, I just saw a guy that looks like Peter. 00:17:31.375 --> 00:17:36.903 And they start praying more, you know, for discernment and all of this, and Peter's still like hey, guys. 00:17:36.903 --> 00:17:40.275 So finally they let him in, but the angel had come to deliver him. 00:17:40.935 --> 00:17:43.961 So but one thing that's important to understand about angels. 00:17:43.961 --> 00:17:51.021 Please hear me Angels are not to be worshipped and they are not to be prayed to. 00:17:51.021 --> 00:17:54.137 We do not pray to angels. 00:17:54.137 --> 00:17:56.057 We do not worship angels. 00:17:56.057 --> 00:17:59.038 They are created beings just like we are. 00:17:59.038 --> 00:18:01.977 Okay, but they are God's servants. 00:18:01.977 --> 00:18:12.813 And because they're God's servants, we can ask him Father, would you release angels on my behalf, would you send them to protect me and my family, would you? 00:18:12.813 --> 00:18:15.279 You understand what I'm saying. 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:21.380 We can ask him, but it's his sovereign will and his plan that comes to pass in that right. 00:18:21.380 --> 00:18:22.584 Do not pray to angels. 00:18:23.446 --> 00:18:25.571 Next, what does scripture teach about demons? 00:18:25.571 --> 00:18:27.455 So who are demons? 00:18:27.455 --> 00:18:29.599 The answer is very simple Ready. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.003 Demons are fallen angels. 00:18:32.003 --> 00:18:35.074 Demons are fallen angels. 00:18:35.556 --> 00:18:42.299 One of the most glorious angels of all time that God created was a being named Lucifer, whose name meant what? 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:45.428 The morning star, the morning star. 00:18:45.428 --> 00:18:47.756 He had jewels that were embedded in his being. 00:18:47.756 --> 00:18:50.306 He also had musical instruments built in. 00:18:50.306 --> 00:19:02.479 He was the worship leader of heaven, and Isaiah 14 describes in poetic terms how he led a rebellion in heaven in an attempt to overthrow God. 00:19:02.479 --> 00:19:04.243 Remember what he said. 00:19:04.243 --> 00:19:07.971 He said that I will make myself like the most high God. 00:19:07.971 --> 00:19:10.015 And what did God say? 00:19:10.015 --> 00:19:14.121 Nope, get out. 00:19:14.121 --> 00:19:21.417 And immediately Jesus said I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 00:19:21.417 --> 00:19:24.144 The rebellion failed and he and his followers. 00:19:24.144 --> 00:19:36.261 He had one third of the angels that followed him and they, along with Satan, lucifer, were kicked out of heaven and they found their place of residence here in this earth. 00:19:36.261 --> 00:19:50.070 They are called things in the Bible like unclean spirits, evil spirits, spirits of darkness, and there's lots of other descriptive terms, but those are just a few that you can maybe write down and pay attention to when you're reading the scripture. 00:19:50.913 --> 00:19:54.800 The Bible tells us that Satan set his headquarters up here in this earth. 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:57.491 And where did he first do his first attack? 00:19:57.491 --> 00:20:00.916 You remember In the Garden of Eden. 00:20:00.916 --> 00:20:09.936 In the Garden of Eden, when he approached Adam and Eve and he used the same judgment that got him kicked out of heaven. 00:20:09.936 --> 00:20:12.320 He used the same temptation on them. 00:20:12.320 --> 00:20:16.757 Isn't it true that God's holding something back from you? 00:20:16.757 --> 00:20:25.583 He knows that if you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you'll be just like him, like the most high. 00:20:25.583 --> 00:20:35.712 And Adam and Eve, we know, partook of the fruit, and then God came and had brought a curse based on the sin that they committed. 00:20:36.193 --> 00:20:42.459 But how many of you know that in Genesis, chapter 3, verse 15, there's a beautiful promise embedded in the middle of the curse. 00:20:42.459 --> 00:20:43.741 What is that promise? 00:20:43.741 --> 00:20:56.420 There's a woman who will give birth to a seed and you will attempt, as he's talking to Satan, you will attempt to strike his heel and he will crush your head. 00:20:56.420 --> 00:20:57.882 Crush your head. 00:20:57.882 --> 00:20:58.722 Who's the seed? 00:20:58.722 --> 00:21:16.359 The seed is Jesus, and we know that he defeated Satan at the cross of Calvary and by raising from the dead, and we know that there will be a day very soon, when he returns, that there will be the final banishment of Satan, forever and ever thrown into darkness. 00:21:18.903 --> 00:21:19.424 I heard a whoo. 00:21:19.424 --> 00:21:20.210 That's good, listen. 00:21:20.210 --> 00:21:21.512 We need more of that. 00:21:21.512 --> 00:21:22.516 I don't want any more. 00:21:22.516 --> 00:21:25.583 I don't want him around any more than he has to be. 00:21:25.583 --> 00:21:29.554 So sin entered the earth. 00:21:29.554 --> 00:21:30.476 We talked about that. 00:21:30.936 --> 00:21:37.613 So demons have only one purpose To further Satan's evil work in the world. 00:21:37.613 --> 00:21:48.125 They work under his command and they do whatever he wants them to do in order to try to further his work of evil within the earth. 00:21:48.125 --> 00:21:50.616 They are evil through and through. 00:21:50.616 --> 00:21:53.174 Please hear me when I say this. 00:21:53.174 --> 00:21:57.417 They hate God, they hate Jesus Christ and guess what? 00:21:57.417 --> 00:21:59.096 They hate you. 00:22:01.950 --> 00:22:04.797 Demons are not something to be played with. 00:22:04.797 --> 00:22:13.486 They are not something to be petted, they are not something to entertain, they are not something, they're not a game to be played. 00:22:13.486 --> 00:22:16.192 They are wicked and they're evil. 00:22:16.192 --> 00:22:18.298 They're unholy, they're disobedient. 00:22:18.298 --> 00:22:18.980 They're arrogant. 00:22:18.980 --> 00:22:19.801 They are liars. 00:22:19.801 --> 00:22:20.692 They are prideful. 00:22:20.692 --> 00:22:21.013 They are filthy. 00:22:21.013 --> 00:22:21.395 They are unclean. 00:22:21.395 --> 00:22:21.798 They are nasty. 00:22:21.798 --> 00:22:22.279 They are arrogant. 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:22.701 They are liars. 00:22:22.701 --> 00:22:23.183 They are prideful. 00:22:23.183 --> 00:22:23.625 They are filthy. 00:22:23.625 --> 00:22:24.127 They are unclean. 00:22:24.127 --> 00:22:24.529 They are nasty. 00:22:24.529 --> 00:22:35.297 They are brutal Any other description that you could think of and, like Satan, they do his job, which is to steal, kill and destroy. 00:22:35.297 --> 00:22:37.242 That's what they come to do. 00:22:37.242 --> 00:22:42.737 And, like him, they work through the world and the flesh to tempt people to do what God says is wrong. 00:22:42.737 --> 00:22:44.622 That's what demons do. 00:22:44.622 --> 00:22:47.752 That's who they are. 00:22:47.772 --> 00:22:52.122 Demons like to have expressions through people, animals or objects. 00:22:52.122 --> 00:22:55.811 They like to express themselves. 00:22:55.811 --> 00:23:05.994 They like to pump energy through people or through animals or through objects, like those who are involved in idol worship and things that are used for idol worship. 00:23:05.994 --> 00:23:12.720 A lot of times, satan will be around, not Satan himself, but demons will be around those things to try to cause influence. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:36.634 I have many times in my life been sitting in people's houses and witnessing to them and had them very close to making a decision to follow after Jesus Christ and all of a sudden and I'm not joking some dog will go nuts, some cat in the house will go crazy to the point to where it tries to interrupt the moment that we're having with God. 00:23:36.634 --> 00:23:40.838 Satan and his demons love expression. 00:23:40.838 --> 00:23:49.856 They want to manifest themselves in ways to create fear and to try to control scenarios and situations. 00:23:49.856 --> 00:23:53.503 Their number one tactic is to cause fear. 00:23:53.503 --> 00:23:55.291 To cause fear. 00:23:56.453 --> 00:24:08.700 Number three an unbeliever can be possessed by demons, possessed by demons, controlled by demons, to the point to where they don't have a choice to do something or not to do something. 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:18.000 How many times have you heard in prison ministry you'll hear this a lot somebody involved in some kind of crime and they'll say something came over me and I didn't even know what I was doing. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:22.836 A lot of people joke and they say the devil made me do it. 00:24:22.836 --> 00:24:35.585 But in some cases, when there is this kind of demonic control, there feels like there's no way that a person can not do what's being required of them by the demon that is possessing them. 00:24:35.585 --> 00:24:43.602 This is when people are, like I said, controlled by demons. 00:24:43.602 --> 00:24:47.560 They can't say no to the impulses that they have. 00:24:47.560 --> 00:25:00.619 A lot of times people will hear voices, they'll see things in the spiritual realm, they will be motivated by things that are evil and wicked and just have no desire for anything that's good. 00:25:01.811 --> 00:25:08.493 And then number four, believers can be demonically oppressed or depressed. 00:25:08.493 --> 00:25:17.665 So we believe that the scripture teaches that when our spirit is made alive unto God, that we are born again, that it is filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:25:17.665 --> 00:25:23.521 And how many of you know that the spirit and Satan cannot coexist in the same space? 00:25:23.521 --> 00:25:26.900 So your spirit is born again. 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:37.204 It's been made brand new and Satan has no ability to enter it, to mess with it, to try to maneuver in any way within your spirit realm. 00:25:37.204 --> 00:25:40.730 It's completely made new and protected. 00:25:41.432 --> 00:25:57.160 But how many of you know we still walk around in a body and our body can deal with things that are a result of our own doing, in other words, sins that we've committed, or it can be a result of demonic influence in our lives. 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:09.482 If you have, for example, if you've been having a long bout with depression and you just can't seem to shake it off of you, it's possible that there's demonic influence that's attempting to keep you in that depressed state. 00:26:09.482 --> 00:26:22.239 There are times when people deal with, like, for example, rage, and it's like they have control over it, but at times it feels like it just wants to take over and they can't seem to find a way out of that. 00:26:22.239 --> 00:26:28.221 That could be demonic influence, even in a believer's life, somebody who's dealing with addiction. 00:26:28.221 --> 00:26:44.084 Sometimes addictions can be tied back to demonic influence or oppression or depression, pushing pressure from the outside, or pressure in the soul, right, pressure in our mind, our will and our emotions, or pressure on our physical bodies. 00:26:44.084 --> 00:26:55.222 So those are things that we as Christians can deal with from the demonic realm, and the Bible talks about this in the way of our thinking and our mind, and it calls it something specific. 00:26:55.222 --> 00:26:57.194 It calls it a stronghold. 00:26:58.178 --> 00:26:59.000 What is a stronghold? 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:03.821 A stronghold in the mind is a spiritual fortress made up of wrong thoughts. 00:27:03.821 --> 00:27:14.265 And when does Satan attempt to start working this work, the work of strongholds in people's lives? 00:27:14.265 --> 00:27:16.272 Does he wait until they're 87? 00:27:16.272 --> 00:27:23.303 When does he try to start, soon as they can? 00:27:23.303 --> 00:27:27.999 When they're little, when they're vulnerable, when they can be naive, when they don't know the truth. 00:27:27.999 --> 00:27:42.984 Sometimes, when they're not yet followers of Jesus Christ, he will attempt to set up patterns in their lives that tell them something to be true that is not true in Jesus Right. 00:27:42.984 --> 00:27:48.952 True in Jesus Right. 00:27:48.952 --> 00:27:49.316 It is a fortified. 00:27:49.316 --> 00:27:56.335 A stronghold is a fortified dwelling place where demonic forces can hide and operate A stronghold of the mind, like I said, is a lie that Satan established in our thinking. 00:27:56.335 --> 00:28:00.160 It is a statement that we count as true, but it's actually false. 00:28:01.986 --> 00:28:06.538 I lived my whole early life with this mindset that I wasn't good enough. 00:28:06.538 --> 00:28:15.077 And I actually and I've told you this before I went through a season in my life where I had a nervous breakdown. 00:28:15.077 --> 00:28:23.664 And, coming out of that nervous breakdown, I went to a pastor and his wife and they prayed for me and they asked the Lord to reveal the root causes. 00:28:23.664 --> 00:28:31.077 It's interesting because our medical system, if you're not aware of this, doesn't deal with root causes Primarily. 00:28:31.077 --> 00:28:35.275 Sometimes it does, but primarily it deals with what Symptoms? 00:28:35.275 --> 00:28:42.111 So let's dumb down the symptoms, let's dull the pain, let's do whatever we can, but let's not deal with the actual root cause. 00:28:42.111 --> 00:28:43.154 God's not into that. 00:28:43.154 --> 00:28:46.493 God's not just interested in taking care of your symptoms. 00:28:46.493 --> 00:28:49.529 God wants to get the root cause of it right. 00:28:49.529 --> 00:29:02.873 So in my life, as these people were praying for me, we were asking the Lord to reveal to me what kind of caused this train of thought in my life, and the Lord reminded me of something that happened when I was very young. 00:29:03.474 --> 00:29:04.196 You know my story. 00:29:04.196 --> 00:29:20.965 You know that my brother drowned when I was one and a half years old and then, about a year later, my mom got pregnant again and my parents told me because I was very sad losing my brother my parents told me you're going to have another brother, you're going to get to play with him, everything's going to be great. 00:29:20.965 --> 00:29:26.797 And so they had Travis, my brother, and they brought him home and they put him in his room, in his crib. 00:29:26.797 --> 00:29:28.098 And guess where I went? 00:29:28.098 --> 00:29:35.536 I went into the crib, I went into his room and I crawled up into the crib to play with my brother Travis. 00:29:35.536 --> 00:29:37.549 My parents came into the room. 00:29:37.549 --> 00:29:38.914 What are you doing? 00:29:38.914 --> 00:29:41.112 You're going to hurt the baby. 00:29:41.112 --> 00:29:42.829 What's wrong with you? 00:29:42.829 --> 00:29:44.086 What's wrong with you? 00:29:47.972 --> 00:29:56.166 And so from that moment in my life, there was this lie that started to tell me you're never going to measure up. 00:29:56.166 --> 00:29:59.676 Your parents love your brother more than they love you. 00:29:59.676 --> 00:30:08.569 And there were a lot of things that happened in my life that seemed to point to that being true, almost kind of getting there but not quite making it. 00:30:08.569 --> 00:30:18.886 You know like, even when other people would say good things about me, I would still feel like it's just not quite there, because I felt like I could do better or there's more. 00:30:18.886 --> 00:30:25.316 And you know what, as we asked the Lord to reveal the truth of that moment, you know what he spoke to me. 00:30:25.316 --> 00:30:34.237 He said your parents had lost a child and so they were super protective over your brother. 00:30:34.237 --> 00:30:35.598 Because of that. 00:30:35.598 --> 00:30:43.508 It wasn't because of you, you didn't do anything wrong, and just those words. 00:30:43.508 --> 00:31:06.897 And that doesn't sound like much, but for me as a 20-something-year-old who didn't even realize that I had this issue in my life, to hear these words it was like just I felt lighter, I felt like I could breathe, and since that point in time, thankfully, the Lord has continued to move me away from that whole wrong mindset, that stronghold right. 00:31:06.897 --> 00:31:09.968 So let's move on. 00:31:09.968 --> 00:31:12.073 Let's talk about our next thing. 00:31:12.153 --> 00:31:14.097 Jesus is a minister of freedom. 00:31:14.097 --> 00:31:23.268 In our passage it says the 72 returned with joy, saying Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. 00:31:23.268 --> 00:31:27.778 And he said to them I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 00:31:27.778 --> 00:31:36.211 Most of what the Bible says about demons comes from the gospel accounts of Jesus's ministry, the life and ministry of Jesus. 00:31:36.211 --> 00:31:51.476 Time and again Jesus encountered people, men and women, who were under demonic spirits, the influence of demonic spirits, some of the afflictions that are associated with that in scripture, things like blindness, deafness, loss of speech, paralysis. 00:31:51.476 --> 00:31:52.377 Now, this isn't always. 00:31:52.377 --> 00:31:57.786 Sometimes it's just a random occurrence or it's something that's happening within the physical body. 00:31:57.786 --> 00:32:00.432 It doesn't mean that it has to be a demon, but there are things. 00:32:00.432 --> 00:32:17.398 There are times when Jesus's ministry, the ministry of freedom, was connected to these things Insanity, seizures, suicidal tendencies, all of these things that Jesus was approaching and attacking, that Satan was attempting to do to mess with people. 00:32:17.398 --> 00:32:21.151 Acts 10.38 says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth. 00:32:21.151 --> 00:32:30.411 With the Holy Spirit and with power, he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 00:32:30.411 --> 00:32:32.755 What did he do? 00:32:32.755 --> 00:32:33.836 He did good. 00:32:33.836 --> 00:32:38.650 He healed all of those who were oppressed by the devil. 00:32:39.932 --> 00:32:42.818 Let me just read this story to you again a couple of chapters earlier. 00:32:42.818 --> 00:32:44.087 Luke, chapter eight. 00:32:44.087 --> 00:32:45.412 Time is flying. 00:32:45.412 --> 00:32:48.410 I'm just going to tell you the story real quick because I don't have the time. 00:32:48.410 --> 00:32:51.017 There was a man who was tormented. 00:32:51.017 --> 00:32:55.518 He was tormented so much that he actually lived amongst the tombs. 00:32:55.518 --> 00:32:56.661 He lived in the cemetery. 00:32:56.661 --> 00:33:03.767 The guards would come and try to chain him up and to keep him from coming into the town, because the town was so frightened by this man. 00:33:03.767 --> 00:33:05.710 This is in the Bible, in Luke, chapter 8. 00:33:06.651 --> 00:33:09.535 And Jesus showed up on the shore. 00:33:09.535 --> 00:33:13.039 And when he showed up, this man came running out and screaming. 00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:21.048 And Jesus spoke and said to the demons that were inside of this man come out of him. 00:33:21.048 --> 00:33:21.770 And the demons cried out. 00:33:21.770 --> 00:33:22.472 What did they say? 00:33:22.472 --> 00:33:23.855 What have you to do with me? 00:33:23.855 --> 00:33:31.232 Jesus, son of the most high God, I beg you, do not torment me, for he had commanded the unclean spirits to come out. 00:33:31.232 --> 00:33:33.852 Jesus then asked him what is your name? 00:33:33.852 --> 00:33:40.596 And they answered legion, for many demons had entered him and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 00:33:40.596 --> 00:33:44.567 So they were up on this big cliffside Don't send us off out of here. 00:33:45.407 --> 00:33:47.550 And a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. 00:33:47.550 --> 00:33:50.513 They begged him to let them enter these, so he gave them permission. 00:33:50.513 --> 00:33:57.541 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. 00:33:57.541 --> 00:34:03.545 And my one and only joke for today the first case of deviled ham right there. 00:34:03.545 --> 00:34:08.110 All right, sorry, this wakes some of you up. 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:11.889 All right, when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they listened to this. 00:34:11.889 --> 00:34:14.898 They fled and told it in the city and in the country. 00:34:15.724 --> 00:34:17.228 Listen to the result of this, though. 00:34:17.228 --> 00:34:32.726 People went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 00:34:32.726 --> 00:34:36.713 No longer were they afraid of demon power Now. 00:34:36.713 --> 00:34:48.487 They were afraid of this man who spoke some words, and this man, who had been completely possessed, was now made free. 00:34:48.487 --> 00:34:49.889 72 from our passage. 00:34:49.889 --> 00:34:58.699 The people that were sent out acknowledged that the only way that people were being set free was by the authority that was given to them by the name of Jesus. 00:35:06.666 --> 00:35:08.510 Now, moving on, jesus gives his followers the ministry of freedom. 00:35:08.510 --> 00:35:13.422 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 00:35:13.422 --> 00:35:16.009 Is that a good promise to hold on to Absolutely? 00:35:16.009 --> 00:35:25.534 Serpents and scorpions in scripture are symbols of spiritual enemies and demonic powers over which Jesus had given his followers power. 00:35:25.534 --> 00:35:27.759 Look at Mark 16, verse 15 through 18. 00:35:27.759 --> 00:35:32.436 And he said to them go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 00:35:32.436 --> 00:35:42.389 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned, and these signs will accompany those who believe In my name. 00:35:42.389 --> 00:35:43.070 They will. 00:35:43.070 --> 00:35:46.054 What, what? 00:35:46.054 --> 00:35:50.179 Yeah, who will do this? 00:35:50.179 --> 00:35:53.807 The people up on the stage. 00:35:53.807 --> 00:35:56.072 Believers will cast out demons. 00:35:56.072 --> 00:35:57.918 They will speak in new tongues. 00:35:57.918 --> 00:36:01.036 They will pick up serpents with their hands. 00:36:01.056 --> 00:36:07.655 Now, before you get crazy not talking about passing around the sanctuary, we're talking about Paul. 00:36:07.655 --> 00:36:16.351 An example was out on mission and a snake reached up and bit him and he just what? 00:36:16.351 --> 00:36:17.056 Shook it into the fire and went on. 00:36:17.056 --> 00:36:17.981 And what did the people in the village do? 00:36:17.981 --> 00:36:20.768 They wanted to worship him and he said it's not me, it's Jesus. 00:36:20.768 --> 00:36:22.914 Right, so don't get crazy. 00:36:22.914 --> 00:36:25.146 If they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. 00:36:25.146 --> 00:36:28.135 They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. 00:36:29.644 --> 00:36:31.592 How does God use us in the ministry of freedom? 00:36:31.592 --> 00:36:33.932 A lot of times it's through the gifts of the Spirit. 00:36:33.932 --> 00:36:35.510 We're talking about in power here. 00:36:35.510 --> 00:36:39.335 Three gifts that I can think of that God uses in this ministry. 00:36:39.335 --> 00:36:41.472 One the discerning of spirits. 00:36:41.472 --> 00:36:50.074 That makes sense, right, it's important to know whether this spirit is of God or if it's a human spirit or if it's from darkness. 00:36:50.074 --> 00:36:55.601 The gift of faith, which is a supernatural knowing that God's going to do something in this moment. 00:36:55.601 --> 00:37:00.693 He's going to do something powerful in this moment, and the faith to be able to walk that out. 00:37:00.693 --> 00:37:07.056 And then, third, the working of miracles when God does something miraculous, he sets somebody free. 00:37:08.826 --> 00:37:14.496 Our final focus here, ministers of freedom, should keep our eyes focused on Jesus, not on demons. 00:37:14.496 --> 00:37:23.844 Come on, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 00:37:23.844 --> 00:37:27.503 Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 00:37:27.503 --> 00:37:32.985 The greatest source of freedom is, and always will be, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:37:32.985 --> 00:37:33.766 Don't get it wrong. 00:37:33.766 --> 00:37:39.469 All of this other stuff that we're talking about is important and it's vital and it's in the scripture and we need to be walking in this. 00:37:39.469 --> 00:37:51.197