 This is what the Bible says in John chapter eight verse thirty six. So if the sun sets you free, you are truly free or you will be free indeed. Second Corinthians three seventeen for the Lord is the spirit. And wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. It's time to break the cycle of torment and fear. It's time to break the cycle of sin. It's time to break the cycle of heaviness. If the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is perfect liberty. And so many believers find themselves in cycles of bondage. They lack peace, they lack joy, they lack clarity. And some believers in fact are not just finding themselves in bondage to sin or heaviness or fear. There are many believers who actually struggle with mental torment that comes about as a result of a powerful stronghold in their life. So I want to go through the scripture today to first of all identify strongholds, speak of the nature of strongholds, but then show you how to break these strongholds permanently because if you are living in bondage, you are not living the Christian life. That's the fact of the matter. And I don't say that to condemn you. I say that to give you something to which you can aspire. Jesus did not die on the cross so that you could live in torment. Jesus did not finish the work of the cross so that you could live with mental anguish. Sure, life will throw at us certain trials and tribulations and circumstances will not always be 100% ideal. And we will face hardships in this world. But even in the facing of those hardships, we must remember that the Lord has purchased for us peace, joy, love, clarity, grounded in truth. The believer is to live free. I believe God wants you free. I believe now is the time. You're watching online and you believe that now is the time to be free and you're tired of struggling. I want you to write the simple words in the comment section. Write enough is enough. And I want everyone here to say that. Say it again. Say it again with authority. Enough is enough. Write it in the comments. Write it in the comments. Make it a public declaration of faith. Enough is enough. No more cycles. No more struggling again and again with things that Jesus paid to set you free from. Again, I'm not talking about a life that is perfectly ideal always the way you want it. But when it comes to strongholds that are demonic, spiritual in nature, when it comes to strongholds that keep you bound, the scripture is absolutely clear. God's will for your life is freedom. Now believers need to know how to find deliverance from strongholds. And I'm going to maybe if time permits, I'll speak to some of the different types of deliverances that take place. Deliverance is different for the unbeliever than it is for the believer. The believer and the unbeliever, they face spiritual dynamics in very different ways because of their own nature. We who are alive in Christ have been given a new nature and of course face these bondages in different ways. But I want to show you something now in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 4 through 5. 2 Corinthians 10 4 through 5. We're going to break these couple of verses down here. This is the only instance in the New Testament where you see that word stronghold being used. Now let me show you what it means here. 2 Corinthians 10 4 and 5. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. Now the context that this verse or these two verses were written in is Paul the Apostle defending his apostolic authority. In other words, some complainers were coming against the church challenging the spiritual authority of Paul the Apostle and he writes of the fact that this attack on his authority, this questioning of who he is in Christ, though it was coming through people with spiritual in nature. And so here we see that Paul is addressing a mindset that had begun to develop in the church in the Corinthians because of the lies of people. So we see here that strongholds don't only come from demonic liars. All demons are liars, but demonic powers lie to you. Strongholds don't just come through the lies of demonic beings. Strongholds can also form through ungodly people. Strongholds can also form through people speaking deception, people speaking half-truths, people speaking gossip and slander. And so Paul is defending his apostolic authority and his defense he refers to as the tearing down of a stronghold. Why? Because a certain mindset had begun to develop in the life of the believer. Now, as we break down this portion of scripture, we see a key phrase. Our weapons are not carnal. In other words, the warfare that you and I fight in is not based in the material world. We'll read Ephesians 6 in just a few moments. But here again we see the spiritual battle revealed. Our weapons are not carnal. This is why when you're coming against demonic powers in somebody else's life, you don't have to hit them over the head with your Bible because that's a material effort. Rather, we see that it is spiritual in nature. Our weapons are not physical because the attacks are not physical. Nor do we attempt to tear down these strongholds by human effort. Then we see another key phrase, mighty through God. This means effective for the cause of God. The purpose of our weapons are to make an effect for God's will or to bring us into alignment with God's nature, God's will, God's word. To the pulling down of strongholds, the scripture says. Now, this key phrase here is very interesting because when the Bible talks about to the pulling down of strongholds, it's referring to the fact that when something is pulled down, the original language here is implying that not one thing is left on top of the other. So as an example, if I were to tear down this wall in the sense that this scripture is describing it, I wouldn't just take out a few pieces and leave the wall half damaged. Rather, Paul the Apostle is talking about the other destruction, the total removal of a stronghold to where not one piece of evidence that it even existed is there. That's the kind of freedom that God wants you to walk in. Yet today, we have a mindset in the church that's become prevalent, that teaches that freedom is only partial, that freedom, maybe you have to do something special to get a different type of freedom, or maybe there's a certain ritual or a superstitious prayer that you have to pray. Well, yes, you got breakthrough in your life, but did you address every specific issue with a specific prayer in order to break its power? Now, there is something to be said of the fact that many times healing is a process. Many times it takes us a while to get something right, but what I'm talking about here is the availability of total freedom. And just because we don't see that manifested in our lives right away doesn't mean that it isn't God's will. Many believers imagine that it's God's will that they walk around struggling simply because they are. And I don't want to be insensitive to someone who's found it difficult to overcome certain issues because I myself have dealt with some vicious strongholds that took me years to overcome. So when I talk about the utter destruction of strongholds, I'm not trying to be insensitive to the one who is battling something that's become an issue in their life to where they feel like it's this very long process. I'm simply saying that it doesn't have to be. But that freedom is available to you immediately. I think many times that Christians imagine they're not free because they mistake battles for bondages. I think that because something has to be resisted because they have to be aware of a battle, that that means that they've been placed under bondage. Do not mistake your battles for your bondages. These are completely different things we'll get into more detail in a moment. Our weapons are not carnal, mighty through God, which means effective for the cause of God to the pulling down of strongholds. That means utter destruction of total removal of the barrier or the obstacle. Casting down imaginations. These are reasonings, deceptive paradigms, deceptive mindsets. Every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God literally means that exalts itself against the truth about God. That exalts itself against the truth that helps you to know God. That's what a stronghold does. It warps your view of God. And if you have a warped view of God, you're going to have a warped view of the world and yourself and you'll be walking in this heaviness without realizing that it's rooted in a stronghold. Bringing into captivity every thought. Now think about this. Before you can take a captive, you must overcome their stronghold. A stronghold is a fortress, like a wall, a tower. It's a defense mechanism. And that stronghold here in the New Testament we see is a certain way of thinking. It's a thought pattern. It's a way I go about processing everything. I'll give you an example. When somebody is dealing with a stronghold of bitterness, they process everything that everyone says to them through negativity. So it can't be that you just misread them. It has to be that they don't like you. It can't be that they just forgot. It has to be that they rejected you. It can't be that you caught them on a bad day. It has to be that they're a wicked person and you need to shun them. That sing through that lens, that sing through that mindset. And so that thought pattern, that way of seeing the world becomes like a fortress in the mind. And that fortress, that stronghold holds in it thoughts, ideas. Now if someone's battling using the example of bitterness again, if someone is battling with bitterness, you may be able to help them overcome a certain thought in a specific situation. But the very next day, there's going to be a whole other issue that they're going to have to deal with. Well, they didn't shake my hand on their way in. Maybe they didn't see you. No, I don't think they like me. I'm pretty sure they didn't see you. Okay, maybe they didn't see me. Okay, they dealt with the thought, but because they didn't deal with the stronghold, the very next thing that that person does that's misunderstood, they've been marked. And that unforgiveness begins to develop. Why? Because there's a stronghold of bitterness in the mind that causes the thoughts to skew a certain way. I'm going to list the different types of strongholds to help you identify some of them in your life. But I want you to see first the nature of how these thought patterns work. So that stronghold, that mindset that becomes rooted in your mind becomes something like a fortress. And this is why you have trouble getting hold of certain thoughts. Because you're trying to take a captive without first tearing down the stronghold. So this is why the scripture says, bringing into captivity every thought in the scripture when they would overcome God's people, when they would overcome a city. First, they would overtake the walls. They would overtake the defenses. And then they began to take prisoners captive. You can't take your thoughts captive until you've dealt with the root stronghold. And this is why believers struggle in cycles. This is why believers come up to a certain point, experience freedom for a couple months. They go, they receive prayer, they go to the revival meeting, they go to the deliverance session, they go to the worship conference, they take the e-course, they experience freedom for what seems like a good period of time, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months, but because they didn't deal with the root, they're right back at their issues just a few months later. And this is what the scripture reveals to us concerning these thought patterns. The enemy will first tell you a lie. Now, if I were to stand up here and say, you see this screen behind me? It's 100 feet tall. You would laugh. You think I'm exaggerating, right? Hopefully you can see. It's not 100 feet tall. Now, I couldn't get away with telling you that. But if I looked at that camera and said, you know, the camera angles don't really do it justice. It's kind of a different, a weird, it's positioned weird and it actually is 100 feet tall. You could identify it as a lie. Maybe someone watching because they're watching only through one lens, I might be able to convince. Maybe, maybe a couple people. What's my point? My point is that you can identify most lies because you just reject them. But remember this, the enemy knows that there's a lie that works for everyone. Maybe the lie that gets you won't get me. But there's a lie the enemy knows that I can sometimes find convincing. Here's the powerful truth concerning deception is that a lie is anything that contradicts the truth, but a lie doesn't become deception until you believe it. Now we're going to get a little deeper here, church. A lie doesn't become deception until you believe it. Someone can tell me a lie. I can reject that lie. But the moment I believe a lie, the moment I embrace that lie, that's when I come under the power of deception. Do you know what spiritual warfare is? Spiritual warfare is very simple, biblically speaking. It's the fight to believe God's truth over the enemy's lies. That's it. Some would say, well, what about the unbeliever? They don't have the truth. Unbelievers don't engage in spiritual warfare because they don't have weapons. They're just under the bondage of the kingdom of darkness. But the believer, we engage the enemy. We resist the enemy with the defenses that God has given to us through the truth of the word. And so that battle really is where it's at. The battle begins in the mind, and I'm going to show you how that mind battle will affect everything else about your life, including your physical health, including your inability to speak with boldness, including your ability to sleep, your ability to connect with others. Once the enemy has you here, he can begin to take ground in every area of your life. Here's what's even more. I don't want to use the word intriguing, but it is to me, at least a little bit, is that those who are under deception don't know they're being deceived. And that's really the tricky part. You don't know how many believers I've talked to who become offended when I try to help them identify the root of the attack. You know I had a lady like lose her mind on me, like she looked, she flipped out because I tried to explain to her that she was victorious in Christ. I kid you not. She came to the pastor, Dave, I need you to pray for me. And then I said, okay, let's pray. The enemy's just been attacking my mind. I said, okay, I want you to understand yes, the enemy can attack you, but I want you to understand you can have victory. She goes, well, I don't, I don't really know if I believe everything you teach on this. I said, I'm like thinking, did that, and she like got offended that I tried to explain to her that she's, I won't give names or anything. I don't play those games. But that's how offended she got. And I found many believers become offended when you begin to talk to them about the life of the believer. When I talk about victory in Christ, in fact, go look at any one of my messages on YouTube. When I talk about how you can have total victory, there are people who become offended at me and they'll say, oh, so you mean that I'm just struggling in this bondage? You're not really thinking about what I'm going through. And I'm thinking, don't you want to be free? One of my friends commented to me, it's amazing how many believers want their demons or at least want to believe that they can have their demons. And that's the nature of deception. You start digging at the root of these things. And suddenly there's these defense mechanisms that begin to rise. And here's the thing. I do it and so do you. I do it and so do you. The key is really now trying to find out how do we break free from deception when we don't even know that we're deceived sometimes. I'll give you an example. I talk often about the fact that for years, I just battled this horrible, horrible anxiety. And when you talk about crippling anxiety, it was crippling. I'm talking multiple panic attacks a day for years. It affected my marriage. It affected my friendships. It affected the ministry. I couldn't even identify what was going on. And it was this process of finding that place to freedom. And it was this process of identifying some of the lies that were causing me fear and anxiety. But I didn't realize I was under that power until I began to search the scriptures. Okay, let's let's get down to the root of this. When I talk about anxiety, I mean like real harsh anxiety, the kind that keeps you in your house when you can't go anywhere, the kind that you can't even get into the car to go go hang with your friends because you're so worried about being in the car. It kept me bound literally physically. I couldn't go anywhere. Here's how it works. A lie is anything that contradicts the truth. I'm going to show you this now, please. I pray, lift your hands and say, Holy Spirit, help me receive this. You online, pray the same thing. Here's how it works. Okay, watch this now. So we know a lie is anything that contradicts the truth. Simple, right? Okay, but watch this. A lie once believed becomes deception. Okay, watch this next step. That deception becomes a mindset through which all of our thoughts are processed. And then that deception, watch this now leads to feelings. Those feelings lead to actions. Those actions become habits. Those habits become cycles. And most believers try to address the habit itself, but never the deception that caused those habits. And because they don't address the deception that caused those habits, they can fix it for a day or a week, but never permanently. And then we go seeking cures that has nothing to do. They have nothing to do with the stronghold in us. And this in fact, a stronghold is what many believers confuse for demonic possession. So if you are battling something and because we believe certain lies, we go about attacking a problem that isn't even there while ignoring the real problem that's causing all the issues. It's like saying, well, you know, someone has cancer. Well, here, take some cough medicine. Someone has arthritis. Here, here's a cast. Not going to solve the issue. If you don't diagnose the problem properly, you're not going to apply the correct solution. And so Christians who need deliverance from strongholds will go seeking exorcisms from a demonic possession that could never be because they're filled with the Holy Spirit. And then we get Christians who say, well, I have a testimony. Once I was demon possessed as a Christian and no, you weren't, you're just confusing what was a stronghold for possession. So Christians do need deliverance. Christians are fighting the demonic powers of this world. And now we see that this is some of the thing, some of the problem that arises in the church. We will say, do we have a problem with demon possession in the church? I say, we have a bigger problem with demon obsession. Everything's a demon. Well, isn't that convenient? Now you never have to deal with anything. You could just keep blaming things outside of your control and actually go on psychologically damaging yourself by subjecting yourself to things that we don't see in Scripture. I know this is not popular to say, but I'm telling you the truth. I'm giving you the word. And so the enemy roots us in deception. And you know what's ironic is the feelings and the actions that come about as a result of a stronghold, they can feel very similar to what you would have felt in the world under demonic oppression or possession. They produce heaviness, confusion, and then we try to cure a problem by using a cure that would be for a totally different problem. Are you following me this evening? And so these strongholds are very real. Demonic attacks very real, but you have to know how to come at it as a believer if you're going to be free. Matthew 6.23 says, when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is. So strongholds can be naturally occurring and they can also be demonic in nature. Whether it's a demonic being lying to you or a demonically influenced person lying to you, those lies once believed become thought patterns. Now watch this. How you identify a stronghold is really simple. You have to know the Word of God. You have to. You don't fight darkness by screaming at it. If the power were to go out right now, all these lights were to shut off and the screen were to shut off. We were left in total darkness. Your first instinct would not be to start waving away the darkness or to start screaming at the darkness. How do you overcome darkness? How do you dispel darkness by simply turning on the light? It's the same way in the spiritual world. You fight that deception by aligning yourself with the Word, the Word, the Word. If you don't know the Word, if you're not in the Word, if you're not conforming your mind to the Word, you will fall for deception more easily. Those who don't know the Word are easy pray for the enemy. Start believing lies about themselves, about God, about anything that becomes a problem that's recurring and then they get wrapped up in it. And until they come to know the truth, they will not be free. Jesus said, then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free. It's the truth that sets us free. Now I told you we'd reference Ephesians 6. Go there please. Ephesians 6, I'm going to read the whole portion, verses 10 to 18. I'm going to break this down as we go. 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. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in heavenly places. Now I give you a breakdown of that in one of my teachings on the channel where I talked about the rankings of hell. You can see that it's available for your viewership right now if you want to look at that after. But I break down those different, if you will, categories of demonic influence in another lesson. We don't have time to do it tonight. Then the scripture says, therefore put on every piece of God's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Now watch this. Go back up to verse 11. We're going to break this down now. What does the scripture tell you to put on? How much of it? All of it. Okay. So that you will be able to stand firm against what? All the, all the what? All the, all the strategies, some of the wiles, all the deceptions, that word there strategies literally means deceptions. All the strategies, methods, deceptive methods. Now watch this. Does the Bible say that if you put on the armor that you'll be able to stand against some of the strategies of the devil? Wow. Well, hold on. This is this one. I saw this. It broke something in my religious mindset. I can just use myself as an example. I'm a great example of, of someone being corrected and learning because I got a lot of things wrong. And you know, the Lord used these, these scriptures to break a religious mindset in me. You see, because I thought that I needed to know more than what was in the word to fight against the enemy. I thought I had to have a special strap. Well, you know, this is a, this right here. This is how I used to think this is a, must be a water demon. Because it's a water demon, you can't just use your thought in Christ. You have to go back generations and make sure you pray against the specific thing that your great grandmother did because she's from this country in that country. They're dealing with this demon over there. And so that demon influenced this demon. And so you have to make sure you mention each and every one of those instances. And I'm thinking, are we casting out devils or Pokemon? All the strategies. Not some. Well, I put on God's armor. I did what the scripture told me to do, but somehow it failed. That's what we're saying when we reach for more than what the scripture gives us. People ask me all the time. And this is partly why they stay bound. Well, you know, Brother David, I heard your message on how to get free. I heard your message on how to be delivered. I heard your message on overcoming strongholds. But what do you do if, and then they give an ultra specific situation? Guys, it's right there. It's the word. All, all really means all. People tell, well, what if it's a Jezebel spirit? Jezebel still has to listen to. Well, what if it's a night demon? Night demons have to listen to. Let me ask you something. If a Christian is walking in the Holy Spirit, can demonic powers do anything against them? If they're truly walking in the Holy Spirit? No. So why aren't we just teaching people how to walk in the Holy Spirit? I'm just being real with you here tonight. This, what I'm giving you is true. And again, mindsets, guys, what's going to happen first, defense mechanisms. And the scripture says, put on all of God's armor, so you'll be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. So there's nothing missing here. There's no private interpretation. The word is the word. The truth is the truth. We're not fighting against flesh and blood enemies. And then the scripture goes on to tell us that we put on the belt of truth. What's the truth? Where do you believe truth in the mind? Body armor of righteousness, righteousness to stand against what? Temptation. Where does temptation take place in the mind? Shoes of peace, peace of mind, shield of faith. I believe in my heart and in my mind. Helmets, the mind of salvation, the mindset of salvation by faith. All of the defenses that the scripture gives us concerning spiritual warfare have to do with the mind. This is the fight for the believer. Then we're given one weapon, the sword of the spirit. And the sword of the spirit is the word of God. You see, it's with the armor of God that we defend against the lies. It's with the sword of the spirit that we take strongholds. Because it's only by, but only by applying that word, only by fighting with that truth, using the word as a weapon. Can you tear down the strongholds of the enemy? So if you're living filled with depression, it's likely because you have a sense of rejection and loneliness. But once you've come to fully embrace the truth, I will never leave you nor forsake you, something begins to break in you and that power that held you comes off of you. That's the cycle. That's how it works. I believe something. I feel something. I feel something. I behave in a certain way. And as I continue behaving in a certain way, it creates what feels like sometimes a physical grasp of a demonic power when in fact it's rooted in the mind. In fact, one of the great lies of the enemy is that he can own you in that way. I can't tell you how many Christians I've talked to. They tell me, Brother David, you have to pray for me. There's a devil that keeps coming and attaching itself to me. And after we walk through the scripture and I show them that that's a lie of the enemy, suddenly they're free. And they never deal with that issue again. As opposed to telling them, you know what, you're right. It is literally attaching itself to you. Here's a special prayer. They're going to pray that special prayer. And guess what they're going to have to do next month? Guys, we're giving you, we're giving you the meat of the word right now. I know, I know, I know I'm going to be stepping on toes here. But, but, but I, I spent too long teaching it the other way. I did. I taught it the other way. And I want to show you this because really I've seen a lot of emotional psychological damage that comes about as a result of not being based on the word. Demons are real. Demons attack Christians. Christians need deliverance absolutely from strongholds, mindsets, those types of powers. Unbelievers need exorcisms. Don't try to confuse or don't confuse the solutions. Here the Bible shows us what it means to walk in that freedom. Now watch this. 2 Timothy 3, 15 through 17. You have been taught the holy scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. Verse 16, all scripture is inspired by God and useful to teach what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work, some good works, every good work that you could possibly think of. It's taught clearly in the scripture, everything you need. Now, how is this applied? How can we begin to see this? Let me show you some strongholds here. Stronghold number one, indoctrination. I've done teachings on cults before, and just a few weeks ago I did a teaching on how to know your church is a cult. That's not just clickbait, I taught that. And I studied for that, I studied like the Branch Davidians, I studied Scientology, not the actual religion guys, like the history, okay? I studied some of the behavior patterns of the people in Charles Manson's camp, and I picked up certain behaviors and certain principles that was applied by these cult leaders. I took that and made a list of how to know you're in a cult, not a church, and you don't know how many pastors message me saying, hey, why are you attacking me like this? And I'm thinking, why would you think I'm attacking you? You just exposed yourself. Like every year, I teach it once a year, and every year it's the same thing, like three years ago it happened, two years ago it happened. It always happens that way. But indoctrination is a stronghold of the enemy. One of the greatest strongholds, and when I say greatest, I mean most powerful, strongholds that come over believers, is legalism. And it's one of the powers of indoctrination. Do you know how to know if you're stuck under the power of legalism? I'm going to give you one test, and by this one test, how you answer this one question will show you whether or not you're under the power of legalism. You ready? You don't have to answer out loud, and you don't have to write it in the comment section. Just hear the question. Do you live in the constant fear of losing your salvation? If you do, you're under the power of legalism. That I'll probably teach on some time in the future, legalism and religion, but that's just one example of how doctrines of devils can become rooted in our minds. When I talk about indoctrination, I can refer to some of the things that I was mentioning earlier. This programming that comes on the mind of the believer, things that they add to the Scripture that become like a religion unto itself. Here's how the cycle works for indoctrination. The lie, I have to earn my salvation. And again, this is just one example of indoctrination. The feeling what? Shame, hopelessness, condemnation. The action, doing more to earn salvation. The result, a life of joyless service, heaviness and mental anguish. And we've seen this play out over and over again, and I've seen many fall away from the faith because they're under the power of legalism. We're now there, they're constantly looking over their shoulder. They're constantly imagining that God's ready to strike them down. That was the mistake that did you in. What if I die and I forget some sin that I forgot to confess? Or what if I die at the wrong time? Maybe I think of a negative thought towards someone and suddenly I'm killed. Do I go to heaven or go to hell? I would ask you, is it the cross that saves you or good timing? So now, salvation plus a lot of luck. It's just one example though. And these believers come under this heaviness, this guilt, this shame. No joy, just exhausted out of their minds and they're bearing this burden of wondering whether God rejected me today. Am I accepted today? Did that one mistake I made finally cause me to lose everything? Did God separate himself from me? Shame, guilt, anguish, mental torment, all because they believe one lie. The power of a stronghold works. And then they live under this heaviness, this weight, that mind constantly going. And then we tell them, well, you just got to name seven generations back or you got identified. Maybe you, maybe there's some trinket in your house. You didn't know about we get superstitious on them while they're being tormented. That's why Jesus was so, so frustrated with the Pharisees. That's why he dealt with everyone else with gentleness, but with the Pharisees he rebuked them. He told them, you don't even enter the kingdom of God yourself and you make it difficult for everyone else. Tell you sometimes we struggle with these religious mindsets. That's just one type of indoctrination. Stronghold too, accusation. This is the stronghold of guilt and shame. And the lie is that God didn't forgive you. Here's how you know if you're dealing with accusation, you can't enjoy your life because of the sin that you committed in your past. And it's always on your mind. I spoke with a woman who had an abortion. She knew afterwards that what she did was wrong. And she was so filled with just this anguish and this idea in her mind that because of what she had done, she deserved to, for the rest of her life, be under the weight of that shame. And that was hard for her to break. I mean, it was this bondage in her mind that said, okay, yeah, I know God forgave me, but additionally I think I should suffer through the rest of my life because of what I did. Christ is the advocate. The devil is the accuser. I'm not talking about living your life in any way that you want, never fearing consequence. I'm not saying that sin won't destroy you. I'm not saying that sin doesn't anger God. What I am saying is that once you've repented of a thing and you've asked the Lord to forgive you and you've turned from that, if the enemy still uses that to not just torment you with guilt, but he also uses that to trap you in this lie, believing that you don't deserve to enjoy anything in this world and that that heaviness will always be on you, you believe that somehow you're marked now by whatever that was, then you are under the power of the stronghold of accusation. What's the lie? You're not forgiven. Or God's forgiveness doesn't apply to you specifically for that specific situation. The feeling, shame, guilt, fear, the action, seeking affirmation. I see it all the time. Brother David, I know God forgives any sin, but what if, and then they again describe some ultra specific situation. What if I was really angry with God and is that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Or what if I was in ministry? Or what if I thought very wicked, evil, dark thoughts and I shouldn't have, and they want you to address this ultra specific issue in their life because they just can't believe that God forgave them. And the result is you're stuck in sin and shame. You feel trapped. You can't even enjoy your life. You feel like the more miserable you are, the more pleased God is and that your misery is somehow your payment for what you did. That's a lie. Another stronghold is temptation. How is that a stronghold? Well, it takes place in the mind first. What's the lie? The lie is that this sin will satisfy me. You want to know why you keep going back to your sin? It's because you keep falling for the lie that it will satisfy you, plain and simple. You believe in that moment that you're going to get some satisfaction out of that. That's a lie. That's a stronghold. Many times in the church, we have itching ears. We tell them what they want to hear. We tell them what they're hoping to hear. We say, well, that's not you. That's some demon doing it for you. You know, in some cases, not in every case, not in every case, but in many cases, they don't need deliverance. They need discipline. Get that in mind in order. And to believe the truth when the word says that sin destroys, that sin leads to death. So what happens? The lie, this will satisfy you. God or God won't punish this. Never mistake God's mercy for God's permission. God won't punish this. In the feeling, you feel trapped, like a hypocrite, double-minded, switching from one person to the next, not realizing who you are. The action, more and more sin because of the empty feeling. The result habits form. You have a secretive lifestyle, a guilty conscience, and you feel distant from God all because of the lie that this will satisfy. Number four is intimidation. This is what I dealt with anxiety. I remember being a little boy holding my head up against the wall, pressing into the wall just out of frustration with tears streaming down my face, begging God to lift that anxiety off of me. Now, I'm going to share something with you that's a little nuanced. So bear with me. I don't like to go down tangents, but I think this is important. I really do think this is important. There are some things about you that God will want to change, and then there are things about you that God will want to capture. What do I mean by that? I mean that people who deal with anxiety, the root mostly, at least when it comes to their personality, is the fact that they pay a lot of attention to every detail and that they can see outcomes before anyone else sees it. My blessing and my challenge is that I can see many possible outcomes for any one action. So I'm not just thinking about the sermon this whole time. I'm thinking about if he's going to drop his drink over there. I'm thinking about if Ricardo is going to kick that water bottle that's left in the aisle on my left on this side. I'm wondering if that's a big gulp from 7-Eleven. I see not just drinks, I'm wondering also. I kid you not, this is what's going through my mind. And it's funny, but that's the hyperactive mind, right? Now, put me in a car. Ruben knows this. Ruben, where's Ruben? Ruben drove 10 hours this past weekend. Just all the driving. We totaled it out, and it was 10 hours over 10 hours. I'm trying. I really am, but I'm what you would call a backseat driver. Why? Because I'm constantly seeing what could happen. Now, it saved me a couple times. I think that thing can fall off if it does. It's going to hit that, that car will go here, and I would switch to the lane where I thought I should be. It all played out just like I thought it would happen, and I was perfectly safe. I kid you, one time on the way back from Arizona, everyone was making fun of me, but we were the only ones who didn't get in the car accident in that lane because I saw it before it happened. Not because, not in a prophetic sense, just possibilities. Now, that's a blessing there, but I can't enjoy a car ride really if I don't get a hold of my mind. Now, in that instance, is God going to take away from me my ability to see details and outcomes? No. What does he want me to do? Not change it. And so here's what the enemy does to you. Not only does he do this with intimidation, he does this with depression, too. Here's what he does to you. He takes a certain inclination of your personality, and he uses that against you. So if you're a sensitive person, caring, compassionate, kind, you can feel what others feel, he's going to hit you with depression. And when people tell you, oh, get tougher skin, you're going, I can't, because it's just not who you are. People tell you things like, oh, well if you have depression, you have anxiety, you're not spiritual, you don't have enough faith, and they make you feel like you're not even a real Christian because you're struggling with things of the flesh. Well, if I'm not a real Christian because I have a problem with anxiety, you're not a real Christian because you have an anger problem or a pride problem. It's the same thing, it's the flesh, it's the flesh, but the enemy partners with our flesh to produce the results he wants in our lives. So that if I'm battling with anxiety, he's going to use that. If I have an overactive mind, he's going to use that. If I have a sensitive character, he's going to use that. And he's going to give you the lie, as I said earlier, that you are most likely to fall for. When it comes to anxiety, I feared that I wouldn't fulfill God's call. I was afraid of people's opinions, I was afraid of tragedy or calamity, I was afraid of sickness, loss, loneliness, the list goes on, but it wasn't until I came to recognize the truth. What was the truth that set me free? Not everything's going to be okay. That sometimes is a lie because sometimes tragedy does happen. What do you do when you've been told the whole time, oh, nothing tragic will ever happen, you're going to be fine, and then it finally happens, it makes your anxiety much worse. Do you know what was the truth that set me free from my anxiety? Is that God is sovereign, I can trust him. Do you know what fear is? Worry is an attempt at control. When I recognize that I could trust him, even if, see fear asks what if, faith declares even if. These cycles can produce bondage, the result of a life of fear, no purpose, no risks, no act of faith, you're stuck. Depression, the lie is what? You're alone, unloved, without value, without purpose. What's the feeling? Heavy, disconnected, distant, lifeless, cynical, empty, the action, what? Low energy, not lazy. Depressed, discouraged, sorrow, suicidal thoughts. The result is no motivation or feeling for anything. Now the other three, I won't delve too deeply into, but they are attacks of the enemy as well. They become strong, stronghold six, distraction, stronghold seven is confusion. Stronghold eight is affliction or that mental anguish we talked about, but they all are the same in that they're based on a line, they produce feelings and actions, which ultimately become lifestyles that we refer to as bondage. Are you receiving this tonight? How many of you are saying that this is making sense to me? Let me just see your hand. You online, you're watching. If this is opening your eyes, let me know in the comment section. Now how do you break free? Well, that really is the question, isn't it? When I tell you something as simple as it's the truth that sets you free, we don't want to hear that. When I was battling with depression and anxiety, I went to revival meetings. I had been prayed over with oil. I went to deliverance sessions. I read books. I went to worship conferences, youth conferences, bible conferences, prophetic meetings. I received words. I was slain in the spirit. I was encouraged. I tried counseling. I tried therapy. I sat with missionaries and pastors and apostles and evangelists and teachers. Yet the struggle was still there and it would frustrate me after a certain point when somebody told me that it's the truth that's going to set you free because I would say it over and over again. Yeah, I've heard the truth. What are you going to tell me that someone else hasn't told me already? What are you going to tell me that I haven't read? What power do you carry that I've not experienced by going to all these meetings and services on and on again? But that cycle continued. What was it? You realize that the bible says don't grow weary in well doing for at the right time you'll reap the harvest. Here's what people don't want to accept. When it comes to demonic influence, that influence is broken instantly. There's no battle. And if it's not broken instantly, pray and fast. And if that doesn't work, it's not demonic influence. It's the flesh. You can't cast you out of you. You can cast out devils, but you can't cast you out of you. Demons come and go. The flesh doesn't. The flesh to shrinks and grows gains influence loses influence, depending upon how I'm living my life. So when it comes down to freedom, people don't want to accept that it really is as simple as embracing the truth, but also training the mind under the truth of that word, meditating on the word day and night. Do you know what meditation is repetition and thought deliverance instant subjecting the flesh. That's a process. You come up here tonight and I lay hands on you. Every demonic power has to be quiet. Every demonic power loses its influence. If any of these anointed believers sitting here tonight lay hands on you, that would happen. I'm not special. It's the authority of Christ through all of us. When did Jesus ever cast out a devil and say, come back next Tuesday so I can get the rest? When did Jesus ever cast out a legion and say, now go and pray, prepare yourself. I want you to come back three months from now because there may still be some in there. You ever heard of an asymptomatic demonic people in the Bible who were possessed knew they were. And whenever it was dealt with, it was with a word, with a word done. And then what's left over is the battle with the flesh training yourself under an old mindset. Here's what's so interesting about the way the mind works is that these bondages protect themselves. I'm going to expose the enemy tonight. These bondages protect themselves. We'll think about depression. For example, depression produces cynicism. And what does cynicism do? Any solution that's presented is scoffed at and rejected. I tried that. And you don't know how many times I said, I already tried that. I already did that. I already did that. I was a hard, hard case there. I already, yeah, you're not going to tell me anything new. It wasn't until I realized, you know what? I need to deal with this before it destroys me. And then digging into the Word and then taking the Word and every time that thought arises, casting down that imagination. Didn't he say that? Cast down what? Pulling down the strongholds. How do we do that? How do we cast that down by the truth? That's the process. Here's the problem. Believers will get free, start walking in that freedom. And the moment of temptation comes back, the moment of trial comes back, the moment they start to feel a little heaviness on them, suddenly they throw up their hands into fear. They go, oh, it's back again. This is why I said you cannot confuse battles for bondages. Because if you do, then when it comes time to fight the flesh again, you'll throw up your hands in misery and say it didn't work. Not realizing that you'll be fighting the flesh the rest of your life. That's a fact. We must exercise both the practical and the spiritual. The practical is discipline, obedience, the spiritual. That's prayer. You realize that the spiritual is the easiest part. I've prayed over people, a demon possessed with drug addiction. We pray. They are instantly delivered because of God's power and nothing to do with me. Instantly delivered. The desire for that addiction is weakened now because there's no demonic influence. They won't touch drugs for six months, and then they go back not because the devil made them do it, but because they decided to. But that initial battle was easy. We give far too much credit to the enemy outside. We should be looking to subject the enemy within the flesh. Strongholds, mindsets that become deeply rooted. Those cycles repeat, and they'll continue to repeat until you identify that root and then attack that root at its core. Now we're going to pray, and then I'm going to begin. Ruben, I would like to take questions. So if we get a microphone ready, we're going to pray. I'm going to take an offering, and then we're going to take questions. Are you watching online? Stay with us now, because there's more to the service coming. Maybe someone will ask a question you had. How many believe that tonight demonic power has to submit to the power of the Holy Ghost? Do you believe that? Lift your hands, stand to your feet, begin praying out loud in the Holy Spirit. Come on. And I want you to begin praying out loud in the Holy Spirit. Boldly, boldly, boldly, boldly now. Loudly and boldly, loudly and boldly. Come on, church. Condor robobobobo, centerienterebebebeco. Are you watching online? And you standing here tonight? I want you to lift your hands. Whatever you're watching online, I want you to lift your hands. You in this place tonight, lift your hands, close your eyes, say these words after me. Say, Father, come on out loud boldly. Now, Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for victory. I thank you for liberty and freedom. In the name of Jesus, I cast down every lie, every deception that I believe about myself, about you, Lord, about life, Holy Spirit. Come on, say it again, Holy Spirit. Show me the truth that I might walk in freedom. In Jesus' name, I just lift your hands, begin praying out loud. Something broke here tonight. Demons attack with their words. All they have against the believer is their words, their words, their words. That's all a demonic power has against you is their words. That is it. That's it. That's it. All that demonic power has against you is their words. Anything more is what you give them. Father, we thank you that we walk in your word. We thank you that by your Holy Spirit we are victorious. In Jesus' name, how many, as we pray, sense the great liberty over this room? Just give the Lord a hand of praise if you did. There's a great liberty here. Now, I'm going to do something very different tonight. I am going to do a little bit of a Q&A. If you have a question, but you can be seated, and if they have not right now, I'm going to take an offering first. If you have a question, we're going to have you come right here to ask it on the microphone. So get ready, your question is ready, everyone else, please be seated. You can stay with me just a few minutes. You're watching online. I know that after the sermon and the prayer, that's usually where we tune out and say, well, thank you. I'm on my way. When I want to challenge you, stay with me because I believe God still wants to speak to you. And we're going to do questions and answers in just a moment here. And I believe that as we know the truth, the truth will set you free. You know, in these meetings, you never know how the service is going to go. Sometimes it's casting out devils. Sometimes it's healing the sick. Sometimes it's the power of the Holy Spirit refreshing the believer. Sometimes it's Q&A. But it's all spirit led. I didn't know I was going to do this tonight. It's all spirit led. So let me show you something here. Pull out your Bibles with me and you watching online, follow along. Tim, how many do we have on Facebook live right now? So 500 on Facebook and 1800 on YouTube. There's over 2000 people joining us around the world. God bless you guys. And I can see the comments on Facebook and YouTube here. Now, let me show you something. Remember when Jesus said to store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. He was talking about putting your mind on the things of eternity. Those who are spiritual, those who are mature, trust in God. One of the things that the Holy Spirit revealed to me recently that really shook me up was that the way you worship mammon, the way you worship money is not by having it. That's kind of what society today is being conditioned to believe. Anyone with wealth is the bad guy. It's in all the movies and all the books. The wealthy man is the bad man. Well, God owns it all. Is he evil? No chance. You know, the way you worship money is through worry. Jesus said, don't worry. He before he said, don't worry. He said, you can't serve two masses. You can't worship God and money. That is why I tell you to worry. Now, he tells us store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Everyone's talking these days about economic hardship, this sense of foreboding, this, this anticipation, this bracing for a dark winter ahead. You know, whatever happens out there, I'm not an economist. I don't know how much is true, how much is exaggerated, how much is caused by the panic itself. I don't know. All I know is this. It doesn't matter what happens out there. The Lord is with us. God is in control. Now, here's what the Bible said. Remember, Jesus had store up for yourselves treasures. How do you do that? How do you do that? First Timothy six, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves. There's that phrase again, a good foundation against the time to come. They may lay hold on eternal life. The scripture tells those who have to store up for the future for eternity by using the resources he has given you now for the purposes of the kingdom of God. This is the battle right here. This is the fight. I know a lot of Christians don't like when you talk about this, but that's really, let me just be real, that's immaturity. Oh, don't talk about money. Oh, this message was great until you mentioned money. Why don't you just let the people give and not sending? Well, all the apostles took offerings. In the New Testament, they took offerings. Why? Because this is the preaching of the word. You can't leave anything out of scripture. You can't. It's a reality that we see in scripture this talk of giving of your resources. Why? Because it's a test of the heart. The immature believer folds their arms and withholds and says, well, see, I knew they were all about money. You know why they do that? Because money is so important to them that they have to label men of God who are doing things for the purposes of the kingdom so that they don't feel guilty. So it's not that they're being stingy. It's that the man of God is wrong to ask. And I stand here with the authority of the word knowing that what I'm doing is not only biblical. It's good for you. It's good for me. It's good for all of us that we follow these principles. But what is that battle there? It's the flesh even now as I'm talking in your mind. The flesh is saying, well, you only have this in your account. And if you give that, you won't have. Well, if you give to the ministry, then what about this, that and the other in the future? That right there is the battle. That right there is what it comes down to. The test of your heart, the test of your heart, flesh saying, don't do it. The spirit saying, do it. My friend in your country, what's the average monthly income? So monthly converted 200 U.S. dollars a month. And you know, that's common all over the world. When we read scriptures like this, tell those who are rich to give. We say, yeah, tell those rich people. Guys, this is talking about us. You drove here in a car. It's talking about you. If you're watching me on a computer or a cell phone, it's talking about you. I want to challenge you tonight. You watching online, as well as you here present to give to the work of the gospel to store up for that day to come. And I truly believe this. Those who are generous, those who walk according to the wisdom of the word of God, they will see an increase in their resources. Always. I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread. So I'm going to ask the ushers to come now and they're going to hand you these envelopes. And if you want to give, you can fill out the envelope. What you can also do is you can scan the QR code on the envelope with your phone and a link will pop up and that link will enable you to give right there through debit card. It's a really something that I believe that's become more popular even during the pandemic. You go to restaurants now. There's no menus. They have you scan a QR code. So you here, you can scan the QR code. You watching online use that link that they're putting that's right there on the screen and then our moderators are also leaving it in the comment section. I want to challenge you to give. Everyone gives something. Everyone gives something. Ask the Holy Spirit. How can I sacrifice? How can I, how can I give to continue this work? There's many great things this ministry is doing. We're continuing to do live streams. We're continuing to do events all over the world. When the process of finishing up that studio in Round Rock, Texas, that is a $1.2 million project just for the construction alone. And we thank God that partners and donors and supporters and viewers all over the world are just generously giving to that cause because they know ultimately it's a soul winning work. We have the Holy Spirit School online where we don't charge a thing for anyone to take those courses. We have the Holy Spirit School in Zimbabwe too where they didn't have internet access before and now because of your support they do and they can access the teachings. I could go on listing media and live streams and events and the studio and the school and all of these wonderful things that this ministry is doing. That's where your support goes. And so as you give generously, just know you're partnering with us. Thank you to those giving online. I can actually see your names coming in. Those of you giving at davidhernandezministries.com, there's a whole list of you coming in right now and I just got to wait for it to finish loading. I can see the emails coming. Thank you. You watching online, you're giving counts to Facebook and YouTube. It all makes the difference and helps us continue to do these events around. We did the live stream because we wanted you to receive too. So help us out. The live stream also costs money. There's staff, there's equipment and so forth. And so you're a part of this too. You may not be here physically one day you will but you're a part of this too. All of us together, these believers, these generous loving believers here and you all over the world watching together. We make the difference. I see a gift coming in from Dennis. Thank you, Dennis. I see Darian. Darian actually became a monthly partner. Bita and to Wanda and Julianne and a Odegi. That's a beautiful name and Carla and Omar and Kingsley and Amber and Marilyn and Elizabeth and so many names from all over the world. Angelon Angelica, one right after the other there, Silas and Mabel. These are all and Patricia and just continuing to pour in. These are all people giving at davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. Those of you getting your gifts ready here, I want to thank you too. Consider also becoming a monthly supporter of the ministry that helps us in addition to your one-time gift. Maybe you can do a small monthly gift just to have some consistency and help us there. So we appreciate you. And now I want to take this moment to pray. We're going to do the Q and A right now. So get your questions ready, make them good. It's going to be a fun time. And then after we pray, we're going to get into that. But I want to pray right now that God would increase your resources and that God would provide during what they're calling trouble ahead. You don't need to be afraid. Did you hear what I said? You don't need to be afraid. I'm not saying everything will be ideal all the time. Paul said I learned how to abase and to abound. There'll be seasons of ups and downs. But I promise you this through everything God is in control. So lift your hands and you watching online pray with me too. Father in the name of Jesus, thank you for resources, for a seed to plant. And Lord, as I plant this seed, I want one thing, Jesus to be glorified. Lord, receive this offering as a token of my love and devotion to you. I honor you Lord. Thank you for providing Jesus' name. Amen.