 Could you be doing something that opens you up to demonic influence and deception? Hello, I'm David D. Hernandez and thank you for watching Spirit Church on Encounter TV. On this edition of Spirit Church I am finishing my series on the demonic and spiritual warfare. Now this isn't going to be the last time I speak on spiritual warfare or the demonic but this is bringing our series that we've had for the past few weeks to a conclusion and on this edition I'm talking about demonic doors. These are doors that you leave open or actions or thoughts or feelings that make you more susceptible to the deception of the enemy. I'm going to show you first of all the nature of these doors, how demonic beings attack you and then I'm going to tell you how you can close those doors in your life after identifying them. Stephen Maktuzuma is here with me as usual. He's going to lead you in some worship and then we're going to get into this lesson and I believe we're going to expose the enemy in your life today. Here's Stephen Maktuzuma. Just a few years ago I had a dream that I knew was spiritual by its content and by the way the Lord had spoken through it. In my dream I'm lying in my bed and I sit up in the middle of the night and as soon as I sat up I recognized that there was an evil presence about the air. I know that we can identify the presence of the Holy Spirit when we stand in places of worship where his power and presence is manifested in a special way. But in the same sense that we can sense the Holy Spirit's presence so we can also sense when there's something demonic around us. And in my dream when I sat up in my bed I knew the moment I sat up that there was a demonic power in my room in my dream. And so I'm scanning the room looking for whatever I could find to identify as the source of this demonic sense. And then before my eyes began to form this silhouette, this shadow that was constantly shifting and changing. And the longer I stared at this shadow which was almost like a billow of smoke or a cloud in the middle of the room it was very dark, a very dark cloud. As it began to form I saw within it appear two eyes and teeth and this thing hovering in the center of my room smiled back at me in a taunting manner. And so I began to rebuke this demonic power in my dream and I remember I was raising my voice that in the name of Jesus you have no right to be here. I command you to go in Jesus' name and to my shock when I prayed that prayer this demonic power did not move. It didn't even so much as respond to what I was saying. It just stood there floating in my room smiling at me and I remember in my mind I was thinking this is odd. Why isn't this demonic power obeying the commands that I'm giving it in the name of Jesus? And so I asked it, I believe in my dream I was led by the Lord to ask this thing. I said why won't you go? You have no right to be here. And as soon as I said you have no right to be here it through a laugh spoke very clearly and said yes I do. And that startled me because in my life I could identify no place where I had left open to the enemy. And so I said what makes you think you have the right to be here? And it spoke again ask the one in your family who communicates with the dead and then I woke up. And when I woke up that demonic sense that was about the room was not with me instead I felt the peace of God. And so I called my aunt, I've spoken about her before she trained me in spiritual warfare and prayer and she taught me through the scripture how to intercede for people and how to find those deep places of prayer. And so I called her and long story short we identify a member in our family who was practicing the sin or the occultic practice of necromancy which is the attempt to communicate with the dead. And so we through prayer closed that door rebuked that demonic power and God had in fact warned me and showed me something in our family he exposed it through a dream. Job chapter 33 verses 14 to 15 says for God speaks again and again though people do not recognize it he speaks in dreams in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. And I want to go to our main text Matthew chapter 12 verse 43 the scripture says this and this is Jesus talking about a demonic power and he says when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith I will return into my house from whence I came out and when he is come he findeth empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he and takeeth with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. Now I'm talking today about demonic doors. Demonic doors is a term that many in Pentecostal in Pentecostalism use to describe areas of vulnerability to the enemy. I want to reiterate I do not believe that demons can possess believers. I do not believe that demons can oppress believers if by oppression you mean a Christian form of possession. However demons can attack believers as I detailed in the past two lessons in this series. So while I talked about demonic attacks which were if you'll remember temptation and accusation was part one and then part two was depression discouragement or in other words anxiety and distraction. Those five areas of attack were detailed in the last two lessons. So well those are the attacks of the enemy which are based upon deception. Demonic doors are not the attacks themselves instead they are the vulnerability to those attacks. There are actions you can take there are thoughts you can think and there are feelings that you feel that make you more susceptible more vulnerable to those attacks. So while the attacks themselves deception are the assault on you, the open door is the enemy's position to carry out those assaults successfully. So for example if someone is going to be attacked with depression it would help if the enemy could use the open door of tiredness which usually makes you emotional to give him away in. Now tiredness in and of itself is not necessarily demonic but it is nonetheless an open door as we'll later see in this lesson. So let's go back to our text again. There are three things that I want you to note about the attacks of the enemy. Number one they are consistent and this is the most startling I believe of the truths that we can glean from this portion of scripture. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12 says wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Demonic beings return. That's a very sobering reality. They come back to check and see the vulnerabilities that you've allowed to stay in your life. So the scripture says here, I will return into my house from whence I came out. The demonic being a sentient being thinks to himself I will return and it is that return that causes the enemy to be consistent. He is consistently checking to see how you're doing. So that's why I read that scripture let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Just because you overcome the enemy in an area of your life once doesn't mean that you never have to fight that battle again. I've often had people ask me to pray for them. For the David pray that I never have a trial again and those prayers are not biblical prayers. Otherwise the scripture would not warn us to be on alert for our enemy consistently. The enemy attacks us consistently and we should be on alert consistently. I'm not talking about paranoia. I'm talking about vigilance. I'm talking about being realistic especially about your own faults especially about your own frailties and especially about how vulnerable the flesh is to the attacks of the enemy. So although you are free from the attacks of the enemy although you are free from those deceptions that he places over you through his assaults you need to remain free by shutting every door that would give him access to your life. So they return and they say how is this person doing? The one I left are they filled with something as we now see from the scripture they are calculated. So number one they are consistent. Number two they are calculated and they find the place empty, swept and garnished. This means it was well kept. This means that it is something that is now in an orderly state and the enemy seeks for those places. So number one it's consistent. Number two it's calculated. They observe. They watch. They check for weaknesses. Number three it's cooperative when they return. In other words they communicate with other powers. When you allow yourself to remain vulnerable it's almost better that you never receive freedom in the first place because when the enemy returns he brings seven worse with him and then your state after they take over again is worse than before. And again for the believer this takeover doesn't mean possession but it does mean deception. So the nature of these open doors is very difficult to communicate in a formula. In other words I can't give you a set system per se on how to address every single open door. In fact there are probably hundreds maybe thousands of things that leave us vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. Instead I want to tell you principles about open doors that help you to understand their nature and therefore more easily identify and expose them in your life. So again this isn't about ownership so let me define an open door. Here's my definition of an open door and I want to put it on the screen just like this. An open door is anything that makes one more susceptible to demonic deception and influence. Let me read that again. An open door is anything that makes one more susceptible to demonic deception and influence. So again deception is the attack, the open door is the positioning of the attack. They want to influence your thoughts, your actions and your feelings. Now you've heard it said that thoughts become actions and this is true but actions also help to create your feelings. But this is not linear as some have led you to believe. It's not thoughts then actions and then all of the consequences. In fact this is circular. Thoughts affect actions. Actions affect feelings and feelings affect thoughts. It's circular. This is why it's so difficult sometimes to identify where we really are struggling. Sometimes we can't tell whether we're struggling in our thoughts, in our actions or in our feelings. But the enemy doesn't care really where he enters so long as he can enter and what he'll do is he'll maybe start at the thoughts to affect the actions and therefore the emotions or maybe he'll enter at the emotions and affect the thoughts and so on. It doesn't matter to him where he enters so long as he gets away in. Any way in will do. And once the enemy is in and you are vulnerable to that deception, you're vulnerable because of those open doors. This cycle continues to affect you and this is why it feels like before you get breakthrough you're caught in a spiritual cycle like something that you can't get out of. Repeating the same mistakes, going through the same emotions, saying the same things, thinking the same thoughts and it feels like you can't escape this because you haven't identified the open door. But the truth is that it's not that difficult to identify open doors especially if you disrupt the cycle and you can disrupt that cycle at any point. You can choose to change your thoughts or your actions or you can ask the Lord to help you with your feelings and the scripture really gives us a powerful tool which I believe no matter where you're struggling in the cycle if you will learn to change your thoughts then you'll see a different outcome every single time the scripture says as a man thinks so is he. But I want to right now identify some open doors for you. Number one, as I just mentioned, open doors can be your thoughts. Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 says Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Now demonic beings cannot control your thoughts. They cannot read your thoughts, but they can influence your thoughts. Now just some limitations that demonic beings have. Demonic beings cannot read your mind. They cannot be in several places at one time. They're not omnipresent. I know I had mentioned I wanted to go over demonic limitations so just to satisfy that promise I'm going to quickly just name a few. So number one, demons can't read your mind. They cannot be omnipresent. They cannot resist the word of God in you. And those things really when we know those limitations help us to more easily identify how we can attack the enemy because the enemy is not all powerful. So again, one of these open doors that he uses to attack us is our thinking. And so whether these thoughts are self-pity or jealousy or their pride, those thoughts leave us vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. Another open door that we leave and when I ministered this, I ministered this message in a church. When I ministered this one, this one really hit some people heavily and it began to break chains. Let me tell you something, our connections can be open doors for the enemy because even though a demonic being may not find influence over you, that same demonic being may be able to influence someone else who is in fact influencing you and thereby, through someone else, influence you. I remember when I was doing these services all around Southern California, which I still do, but this is when we had just started to really make them monthly or weekly and I began to travel and really do our own events. This is when we first started doing our own ministry events. And someone on my ministry team began to have their mind turned by other doctrines. Now this friend of mine is a Christian. We're still connected. We still pray for one another. We're still very good friends. But this person took on a different turn in their Christianity. And they began to criticize the slain power of the Holy Ghost. They began to criticize the miracles and they began to side with people who were criticizing me for being too showy or being too, you know, they thought I was just more about the entertainment, which I wasn't and I still am not. And they began to criticize me and say, this guy is way out there. He's on the extreme. He's odd. The way he carries himself, you know, people would always falling over and they didn't know how to explain that. So this friend of mine began to turn and began to think differently than me. Now the scripture asked the question, can two walk together less they agree? They can't. So this friend of mine starts criticizing what we're doing. And instead of removing him from the ministry team, this is where I was foolish, I thought I'm going to be a good Christian and I'm going to try to stay united and we'll work together despite our differences. Now I'm not against working together despite your differences, but you're not to give someone a place of influence in your ministry or you're not to try to do things that intertwined when you disagree on such fundamental things. So it was healthy. It would have been healthy for both of us to just go our own separate ways. Instead I tried to fit this person in and they still had a leadership role. So while they're preaching one thing, I'm preaching another and there's this split that's happening in my ministry. And I remember all of our events, all of a sudden, began to dip below. I mean even, I think we're hitting like, we were lucky if we had 30 people to show up at these events. And we were before that, we were just doing the four and 500 in attendance. And you know, it's grown since then and it's still growing. And I believe I've said this to you before, I've seen stadiums full and we're going to see thousands come to the Lord. But during this time, I remember there was a drop in our attendance and I could not figure out what was going on. And so finally, after several weeks, the Lord finally tells me, you need to cut this person from your ministry. And so I did. And as soon as I cut that person from our ministry, our crowds went right back up again. And the Lord told me that the enemy was working through that discord. Now I don't know all of the spiritual dynamics and how it necessarily affected immediately the attendance in our events, but I do know that there was a spiritual significance in that open door, in that connection. Some of you, and this is what really hit the church hard when I administered it to them and it's really what I believe is going to set you free. Let me tell you something. You need to invest in people who are willing to invest in you. I don't know who said this. I thought it was a great quote. Don't make someone a priority in your life if you are only an option in theirs. Our connections cannot be based on guilt, cannot be based on manipulation. And the reason I say this is because there are some people watching, your family is trying to keep you from serving the Lord. And that, my friend, is demonic influence. I don't care if it's your mom. I don't care if it's your dad. I don't care if it's your brother. I don't care if it's your sister, your grandparents. If they are trying to keep you from serving the Lord, it's demonic influence. Don't be a slave to their guilt. Don't be a slave to their demands from you. Some people will demand things of you. Listen, nobody has a right to demand things of you just because they're family. The truth is, if they're not investing in the relationship, if they're not there when they need to be there, then they don't have a right to put a demand on the relationship. I don't care if there is blood. People say, well, that's all that's left when it comes down to it. That's not true and that's not what the Bible teaches. I've seen families split apart. I've seen married couples split apart. I've seen brothers and sisters. I've seen siblings murder siblings. So don't tell me that family is the ultimate connection. The earthly family is not the ultimate connection. The ultimate connection is your church family. Your ultimate connection is with those who are willing to ask you, those who make you a priority, those who make you something that's important in their life. And I'm saying this because somebody is watching me and I'm not talking about over-spiritualizing disagreement because sometimes we disagree with our family and then we try to say, well, that's because they're not saved and I'm a Christian and we try to spiritualize it and put it on them. No. And I'm not even telling you to completely disconnect from people. I'm saying stop giving influence to people who don't have the mind of God. Stop giving influence to people who demand that influence by reason of manipulation and guilt. Well, I'm your sister. Well, I'm your brother. Well, I'm your mother. Well, I'm your father and therefore you should do what I say. No, that is witchcraft and it needs to be broken off of you today. You need to come out of that and stop being controlled by the emotions that they tried to manipulate in you. That is a demonic open door that can influence you. Another open door that we can find is with the eyes. Psalm chapter 101 verse 3 says, Now this is not just talking about lust. This is talking about anything that our eyes behold that is not godly. How many things do we watch on television and in movies that remind the Holy Spirit of things that break his heart? We need to watch the eyes and make sure we're not taking anything in that is ungodly. Also the ears. 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 23 says, There is no such thing as godly or ungodly music. But there is such a thing as ungodly lyrics. There is such a thing or there are such things as ungodly lyrics and godly lyrics. So the music is a tool to move you emotionally. And when the music moves you emotionally, it opens you up to whatever message is carried on that music. So you need to ask yourself to what am I making myself vulnerable through the listening of certain music? The music moves me emotionally, opens my mind, opens my heart and then who's speaking into me at that point? And you need to make sure that these songs you listen to, this music you listen to is not going to prevent God from speaking to you or I should say more clearly, God doesn't stop speaking to us. Music and sin and the like can keep us from hearing, but it doesn't stop God from speaking. We need to be careful on what we hear. The other thing we need to be careful of hearing is negative words. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 21, In fact, it's good to be offended sometimes. I'm not saying you should, anything that discourages you because sometimes we're discouraged when we're corrected and we should enjoy correction. My closest friends know if I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing, if I'm saying things I shouldn't be saying, if I start thinking weird, teaching weird, acting weird, guess what they're going to call me out on it and though it may offend me, I need that. I'm talking about death that people speak into you. I'm talking about when they speak against your faith. I'm talking about when they speak against what you're believing God to do in your life. I'm talking about when people speak against the call of God on your life. You need to learn to not hear those negative death-giving words. Another thing that can be an open door is a state of being and the two states of being I'll cover here is anger and tiredness. Anger is found in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 26 through 27 or verse 26 and 27. And the scripture says this, And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry for anger gives a foothold to the devil. Have you ever noticed that it's easier to say negative things and do negative things when you're angry? Anger is the opposite of patience and when you're angry you're more susceptible to the suggestions of the enemy. Isn't it interesting that when you're angry you begin to accuse people of their past when you're arguing with them? Now who does that sound like? Accusing people of their past. That's the accuser. The enemy works through our words when we become angry because we become more susceptible to hearing his suggestions. The next thing is tiredness. And in 1 Kings chapter 19 verses 4 through 8 we see that the prophet begins to ask God to kill him. Say, Lord, I'm done. Take me home now. And the Lord doesn't respond by killing him. Instead all he needed was a nap and some food and then he was restored. Sometimes when we're tired it gives the enemy an opportunity to work through our emotions and work through us in our thoughts and we have to be careful about getting rest. I know this may seem practical in a very spiritual series but sometimes you just need rest. Sometimes the greatest fix for anxiety and I'm not trying to make light of it some people have real issues with anxiety sometimes the best cure for anxiety or depression is rest. Now I know there's different levels of anxiety and depression but I'm just giving you some basic advice for the basic level of the suffering and it's true that when we are tired we're more susceptible to these things we're more emotional. So the enemy will use our states of being namely anger and tiredness as an opportunity or as opportunities to attack us. Finally I want to look at the open door which is the mouth. Now Jesus said it's not what goes into a man that defiles him but what goes out of him and he was specifically addressing the ritualistic practices or the laws of Judaism and how the Pharisees were trying to put dietary restrictions on people. Jesus was not saying that there's nothing you can consume that can defile you. In fact the Bible condemns things like drunkenness and gluttony. Gluttony is an open door to sickness. Someone needs to hear that because while you're praying for your healing you're working against it by the way you eat and you need to close that open door for the enemy and then I want to close with this thought drugs can be a demonic open door. Now I want to clarify by saying that in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 23 the scripture says don't drink only water you ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often. Here is to use medicine so the scripture doesn't have anything against medicine for the sake of health. It does however speak against drug use for the sake of just altering your mind and recreation. Pharmakia is the Greek word that means the use of medicine drugs or spells and it has to do with witchcraft and the occult. Now Galatians I'm going to read it out of the context. Galatians chapter number 5 beginning at verse number 19 the scripture says this keep in mind the word pharmacia when translated into English is sorcery and so this specifically means the use of drugs and I'm not just talking about heroin and cocaine or even weed would be considered a drug. I'm also talking about prescription drugs that people abuse. It may not send you to hell to use prescription drugs but some of us abuse those prescription drugs and it becomes an opportunity for the enemy to work through. When you alter your state of consciousness it's very easy for that flood of emotions that come that comes to affect you. So let's go to again Galatians chapter 5 verse 19 where the scripture says this the underlying sorcery is pharmacia which is drug use when you follow the desires of your sinful nature the results are very clear sexual immorality impurity lustful pleasures idolatry sorcery hostility quarreling jealousy outburst of anger selfish ambition dissension division envy drunkenness wild parties and other sins like these let me tell you again as I have before that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now you may not be living that lifestyle so it may not send you to hell but there are sometimes people try to justify things that they do but you know if you're abusing drugs you know if you're occasionally doing something you shouldn't be doing and what we need to do is close all of these doors I'm going to read this one last scripture Romans chapter 14 verse 17 says for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost identify where the peace has been taken identify where the joy has been taken identify where the righteousness has been taken and you'll identify where there's an open door I want to pray with you now and I want you as I'm praying to ask yourself am I lacking peace am I lacking joy am I lacking righteousness and I want you to be honest with yourself and then as you ask that to yourself I want to pray with you Father in Jesus name I pray for that one watching who is recognized they have opened a door to the enemy and I pray Father in the name of the one whom I serve that one watching would experience the freedom and the discernment Lord give us discernment open our eyes to see open our eyes to see open our eyes to see and open our minds to perceive the open doors we've left and God help us to shore up our vulnerabilities I want you to say this prayer after me say in the name of Jesus I close every open door Father help me to identify open doors in my life in Jesus name we pray and I want you to say it with me say amen well I want to now welcome the new members of spirit church stick around I'm going to talk to you for just a second but I want to welcome the new members of spirit church there you are up on the screen those of you who have joined us this week we love you we are praying for you and we are so excited about the spirit church membership that is just growing beyond what we had even believed it could we are at just about a thousand members in spirit church and if you'd like information on how you could join spirit church go ahead and click on the link that's just about to appear over my head if you're not watching this on youtube that link will not appear instead use the information at the bottom of the screen to manually find how you could become a member of the spirit family we sure do love you we are praying for you I usually do comments but last week I was doing the second part of a two part teaching so there are no comments to be read for that but I want to encourage you if you have questions or comments I'll give you a hint the more concise they are maybe three or four sentences the more likely I am to read them and many of you make different comments of things you have a question about the lesson you'll comment on Steven's worship you'll comment on how much the lesson helped you but I want to hear testimonies I want to hear questions I want to hear your thoughts let us know how these teachings are blessing you and I want to transition real quickly now and I want to talk to you for a second many of you have been responding don't turn off the video God wants to talk to you come on come back to here someone was just about to turn this off and you were just about to click out of it you were going to click on one of the videos off to the side but I want to talk to you for a second we need the gospel to go around the world and many of you have been responding to this ministry in fact I believe we've received a hundred new partners since we've been asking for you to partner with us to help open up our ministry center now let me tell you why I want to do this our why is the gospel and souls you look at everything that's going on in our world and you may feel powerless to do anything I want you to join me and join all of those around the world join this effort join our community let's rally together and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Ghost this is a unique ministry we're balanced with the word but we are also fully surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit and this ministry has presented the presence and power of the Holy Spirit with reverence with class presented it with balance and so we are going to be able to reach I'm telling you millions of people help me continue to spread the gospel all around the world through three things international events worldwide television and global discipleship media such as the video you're watching now and our books this isn't all we do we don't only do youtube videos you can be a part of what we're doing join your hand with mine and let's make an impact in this world let's win souls for Jesus become my partner say you know what David I appreciate what you're doing I appreciate that you present both the gospel and the power of the Holy Ghost and let's continue to win souls together let's change this world we can do it you and I together with our brothers and sisters from around the world and the power of God can change this world now here's what I need I need a thousand new $30 a month partners now this doesn't go into my pocket this goes into the ministry we want to open up a new ministry center so that we can expand our broadcast begin doing weekly meetings in Southern California open up 24 seven prayer rooms and believe that people can come from all over the world and receive their miracle not only that from that center with those resources we'll also be able to do more events more often and on larger scales you and I together are going to win thousands hundreds of thousands of Christ you and I together are going to host events filling stadiums you watch God's going to do it and you can get in right when we're starting you look at the ministries all over the world that are touching lives in that way and you say how does that happen Lord how did they get to that place I'll tell you how it's people like you I can't do this alone you're my brother you're my sister we are family and we have one mission let's not get sidetracked with all of the different things and try to fix every little problem if we will speak to the root of the problem we can change the world so I want you to go ahead click on the link that's just about to appear over my head or on the donate button on this side if you're not watching this on YouTube that link is not going to appear instead go to davidhernandezministries.com become a 30 dollar a month partner today if everybody who watches this video don't say someone else will do it don't say I'll do it when I get my paycheck message all the time brother David pray that God blesses me financially and I'll start sewing in your ministry no we say God bless me and I'll give God says give and I'll bless you step out in faith I challenge you those of you who are partner with me stick with it we're in this for the long haul we have a partnership let's keep this partnership going for years and as we're faithful to one another and to the work of God I believe we're going to impact this world so sign up today don't say somebody else don't say some other time do it now everybody if half the people if a quarter of the people who watch this video sign up today we will have that ministry center up and running in just a few months so just to update you about a hundred of you we're about just a little over 10% of the way there keep doing keep signing up and those of you who already signed up keep partnering on that monthly basis not one time monthly so we love you we are praying for you thank you so much for watching that is it for this edition of spirit church on encounter tv until next time remember nothing is in pot there's somebody watching me right now I'm sorry I was going to dismiss this you've been believing God for a job and you want a confirmation you've been believing God for a breakthrough in your finances there's someone else you've been believing God for things with debt you will focus on the gospel God will focus on your needs that was for someone watching right now now that is it for this edition of spirit church until next time remember nothing is impossible with God hey fam Stephen Mock the zoomer here I want to encourage you to subscribe to our channel and to share our content I hope you're enjoying all the content that we're sending your way in addition to David's teachings and ministry videos you can also join me on my worship playlist where I release a brand new video every week thank you guys so much for watching encounter tv god bless