 I want to, by use of the word of God, equip you to identify demonic possession and then expel those demonic powers with the authority that Christ has through you. And as we look to the scripture, it's important to remember that we're talking about very severe cases of demonic influence. I am not talking about general demonic bondage. I am not talking about deception. I am not talking about strongholds. What we are discussing tonight is a very real, very intense spiritual state that we call demonic possession. This is in fact where a demonic being takes up residence in and control over a physical body. Now as you study the original language, that word for demonized literally means to be possessed with a devil. That is the meaning. That's why you'll see in the various different translations of scripture that they always use the word possession, possession, possession. There's a lot of confusion around that word, but it only means one thing. It always means ownership, and you will never see that word demonized being used to describe a spirit-filled believer. So we're talking about something that has manifestations, something that has symptoms, if you will. There is no such thing as an asymptomatic demonic. It's not as though someone can be fully possessed and then walking around without any signs. I often wonder if that's the case. If it's true that someone can be demon-possessed and there be no signs left in there whatsoever, there be no signs manifesting whatsoever, there be no effect whatsoever, and me casting the devils out of them could potentially set them up for seven others coming back and making them worse, then wouldn't it be in that case better just to leave them in there? I mean, if they're not causing any trouble. But the reality is that there is no such thing as demonic manifestation without symptoms. This idea that a demon could be hiding in the physical body, taking control over the physical body, without there being a single manifestation of the signs that we see around demonic possession that are revealed in scripture is just not an accurate way to describe demonic possession. So there will always be signs of full-on demonic possession. And God wants to use you, His children of light, the saints of God, the army of God, to command authority over the forces of darkness. They have to listen to God's people and they don't have a choice. I want you to turn to your neighbor and say, I'm on a mission. You watching live or on the replay, write that in the comment section. Make that declaration of faith. I'm on a mission. Let it be known. We're on a rescue mission. We've been empowered with the authority of Christ, equipped with His Word and strengthened by His Spirit. You are reflections of a marvelous light and wherever that light is reflected, darkness has to dissolve. So again, we're talking about full-on demonic possession. There will always be signs of full-on demonic possession. And this is always the case. Matthew chapter 12, verses 43 through 45. Turn there now, please. When an evil spirit leaves a person, goes into the desert seeking rest, but finding none. Then it says, I will return to the person I came from. So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept and in order. Verse 45. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil in itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation. Now some could look at that verse and say, well, Jesus was speaking in metaphors regarding how generations are affected through their disobedience. Okay, that may be the case. But even when Jesus told parables that could have had a metaphoric nature, he always grounded the parables in reality. Something that was true, something that the people could experience in this reality. So he used agriculture to describe certain parables that communicated spiritual principles. But agriculture wasn't is a very real thing. Jesus would not use a lie to communicate a truth. So even if this is a metaphor for how generations are affected, the metaphor he's using must be grounded in reality and truth. Now going back to something I said just a couple of minutes ago, I said to you that every time someone is full on demon possessed, again, this is where a demonic being takes residence in and control over the physical body. I said that there will always be signs. And then I said, if it's true that there are no signs, then it would be in that case better to leave the demon in there. Now don't hear what I'm not saying. I am not saying it is in fact better to leave a demon in there. I'm saying if it were true that there were no symptoms, if it were true that there were no effects, if it were true that there were no actual manifestations that came about as a result of demonic possession, then it would be better to leave them. Why? Because the scripture says here that demonic beings have this certain way of moving about the earth. And they have a certain way of strategizing over their victims. Demonic beings the scripture reveals always return. And when they return, they bring seven others with them. And that is why I say to you that if it were true that there were no symptoms, you'd be better off just leaving the demon in there. But in fact, we know that there are severe results of demonic possession. And so we know it's always best to drive that demonic power out. Now as we look at the scripture here, we see that demonic beings communicate with one another. We're talking about spiritual beings that are highly intelligent and hyper focused on the destruction of the individual. And their goal is to destroy your faith, their goal is to destroy your holiness, their goal is to destroy any connection that you might have with God. That's what they're attempting to do. This doesn't mean that they are in fact successful in every case. Demons always return. Now what does this mean for the Christian? Because as I mentioned to you earlier, demonic possession is not a reality that Christians face. Now I have a whole teaching on demon possession and how Christians cannot be demon possessed. That's very different than being attacked by or influenced by demonic beings. Christians can be attacked and they can be influenced. Christians need deliverance in some cases, but never exorcism because though they can be attacked and influenced, they can never be fully possessed, owned. And this is where people will interject, well you know that word possessed isn't even in the scripture. Well yeah, it actually is in the original language. Demonized, as I said a moment ago, literally means to be possessed by a devil, to be possessed by a demon. If you look this up in the Strong's Interlinear Bible and other Greek references. And again, this is why as you read the various translations of the Bible, they always use the word possessed, possessed, possessed. Why? Because that's what it means. Demonized literally means to be possessed by a demon. So when a demon is driven out of an unbeliever and then that unbeliever is filled with the Holy Spirit, that demon will still return. Now a lot of people misunderstand this to mean that when the demon returns, it can therefore re-enter. But returning is not the same thing as re-entering. So that demonic power is expelled out of an individual's life, out of their physical body. They become born again. They become filled with the Holy Spirit and that demon returns and though it cannot re-enter, it will still seek a place of vulnerability where it can cause attack, influence and deception. But it cannot return into a believer why? Well Jesus said it here. Returns and finds its former home what? Empty. Are you empty? No. First Thessalonians 5 23 talks about the body, the soul and the spirit. A common misconception surrounding the nature of man as it has to do with demonic possession is this. People say, well demons can't enter your spirit because that's connected with the Holy Spirit. Demons can't enter your body because that is also the temple of the Holy Spirit. And then they'll say, ah, but they can't enter the soul. But soul possession is never mentioned once in scripture. In fact to possess the soul would to be exercising power over the will and not even God himself gives himself control over people's will. Notice that whenever someone was delivered from a demon in the scripture, they would come to Jesus. Now whose will was that being used to come to Jesus? It was theirs. So then their will was intact and we obviously can tell there that the soul was left unconsumed if you will. Affected but not owned, not controlled. Now this raises the obvious question. If we don't cast devils out of Christians, from whom do we expel them? Very simple. Very simple. Unbelievers. Now this right here immediately raises the next question. Wait a minute, Brother David. Why would we cast devils out of unbelievers if demons return and potentially bring back seven others with them? This is a good question because we just read that, didn't we? Demonic powers do in fact return and seek to find greater influence than before. Well let's break a few things down concerning the scripture. A, demons being within someone's physical body is tormenting. And in a moment I'm going to show you those signs and I'm going to show you how to expel them but we have to lay this foundation first. If you leave someone in demonic possession because of this fear that seven others may come back then what you're actually doing is leaving someone in bondage because of what your doctrine tells you. Think about that. Who did things like that? That was the religious leaders of the day. You see, we misunderstand the religious spirit. Most people recognize that a religious spirit denies the existence of demons, denies the need for deliverance, denies the need for exorcism, denies the reality of demon possession. But that's only one side of the religious coin. The other side of the religious coin is to tell people certain things like you need a specific ritual in order to be freed from a demon. So then religion manifests itself on two extremes. Ignorance in the realm of the demonic and hyper-focus and obsession in the realm of the demonic. Both are religious spirits. How can we tell? Because it's work-based, both sides. And then you see that the doctrine prevents me from ministering freedom to that individual. Imagine, please, I'm tormented. There's devils in me. Well, you're not a believer yet. I won't drive them out of you. I'm going to leave you in torment for my doctrine tells me so. I want freedom. No, you don't. Trust me. It'll be much worse for you. That's first of all. Second of all, be exorcism can lead to salvation. Think about the demoniac who had a legion of demons in him. The Lord drives out these demonic forces with a simple command, and then this man turns, and what does he want to do? He wants to follow Jesus. So anytime we saw someone being delivered, I should say in many instances, not any time, but in many instances wherein we saw someone being delivered from demonic possession immediately after they'd want to follow Jesus. The scripture declares that it's God's goodness that leads man to repentance. So when someone is liberated from the mental torment caused by demonic possession, who do you think the first one they're going to want to follow is? It's the Lord. He set me free from this torment. He liberated me from this bondage of darkness, and now I can follow him, and then salvation results in the same way healing works. Sometimes the Lord would heal unbelievers, and they would turn and follow him after experiencing their miracle. The third thing to consider is that no one is promised tomorrow to send away someone who is demonically possessed just because they're not born again. To send them away is to assume that they have more days ahead wherein they can experience deliverance and salvation. I can't cast it out of you today. Go on your way. Well, how do you know that isn't the last time they're going to encounter someone who can minister the gospel to them? So I'm not going to cast it out because my doctrine says I can't, but now I'm risking your soul because of a doctrine I hold dear to my heart, religious spirit. Finally, actually no, I'll do two more on this idea. Saying I can't cast your demons out because you may end up worse is like saying I can't witness to you because you may end up worse. Well, what does the Bible say in 2 Peter 221? It will be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. So the scripture tells us that there's a greater judgment that will come upon those who hear the gospel and then reject it. Well, by the same logic should we not withhold the gospel and say I don't want to witness to you for fear that I could make your eternity much worse. Yet we do it with demoniacs. Why? And finally, and I want you to really think about this, those who believe that Christians can be demon possessed trapped themselves in a contradiction here. If in fact we shouldn't cast demons out of unbelievers because demons can return, then why wouldn't the same apply to Christians if demons could supposedly reenter them? Well, I don't want to cast your devils out because it could come back seven times worse. Well, if they can reenter Christians, then why do you cast it out of them? It is a contradiction to say I will not drive a devil out of the unbeliever for fear that it may come back worse, but I will do it to a Christian. And so we see quite clearly as we begin to look at what the scripture actually says that there's nothing in all of the Bible that prevents us from casting devils out of the unbeliever that is a myth, that is a superstition, that is of the religious system, and it's something that prevents people from finding freedom. Now, as we look to the Bible again, I want you to avoid paranoia, because I'm going to give you a list right now, okay? Now, here's what Christians do with lists sometimes. They take principles of scripture and then create specific belief systems out of them. Now, this is healthy to some extent. But for example, I'm going to give you just one sign right now. One of the signs of demonic possession, I'm going to show it to you in the Bible right now, is morbid thinking, okay? This obsession with death, constantly thinking about it. But this does not mean that anyone who philosophizes about death or wonders about death or maybe saw a violent clip, this does not mean that they are most certainly definitely possessed. So as I give you these symptoms, as I give you these different manifestations, I want you to look at them with discernment, because what could happen is people take the list, they find two or three things, and then suddenly they're leaving the room thinking that they got a demon in them, when they didn't think that before. It's kind of like when you get sick and you start to google your symptoms. It could be something as simple as the common cold by the time you're done googling, you think you're dying. The next thing you google is how to write a will, how to leave an inheritance for my children. And so I'm going to give you this list, but believer, we're talking about the meat of the word now, don't go falling for that influence of superstition. Don't become hyper focused, hyper obsessed with this notion. Look for the signs, be vigilant, but don't be paranoid. Are you receiving this so far tonight? I know I'm giving you a lot kind of just, and for many of us this is kind of like jarring, like wait a minute, I thought that that's why we have to ground it in the scripture guys, we have to always ground it in the scripture. Okay, how many by show of hands are learning something new tonight? Let me see, okay. Mark chapter five, I'm going to read verse by verse, and we'll stop at each note here. Now in Mark chapter five, verses one and two, we see that the man approaches Jesus there again, as I mentioned earlier, we see that the will is perfectly intact. In fact, once you understand the origin of demons, and this is on a side note now, once you understand the origin of demons, you understand that they are spirits actually looking for physical bodies, and that's why they're so uncomfortable outside of physical bodies. They're not looking for souls or spirits, they are spirits, and they're looking for a physical body that they can inhabit. But that's a whole different message that I put on the channel. It's called the origin of demons. Now let's read, let's go to verse three. This man lived in the burial caves, and could no longer be restrained even with a chain. There we see the first two signs. Why is he hanging around the cemetery? Because of that morbid thinking. Someone who is under the power of a demon, and by that I'm talking about literal possession. Again, we're not talking about just strongholds or deceptions or attacks. We are talking about full on possession. This demonic being has taken up residence in their physical body. Of course, we're talking about an unbeliever in this state. This person is obsessed with death. This is why you see shootings all over the news. It's an obsession. And if you begin to look at the interviews that the police have with these people who've done these mass shootings, mass killings, more often than not, they will tell you that the person heard voices telling them to do it. That's real demonic possession. Not if I sneeze while reading the Bible. Not, oh, I stood up too fast and I got dizzy during worship. It must be a devil distract me. No, you just got up too fast. You should probably take care of your body. You see in contrast, when you begin to look at the very serious signs of demonic possession, how silly the other ones start to look that sometimes we believe are signs. And so, moving on to the next point here, we see supernatural ability. I was driving a devil out of, I think it was actually two or three, out of a girl one time. And I remember that every time we began to pray, she would lift herself up off of the floor, even though there were people holding her arms. Now, this exorcism I did was years ago. And as I'm going to explain in a moment, I do it much differently now than I used to do it. It used to take, and you saw some of those, Steve, and this was at the youth ministry. And we have some old footage of it too. I say old as if I'm old. I'm not that old. We have some former footage, previous footage. It's a better way to put it. And you know, the way I would do it is, you know, this whole, it was a whole ritual. It was a whole song and dance. And really demons will only toy with you if you let them. And so I remember praying over this girl and I had ushers holding your hands down. We're talking two large men, one on each wrist and a young girl on the floor. As we began to pray, she would come up off the ground and with both her hands pushing against these two grown men full force on her hands, she would push them both back. One of them fell backwards, demonstrating this supernatural strength. In fact, every time she would come up off the ground and scream, I was able to hear three different voices coming out of her at the same time. And I remember it was one of the most terrifying things to hear her say afterwards that it was as though she had, she says it's almost like my eyes were a window and I was sitting in the middle of my head looking out my eyes, unable to talk, unable to move, all while this was happening. That was true demonic possession. That was a genuine exorcism. And there were signs. Again, morbid thinking, supernatural ability. Verse four, watch this whenever he was put into chains and shackles. As he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrist and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Now, again, we see that supernatural ability there. But also in verse four, we see violence or barbaric behavior. And you might see this if you're out on the streets. And I'm not saying this with no compassion. I don't say this facetiously. I say this and it's a sad reality. But, you know, we moved here from California. We would see this a lot on the streets because the people who wander the streets are often demonized and people don't even realize it. Sometimes the things we think are mental illness are actually demonic beings. And sometimes the things we think are demonic beings is actually just mental illness. You have to use discernment. But I saw these people walking the streets and you could see it in their eyes. In fact, one time I was sitting in my car and I saw a woman standing on the street corner and she's just talking to herself like lost in her own world. And you could tell it wasn't just some drug induced hysteria. You could see it in her eyes. And I remember beginning to pray in the Holy Spirit. I started praying in tongues, rebuking it. That woman turned, looked right at my car and started pointing and walking toward me. As I'm rebuking those demons, the demons recognize the prayers. And so that is one of the signs, this barbaric behavior, this violence, this sporadic mind. Verse number five, day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. Here we see mental instability which is somewhat different than violence and barbaric behavior. Now when it's at this level, please hear me, this is not, what I'm giving you now is advice of my own opinion, this phrase I'm about to give you and I have to separate that from scripture. In my experience, the opinion that I have formed is that once it reaches that level, I've observed that more often than not at this stage, it's more than one demon. Now that you can take it or leave it. I can't give you a Bible verse on that so I'm not going to preach that emphatically. I'm willing to be convinced either way but from what I've seen when it reaches that level of mental instability, more often than not, judging by my experience, I could tell you that at that stage, it's usually more than one demon. Also in verse five, we see that he was cutting himself with sharp stones and there we see self-harm. Now self-harm can be physical, it can also be the words people speak against themselves. And again, I want to make sure that we're being careful here because someone who suffers with this issue of self-harm may be under spiritual attack but because I'm listing it on a list of things that are signs of demonic possession, they may cling to one sign, obsess about that one sign and then become tormented by the idea that they're possessed when they're not. But it is still a sign and you have to look at these things in aggregate. These things come together to paint a picture for us. It's not just one or two of these things and then we say, well, that person's demon possessed. You will see an aggregate of these things coming together. I mean, consider the fact that every sign I just gave you is so far still one guy we're talking about. And then we go down to verse number seven. Jump there please. With the shriek, he screamed, why are you interfering with me? Jesus, son of the most high God, in the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me. Here we see another revealing sign. Demaniacs are very uncomfortable in the presence of God. When you say Psalm 139.7 says, the Holy Spirit's everywhere. Okay, they're uncomfortable in the manifested presence of God wherein the people have taken dominion. I was ministering. Actually, I think this was in Colorado. As ministering in Colorado, I believe that's where it was. And I'm preaching at a church, the small church, and we were just gathered there, there to worship the Lord. I was a guest speaker and I'm standing up in the front, worshiping with the people. And during the worship, I could sense this beautiful presence of the Holy Spirit. And out of nowhere, I felt like, how do I word this? Like someone got their fingers and touched the top of my head and then dragged their hand down the back of my neck and then across my shoulder, right on this side of my body. When I turned, I made eye contact immediately. It was like I was drawn to that corner of the room, to the very back of the room I saw a man standing there. I mean, he couldn't have been more obvious. He had a satanic Bible. He was holding like this. He was dressed in all black and he was just staring at me, smiling. And so I said, okay. I went on the platform when it was time for me to minister. And I said, I want everyone here, the next 30 seconds, begin to pray in the Holy Spirit. Guys, as we're praying in the Holy Spirit, the man, first of all, as we're praying in the Holy Spirit, that demonic sense just broke out of the atmosphere. Like instant, it was not a fight, not for the Holy Spirit. It never is. And we ever seen like a bratty child, when you tell them, no, several times and they finally get it, they fold their arms and they plop themselves down. That's exactly what he did, right in his seat. And he sat there for the entire service, just like this, staring blankly. It was as if angelic beings had bound him with ropes and he just couldn't move the entire service. And, and of course, this shows you though that he was very uncomfortable in the presence of God. Now again, verses one and two show they still maintain exercise over their free will. Now let's look at the fortune teller in Acts chapter 16. Are you receiving this tonight, church? I keep asking because I want to make sure I'm not giving you too much at one time, especially when, when we're correcting mindsets. There's always that, that like defense mechanisms going off in the mind. So maybe we'll do a Q and A after this. But let's look now at the, at the fortune teller in Acts chapter 16. Go to verse 16 now, and I'm going to read verses 16, 17, 18, and 19. One day, as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul. Now stop there for a second. She followed Paul. You see how this is a different type of manifestation now. The previous demon we read about was tormented being near a servant of God. This one is following him. Okay. So there's a little bit of a contrast there. She followed Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are servants of the most high God and they have come to tell you about how to be saved. Be careful of flattery and compliments. Many times it's just someone trying to gain access to you in order to deceive you. This went on day after day until Paul got so exacerbated that he turned and said to the demon within her, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And what does it say? And instantly it left her. Verse 19, her master's hopes of wealth were now shattered. So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. So in verse 16, we see that she is a slave girl. Those who are bound by demonic beings have a proclivity for or a tendency to place themselves under bondage. Whether this be under the influence of someone who is themselves wicked, this can also be, by the way, an addiction. Now addiction is in fact a stronghold. That's a different message for a different time. I have to at some point teach on addiction. I think that would be beneficial because with addiction, there are different threads that are tied together to create such a strong bondage. There's a demonic element, a mental element, emotional element, a physical element. But here we see at least in the case of this demoniac that she was bound, she was a slave girl, that mentality of being a victim, that mentality of negativity, that lack of self-respect, that lack of self-esteem, this very low view of herself. Now again, just because someone has lack of self-esteem or just because somebody has a low view of themselves does not mean they're possessed, okay? But that is a sign that combined with the others could indicate that someone is possessed. Verse 16 reveals to us that she had an obsession with the occult, it was her livelihood. Do you know that the systems of the Antichrist are so confident that they have this generation, that now they've turned their focus to the children? See that's spiritual territory right there. It's kind of like an election. When someone is certain that they're going to win the presidency, that's when they focus to campaigning for the House and the Senate and some of the lower level offices. They can campaign for others because they pretty much have it in lock. So the enemy now has this generation. I know, I know I'm not a doom and gloom guy, but let's just look around. At least in the United States, this generation, the enemy has them. And so now because the enemy has gained this territory, what is he doing? He's focusing his attention on the next. And you watch what you put in your homes, guys. We have a rule. My daughter is not allowed to be around a TV or an iPad without one of us present. None of this. Here's an iPad. Go to your room. Why? Because now they're sneaking demonic imagery. I shouldn't even say sneaking. They are blatantly putting it out there. Television shows about demon possession and portraying this as the source of power and life as opposed to the torment that it actually is. What is this? This is the obsession with the occult, the obsession with darkness, the obsession with demonic forces. And then verse 17, we see that she's declaring things about these apostles. You know, I don't think she was entirely sincere. People who have contempt for you are sometimes passive aggressive. And so this is a passive aggressive slight on the apostles. She's mocking them without mocking them. It's contempt for authority. That's one of the signs of demonic possession. Now, our reference, we don't have to turn there because it's one verse, but Mark chapter nine, verse number 17, we see the story about a boy who's possessed by a demon who throws him into the water and into the fire, throws him into the water to try to drown him, throws him into the fire to try to burn him. This is a very telling sign of demonic possession. I'm about to give you, but please keep in mind what I've been telling you before. So we maintain balance. Suicidal tendencies are a sign of demonic possession. I mean, think about how we as human beings, by our very own nature, are self-preserving. Everything about the brain has been wired to protect you. You burn your hand, you pull it back, you feel pain, you pull away, you sense danger, you run away. And if you can't run away, you start fighting. Why? Because that is self-preservation. We've been wired to do that. So what do you think it is in someone that can cause them to have that switch turned off? And now instead of self-preservation, it's self-hatred to such a degree that they actually attempt to destroy their physical body. Demons hate the image of God. And when somebody commits suicide, they're destroying that physical body that God gave them. It's an attack on the image of God. So is violence. So is murder. That that's a spirit that hates the image of God. And so suicidal tendencies are in fact a sign of demonic possession, not conclusive in and of itself, but in fact are a sign. Now let's look at Acts chapter 10 verse 38. So far, for those who are taking notes, we have morbid thinking, supernatural ability, violence or barbaric behavior, mental instability, self-harm, which is different than suicide. Self-harm is just harming yourself, suicide you're trying to kill yourself. Discomfort in God's presence, addiction or a slavery mentality, obsession with the occult, contempt for God's authority, suicidal tendencies, and Acts chapter 10 verse 38 reveals sickness. And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. Right here, the scripture refers to sickness as demonic oppression. Now it's important to remember that not everyone who's sick is demon-possessed. Tell that to Timothy, Apaphrodites, who nearly died. Paul writes, he nearly died. I'm thinking, Paul, why didn't you pray for him? I promise you he did. But it wasn't until he reached the brink of death that he was healed. When he writes to Timothy, hey, Timothy, don't just drink water, drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach since you're always sick. Why didn't Paul pray for him? I'm sure he did. But in that case, it was just a miracle that didn't happen. We have to accept that sometimes that's the case. But Paul didn't tell Timothy that's a demonic spirit, nor was it. So demons can cause sickness, but not all sickness is the result or the direct result of a demonic power. Neither is sickness the same as the demonic. So when people say, well, you're sick, that's a demon because it's in your body. Well, sickness is actually something that's of this physical world. It's a physical manifestation of the reality in which we live. It is not unto itself a demon. And so sickness is different than a demonic being, but demons can cause sickness in some instances. And there we see in Acts 10 38 that sickness is called demonic oppression. Now let's look at 1st Timothy 4 1, and then I'll show you one more verse, then I'm going to show you how to expel these demonic beings. But you're being trained right now to see the signs. Some of you may be thinking of people already. Now I'm going to say something before I give you the next one. Turn to 1st Timothy 4 1. I'm going to say something because I have to be very careful with the way I say this, not because I'm afraid of what people think or say about me, but because I don't want to lead anyone astray. God judges more harshly those who teach the word. You know, I had a friend who suffered a brain injury and before the brain injury, he was positive, spirit filled, stable, competent, kind. Like being around this guy was like you felt refreshed. You know, those kind of people, you get around them and you leave the conversation just, oh, wow, I feel refreshed. You can feel their joy, their love, their peace, just stable, bent through ups and downs and always just stable. He gets in an accident. He hits his head and the swelling on the brain changed the dynamics of his personality, took him years to get back to his former self, but he immediately went into suffering with manic depression, fits of rage, attitude, moody, mean, unkind, impatient, the whole thing like completely changed him. Now, now that wasn't a demonic spirit. It was literally the swelling of the brain that caused a transformation in the way he thought. Now, because his spirit was still intact, eventually he overcame that and found that stability again. But having said that, having admitted and having acknowledged that mental illness can in some ways be rooted in things that are of this reality, I also must tell you that far more of what we call mental illness is actually demonic influence, far more than people realize and it goes deep. I mean, especially because we're talking about the unbeliever now. Human nature is more depraved, more wicked, more selfish than we could ever possibly imagine. You would be shocked by how many secrets are in the church. How much more are there secrets in the world? The enemy works in darkness. Now, when that begins to manifest, that's because it's reached a level of possession. It comes to a higher form of demonic influence now. But we have to have our eyes open, guys. Not everything has a natural explanation. And this is coming from someone who's very balanced in his approach. You know this about me. I'm always looking for the simplest explanation first, the biblical explanation first, and then we get into speaking of our experiences after that. But we have to keep our eyes open. We have to be aware of the war in which we are engaged. Now, first Timothy 4.1 says, the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times, some will turn away from the true faith. They will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. Guys, one of the signs of demonic possession is the propagation of demonic doctrine. You would be amazed, and I'm getting into some heavy things now. Ask the Lord for discernment. You would be amazed at how many doctrines actually keep people bound. You would be amazed at how many beliefs that we imagine set people free actually put them in a more complex bondage. Now, going to extreme examples, I could talk about cults, people like the Davidians, people like Charles Manson. I'm using extreme examples so we can find a point of agreement, but I'm sure there will be a comment or two that defend these characters. But we have to call out false prophets when we see them, guys. Guys, the false religions of the world came from demonic spirits. Those religious leaders aren't just deceived. Many of them are possessed. I'm just going to tell you like it is, guys. And the power that they demonstrate in those false religions comes from demonic entities. They think they're having conversations with God. Guys, they're talking to demons. Those demons are giving them revelation and thinking themselves to have found truth. They slip deeper into darkness. Demonic doctrine, unbiblical doctrine, can be, is not always, sometimes it's just a Christian who was too lazy and didn't study right. It can be a sign of demonic possession. Another thing we see here in 1 Timothy 4-1 is a manipulative personality. Now, I don't know why, but it's become a trend to call everyone a narcissist these days. And I think we've cheapened that word. People who are uncaring and selfish and show little emotion, that's selfishness, but that's not always narcissism. Remember, these things have to be in the extreme to be that. So every person I talk to now who has an ex or an old relationship, they all tell me about the person they were married to, the person they were dating, the person that was in their family. It's always, oh, they were, you know, my mother-in-law's a narcissist, my ex-husband's a narcissist, my ex-wife's a narcissist. Okay, maybe. But let's not throw these words out so easily. You know why we do that sometimes? Because labels make it easier to shift blame. So I'm not saying that they weren't. I'm saying we have to be careful with how we use this. It's, the word narcissist has almost become as popular as horoscopes and new ageism. And it's kind of all coming from the same vein, I think. But there is such a thing as that manipulative personality that's demonically influenced. You know why people who are demonically influenced are manipulative? Because manipulation is the tactical approach to deception. Think about what Satan did to Eve. You realize he didn't come straight out and say, you'll not surely die. What did he begin with? A question. Did God really say, before the enemy will contradict the word, he will get you to question the word? And that's really the work of a manipulative person. Before they will get you to contradict what you know is true, they will first get you to question it. And that can only come about, demonic doctrine can only come about, cults can only come about as a result of manipulative personalities. One more portion of scripture to glean these signs, and then we're going to look into the answers. First Samuel chapter 16, very, very famous case here, verse 14. First Samuel 16, 14. Now the spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. We see the big three right here. You ready? The last three signs. Torment, depression, fear. Torment, depression, fear. It's worth repeating. I understand some of you already get it. In fact, probably most of you get it, but I have to say it again because that's my job as a teacher. I'm going to say it again, pointing out just one or two of these signs and saying, you got a demon in you is probably not the wisest thing to do. Like if your kids talk back, you know, that's contempt for authority, doesn't mean they have a legion in them. Okay, it could just be that they're growing and there's that teen angst and so forth. Okay, so don't, don't just slap that label on it. Remember, we're not, we're not like spiritual hypochondriacs. Okay, we're not like everything's a demon, but these are signs we have to be aware of. Not paranoia, but vigilance. So I'll recap these and I'm going to show you how to fight against this. Morbid thinking, supernatural ability, violence or barbaric behavior, mental instability, self-harm, discomfort in God's presence, addiction or that slavery mentality, obsession with the occult, contempt for God's authority, suicidal tendencies, sickness, unbiblical doctrines, manipulative personalities, torment, depression and fear. Step number one, you want to expel the forces of darkness. Step number one, you have to honor the basics. Turn to someone next, you say honor the basics. Write it in the comment section. Note taking now. Honor the basics. You cannot fight demonic power within cantation. It's the authority of Christ that drives out demonic beings. Now, I have to be sensitive to the believer who's genuinely lost in this type of thinking, so I don't want you to feel alienated by what I'm saying, but you have to at least see the, and I mean this word literally, I'm not saying it as an insult, but I pray God open our eyes to the ridiculousness of some of the things that we believe. Like this idea that I have to have all of this vast amounts of knowledge about demons in order to cast them out. Do you know what that's going to do? That right there can possibly lead to a shift in focus. Now, I'm not saying don't be mindful. We have to be mindful of the enemy, but some believers have taken mindfulness and traded it for obsession. Like, for example, there are some who believe that if you go through the grocery store and you're putting things into your cart, that you need to go home afterwards immediately and begin to renounce all of the spirits that could have possibly attached themselves to those items that you put in your cart. Literally you load a website and then get off the computer. It could be a news site. It could be a cooking site. It could be general information on YouTube. And then as soon as you're done, you have to go cleanse yourself, renounce all those things that could have possibly been there, lest a demon enter you because of your ignorance. I mean, what do we imagine is happening in heaven at that point? That God the Father who has his protection over us, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, that we're going to be walking down the grocery store, we touch the wrong cereal box and God goes, hey, you're on your own. I remember my father took a mission trip to Africa and he brought me back just like a little mask. It wasn't of the occult. It was like a cultural thing. And some might say, well, some of the culture has, okay, it was literally a wooden mask that a boy had carved and my dad bought it from him because he wanted to help him support his business, brought it home to me. And I had this individual tell me, you know, David, you need to be careful with that mask. I said, why? He said, well, it's possible that a demon could have attached itself to it and then went into your father's bag, then he brought it home and now it's in your room. I said, my friend, if there was a demon attached to that mask, it left the moment my dad touched it. Now, don't hear what I'm not saying. Balance, balance, balance, balance. I just addressed that extreme side. Let's address the other. This doesn't mean you go collecting a cultic imagery. This doesn't mean, oh, we can go buy a Ouija board because the demons have to leave. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not talking about ignorance of demons, nor am I talking about obsession with them. I'm talking about that stable, spiritual, powerful, balanced view of having that authority in Christ, recognizing who you are. Not the religious side of, oh, no worries. It doesn't happen. It's not real. And not the religious side of I have to follow everything by the book, lest I become possessed. It's just nonsense. Again, the ridiculousness of some of the things we believe. Or, well, you know, if you want to cast a demon out, and I've said this often, but it's worth repeating. If you want to cast a demon out, you've got to find its nation of origin. And then you've got to get its name. You have to get its assignment. You have to ask it how it got in. And so our exorcisms look like, what is your name? How did you get in? What do they need to renounce? What is your favorite color? And I feel like we're interviewing these demonic beings. First of all, how you could trust information from a demonic being is just beyond me. And I say, why are you doing that? Why are you having conversations with them? They say, well, I'm gathering intel from a demon. Well, it has to obey me. Well, then tell it to leave. If they have to obey you, what's the point in gathering all that information in the first place? Or on the other side, it's kind of sad that we've basically reverse engineered the occult and then call it deliverance ministry. Well, here's what they taught in New Age. Here's what they teach in the occult. Here's what they teach those who practice witchcraft. This is what they said. Who cares what they say? Well, witches say that they can place curses on Christians. They're liars. Well, witches said the only way that, and the people from the occult and the people from the New Age, and they've come out of it, they said, who cares? Is it in the word? Guys, I'm telling you, this is important. Now, I'm not talking about arrogance because the Bible does condemn those who scoff at supernatural beings. But this idea that we have to take the teachings from the occult into consideration and call it spiritual wisdom and intel, it's just beyond. That is nothing but deception. It's a world of deception. Demons love to exaggerate their power, not saying that they don't have any. But why do I need a demon's name when I know the name of Jesus? That's the only name I need. Now, I'm going to show you something in the scripture because, again, coming back to basics, back to basics, back to basics, Ephesians 6, 10, and 11 says, a final word, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. See, we'd rather be told, well, it's in a special specific prayer. Why? Because these things seem more exciting, more interesting, more fun. And I'm going to go a little deeper here now. Look, my intention is to help you. And if you find defenses going up, ask yourself why you're being defensive right now. Ask yourself, well, I was taught, yes, but taught from where? You see, people by nature have a desire to see the supernatural. Here's the problem. When they're in the world, they can play with Ouija boards if they want. They can participate in the occult. They can study demonology for the fun of it. They can go full on into the dark side. When they get saved, that part of their flesh still has a taste for the demonic. And then it finds an excuse to once again go to that side, but we call it demonology. I told you we're going to go deep tonight. And really, it's basically dungeons and dragons for Christians, the Ouija board for Christians, the occult for Christians. And it breaks my heart to know that so many are in that. And then I've had people literally tell me, Brother David, you can't be telling people that. These are the things they need to know. Your teachings are keeping people in bondage. And I ask them, how often do you deal with demons? Oh, man, it's real. Every week I have to get delivered. Okay, so you believe what you believe and you're always bound. I believe what I believe and I'm never bound. What teachings are keeping people in bondage? Ask me when the last time I've had to deal with demonic oppression on my life. The life of the believer is the life of victory. And again, I'm not, my goal isn't to bash anyone, but my goodness, guys, we've got to come back to where there's real power. There's no power in any of that. I mean, think about that. And again, guys, I told you I'd come back to this part of the story. I was casting the demon out of the girl. She's on the floor. It took me four hours to cast her out of her. Why? Because I didn't know my authority. And I thought it was me. I mean, really, do we think that while we're driving demons out, come out, come out, come out. And the Holy Spirit is forcing that demon out. Do you think the Holy Spirit's looking back? Wait, wait, I need your backup. I need your spiritual knowledge. I need your spiritual ranking. I need your spiritual experience. I need what you studied to help me out. Otherwise I can't do it. And we imagine that the Holy Spirit is fighting with the demons. Guys, the Holy Spirit does not deal with demons. He dominates them. It's a move of the spirit. So how do we get to this point? Okay, I'm telling you, honor the basics. It's not dungeons and dragons for Christians. It's just living holy, living a clean life, walking in that power in that way. It's not our spiritual ranking or expertise that demons respond to. What did Jesus say? Don't rejoice that the demons obey you. Rejoice what? That your names are written. In other words, don't find your identity in your power over demons. And this is what many of us do. Our entire Christian identity is wrapped up in the fact that we think we know everything there is to know about demons. They're liars. We don't know hardly anything about them. So what are the keys? Time in God's presence. Acts 4.13 tells us that the religious leaders knew they had been with Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3.17, for the Lord is the spirit, and wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Okay, so watch this now. So if I'm carrying the presence of the Holy Spirit manifested on my life, and I step into the room with someone who has a demon, a parasite who's so weak that it needs a body to even feel strength, and I speak with the power of the Holy Ghost, go, go. And the Holy Spirit says it's time to go. What demon, if it really is a demon, is going to be able to say, no, I don't think I'll do that. I'll show you in a moment what to do with what we call stubborn demons, and I'll show you what's actually happening there. But look here now. Mark 1, 21-27. Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching for he taught with real authority, quite unlike the teachers of religious law. You know how the Pharisees and Sadducees tried to drive out demons? Just go look at how they used to do it. This is why they were upset with Jesus because they had to pull out all these tools, say all these special prayers, recite all these special poems, and then maybe the demon would go. Jesus wouldn't do any of that. He'd just say go and they would go. That's partly why they didn't like him. They were jealous because he could do in a second what took them hours to do. The people were amazed at his teaching for he taught with real authority, quite unlike the teachers of religious law. Suddenly a man in the temple who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God, but Jesus reprimanded him. Be quiet, come out of the man he ordered, and at that the evil spirit screamed through the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him. Amazement gripped the audience and they began to discuss what had happened. What sort of new teaching is this, they asked? It has such authority even evil spirits obey his orders. Matthew 8.16, Matthew 8.16, when the even was come they brought to him many who were possessed with devils, say many who were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits with what? His word, and healed all that were sick. So picture this, there's a line of sick people, and there's a line of people who are demon possessed. Do you think Jesus spent an hour with each demoniac? Now I'm not saying that people who take long aren't the real deal, they are. I mean you could get to California from here by walking or you could fly, but you're going to get to the same place. People experience deliverance like that all the time. Sure, but why take that round? Why walk when you can fly? Why do it in your own power and by your own knowledge, when you can do it in the power of the Holy Ghost? I watched a powerful man of God, I was probably 15 years old. This is what began when I first started to shift, because from the time I was 13 all the way to like, 21, 22, I kind of taught everything that's popular now, I taught all that, and practiced it. I had the whole thing, it was a whole aspect of the ministry. Still is, but it looks much different now. And I think God, I think God that he took me from effective to the most effective. And I watched this man of God, he's just talking to someone who's telling him they've been healed, and suddenly he just goes, she has a demon in her, and she drops on the floor and starts like writhing on the ground. He tells the sound, I turn off my microphone, turns off the microphone, and he stretches his hand toward the woman and begins to walk like this. Guys, I saw this with my own eyes. She didn't stand on the floor, start cursing at him, try to, she turns, starts trying to crawl away. And he does, I'm telling you, he does this with his hand, she sticks to the floor. And it was almost like there was this force on her body that was just driving that demon out. And he said, before he shut his microphone, everybody pray in the Holy Ghost, shut his mic off. And I see him just walking like this. He's following her like this on the platform. I kid you not, it must have been 15 seconds. She gets up weeping, rejoicing, screaming, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. It was said of Miss Coleman, Catherine Coleman. People would come on that platform with demons in them. She'd drive them right out. In one instance, she picks her hand up like this and says, and just very softly, she commands the spirit to go. The person falls, shakes on the floor, screams, stands up, completely delivered. And she says, that's the way Jesus did it. You can take the other route. I'm not saying the other route is evil unto itself. It's just there's different levels in the spirit, guys. And the more you have to do, the lower the level is. The less you have to do, the higher you're going in the spirit. So you know the word, you spend time in his presence, you live clean, lest you be like the sons of Sceva in Acts chapter 19, verses 14 through 16. And then watch this now. You speak that simple command. Now, this is where we run into trouble because sometimes it doesn't happen the way we think it should. Now some at this point might be thinking, but didn't Jesus ask for the legion's name? Yes, he did. Why? I'll tell you. It was believed in the ancient world that if you could speak someone's name, that speaking their name would give you power over them. This is partly why the demons would speak out your Jesus, the Son of God. You can tell them be quiet. In other words, you don't have power over me. So it was believed that if you could say their name, summon them in that way that you had the power over them. Now watch this. Jesus asks, what is your name? Legion. And then he drives it out without using the name. Basically, Jesus was demonstrating, I know your name, but I don't need it. So that portion of scripture actually proves the opposite of what many people think it proves. Read it again. Jesus never used that name. He drove that demon out with a simple command. Now, what do you do then? So it really is that simple. And the name of Jesus come out. That's it. Now we have one example of disciples not being able to drive that spirit out, Matthew 17, 14 through 20. That's with that boy. And in this instance, Jesus tells the disciples who asked him later, Lord, why couldn't we drive it out? He said, this kind comes only out through prayer and fasting. Why? And some translations only say prayer, but I'm inclined to believe that it's correct to put prayer and fasting. But even if it's not prayer and fasting and it's just prayer, the point still remains. The point can be made in either different use of the text. The point is that Jesus rebuked the disciples for not having enough faith. And so it was their lack of faith that interfered with their ability to exercise their authority. So Jesus says, look, this type of demon can take a little more faith to cast out. How do you fix that problem? You go and you fast and then come back and deal with it again. Do you realize that's the only solution the Scripture gives us? Here's the problem. People fail to realize that there are other elements at work in an individual. Like for instance, when I saw a demon driven out of a lady, she gets delivered. The demon comes out, but she was manifesting for like an hour afterwards till I walked into the room. I said, what are you doing? And she immediately stops. So I'm possessed. I said, ma'am, the prayer team, just pray for you. You got the demon driven out. This is flesh now and you're reacting to the hype of the moment. So what happens is sometimes people get delivered from the demon, but they're still so caught up in the emotion that they're kind of like weirded out, right? And we mistake that because we can't discern the moment. So when a demon does not come out, don't debate it. They'll argue with it. Don't give the person homework. Well, if you really want to be free, according to my religion, you need to go and find these points to renounce. You can renounce demons if you want to. That's fine. I have no issue with renouncing things. My issue only comes when you tell people you have to renounce it in order to be free, because then you're adding burdens on them that the Lord never intended. And so you're driving the demon out, you're praying against it. It has to go instantly. Here's the conclusions you can make biblically. A, that person got delivered and is now still reacting emotionally. B, it's a strong demon, in which case the only solution is go back, fast and pray, come back, pray again. If it still doesn't come out, you have to conclude something that upsets a lot of people, but let God be true and every man a liar. If that demon doesn't come out, it's either that more fasting and prayer needs to be done or they're not really demon possessed. Follow the logic here. Do demons have to obey the authority of Christ? Yes or no? So if something doesn't obey that authority, how can it be a demon? I'll never forget during a conference when you're not be finishing up in a few minutes with the message. I just really want you guys to get this. I'll never forget. I walked into a hotel room during a Christian conference and I saw two of my close friends manifesting demons like guys. It was one of the craziest things that they were, they looked like different people and they had thrashed the room and they're just like enraged and punching holes in the wall and just throwing things all over the place. It was, it was, it was, it was this elevated like mania that I'd never seen in them. A pastor comes in to the room with us and he pins one of the guys down, starts praying. And my friend spit in that pastor's face and I'll never forget what the pastor said. He said, you better be really demon possessed. He said, he, you know, he said something maybe he shouldn't have said, but he called him something and he has, he's wiping it off. He goes, you better actually have demons in you. It's better not be an act. And I've seen it. We have to acknowledge that sometimes people do get caught up in the emotion of it, especially if they've been taught their whole lives. You have a demon, you have a demon, you have a demon, you have a demon. How's that going to manifest? Sometimes they are. Now this is where people say, well, are you telling me I was faking it? No, not in every case. But we have to acknowledge that as a reality guys. So the Bible gives us the tools if the demon does not come out after going through that. Assume it's a demon from the start so you don't leave anybody in bondage. Work your way through the biblical deduction that the scripture actually gives us. And if it still doesn't obey, it could also be that the person doesn't want to let go. You cast it out and they're inviting Maureen at the same time. That's another option. But, but one thing that we don't have to get caught up in is that religious burdening of ourselves and them to place them through confusing rituals and this and that that actually sometimes just begin to torment the mind even more. Now, before we pray, let's do this. Let's do a couple questions. Hold on, Ishmael. I want to make sure we, we, my job as a teacher is to teach with clarity. And I want to make sure there are no questions. Now, as it goes from the beginning, we're going to pray right now, but as it goes from the beginning of these questions, usually there will be someone who asks the question and then more start asking questions. But again, we are going to pray. We're going to pray for the empowering presence of the Spirit to manifest a fresh touch on your life. But I want to make sure we're clear on everything. First of all, how many, how many believe that was clear? Let me see. Okay. And I'm sure some of you still have questions. So Ruben, we're going to get that mic guys. And just straight questions. I don't need backstories and the explanation of the context of the questions. Just, just quick questions, quick questions. And Ruben, you'll let me know as soon as we have that he's got the microphone. There's one question right in here. Ruben, hold that mic and go ahead, ask your question. You can sit stand. It doesn't matter. I wouldn't use that exact phraseology, but I get the point. That's a great question. You know, that happens sometimes. This is why, by the way, when I'm praying for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I don't speak in tongues in front of them. I don't want them just mimicking what I'm doing. And so you can imagine somebody dealing with OCD anxiety. And by the way, there are some symptoms of Tourette's that are tied closely with OCD and anxiety, that this compulsion to scream, the OCD and anxiety can actually bring you to that point. And sometimes what people think is demonic manifestation can just be a panic attack. And they agitate it by screaming at them, screaming at them, screaming at them, and they make it worse and they work to a hyped place of emotion when in fact a simple exercise of authority. Now you can get bold if you want. I don't mind yelling at demons, but you got what I'm saying. You're not trying to, this is why you have to be very careful, guys, when we're trying to incite a reaction. Oh, do you feel like throwing up? Do you feel like throwing up? How about now? How about now? How about now? Guys, that's psychosomatic. We're trying to invoke a response. And it's interesting to me that we often choose the gag reflexes, which is the most responsive to psychosomatic suggestions. So this is why we have to be careful with how we carry these out, because what happens is very vulnerable people come to us for freedom, and you may be trying to cast out a devil when it's their flesh. You may be trying to counsel the flesh when they need to have a demon cast out of them. You have to be discerning. So great question. Are there any other questions here? Right in the back quickly, please, Ruben. Thank you, sir. So like the individual is saying, I want to be free. And then you're kind of doubting whether or not they want to be free. Is that what you're asking? Well, that sounds to me like two different people speaking, doesn't it? So if there are two different sources of communication, two different ideas, especially within minutes, that I think is good evidence, not in every case, but I think it's good evidence to suggest that's a genuine case of demonic possession, because there are two wills warring. Now, the demons don't have control over the will, which is precisely why they can say, I want to be free. But then at the same time, the demon can also use that physical body to speak. And so you see this warring over this individual. If there are two different opinions, so to speak, it's usually good evidence, not proof, but evidence that it could be demonic possession. In fact, I would err on the side of caution. I always just assume from the start that it's a demon. That's a great place to start because demons are easier to deal with than the flesh. So always start with, this is probably a demon, rebuke it and then work your way down from there. Because in this way, you avoid the confusion. Somebody else a question. Ruben, there's questions all over. So we'll just kind of give Ruben some exercise tonight. If they're your spiritual authority, like God placed them over you, like spiritual leadership, because that's a biblical concept. I don't guys spiritual leadership to guide, not to govern, to counsel, not to control, to lead, not to lord over, right? That's spiritual authority. So that's a biblical concept, spiritual authority. And so I'm not, I don't ask that question as if I'm questioning the idea of spiritual authority, but I want to make sure we're being clear here. You're saying somebody with spiritual authority in your life is teaching doctrines that you don't agree with, right? Anyone in general that has that, that is teaching about the body of Christ? Well, they're not our servants, they're gons. And I understand calling out heresy, but I wouldn't categorize these confusing doctrines concerning demonology as heresy. All heresy is error, but not all error is heresy. Sometimes people get these things wrong, especially when these aren't issues centered around the doctrine of salvation or the tenants of the faith, such as saved by grace through faith, such as the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, such as the fact that Jesus died on the cross for the atonement of our sins. You know, the foundational truths, if it's something that's not violating the foundational truths, that is not the time to call someone out. And in fact, I think we do ourselves a disservice by constantly bickering on some of these secondary issues. So I would very lovingly, very reverently, maybe at some point express, hey, I don't quite agree with this, but leave it at that because in God's ranking system, and I know we don't like to talk about these things, but there is a system to the church and there is spiritual rank. Like I would never correct my pastor on a doctrine. In fact, my spiritual headship teaches some things, sometimes, with which I just don't agree, but they're not violations of the fundamentals of the faith, and therefore we can still work together. If we can agree on the fundamentals, the peripherals kind of work themselves out. And so that's where we find unity is in the primaries. Yeah. So earlier you were talking about narcissism. Yes. And we know that the characteristics of narcissism is just like Jezebel. How come in the book of Revelation, chapter two, God himself talks about how Jezebel is in the church. How do we know, I mean, that's narcissism and some people like in their walk with God go through that are doing that. Well, what's basically happening here is the parallel is being drawn just like the prophet's message to the king of Turin, the king is to Don when comparing them to Satan in his fallen state and glorified state. We see that in Isaiah, we see that in Ezekiel, when he's giving that prophetic message, he warns him and says, you were in the Garden of Eden. Obviously that king was not in the Garden of Eden. It was Satan who was. So this is a parallel being drawn so that the people can notice certain traits that were being brought out for their attention. Now we know, as I said, narcissism is a very real thing, but we have to remember that when the Bible talks about that Jezebel, that's a comparison to the historic figure Jezebel against whom the prophet was speaking. So this doesn't mean that literally there are demons running around in high heels and dresses calling themselves Jezebel. This is basically a type of spirit just like the Antichrist spirit. There is the Antichrist and then there is the Antichrist spirit. There is Satan and then there is a Satanic spirit. There is and was an actual Jezebel who operated in manipulation and fear tactics and then there is a spirit that operates like Jezebel. Its name is not literally Jezebel. Again, it's a parallel being drawn. But to your point this is definitely something that is at work in the church. This doesn't necessarily always mean demonic possession, but this influence can actually lead to manipulative behavior, controlling behavior, fear tactics and so forth. So that's a great question. Is there a follow-up question to that or did I analyze that correctly? Okay, good. Anybody else right over here or wherever you want to go, Ruben? We'll make it easy on you. Oh, yes. So I need to let it go, but I'm going to say it as brief as I can about 20 years ago. I was very much in legalism and I was fully awake, lights on, fully awake. I know you're a man of God, so the Holy Spirit will tell you it's true. And some demons came in like a gang in them. I heard their footsteps and they physically grabbed my hair from the back and dragged me across the room. And like one of them hurt my eye. I was fully awake. It wasn't a dream. I was completely awake. I was in legalism so bad. Do you think that like, because I remember the Holy Spirit trying to get my attention, like stop self efforts. I was trying to gain on my performance instead of the performance of Jesus. Do you think the Holy Spirit would let me go through that so that could finally give that? That is a great question. I think you did have a real experience, but what we have to begin to do, and this is where I think people misunderstand what I'm saying often, is when I talk about putting scripture above our stories, I'm not saying that we dismiss our experiences. Rather I'm saying we need to come to understand our experiences in the light and in the perspective of the truth of scripture. So if you're bound in legalism, then this is an entirely different gospel. And this is frightening, I know, but the only way a demonic being could exercise that type of power over your physical body is if you weren't a born again believer. And that to me is one of the most terrifying realities. And this is why I tell people. And again, I could go and say, well, you know, Christians can be attacked this way, Christians can be demon possessed, itching ears want to hear that. And I know you want the truth because like you said earlier, if you're a man of God, so the Holy Spirit will tell you that this is true. And so as a man of God, the reason I know something is true is by the word. And so when somebody has trusted in their own works to save them, that is not salvation. That is the danger of legalism. And so what you were under was demonic attack. Thank God that after you were demonically attacked, that you became born again realizing that legalism was not the true gospel. So that's how I would explain that in the light of truth. Or the other explanation, which you already said that wasn't the case, would be that it was a sleep paralysis. And that happens sometimes. You're saying that's not the case. So then our only other option, biblically speaking, is that you had not yet come to know the Lord. Thank God that he brought you out of that. Thank you so much for the question. We got here to all demon possessed people. Are they fully aware of it? I don't know if they're necessarily fully aware of the fact that they're demon possessed, but they're definitely aware that there's something wrong. They may describe it as another personality. They may describe it as something else in them. They may describe it as confusion, or I go between different identities. They may not have the language that we use, but they definitely are aware of the symptoms and they definitely know something is wrong. That is why I say that when it comes to demon possession, there's no such thing as an asymptomatic demoniac. It's always going to manifest signs. Thank you. And if you guys wonder, I'm speeding these up because we got to pray in a moment. So I'll answer just a few. Do you have to be in the presence of the person to exercise the demon, or like, let's say, you know, I have a relative of mine and I know he's not going to talk to me. Can I just pray for him and pray for existence in that way? I think God could work that way, yes. Generally speaking, the Lord would have the individual there present. That's just how we've seen it in Scripture. But there are always exceptions to generalizations. For example, Jesus told those who He healed, what? Your faith has made you whole. When it came to the one with the issue of blood, your faith has made you whole. Time and time again, your faith has made you whole. Yet in the instance of Jairus' daughter, she was dead. So where was her faith? So that was an exception to a generalization. Centurion's servant. Where was the faith? Well, the Centurion is the one who had the faith, but the servant did not. So there again, the Centurion had the faith and it was the Centurion's faith that made him whole. Generally speaking, it's always the individual's faith. I shouldn't say always usually, but there are always exceptions to generalizations. We'll do two more, Ruben. So let's say I'm walking right with the Lord, but it seems like the devil still has this control over the mind. And it seems like I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do. Read the word, pray, but it still seems like he still has victory over the mind. What should we do next? The scripture talks about tearing down strongholds. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses four and five gives us clear insight as to the reality that deception can be like unto a stronghold. Now the enemy is like a computer hacker. Your mind is like a computer. The hacker can come in, break into the house, and start programming all this code on you. And then you get rid of the hacker, but he still left the code on the computer. This is what it's like under demonic influence. Possession may come, oppression may come. There's all of this influence taking place. The mind becomes trained under that demonic influence. Then the demonic influence is expelled, leaving you with the lies. The devil doesn't have to possess you if he can get you to believe his lies because if he can get you to believe his lies, he can get you to do what he wants you to do. And it's in that deception under which we've been programmed that we now operate. So once the demons have been taken care of, then it's a matter of renewing the mind with the word. We'll do one more question of Ruben. Okay, so you said that a born-again Christian cannot become demonically possessed. Specifically possessed. Okay. Not influence or attack. So what happens when a born-again Christian abandons his faith, abandons his family, is in full sin and rebellion knowing he's in full sin and rebellion saying, I know exactly what I'm doing and will not repent of his sin. That is a, first of all, that's an awful situation. But this comes down to the debate of once saved, always saved, believe it or not. I'm not trying to deflect the question, but the question has to be asked. At this point, if you're talking about someone who was a born-again believer, who's now living in such depravity that they're showing signs of demonic possession, it's going to be looked at in two different ways. The people who believe once saved, always saved, will say, oh, he was never saved in the first place. The people who believe that you can lose your salvation will say, well, he lost his salvation. In either case, from either perspective, this wouldn't be considered a born-again believer who's operating under that spirit. But I would say that it could very well be in his most likely demonic influence, absolutely. That sounds, I mean, again, that's almost exhibiting all of these different behaviors we discussed. But again, by definition, on either of the major different ways of singing, and really there's only two major, either you can or cannot lose your salvation, in either case, this would not be an example of a Christian being demonically influenced or possessed, I should say. Christians can be demonically influenced, of course. You know what? We will do one more, one more. And then we'll, I just want to make sure the teachings have settled. Do the questions and answers help you guys kind of wrap your mind around how to apply some of this? Okay, good. I got a question. I don't want to confuse anybody, but my question is directly, I'm trying to make this question simple. When a person is demonic possessed, you could see the sentence, you can see the signs, like you were saying, coming up in the air, they can't even hold him or something like that. What do you do when a person, when you're doing a person like that, doesn't want Jesus, keeps coming back, but always wants prayer? Yes. They go to deliverance like some go to the chiropractor. I've seen these. You can cast it out, but if they're going to go right back and live in the way they were living, they're just going to invite more demonic influence. And then of course, it's very possible that there's a mental illness element to this as well, which I can think of a few. In fact, in every city we go to as a ministry, there's like two or three people who come every time. And I, we've prayed for them a thousand times and they've gone to every major deliverance ministry and ministry you can think of. It's the same story. They always come back to that aspect. And so we've been counseling several of them. And in fact, we've seen a lot of success in after dealing with the demonic spirit. You have to deal with the demonic spirit first guys. But after you deal with that, counseling them to walk in that freedom is so key. Deliverance without discipleship leads to delusion. That's the truth. So we will do one more. Ruben, right over here. Hi. So it's been mentioned going through a medium. They're demons. It's not the actual person. But can you go ahead and explain first Samuel 2815? Let me see here. Where, excuse me, where Samuel summoned saw? Did Samuel actually summon saw? Sorry, I'm a little sick. Did Samuel actually summoned saw? Is that a symptom right there? My throat's a little. Yeah. So can you go ahead and explain that? Well, this is going to be part of the translation and understanding what the original language is communicating. A lot of what you'll see in narratives or history type books is not necessarily to be applied for doctrine. You'll hear often people say this, that some of it is descriptive, some of it is prescriptive. In other words, some of it is describing what happened, other things are prescribing what should happen. So an example of a descriptive text would be like what you read, a historical narrative, the Gospels and so forth. But a prescriptive text would be like the writings of Paul and the epistles. These are instructions for how you should live. Now, I don't necessarily put the line really bold between the two and say it's either or, because I do believe that in fact on some of the things that are descriptive, you can at least glean some spiritual truths that have universal application. So just because something is descriptive in nature doesn't mean that it doesn't have something to inform our spiritual lives. You can still gain some things, but we have to be a little more careful when prescribing from those. So as far as this particular text goes, I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but I'm going to do my best to explain what the Hebrew scholar explained to me. And if I'm butchering it, my dear friend, you can write to me. But from what I understand this, is that this is a historical count according to what they perceived to have happened. This is not an error in Scripture because the Scripture is accurate in the historical description of, in the fact of this is what they thought they saw. So just like if I were to report today to you that, oh my goodness, I saw my great-great-grandmother in my living room today and it was the strangest thing. Well, someone could write that, put that in a text, and it's historically accurate that I reported having seen that, but that's not necessarily historically accurate in that I actually saw my great-great-grandmother in my living room. So this is describing the experience of what these people were going through. This is describing what they perceived to be what was actually happening. But in fact, we know from Scripture that this is not something we're to participate in, and this was demonic deception. And that's how heavy it was in the life of Saul. So I would say when looking at historical context in regards to something like that, it's best to not prescribe from it, but we look at the general understanding of what's happening there in that this is an experience that someone said they have, and this is how the historian is recording that. Does that make sense to you? Okay, good. All right guys, lift your hands, begin praying out loud in the Holy Spirit. Come on. You watching online, begin praying out loud in the Spirit. We're going to pray for an empowering of the Holy Ghost right now. You want to be empowered? Just ask him. Stand to your feet, please, all across this room. You want to be empowered? Just ask him, just ask him. And I'm looking at the comments here. Great questions coming in online. I'll have to go back and revisit that. Come on, just for another 30 seconds. Lift your hands, pray out loud. Father, help your people to recognize the authority that you placed in them. Lord, we are so full of your word tonight. Holy Spirit, breathe on that word. Let this not just be theology. Let this be revelation. Let this not just be teaching. Father, let this be something we apply. Equip your people, arm them. I rebuke that timid thought. I rebuke that fearful mindset. And I pray, Lord, that you would embolden your people tonight. Embolden them. Keep praying, keep praying, church. Lord, fill them with your power. A fresh touch of power from on high. Church, just let them fill you tonight. Here's what I want you to do. Just hold your hands out like this in front of you. I'm praying that God would rest mantles over your hands right now. Father, and you watching online, do the same. Hold your hands out like this. Father, place that mantle now. Father, we thank you. Every bit of demonic influence is being lifted right now. Let them fill you now. Let them fill you fresh, fresh. Your hands, sing this song, make it your prayer. In my life, sing it, Steve. Sing with them, team. Your hands and sing it, people of God know. In my heart. One more time, sing it out. In my life, Lord. In my heart. If you will, just take your seat just for a moment. Just need about five more minutes of your time. You watching online. I want you to participate in this too. I know with all of the different things there are to click on that are surrounding this video right now. It's tempting to kind of just, okay, well, I received and now I'm happy you received. I really am. But I want you to participate in this part too because it's important that we as the people of God do our part in spreading the gospel all around the world. Simple, simple, simple request. I'm going to make of you. I'm going to ask you to give to this ministry, not so that you can receive, not so that you can gain some special blessing. We're already blessed. We already have favor. We're already prosperous in the spirit. Amen. And I believe God will increase your material resources too. But that's not why we give. 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We got to do this again sometimes with the Q and A because that was that was how many enjoyed the Q and A. You guys asked some great questions and ma'am don't go in here. I want to talk to you after because there's going to be more to that story for sure. And I wish we had more time to go into it now, but I do want to hear more to it. And Jer make sure she's able to speak with us afterwards. But you watching online, you can give again davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. And by the way, if you're wondering maybe how to give internationally, go try to use the donate form at davidhernandezministries.com and we are sowing seeds. Go try to use the donate form at davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. When you give there, it's possible that we take your currency. So we take all different currency from all different nations, all different locations. And we actually have the option to give in all different forms. So your payment is probably going to be accepted on that form. 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