 There is an unseen realm that affects your everyday life. There is a world beyond this material world, and it's teeming with life and activity. It's heaven against hell, light against darkness. Angels exist, God exists, heaven exists, hell exists, demons exist. You need to be aware of the fact that there is a spiritual war going on for the soul of this generation. There is a spiritual war going on, and the enemy is doing everything he can to destroy your faith. The enemy wants to disconnect you from truth. The enemy wants to deceive you. The enemy wants to assault your mind. The enemy wants to prevent you from ministering freedom to those around you. This is why we must be attentive to the word. I want you to make this your prayer. Say Lord, open my eyes. In fact, write that in the comment section, live or replay. Lord, open my eyes. Let that be your prayer. Let that be your heart's desire that God would open your eyes to the realm of the supernatural. The Bible says this in Ephesians chapter 6 verses 11 and 12, 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 the heavenly places. Demons are real. That word demon is not a metaphor for darkness or evil. Demonic beings actually exist and they hate you to put it plainly. Demonic beings have been around for thousands of years. They understand human nature. They know how to tempt you. They know how to attack you. They know how to deceive you. They're very real. They're very powerful. They're very evil. They exist. Demons exist. This is why deliverance ministry is so key. You know, people often neglect certain elements of supernatural ministry. They neglect spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues, like the prophetic, like the gift of healing, like the ministry of deliverance, which really isn't a spiritual gift or specific special calling. It's actually something that every believer ought to be walking in. That deliverance ministry of Jesus continues with us. Why? Because we have the same Holy Spirit. The Bible says this in Mark chapter 16 verses 15 through 18. And then he told them, go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. And anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe. They will cast out demons in my name. And they will speak in new languages or in new tongues. They will be able to handle snakes with safety. And if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will be healed. Now, some will say that this particular portion of Scripture doesn't necessarily count because certain manuscripts lack it. But that, okay, we understand that there's some debate around that. But these spiritual principles, these ministries that were assigned to the early church continue with us today. And we know this. Why? Because the power of the Holy Spirit is still in us. And demonic forces are still at work in the world. Now, breaking down these portions of Scripture, which are biblical, which are Bible, we see that those who believe, believe what? Believe the gospel message. So the people who believe the gospel, you, the everyday believer, the people who believe the message of truth about Christ, those have been given the power to heal the sick, to command authority over the forces of darkness, to drive out demonic beings from those who are possessed. Now, it's important at this juncture that I mentioned this very important truth. And I think that this truth can sometimes lack when it comes to certain elements of supernatural ministry, not just in deliverance ministry, in prophetic ministry, in healing ministry. I'm in the healing ministry, and I can speak for definitely that portion of ministry that often the healing ministry is filled with abuse and misunderstanding and some, what I would call fanaticism, that's not really based on Scripture. Anytime you get into the supernatural, you must make sure that you are grounded in the Word of God, because if you're not grounded in the Word, then what you're doing is you're stepping into deep waters without the ability to swim. The Word of God is the safety net. The Word of God sets boundaries. The Word of God is a sure foundation, and the problem comes when we try to step into the supernatural without being grounded in the Word. So as I was saying, it's important that at this juncture, I mentioned this. The Bible is the standard. The Bible is truth. We need to look to Scripture as the ultimate authority on all things supernatural, really on all things, period, but as it relates to this particular topic, we must look to the Word of God as the final authority on all things supernatural that includes deliverance. Now deliverance ministry is key. It's needed. You should practice deliverance. You see people get delivered at our services all the time. This is something we heavily believe in. Having said that, I also know that there is some confusion surrounding this topic, particularly because of all of the questions that I get sent to my inbox people and believers wanting to know certain things that confuse them and they want answers, which is why we lay out teachings like this so that we can help believers get a firm biblical understanding of things that are ultimately very important. Now sometimes the Bible doesn't align with what you believe or with what you've been taught. This as you're going to find out in this live stream, this is part of my testimony concerning things and deliverance ministry. The Bible doesn't always align with what you believe or what you have been taught. So let's make sure that we're adjusting to Scripture. Let's make that commitment now that we're going to stick with Scripture. We're going to side with Scripture, that if the Bible contradicts something that we've been taught or something that we believe or something that we passionately hold to, there may be that little fight within you. But let me tell you something, the wise thing to do, the spiritually mature thing to do is to say, okay, I'm going to humble myself before the word and admit I was wrong. Only in doing that, only in siding with the Scripture, can you truly break out of confusion and ultimately walk in absolute victory where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Whom the sun sets free is free indeed. And as I said, I'm going to share my testimony throughout this live stream about some of the things I used to believe and teach, which after the Holy Spirit through the Scripture opened my eyes, I saw how not only they were time wasters, but they were actually damaging some people. And so I'm going to walk you through those things and I want you to take this journey with me. And it was humbling. It's hard to admit when you're wrong. It's hard to admit when you didn't actually get something as accurately as you thought you didn't. That was my situation and the Lord had to humble me and he had to break my spiritual pride and I had to say, Lord, I was wrong. That's hard to do. But that is something we must do. If the Word of God never corrects your beliefs, then it's not the Word of God you believe, it's yourself. Because the Word of God, if we truly are to be surrendering to what it says, the Word of God will shatter certain mindsets. So I'm saying this as sort of a precursor to the things that I'm about to say because sometimes the natural human reflex, when we hear things that we don't agree with, the natural human reflex is to quickly try to find a way to reject those things that we don't want corrected or that we don't want to believe, I should say. So this is why it's important that we not base our identity around these certain subjects. I'll touch on this more a little bit later in the live stream. But it's important that we understand that we need both the Word and the Spirit. You want to walk in true power. I'm talking about power untold. I'm talking about the glory of God. I'm talking about that manifested presence resting on you. I'm talking about such authority over the forces of darkness that demonic powers dissolve like sand castles under a mighty ocean wave. The Holy Spirit does not deal with demons. He dominates them. And those who walk with the Spirit, according to the Word, have this power unleashed in their lives. And you can have that. You can have that because you are a spirit filled believer. You can have victory because you are a spirit filled believer. You can have authority because you are a spirit filled believer. So this message is specifically about demonic possession and the simple way, guys, the simple way to cast them out. Now, of course, as simple as it is, there are certain things that we have to go through in detail because of the questions that arise, because of certain beliefs that may get in the way. So like surgery, we're going to go through and we're going to comb through the Scripture and look at these things. So again, this is about demonic possession. If you want to see my other messages say on strongholds or you want to see it on demonic attacks, open doors, demonic influence, deception, these things are all throughout the channel. You can take a look. We have a spiritual warfare playlist. So step number one, you want to cast out demons. Now, this isn't going to be flashy, guys. This is going to be practical. Step number one, honor the basics. Now, what do all of these have in common? See if you can tell me in the chat. Olympic athletes, pastors and soldiers. What do these three have in common? Olympic athletes, pastors and soldiers. Steve, you want to take just one quick guess? What do all three of these things have in common? Pastors, soldiers and Olympic athletes. Just throw something out there. They all have an agenda. Well, that's actually true. I didn't even think of that angle, but guess. Now I have to go rewrite this, but that's true. But you know, one other thing is that they all require training. The Olympic athlete, as he or she prepares for the Olympics, has to go through months and even years of discipline, exercise, dieting, training, even rests. They have to organize their rest in such a way that it's going to be effective. Pastors have to prepare. I don't just slap these messages together and come sit down and start talking. There's a lot of study that goes into these messages. There's a lot of preparation. And then I don't just put the information down on an outline. I put the information down on an outline in a way that is going to be most effective in teaching you. So I try to teach in the way that says, okay, I'll make this point, then what question will they ask next? And then I address that question and then bring up the next point. And in doing it this way, there's preparation involved. There's study, there's planning, there's timing. What about soldiers? You don't just put a soldier on the battlefield. A soldier has to go through very intense training. So Olympic athletes, pastors and soldiers all have this in common, they all require training. Now it's tempting to wanna jump right into the performance or the presentation, especially with young preachers. I know when I first started in ministry, sometimes I just wanted to go find opportunities to preach and then I found that often I would go up unprepared and I would just kind of repeat some of the things that I had heard on Christian television. I admit that, that's some of the ways I came up with messages when I started preaching at 13, 14 and 15. It was only probably five or six years in that I really said, okay, if I'm gonna do this, I have to get a little more serious. I can't just have three or four messages that I preach again and again and again. I have to really begin to study and prepare before each one. And this preparation is not always the most exciting thing. Again, it's tempting to wanna jump into the performance or the presentation. But we who are mature understand the basics before the battle. When it comes to driving out demonic beings, most of the preparation, and this is something you will not hear often. When it comes to driving out demonic beings, most of the preparation takes place before the actual encounter with the demoniac. If you've come to our services, you'll notice that the way I cast out demons or my team cast out demons is very simple. And it's very simple because we stick with the scripture. And this is, please understand, when I say this, I'm not saying this to brag. And I don't want this to come across like, well, look at how effective I am. My goodness, it has nothing to do with my power. I'm more so bragging on the Holy Spirit because what I'm about to teach you has everything to do with depending on him and realizing that it's not in your own power. And so I've been able to stand back and watch in our services as the Holy Spirit drives demons out, not in an hour or two, not in minutes, but in a matter of seconds and the person comes off the drug addiction. The person has no more mental torment. The person is set free from demonic possession. How is that possible? It's certainly not me, certainly not my team. What it is, is the basics before the battle. You have to prepare before the encounter. If all of your training is coming in that moment or if all of the techniques are applied in that moment, then you've already missed 99% of the battle. So that's number one, you have to honor the basics. Here's what Ephesians chapter six, we'll go back to this chapter here. Ephesians six versus 10 and 11 say this, a final word, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. This is a command. The Bible commands us to be strong in the Lord and in his power. The Bible commands us to verse 11, put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. You see, we'd rather be told, well, if you're dealing with this specific demon, pray this specific prayer and it'll take care of it. Now, I understand this thinking, I understand the sentiment because as my testimony will reveal, I came out of this type of mindset and I understand that and it's not that these things are necessarily, you know, prove that someone is false. No, honestly, what they are is they're time wasters and I know that can seem harsh, but I'm not trying to be harsh. I just wanna really help you do this in the most effective way possible. Why is that a time waster? Because when the power of the Holy Spirit is involved, it's not ritual, it's not incantation, it's not knowing what to do, it's allowing the Holy Spirit to do what he does. So we'd rather be told, here's the special prayer, here's the special ritual. Oh, we'll find out where the demon is located in the body and then pray against that specific body part. And you know, I know this because this is how I used to practice this, but what the Bible teaches us is that there are actually basics before the battle that come into play. So mature believers understand the power of the basics. They understand that there's actually preparation long before you have that encounter with the demonic entity. So number one is honor the basics and please understand, this is not an attack on you. I'm not saying, well, if you believe this, well, you're way off or you're not a true believer, by no means. What I'm actually doing here is I wanna give you the tools to do what you do even more effectively so that you can just let the power of the Holy Spirit flow purely and powerfully that you might see that ultimate authority over demonic beings, which produces the results that we see in scripture like with Jesus and the apostles. So in no way is this an attack on you. And again, I really hope that people don't take this so personal because I know I did. And again, I'm gonna touch on that more in a little bit. Step number two, time in God's presence. Acts 4.13 says the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. For they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in scriptures. They also recognize them as men who had been with Jesus. When you spend time with the Lord, it produces results on your life. Such as in Acts 4.13, we see that Peter and John, because of the time that they had spent with Jesus, there was an effect of the presence on their life so that people were able to recognize their authority and power because of the time they had spent with the Lord. Second Corinthians 3.17 says for the Lord is the spirit and wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Time with the Lord has its effects. The reason people have to spend hours casting out devils is because they're only spending minutes in prayer. When they should be spending hours in prayer and seconds driving out demons. And that's really the power of the presence of God. It's God's mighty empowering presence and grace that flows through you, affecting change in the spiritual realm around you. Time in the presence of the Lord brings power and authority. This is what it means to carry the glory of God. This is what it means to not seek an atmosphere, but to become an atmosphere. Not to follow signs, but for signs to follow you. When you walk into a room and you're a carrier of the glory of God, that whole room shifts in atmosphere. When you're a carrier of the glory of God, you walk into rooms and demons start to tremble. They start to lose their hold on people. This is what happens periodically to people who spend time in the presence of the Lord. It's likely happened to you. Maybe you're out and about, maybe at the mall or at the grocery store, even just driving, and you have people manifesting all around you. There's been times where I'm in my car sitting there just praying quietly in tongues to myself and someone on the corner will literally begin to just start cussing and pointing at me. I've seen that. Why? Because there's an atmosphere around you. There's a presence about you. You come to our services and you'll see that when people step on the platform, they begin to tremble and shake under this electric-like power. And I like to say this to them so that they understand where the glory belongs. I tell them, this is not me. It's who's around me. It's the presence of God. It's the presence of the Holy Spirit. You are a carrier of that presence. And time in the presence of God causes that presence on you to manifest around you. It's not that the Holy Spirit comes and goes. Rather, it's that his power becomes more tangible on you as you spend time tending to the presence of the Lord so that when you carry that atmosphere, you're carrying light. You're carrying the heavenly world with you. You're carrying the weight of the glory of God. Think about how powerful that is. When I've watched powerful men and women cast out devils, I remember when I was about 14, 15 years old, one of the first times I saw a devil cast out of someone. It was done so powerfully, so simply, and there was a real beauty and peace to the way it occurred. This man stood on the platform and I saw as a woman began to manifest, fall on the floor and begin walking, I mean, not walking, rolling all over the ground. She's foaming at the mouth, literally foaming at the mouth. And this man with his hand out stretched just prayed a simple prayer. He wasn't screaming. He wasn't trying to get the name of that demon. He wasn't trying to get the type. Is it a water type, a fire type, an electric type? Sometimes I wonder, Steve, are we casting out devils or Pokemon? And so he's, you know, he's over there. He just has his hand out. Just a very simple presence on him. That person was trying to get away from him. All she could do was roll very slowly to try to get away from him. And I'm telling you what I witnessed was miraculous within seconds, people of God, within seconds, that woman gets up off the floor, begins jumping up and down, rejoicing because she was completely set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. I witnessed it with my own eyes. That's true power. That's how Jesus did it, as Ms. Coleman would say, when she would drive out devils. It was instant. It was a demonstration of the absolute authority of God on you. And you can have that. That's on you. I'm telling you right now, that's on you. You have that in you. You have that same power. The same spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. That same authority rests on you so that when you go to drive out devils, you're not doing it on your own strength. There's no technique you could apply, no ritual that necessarily would be more effective than the presence of God. That presence on you brings power and authority. The effects of heaven come with you. It's not you, it's who's around you. So number one, honor the basics. Number two, spend time in God's presence. Number three, know the word. This is what Mark chapter one verses 21 through 27 say. Now watch this, this is powerful. Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went to 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. Suddenly a man in the synagogue 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. And by the way, there's a reason that the enemy, the devil, the demon I should say, there's a reason the demon called Jesus by name. We'll talk about that in a little bit. At that, the evil spirit screamed threw 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 excitedly, it has such authority. Even evil spirits obey his orders. Now watch this, Matthew 8 16. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils and he cast out the spirits with what? With his word and healed all that were sick. The word has power, the word has authority. The word of God is what sets our spiritual boundaries. Oh, I'll give you an example of what I mean by that. You've heard these name it claim it teachings, right? And name it claim it teachings breed superstition. For example, people will say things like, oh my goodness, my allergies are really acting up because here in Texas, the wind is blowing allergens all over the place and someone will immediately interject, don't say that, don't speak it into existence. Don't say my allergies, say the allergies. But I can't really recall anything like that in scripture, especially when people came to Jesus, Lord, can you please heal me of leprosy? Well, Jesus saying, did Jesus say, well, you know, you're confessing leprosy. You're confessing that you have it. Or Jesus, I'm blind, please open my eyes. Jesus didn't say, well, don't say you're blind, you're speaking it into existence. So this is just an example of how superstition is born. So when it comes to this boundary that's given to us by the word, it's actually producing power. When we think boundary, sometimes we think, oh, okay, that's a limitation. But no, a boundary is actually what produces real power because just like with the word of faith type teaching and I don't mean to put a label on it. When I put a label on it, I'm just saying it so that you kind of understand what I'm talking about. Just like with that name it claim it doctrine, just like with the belief that if I just speak it, it comes into existence, we see that understanding the authority of God's word brings both limitation and power. So as it goes with the name it and claim it, God is the only one who has creative power in his words. God is the only one who can speak and cause things to come into existence. God is the only one who has that mighty creative force. God speaks things into existence, you and I speak things into order. Now there we see that limitation of the word because if you and I had creative power to speak things into existence, this would be quite a chaotic world indeed. We'd all be speaking things that would contradict with one another. And so because of that boundary, we actually find that the word of God instead guides us to what we can speak, that if the word of God promises it, we can speak it. So we can repeat after what God says and that has power because it has his authority, but we can't just go speaking on our own whims and producing results that way. So in the same way, in the same way that speaking according to God's word is what produces power, in the same way speaking by the authority of the word of God is what gives us authority over demonic beings. They understand the authority of the word. They understand in principle where their boundaries are, what they are not allowed to do. Now, does this mean that if the devil is acting a certain way in someone's life, that you have to know the scripture that will cause them to obey? No, that's not what I'm saying. So please don't hear what I'm not saying. I don't wanna add ritual and superstition to what is otherwise a very simple teaching. Rather what I'm saying is that demons are well aware of their limitations because of the word of God. And when you understand the word of God and you know demonic limitations, you know what your authority is over them. You know what power you've been given. Once you understand that by the word and you see the boundaries set, you see the foundation set, you see the safety net set, then and only then can you walk in the confidence of that word. Really knowing the word gives you confidence to walk in what is rightfully yours. If you don't know you have that authority, you're not gonna use it. If you don't know what demonic limitations are, you're gonna go your whole life chasing bondages that are really just rooted in a mindset that has caused you to be deceived. And this is why we must know the word so that we can fight the battle effectively, not pursuing every direction, not going after every superstitious approach or ritual or incantation, but rather simply knowing the principles of truth, the power of the word, the authority that rests in you, and that is why we must know the word. So, number one, honor the basics. Number two, time in God's presence. Number three, know the word. With his word, he casts them out. Number four, live clean. Now, I'm gonna show you a biblical example of people who were not in right relationship with God that were able to cast out devils. Of course, you may be thinking of Matthew seven, did we not cast out devils in your name, prophesy in your name, and he says to them, I never knew you. That's one example, yes, but here's another one, Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 19, verses 14 through 16 says this, seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you? Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered. So here we see that if you're not in right relationship with God, it's possible to cast out some demons. And as we look at the scripture, we also glean another truth that becomes apparent, namely that there are variations in levels of power to demonic entities. Otherwise, how were they able to cast some devils out, but not this devil out? The reason is because this was of a greater power. So the level of purity within your life determines the power upon your life. The more you walk according to God's word, the more you can walk in the authority of God's word. And this is an example of someone who was in the right relationship with God, was able to cast out some demons, but at a certain point, that power was limited simply because they were not in right relationship with God. So can you engage in spiritual warfare? Can you drive out some demons? Absolutely, you can use the word, it has authority. But there are certain levels of demons that you cannot confront if you're not walking in holiness, why? It's not that the Holy Spirit can't do it, it's that you're not letting him do it through you. He will never violate your free will. We must surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit through us, and so this is another key, a big one, make sure that you live clean. Now you can see how these are basics, these are not necessarily exciting. Again, we wanna hear, okay, give me the specific prayers. Tell me how to combat this type of demon, and this is what we do as believers. Again, I'm not trying to discourage anyone, this is just something you need to be aware of. This, again, I know because this used to be my mindset. You see, we want all these specifics. We'll hear a story about how someone got set free simply by the power of God, and we go, okay, well, here's my situation. You see, my grandmother did this, and my father did that, and now there's a demon who specifically says this this often at this time of day, how do I deal with that demon? The same way you deal with every demon by the power of the Holy Ghost. Well, what if it's a demon who gives me wicked nightmares? How do I deal with that demon? With the power of the Holy Ghost. How do I deal with the demon who's possessed a family member of mine who's not saved? With the power of the Holy Ghost. How do I deal with the demon who's lying to me about my self-worth with the power of the Holy Ghost? It's the same power that works against all these demonic beings, which is why the basics are important, but here's the problem, and I'm just gonna be honest with you. Many believers want those specifics because they don't have the discipline to do the basics. Just like with diet and exercise, those are the basics. Diet and exercise are the keys to healthy lives. Diet, exercise, and rest. That's what you have to be doing if you wanna live a healthy lifestyle, but some people just want the pill. Give me the pill to lose weight. Give me the fad diet so I can do it quickly. Tell me the secret to doing it in two weeks instead of nine months. And you see people go after the fad, they go after the easy, they go after the convenient, they go after what doesn't require discipline of them, and this is why I tell believers often, most believers are pursuing deliverance when what they need is discipline. And so because they don't honor the basics, because they're not spending time in God's presence, because they don't know the word, because they're not living clean, they're left with all of this paranoia, they're left wondering, well, what about this specific dream, or what about that symbol, or what about this type of demon, or what about this type of attack? All the while, where you to practice the simple basics, you would walk in such levels of glory that those wouldn't even be questions in your mind. You've heard the saying, be careful new levels, new devils. There's no devil that can walk on your level when you walk in the presence of God. It's the simplicity of his presence, where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. 99.9% of the time, when I'm standing in front of someone counseling them, praying with them, and they tell me they're dealing with some type of demonic bondage in their life. 99.9% of the time, they will tell me after I question them that they're not in the word. They're not spending time in prayer. They're not living clean. They're not doing the basics of the Christian faith. And if you're not living the Christian life, well, of course that's bondage, because the Christian life is one of freedom. The Christian life is one of victory. And so we deny the basics. And then because we deny the basics, we say, I don't wanna diet. I don't wanna exercise. I don't wanna rest, just give me the pill. Give me the weight loss pill. Give me the fad diet. And that's what we do spiritually. I don't wanna really live like that. I don't wanna live with a life devoted to the word. I don't wanna have a lifestyle, or I don't wanna have a lifestyle of disciplining my thoughts and minds. Give me the quick fix. And it produces superstition, rituals, religion, powerless form of living. So number one, honor the basics. Number two, spend time in God's presence. Number three, know the word. Number four, live clean. Now we're gonna get into something here. Before I do, if you're enjoying this teaching, it's helping you to see things more clearly. Go ahead and leave a like right now. When you like this video, whether live or on replay, it actually helps to spread this teaching even further. So I'm asking our spirit family, get behind this teaching, help spread it all around the world by simply leaving a like. Now number five, this is where we're really gonna begin to dissect some things. Now let me be clear with you here. I am not trying to be controversial. I'm just teaching what the Bible says. Now many times I've met Christians and they come to me, they say, brother David, you know, I felt attacked by what you said about this, this and this. And here usually is my reply. Usually I'll say something like, I'm not trying to attack you. I'm presenting truth. But here's the real question. If you feel attacked when someone presents biblical truth, maybe it's time to change your beliefs. If you feel like your beliefs are being attacked when someone presents biblical truths, maybe the problem isn't with scripture. Maybe the problem is what you believe. And again, we're gonna touch more on this. I'll be sharing my testimony in a later point here. But we're gonna go through some hard truths right now. And this is gonna be surgery of the soul, okay? This is gonna be something that may be difficult for some to receive. And I understand that, but I'm not saying it to upset you. I'm saying it because I love you and I wanna help you. And I wanna see you go for it. I don't wanna see you stuck in a cycle constantly needing freedom, constantly under attack, constantly tormented in the mind. There's a reason why what you've been doing hasn't worked. And I know that's not everyone watching, but there are some watching who've just been in a cycle again and again and again. And I'm telling you, the truth will set you free. And neither, please, for the record, neither am I attacking any pastor, any ministry, and I don't do that. I don't engage in that sort of thing. I believe I've been entrusted with something very special in this ministry. I respect the sacredness of this platform. I don't involve myself in drama or anything like that. This is an attack against anyone. You may say, well, so-and-so teaches this and so-and-so teaches that. And I heard that, you know, God bless them. This is not about them. Nor was there anyone in mind or any camp or any belief system, or I should say denomination in mind when I put this together. This is just the biblical truth being presented. I don't attack people. I address points. And the reason I say this is because I've met with several people who are somewhat offended by these teachings. And look, I love you, but I cannot do anything but teach the word. I'm not going to be intimidated and I'm not going to be swayed. I stand on the word. And so there is someone watching right now. You've been struggling with these things. And the truths I'm about to present, they're going to shock you a little bit. And that shock is good. And as you'll learn in a later portion of this live stream, the shock was very real for me too. But I want you to know I love you and I'm doing this in my love of the Lord for you. Why? Because the truth will set you free. The truth is what matters. And the truth by itself can be controversial and offensive. Well, think about how Jesus upset the religious leaders. That's what this teaching will do. But I do it, I want you to know this. I do it because I love you. I do it because I want you to be free. So having said that, we have to get this right. If you don't diagnose the sickness, you cannot apply the correct treatment. If you don't diagnose the problem properly, you'll never find the cure. If someone is diagnosed with cancer, when really what they have is something else, then the cancer treatment isn't going to do what they need it to do. If someone says that they have a flu when they actually have something else, then the treatment's meant to help with the symptoms of that flu aren't really going to do anything. If you have a broken arm and I give you treatment for the flu, what good does that do for your arm? And this is precisely why many Christians never find the solution. Because they're trying to use a solution that biblically isn't for their problem, it's for something else. As I go through step number five, we're going to draw a clear distinction between how demons can attack believers and how demons can attack unbelievers. It's important we answer this question correctly. Number five, identify the demon possessed. So number one is honor the basics, number two, time in God's presence, number three, know the word, number four, live clean, and number five, identify the demon possessed. So now that you've done the basics, now that you've spent time in God's presence, you're living clean, you know the word, you're doing the basics, so you're walking in victory, now God wants to use you. Now God wants to use your life to affect change in those around you. And if he's going to do that, you have to learn to discern who is demon possessed and who is simply under the influence of a demonic attack and there's a major difference. So this first question, who can be possessed by the devil or by a demon? It is a well-established biblical fact that Christians cannot be demon possessed. Now I know, when I say that, for some that's like, whoa, wait a minute, hold on, hold on, I've heard differently. That's okay, let's talk through this. You know, there may be some stories you can tell, maybe some things you've experienced, you could say, wait a minute, wait a minute, no, I heard of a pastor who was demon possessed or my friend was a really spirit-filled, powerful on fire Christian and they were demon possessed or maybe you yourself believed that you were demon possessed. I don't want to discount your experience, but I'm going to show you how to interpret your experience to the scriptures because something definitely did happen. There definitely was spiritual activity, but I'm going to show you what that was. You'll never see in the New Testament, believers going to deliverance sessions or services. They walked in victory. Now Christians can be affected by demons, Christians can be influenced by demons and Christians do need deliverance, which I'll explain in a moment, but Christians need deliverance from deception, not possession. It is a religious mindset that keeps one bound. It is a religious mindset that keeps the believer stuck in that frame of reference of constantly needing deliverance. Now, let me show you some of the ideas that people have surrounding this idea of Christian demon possession. I'm going to show you why this is not exactly biblically the case. Let's break these down because maybe these are some things that you believe and this will help you to kind of go, okay, let's dissect this and let's put this all in proper perspective because the truth is you definitely had an experience. You definitely had a spiritual encounter and there's something to be said of our experiences and stories. So how do we interpret all this description? Let me show you. There's a biblical defense. For instance, someone will say, well, Christians are a body, a soul and a spirit. First Thessalonians 5.23. The devil, they'll say, can't affect your body because the Holy Spirit dwells in your body and the devil can't affect your spirit because your spirit is your spirit man. And then the idea is, well, your soul can be possessed by a demon because there's nothing in the Bible that says that the Holy Spirit dwells in your soul. He only dwells in your spirit as one with your spirit and in your body because your body's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Well, the problem with this is that never in the scripture do we see anything about soul possession. If you look at demon possession from a biblical standpoint, in every narrative where you see a demonic encounter, it was always about the demonic being taking control or influence or possession over that person's physical body. So there's nothing in the scripture that talks about this soul possession. Furthermore, if a demonic being did have possession over your soul, then now he has control over your free will, which is not something that even God allows himself to control. So this notion of soul possession is not only not biblical, it's anti-biblical against what the scripture actually teaches concerning the free will of man and how demons interact with the human being. Now, some will say, okay, well, maybe not possession, but demonization or oppression. And I understand that those are terms that we use to try to basically say a Christian version of demon possession. Now, oppression, if you mean, when you say oppression, if you mean influence, then that's a consistent, a biblically consistent way to say it. But I prefer to not even use the term oppression because it's actually synonymous with the term possession. So this idea of a lesser form of possession for Christians, that's not even biblical because we know that the believer is owned by God. This, again, is a pretty solid biblical standpoint. You're on very solid ground if you believe that Christians can't be demon possessed. Again, they can't be influenced. We'll get into that in a moment. But let's start here. Let's start with what's perfectly clear in the Bible. And really, I thank God that the debate around this area is really starting to settle as this generation starts to see this very clearly in scripture. And I think it's good. Each generation needs to go through this wrestling with theology, and we all need to be asking questions and looking to the scripture. It's part of the process of humility and coming before the word and saying, Lord, teach me. That's very good that we ask these questions and that we have these conversations that we explore these topics. But once the scripture has spoken clearly, it's at that point, we have to say, okay, Lord, I surrender, I was wrong on this, and that's okay to do. That's perfectly in line with what is actually consistent with the Christian walk, is that we correct these things sometimes. So again, if by oppression you mean the Christian version, the demon possession, that's not biblical. But if by oppression you mean demonic influence, okay, then that's a perfectly biblically consistent way to use that term. But we mustn't just create these terms. And I think about the fact that, there's the asymptomatic demoniac as if you could have a demon possessing you without symptoms. This has led to a lot of paranoia in the Christian world, especially people who deal with anxiety, who deal with OCD, who deal with mental illness. You put this thought in their head and it's actually psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually damaging to get people to be this paranoid that they could have a demon and not even know it. Every instance of demonic possession in scripture was very clear, was very obvious, and came with certain signs which I'll give you in a moment. So there's no such thing as an asymptomatic demoniac. Again, we'll address your experience. You may say, well, I didn't know I had a demon and then this happened. I'll address that in just a moment. How can I belong to anyone else if I belong to God? This is something that's never really been answered. And again, when I believed that Christians can be demon possessed, after studying it, I can tell you, there really is no answer to this question. There's this, they dismiss this question. I used to dismiss this question, but there's really nothing in scripture that would contradict the sentiment of that question, which is that I'm owned by God and no devil can possess me. Influence, yes, okay, we're on the same page there. Now you may say, okay, Brother David, I've seen this happen as I mentioned a moment ago. Brother David, I've seen it happen. My pastor was demon possessed or I was demon possessed or someone I know and love was demon possessed. Here's where it gets tricky now. And this is where some hard truth needs to come to the front line. If someone is demon possessed or showing signs of demon possession, either they're not really demon possessed or they're not really a true spirit-filled believer. Now I know that's harsh, but it's the only way to answer this question if we're to be biblically consistent. Now I like to be merciful in how I respond to this and I assume the better. I don't say, well, they're probably not really saved. Instead I say they're probably not really demon possessed. So what could this be then? This reaction too, that when a Christian reacts and seems to manifest. Well, keep in mind that often these people who react this way have had a lot of teaching, a lot of programming, a lot of things that they've learned that tell them how they should behave if they want to be free. So imagine a Christian who's so desperate to finally be free and they're hearing nothing but teaching about how if you truly wanna be free, you have to go through an exorcism and this is what an exorcism looks like. Well, that's to pray upon the desperation of a believer, which I used to do unknowingly, that is to pray upon the desperation of someone to be free and therefore cause them to act and behave in a way that they think is going to ultimately result in them being delivered from a demon that doesn't actually possess them. Now, ironically, it's not that they get delivered from a demon. It's that they get delivered from the belief that they had a demon which can be just as liberating, but this explains, by the way, why they keep having to come back. Christians go to deliverance almost like going to the chiropractor and I don't say that to be facetious. It is a little comedic in some sense, but in the greater sense, it's actually quite tragic and I don't mean to make light of the situation. I wanna bring a little levity to the topic because it's such a heavy topic, but let's be real here. Some Christians do operate in this cycle where they're never really free and if you're wondering why that is, I'm showing you. It's because you're addressing a problem that isn't there by using a solution that doesn't work, that would only work for the unbeliever who's actually possessed. So a Christian who goes in believes they can have a demon. Well, then what's to prevent them from becoming demon-possessed again? Well, now they have to live a paranoid lifestyle. Now, some may say, brother David, you're tickling ears now. You're telling people what they wanna hear that they can't be demon-possessed. Well, actually, that's not the case. Tickling ears would be to tell them, actually, you are demon-possessed because now they don't have to take up the responsibility of their flesh. They wanna be told you need deliverance and what they need is discipline. They don't want to do the basics. They don't want to do the work of the basics of spiritual practice and so that would be tickling ears telling them that it's demon-possession. This is the harsh truth that we need. Now, some would say, wait a minute, there's biblical examples of demon-possession. Well, actually, no. Let's take a look at some of the things that people think are examples of Christians being demon-possessed but actually turn out or not the case. Judas, for example, and Satan entered him. Satan certainly entered him. Two things, A, this was before the finished work of the cross and B, there's a great debate about whether Judas was even truly born again to begin with. In fact, I don't believe that he was, particularly because his motive was never Jesus. His goal was never Jesus and having a relationship with Jesus. His goal was never to please the Lord. His goal was always dominating the Roman government and worldly things. So his mind was never really on the things of God and in fact, he was never really among us as Paul's teachings tell us that he left us because he was never really among us. So Judas is not an example of a Christian being demon-possessed. Well, what about Peter? When Jesus said to him, get thee behind me, Satan. Well, two things here. Number one, that in the Greek is talking about him being adversarial to the finished work that Christ was trying to complete or to the work of the cross that Christ was trying to complete. And what Jesus was telling Peter was that he was acting in the place of the adversary, not that he was possessed. Otherwise, why didn't Peter go through a deliverance session? He didn't need it because he wasn't possessed. And it was only to say that he was acting against the will of God, not to say that Satan had literally taken up residence in his being. That is quite a stretch. And you'll notice with a lot of these types of teachings, there's a real stretch that has to be made. I call it scriptural gymnastics. A real stretch that has to be made to make these things work when in fact they don't work. What about Ananias and Sapphira? Why has Satan filled your heart to lie? Well, this is influence unto action. It never says here that he had taken up residence in their physical being, the heart being a part of the soul, which we know is not something that can be possessed by a demonic being, namely because of the free will that man has in God himself will not overcome that free will. There's other reasons why we can teach on why soul possession isn't a reality biblically, but for the sake of brevity, it's very clear here that this was influence unto action. And if this was demonic possession, why were they held so accountable for their decisions? If this is an example of demonic possession, Christians being demon possessed, then death not deliverance is the solution. We can thank God that Ananias and Sapphira is definitely not an example of Christians being demon possessed. And then we see in Matthew 15, doesn't the Bible teach that deliverance is the children's bread? Well, first of all, this is an interaction that Jesus is having with a woman who is outside of the Jewish sphere that God was ministering to at the time. So this has nothing to do with demonic possession. Rather, this has everything to do with Jesus talking about the fact that he came first to the Jew and then would come to the Gentile. This was an example of how God would work through faith for the Gentiles and nothing more than that. Yes, there was demonic possession involved, but this narrative is primarily about how God would ultimately save both Jew and Gentile, how this is even used for, how this is even used for the idea that Christians can be demon possessed is beyond me. Not even close, guys. If there's anything that's been far from the actual thing that people are trying to use these scriptures to say, it's this particular portion of scripture. Matthew 15 is in no way about how Christians can be demon possessed. I don't even know where that comes from. And if it was true that Jesus was talking about deliverance being the children's bed, well, then deliverance is not necessarily exorcism. Why do we automatically assume deliverance from demonic possession for New Testament believers? Christians, yes, need deliverance, but as we see throughout scripture and as I'm gonna show you in a moment, it's not necessarily possession Christians need deliverance from. It's actually something else and I'll show you what it is. So no, Matthew 15 is not a good example. It's not even close. It's not even close. I wouldn't even say this is debatable. There are some that maybe the Judas one, slightly debatable. Matthew 15, not even close. What about the portion of scripture who has bewitched you? Well, that New Testament saying is really just talking about deception. It translates literally in the Greek, who has deceived you, who has caused you to fall under the spell of deception. This, again, it's forced to try to say that there's demonic possession involved here. It's not even close. What about Acts chapter eight where Philip was casting out demons out of those who listened intently to his message? Well, there were many people who listened intently to Jesus teach and the disciples teach who weren't necessarily believers. Listening intently is not the same as believing faith and faith that produces salvation. So none of these are examples of Christian demon possession. We could take 20, 30 minutes on each one. I'm just kind of surveying them real briefly. None of these are examples of Christians being demon possessed, not even close. And every other example that would be brought forth to say here's an example of Christians being demon possessed, every single other example fails at least a little bit of biblical study will show that. And this is something I learned through my own study as the Lord began to reveal this to me and I had to correct it, guys, in me. Now, at this point, some may say, well, I'm confused now. I don't know what to believe because I'm hearing two different things. This is the danger of not aligning with scripture. This is the danger of not having the firm foundation of this. It's not this biblical truth that's bringing confusion. It's when we try to hang on to those beliefs that are not biblical and merge them with biblical truths which simply cannot compliment those, I shall say, inaccuracies that we believe. This is why we have to avoid not bowing to the scripture. This is why we have to avoid stubbornness because the programming makes it impossible to receive what the truth of the Bible actually says. Now, why is this such a point of contention? This is a point of contention because, and I know we're spending some time on this, we have to because I'm talking about casting demons out of people and identifying demons, identifying real cases of demonic possession. This is why it's important that we have to make sure that we're accurately approaching the scripture. The reason this is such a point of contention, I'm gonna expose something here and again, this is going to set you free. The reason this is such a point of contention because if you believe that Christians can be demon possessed, oh my goodness, this opens up a whole another world, a whole different world. This makes the rituals necessary. This makes the incantations necessary. This makes the superstitious protocols necessary. That is why this is such a point of contention because sometimes we base whole theologies around very weak beliefs and the moment those beliefs have holes poked in them, that's when defensiveness comes out. That's when we get upset, why? Because it's threatening the whole thing. I'm just telling you the truth. I gain nothing from teaching this. If I wanted to, I could just teach the, what I used to teach on spiritual warfare, have some fun, get some clicks and views and we'd all be happy, but I refuse to do that because I care about you. And I boldly declare this truth that you might be set free. John the Baptist upset the religious leaders. Jesus upset the religious leaders. Sometimes we have to upset some thought patterns if we want to see people go free. Now right now you may be resisting this and this is not everyone. There's a very small percentage of people who watch this channel who would be resisting this. Most of you, I know you've been with me for a while, most people who watch this channel are familiar with biblical teachings on these topics. But I'm talking to that one right now who's being challenged by this because again the first reaction is to recoil to become defensive, to get angry at me, to start attacking me in your mind but let's look at what the scripture says here. This is why it's important that we address these truths that we might not get stuck in superstition. If you do away with that one piece, Christians having demons, once you pull that out there's a whole bunch of theological errors that go with it and that's why we fight so hard for it. Now, there is a difference between a stronghold and demon possession. So Christians need deliverance. Don't let anyone tell you that I say that Christians don't need deliverance. Christians need deliverance from strongholds which are rooted in deception. Unbelievers sometimes need deliverance by way of exorcism because of demonic possession, the actual possession of their body. That can't happen to a Christian. Christians can be influenced by demons to the lies they believe they cannot be possessed. And the way for a believer to gain freedom isn't to repeat the same ineffective cycles again and again and again and again. Rather, it's to finally grab hold of the truth, start believing that truth, practicing that truth and then ultimately seeing the freedom that comes long term. I can't tell you the thousands of testimonies I've had from people who've told me, David, I was stuck in a cycle. Mentally tormented, constantly paranoid, constantly fighting this battle. And finally, when I came to know the truth, I was free and then they've been free permanently. That's what I want for you more than anything. That's what I want you to have but it's gonna take first humbling ourselves before the word. We may not like that but it's an explanation that's consistent with scripture. Now strongholds work through deception. The believer comes to think things, then fill things, then act on things, then habits are formed and that produces a stronghold. You know, the demons don't even need to possess believers. The devil doesn't even need to possess Christians if he can get them to believe his deception. Because if we can believe his deception, then we'll do all the self-talk. We'll do all the self-deception. We'll buy our own free will walk in disobedience if he can simply deceive us. So some Christians are doing the enemy's work for him and then blaming a devil on it. When in fact it's a lie they're believing at the root that ultimately produces a bondage in their lives. Now breaking this cycle comes from truth. Not from deliverance to deliverance but from glory to glory. It's amazing to me that Christians get so offended when you tell them they can't be demon possessed. Like people love the idea that they can be possessed. I don't understand that it's a strange thing to me. Now this doesn't mean your experience is invalid. Let me tell you something, you've had these experiences. This is why some people get defensive because you're saying, well, wait a minute, are you saying my experience doesn't count? Are you saying what I went through wasn't true? No, no, I'm not saying what you went through wasn't real. What I'm saying rather is that what you went through has to be interpreted through the scripture. You were not possessed if you were a Christian. Rather you were believing a lie. Maybe you were believing the lie that you were possessed and so you produced these symptoms in yourself but to believe that lie, that's what produces the bondage. You just need to come to know the truth. The greatest he who's in you than he that is in the world, that you're victorious in Christ, that you don't have to settle for a lifestyle of bondage. You can be free once and for all finally. And that's all I wanna tell you on that. Now Christians don't need exorcism but they do need deliverance from stronghold which comes by truth. Now you may be saying this doesn't feel right in my spirit but ask yourself it doesn't feel right in your spirit or it bothers you because it's different than what you've been taught. This is what we have to be real about and you know it's of the Holy Spirit when it aligns with the word. You can't say this doesn't feel right in my spirit if something's based on scripture. Humility, humility, humility, humility. So if Christians can't be possessed who do we cast demons out of? This is the big question, okay? So Christians can't be demon possessed. They can be influenced. Yes, we have to acknowledge that. Christians can be influenced. How do Christians get free? They need deliverance from strongholds by the way of prayer and truth, period. Should Christians ever undergo anything that even resembles an exorcism? No. Should Christians ever be in a situation where a demon is speaking through them? No. Have Christians in the New Testament gone through deliverance sessions? No. Do we see any instructions in the New Testament for Christians on how to cast out devils from other Christians? No, we do not see that. So we side with the truth, but we do need freedom from strongholds. So who do we see demons coming out of? In every instance, in all of scripture, every person who had a demon come out of them was not a born again believer. You must cast devils out of unbelievers. Now, how can that be? Because I can already tell what many might be asking, because I'm taking you through my thought process here and how the Lord corrected me. So I thought, well, wait a minute, Lord, wait a minute, Lord, I can't cast devils out of unbelievers because if I cast devils out of unbelievers, then the devil's gonna come back seven times worse. Well, watch this. Here's where that misunderstanding comes from. Luke chapter 11, verses 24 through 26. When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert searching for rest. Well, when it finds none, it says, I will return to the person I came from. So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven others more evil than itself and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. Now, the scripture here in other gospel narratives and in other translations makes it clear that this person was empty. So they weren't filled with another spirit. They didn't have the Holy Spirit. They couldn't be a born-again believer. Now, does the enemy come back around to attack Christians? Absolutely. But can he gain ownership over their body? No, he'll come back around to deceive you, but he can't come back to you to possess you. In the case of unbelievers, though, we look at the scripture and we say, okay, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You can't cast devils out of unbelievers because then the Bible says it's gonna come back seven times worse. Let me give you four reasons why this is just not the case. Number one, this doesn't account for not being promised tomorrow. Someone is possibly going to hell and they're battling with the demonic power that's keeping them deceived. And I'm trying to minister to the gospel to them and they're bound by demonic power, but I say, no, I can't cast the devil out of them because they're not saved and they may not receive salvation. So I'm gonna let them go. Wait a minute, you just let a soul go that may possibly go to hell. They may die in the next 24 hours, but you couldn't cast it out because oh, your religion told you so. That's what the Pharisees would do. This is to put religion, the second point, this is to put religion over compassion like Jesus healing on the Sabbath. You can't heal on the Sabbath. You can't cast devils out of unbelievers. It's the same religious mindset. And so we also fail to consider number three. That saying we shouldn't cast demons out of an unbeliever because they may end up worse is like saying that we shouldn't evangelize the lost because they may backslide. What is this thinking? I'm not gonna cast it out of you because the demon may come back and it may be worse. You may find yourself in a worse circumstance. What is it that's religion, that's religion, that's religion, it's superstition. I can't cast it out of you. I'm gonna leave you in torment. I'm gonna leave you in your bondage because my religion tells me so. Because protocol says I can't cast it out of you. That's the thought process of the Pharisees. Meanwhile, there are people who are bound, demon possessed, and we won't do it because our theology tells us so. That's to leave people bound. And it breaks my heart to know that that's happening. And God's called you to drive devils out of the unbelievers. That's what you ought to be doing. And also number four, we fail to consider that deliverance can lead to repentance. Deliverance can lead to repentance. Who knows that by casting that devil out of that person that they're not gonna ultimately come to follow Christ? Well, didn't the demoniac come to follow Christ after he had the demon cast out of him? Didn't Mary follow Jesus after she had the devils cast out of her? Deliverance can lead to salvation. People having their demons expelled from them, the torment leaving them. They say, who's this God that you serve that set me free? And then they come to know the power of the cross. They come to know Jesus. That's why we should cast devils out of unbelievers. So now that we know, and it's been reestablished, that demons cannot possess Christians, but they can influence Christians. And we know that demons can possess unbelievers. I'm gonna give you some signs of being who may think differently. And I wanna keep reestablishing this fact. I'm not your enemy, nor am I attacking you. That's a victim mentality to say, oh, he's attacking me. No, I'm just presenting truth. And I do this on every subject, on the prophetic, on healing, on finances, on salvation, on sin. I present the word and I will not be intimidated. I have to preach the word and it's for your own benefit. So I say this to you as sort of an olive branch, again, to the many viewers who are watching in that small percentage who say, I don't know, I'm kind of on the fence about this. Just know this, I love you. And I understand where you're coming from because I myself was in this same boat. Having said that, let's continue to look here. Let's continue to weigh the scripture. True signs of demonic possession. Now don't use this list and become paranoid. Don't say this, and don't say this is like, oh my gosh, the final list, David gave it to me. He said this to me and now anytime I see any one of these signs, I'm automatically gonna assume that they're possessed. Well, these are just indicators, okay? Like you're gonna see these definitely in demon-possessed people, but not everyone who exhibits every single one of these traits is definitely demon-possessed. So use this with true discernment. This is what we see in the word of God. Mark chapter five verses one through 16, we see from the narrative where Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the man, we see many different signs here. So number one, in Mark five verse three, we see that morbid thinking is one of the signs of demonic possession. This is to be obsessed with death. He was among the tombs. We also see supernatural ability. That's also in verse three. Verse four, we see violence or barbaric behavior. Verse five, we see mental instability. Now remember, demons can cause mental illness, but not all mental illness is because of demon possession. That's just one of the possible signs here. Self-harm, that's a possible sign of demon possession. Discomfort in God's presence, that's a big one. And by the way, pastors and ministers, remember that sometimes people come to your services for deliverance and other times people come to your services to disrupt and you gotta know the difference. So morbid thinking, supernatural ability, violence or barbaric behavior, mental instability, self-harm, discomfort in God's presence. The fortune teller, we see in Acts chapter 16. We see addiction. She was addicted to, she was bound in slavery. We see obsession with the occult. Oh, that's a big one, you guys. Obsession with the occult. Contempt for God's authority. She was mocking the disciples. That contempt for God's authority. In the instance of the demon possessed boy in Mark nine, we see suicidal tendencies. In the instance of Jesus' healing ministry in Acts chapter 10, we see that sickness can be a sign of demonic possession. Demonic possession can cause sickness, but not all sickness means demonic possession. We also see doctrines of demons. So unbiblical doctrines. This is 1 Timothy four. So unbiblical doctrines can be a sign of demonic possession. A manipulative personality like a cult leader or a narcissist. These are signs of demonic possession because that's the power at work in them. When we look at Saul in 1 Samuel 16, we see three main things. Torment, depression, and fear. So signs of demonic possession, things to look for. Again, these are an aggregate and just because someone is a little fearful or maybe a little depressed, doesn't automatically mean you start smacking them over the head with the Bible and saying you got a devil time to vomit in this bucket. No, it just means here are some indicators that could potentially mean that the person is demon possessed. I'll list them again. These are from Mark five, Acts 16, Mark nine, Acts 10, 1 Timothy four, and 1 Samuel 16. Here they are. Morbid thinking, supernatural ability, violence or barbaric behavior, mental instability, self-harm, discomfort in God's presence, suicidal tendencies, sickness, unbiblical doctrines, manipulative personality, torment, depression, and fear. Now, once you've identified these signs, what do you do next? I'm gonna take a look at the chat, see how we're doing and then we're gonna proceed to the next point. Chat is doing amazing over here. I'm gonna read the chats as they come in, but they're pretty excited, Steve. Yeah, there have been so many questions so far. I love it. Keep the questions coming, guys. So those teaching and doing wrong doctrine deliverance actually are oppressed by demonic doctrine. No, no, no, no, no, no. That is not what I'm saying. I'm saying, and again, that's why I gave this this qualifier at the beginning of what I was saying. I'm not saying that everyone who airs in doctrine is demon oppressed. I'm sure there's some things that I teach that are still in error that I'm gonna correct as the years go by. What I'm saying is that can be a sign of demonic oppression or demonic possession in the case of the unbeliever possession, the believer, oppression. But I'm not saying that just because someone doesn't agree with us doctrinally that they're oppressed by devils. No, let's not go that far. Can you fast and eat breakfast, lunch, or after every meal or just fast? Well, that's a fasting question. We'll get to that at the end. So are you saying that Christians can't have arthritis, demons, spirit of infirmity? Christians can definitely be affected by illness. But remember, well, demons can cause sickness. Not all sickness is caused by devils. So a Christian can be sick without necessarily being possessed. We're not talking about possession or control over your physical capacities. Demons can attack the physical body in two ways, and they're always vicarious ways. Number one, they can attack you through sickness. This does not mean they own you or possess you or that you need an exorcism. It just means that it's a physical attack. And number two, they can attack you through the means of a demonically possessed person who harms you. So that's the way that demons can attack Christians physically. It's vicariously using things that exist in the material world, sickness, and demon-possessed people. But this does not mean that if you have arthritis, you need an exorcism. That would be unbiblical. So yeah, spirit of infirmity. Again, we're not talking about affecting your body, guys. We're talking about demonic control over your physical and mental capacities as a result of affecting the brain, not the mind as in the soul. Let me see here. We got a lot of comments coming. Pastor David Schizophrenia means someone's demon-possessed. It could mean that case, but again, you have to look at all the signs in aggregate and go from there. Living clean, what do you mean? Can someone that is in sin be clean? I'm talking about living a lifestyle of repentance and not just falling into a lifestyle of sin. When Christians are delivered from demons, they must learn to resist the enemy with the word. That's right, and Christians do need deliverance. This is something that people often misunderstand because when I say Christians don't need exorcism, they hear Christians don't need deliverance. Why? Because they think exorcism is the only form of deliverance when it's not. Emily says such a solid and great teaching. Well, I appreciate that. Nebulous, can you explain the body, soul, and spirit more complexly? Yeah, I have some teachings here on that. We'll get to that at the Q&A. How about the woman that Jesus healed? She was the daughter of Abraham. I addressed that in Matthew 15 when they say that deliverance is the children's bread. I addressed that in a former point here. Okay guys, I love the questions. And Steve, you're saying the chat's doing well. Oh yeah, chat's doing great. You guys are doing amazing. Continue throughout this stream to ask questions here. I'm gonna be looking out for as many as possible throughout this stream. Okay guys, also, if you're a first time viewer or maybe even watching us for a while and you're enjoying this teaching, you're saying, you know what, I love deliverance ministry. I love spiritual warfare teachings, but I want something biblically balanced. This is the channel for you. Have a lot of teachings on spiritual warfare, the Holy Spirit and prayer and so forth. Subscribe to EncounterTV, click that notification bell when you do. We're all about word and spirit, biblically balanced spirit field. Make sure to subscribe. Okay, number six. Here's the sixth and final key. I probably should have used seven because now some conspiracies there will say, oh, there's six points. That's the devil's and our man's number. So step number one, honor the basics. I'm only joking. Guys, I joke for the sake of levity. Please don't, please don't get all religious on me. Step number one, honor the basics. Step number two, time in God's presence. Step number three, know the word. Step number four, live clean. Step number five, identify the demon possessed. So we know biblically speaking. It's true that Christians cannot be demon possessed. And then number six, speak the command. Now you may say, brother David, this doesn't sound all that detailed. This sounds like just some very basic Christian living and then speaking a command. That's it, you got it. But the reason I did it this way is because we had to expel some, how shall I say, not so biblically consistent thinking if we're gonna truly walk in power. Now, if you wonder why I keep coming back and trying to be diplomatic, is because it is my goal to see people have their minds changed. It is my goal to see people leave one mind frame and come to another. That's important because that's how you grow. And in fact, we've received thousands of testimonies from people who they say, at first I couldn't stand your teachings. Then I started watching them more just to criticize. And then they started to make sense. And then things started to click and now I'm completely convinced that what I believed was not biblical. In fact, guys, even people in deliverance ministries have written to me and said, we've completely changed the way we go about it and it's become more effective now. There's more peace and joy and love. There's more of a presence of the spirit on what we do. And it's really a beautiful thing when you do this and we are seeing it where I'm telling you, like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people have watched many of these spiritual warfare teachings. And what we're seeing is an army rising to say, I want the power of the Holy Ghost. I want it to be based on the word. I want to see devils defeated and people go free. I want to see that power go forward. That's why you'll notice in this teaching I'm being more diplomatic. I want to stop and talk to the one who disagrees. I want to make sure you know I'm not against you. I'm for you. I want to make sure you know that this is absolute biblical truth. I want to make sure that you can take this journey with us so that you can walk in the fullness of the power of the Holy Ghost. Number six, speak the command. After you've practiced the basics, the moment you speak that command, it's done. Now I'm going to explain why sometimes that doesn't seem to be the case as I tell you my story. When I first started in ministry, I was very aware of the demonic realm. I was very aware that demons needed to be cast out of people. And I really didn't know how to do it. I remember ministering at a conference one day and I'm praying for people to be set free from their bondages. It was a youth conference. Teenagers are going out under the power of God. They're getting filled with the Holy Spirit. And I leave that service and as I'm exiting the lobby, there's this gentleman who stops me in the lobby and he says, hey, I want to talk to you. I said, okay, I'm all ears. He was a leader in the church that I was ministering at. And he said to me, he goes, I want to tell you something and it may be offensive too. He goes, but I want you to know that most of those kids you prayed for are leaving with demons in them. And I was like, oh my goodness, concern me. I was worried. I said, really? I said, teach me. I said, I don't want to be leaving people with demons in them. Help me do deliverance. Help me learn this. So this gentleman took me to a church. It was that same night actually or it could have been the next night, but it was relatively close to the time that he had this conversation with me. He takes you to the church. He shows me an exorcism. He's casting demons out. And I remember I spent hours and hours and hours learning from this man. And here's some of the things I learned that I practiced. Things like having the angels stab the demon or speaking certain power words like the blood or the glory. Doing these long drawn out rituals. And here's some of the mistakes I made when I first started doing it. I would do these drawn out sessions. Guys, I would spend hours, like six or seven hours casting demons out. I kid you not. It was a major part of the ministry. In fact, people were starting to know me as like the demon guy. And I thank God, I'm not the demon guy anymore. I thank God I'm the Holy Spirit guy. But this is at the time that's what people knew me as. You know, you have a demon, take them there. And there were many real and true deliverances that happened. There's one man to this day. He's in ministry. He shared his testimony on our ministry program. He was completely delivered, but not because of what I was doing, but despite what I was doing. I would do these drawn out sessions. I would interview the demon. What is your name? How did you get in? What's your favorite color? I didn't ask it that, I'm joking. But you know, these interviews, these questions, and it was basically berating the person trying to give them the answer. And looking back now, I can see that they were just kind of searching for answers. Like they just kind of said random things. And you know, I would interview the demon. I would apply strange tactics like as I alluded to, you know, angels stab them. You name it, I was doing it. And here's the problem. I was insisting and implying like, oh, you need to throw up, you need to throw up. Now you hear me talk about that a lot. Look, if someone throws up in a deliverance because they're having an emotional, physical response to a deliverance that's happening, that's all well and good. What I have an issue with is when they're told you have to throw up in order to be free. And this is what I did. I said, I would tell people that's how you know the demon is coming out. You know, like when you work out, you have a very, especially if you haven't worked out in a long time, if you do a real intense workout, you vomit because your body's going through a lot of stress. So if you put someone through six or seven hours of stress, they're gonna vomit, especially if they're screaming and yelling, they're gonna feel that urge to do so. I didn't know that at the time. And in my ignorance, my sincerity, but in my ignorance, I would say things like, well, that's how you know the devil's coming out is when you throw up. And so people were encouraged to, you know, I would hit on that very sensitive, in their mind that sensitive gag reflex, you know, that was psychosomatic and was a power of suggestion at that point, and I would tell them, you know, you have to vomit in order to be free. Now here's the main issue, here's the main issue. I thought it was done in my own power. Think about the real problem with doing it this way. When you do it this way, you are implying that you're the solution because it's not a matter of, oh, it's the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit. Remember simplicity, I gave you the six keys. In short, do the basics, be saved and fill with the Holy Spirit and speak the command and it'll work. If that doesn't work, there's something wrong, guys. And if you lack that authority, no amount of ritual can make up for what you lack in authority. The reason you have to use rituals, the reason you have to use these protocols, the reason you have to spend hours telling them to go, to go, to go is precisely because you're limiting the authority by stepping in the place of the Holy Spirit and telling them, thanks for your authority, but I got this. As if God and the Holy Spirit is looking down at the session goes, I'm ready to move, I'm ready to drive that devil out, but I can't do it unless you know the name. I'm ready to drive that devil out, but I can't do it unless you go back to when they were seven years old and reveal the root. I'd like to drive the devil out, but I can't let you tell me what type of demon it is. I can't do it unless they've renounced every sin that they've done for the past several decades. That's not the Holy Spirit. And frankly, that's what the problem was and what I was doing is I was doing these rituals and I was trying to fight demonic power with superstition. I was trying to make up for what I lacked in true power with ritual and it worked sometimes. Why? Because the Holy Spirit ultimately got through, but not because of the rituals, but despite the many testimonies, people I prayed for, they can say, oh, they were delivered that way, but looking back now I see I was the one who prolonged it, I was the one who made it difficult, I was the one who worked about mentally and emotionally, making it harder for them to come to that liberty that they had in the Holy Spirit simply by putting their faith in him, and I wasn't recognizing the power of the Holy Spirit. I didn't realize that I was making it more difficult for people to be free. Look, when casting out devils, the only name you need to know is the name of Jesus. There is no spirit more powerful than the Holy Spirit. I don't care what spirit it is and he does not fight them. Can you really imagine the Holy Spirit like arm wrestling these demons? Oh, I almost have them out. Hey, I need more information. I need more information. Give me that information. I almost have them out. I mean, really, it boggles my mind at how deceived I was. And guys, again, this isn't easy to admit to you. It's not easy to repent publicly like this. This was back in 2014, 2015. Actually, really around 2013 is really when I started having to repent of these things. This is not easy. And there are people who will attack me because they think I'm attacking them. I'm not attacking anyone. I'm just telling you the truth. I'm telling you the truth. And this is the reality. You can face it now or you can face it when you stand before God, but this is the truth. This is the reality. Why? How do I know that? It's the scripture. And so we think it's within our own ability. So that's what I was doing in deliverance, man, it's not. Listen to this now. See if you can hear yourself in what I'm saying. Here's how I defended my techniques. When people told me that's not how you do it, here's what I would say. Tell me if any of this sounds familiar in your own heart. I would say, oh, they don't wanna get their hands dirty and help the broken. So I would try to, I was real manipulative. I would say things like, well, they wanna stay on the platform. They don't wanna come down and lay hands on people who are truly in need. They just wanna speak deliverance over them. Well, that's the way to do it. First of all, and second of all, that's a little manipulative to attack someone's character and their motives simply because they disagree with me. That's what I did. I would say they don't wanna get their hands dirty or I would say I have the power and they don't. Or I would say they don't understand the realm of the supernatural. Or I would say, well, they've never dealt like a real, with a real demon. Guys, this is what I would say. They have, okay, that's their theology. They have their theology. I have my experience, not realizing my experience was based in ritual. And I would say, well, they haven't really encountered a true demonic being. Once they really encounter demonic being like I have the demon guy, then they'll know that what they believe is false and that turned out to not be true. Or I would say they don't know as much about me as on spiritual warfare. I'm the demon expert. They're not. Then I would say they lack experience. I would say, well, show me, where are you casting out devil guys? This is how prideful I was. It was such spiritual pride. And again, it's not easy to do this. I feel very vulnerable admitting this to you. But I gotta be honest about where I was with my spiritual pride. I would look at the situation and I would say they're not, well, they're not casting out devils. And really what I was saying is they're not doing my rituals. They were casting out devils. They were seeing people set free from drug addiction. They were seeing people saved and delivered. They just weren't doing it in the way I thought it should be done. They weren't doing it with my added rituals. And because they weren't doing it with my techniques, I said, they're not casting out devils. You guys, it's really not that complex casting devils out. Why? Because of the Holy Spirit within you. They don't respond to your rituals. They respond to that power in you. Then I would say things like, oh, they lack experience. Oh, here's a big one. I would say they're religious. Tell me if you hear this one, guys, in your own heart as you listen to me teaching. Oh, he's just religious. Really? Biblically balanced is religious. Guys, it's not like the Holy Spirit's power and the word are contradicting one another. No, the word is the foundation upon which the Holy Spirit moves. I've seen more demons come out of people doing it God's way, the Holy Spirit's way, the biblical way, than I have ever seen doing it that way. And I'm just giving you the truth that you might practice it in fullness. Now I would say I'm the spiritually elite. They are religious. They are Pharisees. All the Pharisees came against Jesus. We're casting out devils. And then I would say this, this one's real manipulative. Oh my, I can't believe I'm sharing this, but this is how I was, guys. I would say maybe they need deliverance. Honestly, you may even see some comments like that on this teaching. Maybe David needs deliverance. Maybe David's religious. I know these are gonna be what you see. In fact, you're gonna see many of these points. Why? Because this is exactly how I thought. And it was wrong. I was wrong. Or I would say, I don't know, this doesn't sit right in my spirit. Do you know what I really meant by that? This contradicts what I've been taught and I don't like it. I would say, I don't know, something about that guy, something about that woman when they tried to correct me. But the Lord thankfully opened my eyes. So how did the transformation come? Well, the transformation came with me when I began to really study the scripture specifically on this topic. Up until then, I just kind of used what I had in books with scripture references here and there. Or I would read a book and then superimpose that onto the scripture. And then I started just looking at the New Testament church. How did they practice deliverance ministry? It wasn't anything like this. In fact, guys, I'm gonna tell you some things and this may shock you. Many of these techniques are not even biblical. They're New Age. They were the church's response to New Age teaching around the 60s and 70s and became popularized in the 60s and 70s. Some of them, this is gonna shock you. Some of them even responses to the popularity of Scientology and the church's response trying to capitalize on that trend. Look at the history, you'll find that. That's when these teachings started to enter. And so we have to ask ourselves, are we going to do this biblically or ritualistically religiously? Now, notice this. Think about how I defended myself. All those things that I would say, well, they're this, they're religious. Maybe they need deliverance. They never encountered a demon like I have. They don't have experience. Notice how none of those were biblical defenses. Notice how none of those were actually, the scripture does teach this and here's why. Precisely because the Bible doesn't. This is why we mustn't build our identities on what we believe about spirituality. This is why it's so difficult for some people because they built their entire identity, I know I did, around being the demon expert, the demon guy. What does Jesus say? Luke 10, 20, but don't rejoice because evil spirits obey you. Don't even let that be a thing that brings you joy. Rejoice because your names are registered in heaven. So I'm thankful that I belong to God. I'm not rejoicing because I can cast out devils. And sadly, I based my identity around this. That was the ministry. That was what I was known for. And I'm so glad. I'd rather be doing what I'm doing now and there's more fruitfulness to it. There's something special on this ministry and I don't wanna sacrifice that for anything. Why? Because I've said Holy Spirit, when you tell me I'm wrong, I'll say I'm wrong. When you show me in scripture, I'll believe the scripture over my own opinion. And we become stuck in these patterns. It's not of the Holy Spirit. There was a toxic way about my defensiveness. Notice this, that there will always be a toxic manner around false doctrine. Drama and stirrings and controversy always around false doctrine. And that's a very scary thing because that's what I brought. I brought controversy to the local church I was in. I brought controversy to the youth group I was attending. It caused problems. And I even accused the youth pastor of not being a spiritual. I called them, God forgive me, I called them an outer court Christian, Steve. I said, I am the inner court Christian. You're the outer court Christian. And what a prideful thing to do. And the Holy Spirit broke me using his word, thank God. But you don't see Jesus doing it. So let's just look at one example. They say, well, didn't Jesus interrogate the devil? Let's just look at one reference here and I'll show you kind of how to pick these things apart. Mark chapter five versus six to 10 says, when Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him and bowed low before him. With a shriek, he screamed, why are you interfering with me, son of Jesus, son of the most high God? In the name of God, I beg you, don't torture me for Jesus had already said to the spirit, come out of the man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus demanded, what is your name? And he replied, my name is Legion because there are many of us inside this man. Then the evil spirits begged him again and again, not to send them to some distant place. Watch this now, I mentioned to you earlier that I would talk about why the demons would say the name of Jesus. First of all, it was believed in the ancient world that if you could speak an entity or spirit's name that you could gain power over it. So the demons, according to the beliefs of the ancient world would try to exercise authority that they didn't have over Jesus by speaking his name. Call his name to try to say here's my dominance over you, here's my authority over you. So in the ancient world, it was believed that when you spoke an entity or spirit's name that you had power over it. Now, Jesus asks the demon, what is your name? The demon gives the name, notice something here. Jesus did not use the demons name when casting it out. So what was Jesus really demonstrating? He wasn't demonstrating you need to know the demon's name to cast it out, otherwise he would have done it in every instance. What he was demonstrating was I know your name now, everybody knows I know your name, but I'm not even gonna use it because I don't need to know it to cast you out. So ironically, even though this portion of scripture is used to justify interrogating demons, Jesus is actually making the opposite point, which is that he doesn't need the demon's name to drive it out and how much of a revelation it was should be when I saw this. Now, notice the man came to meet him on a side note, meaning his will was still intact so demons didn't have possession over his soul. He asked the name, but not because he couldn't cast it out otherwise. Do you really think Jesus had to have that name to cast it out? No way. He was doing it to prove a point that demon begged on its way out and it was still a relatively instant deliverance. Look at Matthew 8.16, if we were looking at the scripture here that evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus, he cast out the evil spirits with what? A simple command and he healed all the sick. No rituals, no spells, no gimmicks. But what about stubborn demons? Because there are stubborn demons. Now, when you speak that authority, the demon has to obey. So how do you cast out devils? Be a Christian, be spirit filled and command them to go. That's it. The authority of Christ is what drives them out, not anything that we do in our own power. And it really, it's a way, it's like this martyr complex. Oh, oh, I was driving demons out of people. That's how I used to be. Oh, hours, hours, hours. I'm so drained, my spiritual power is so drained. Now I worked so hard driving that demon. Are you kidding me? You come to our services now, ask anybody, any of the pastors who've ever had dinner with me after our service, ask Steve and Ruben and all these guys. After services, I'm going to dinner with pastors and I'm like, all right, I'm ready, I'm charged. I got the power, after this livestream, I'm gonna be charged, why? Because the anointing is flowing, it's lively, it's powerful, it's not in my own strength. If you're drained after casting out a devil, you're not giving from the Holy Spirit's power, you're giving from your own power and that's why you're so tired. So I had this like martyr mentality. But what do you do in the instances when demons seem to be stubborn? Let's look at the scripture to see the answer. Matthew chapter 17, verses 14 through 20. At the foot of the mountain, the large crowd was waiting for them. A man came in now before Jesus and said, Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So I brought him to your disciples but they couldn't heal him. Jesus said, you faithless and corrupt people, he was really upset with them. How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me. And then Jesus rebuked the demon and the boy and it left him from that moment. The boy was well. Afterward, the disciples asked Jesus privately, why couldn't we cast out that demon? You don't have enough faith, Jesus told them. I tell you the truth. If you had faith, even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. Now, as in the instance with the previous verse, we'll see that in other narratives and in other manuscripts that Jesus here said that it comes out through prayer and fasting. But let's say one of those could be correct. Either it's an increase in faith or it's prayer and fasting that does it, but ultimately it is an increase in spiritual discipline. So how do you drive a devil out of someone who doesn't want to go? You fast and you pray or you increase your faith. Those are the two options that scripture gives us. The Bible does not say that if there's a stubborn demon, go searching their house for triangles and then remove the triangles. It does not say go down their history and try to find someone in their family line who you have to name specifically. That's New Ageism. It does not say go down the line and find out all the people they slept with and sever what's called soul ties in the New Age world. A tether connected from one chakra point to the other. That's New Ageism. Bible doesn't say that. The Bible doesn't say, well, you have to pray a specialized prayer. What's the name of the demon? Oh yeah, that's a strong one. Here's the special prayer to get that demon out because then again it's rituals and not the authority of God. So what does it take to drive out stubborn demons? A simple increase in faith or if the other translations are accurate as far as the translations of scripture, prayer and fasting, but it's only one of those two and then you come back to the situation and then you deal with the demon. So it's not the ritual. It's not identifying the source. It's not a magic power of renouncing. Now, if people practice this, guys, please don't be judgmental and cruel. We have to be patient. Everyone's at a different place in their spiritual walk with God. Everyone's at a different place in their growth. So just because someone believes these things doesn't mean you look down on them. Doesn't mean you criticize, don't attack them. Please guys, that is not what this channel is. We are not toxic. We don't deal in drama. We don't deal. You'll never hear me attack another preacher and other Christian and I'm gonna keep it that way because I respect this pulpit. But, but we have to acknowledge these things, but in doing so, we have to realize that some people are gonna believe these things and that's okay. It's not gonna send them to hell. It's just gonna be very ineffective. It's gonna be very inefficient and it's gonna keep people, as I said, in those cycles again and again, constantly thinking that they're possessed when they're not or going about freedom in a ritualized way when all they need is a touch of the Holy Spirit's power through you because of the authority that rests on you because you're in Christ. Now, it's not any of these things that worked. He's saying it's an increase in faith or you fast. That's it. That is what the Bible tells us to do. There are no other options given for, quote, stubborn demons, end quote, that's it. Now, here's where it gets really, really, really a harsh reality we have to deal with. If the demon, as we call it, doesn't come out after you've commanded it to come out and after you've fasted and prayed or increased your faith, then the Bible doesn't give us further options. The Bible doesn't say, okay, now you pull out the rituals, now you pull out the incantations, now you pull out the new age techniques. No, the Bible doesn't say that. So we're left with only a couple options here. Either the person isn't really demon-possessed, which is usually the case. 90% of the time that's the case. They've been worked up emotionally. They heard these teachings. They're acting the way that they've been programmed to act. That's understandable. And I know that's hard to admit because then we feel sometimes, it can make you feel like taking advantage of it. And I know that's hard to admit. I heard it said, and I might butcher the quote, but it goes something like, it's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they've been fooled. And that's why it's so hard because we were going, no, no, no, I couldn't have got it wrong. No, no, no, no, I have the sermon. No, no, no, no, I have the Holy Spirit. No, no, no, this is what I believe. And that's why it's so hard to make that shift. I know that because it's exactly what I went through. But still, the scripture stubbornly stares us in the face. And either we move or we ask the scripture to move. I say you should move. So the first option is that that's not real demonic possession that it could be demonic influence based in deception. So then there's gonna need to be some counseling, some training in how to think according to the word of God. Maybe possibly consistent prayer, not to drive a demon off their body, but to help them walk in the freedom that Christ had him. Again, the difference between strongholds and possession, very important differences. So either the person, if the demon doesn't come out after prayer and fasting, either they're not really possessed and I'm not saying they're faking it. So please don't accuse people of that. They're not faking it, but they really are worked up over something that really is happening to them. You can't deny that they're in torment. You can't deny that they're having nightmares. You can't deny that they're being attacked. But it's how you identify that attack. It's how you define that attack that will ultimately dictate how you go about solving this problem. They might have a mental illness. In fact, that's very often been the case that I've seen and this is why it's so sad. This is why it breaks my heart because people with mental illness, they have it the worst. They have it the worst when they have to deal with these teachings that produce more torment than freedom. It's this constant paranoia. So either they're not really possessed or here's another option. The believer might be confusing demonic possession for a stronghold or a stronghold for demonic possession. It could be a stronghold when actually it's demonic possession. You wanna know more about strongholds. I have a teaching on strongholds here on the channel. It's almost got, I think it's gonna hit a million views in the next couple months. Really, thousands and thousands of people have said it just completely changed their mind. I've had pastors message me saying this is the best teaching on spiritual war I've ever heard and it shifted their view again from all of this stuff to the biblical way of seeing things. So if you wanna know more about strongholds and what I'm talking about, they go check that out. But this gives rise, as I said, to things like spiritual spouses, unholy objects. It produces a cult influence in the church. So that's what you do with strong demons. Now again, there may be some who say, well, wait a minute, my experience says, and this is why I'm not saying your experience didn't happen. I'm not saying it doesn't count. I'm not saying what you're encountering isn't real. I'm saying that you have to define it and understand it to the lens of scripture. Now, let's just recap. How do you cast out devils? Well, it's simple. If you walk with God, you walk in his authority. True demons have to obey the commands you give. I remember one time I was watching a pastor cast devils out of a friend of mine, actually. And this guy definitely was not a Christian, okay? He was a friend, but even he said he wasn't a Christian. He was manifesting, this was like a real demonic possession. And the story's a little crude, so forgive me. I don't wanna gross anyone out or anything. But this guy, he like spit in the pastor's face. And I mean like, it was a good one. It was, we shall say it was a thick one. So the pastor's leaning over him, just very gently praying over him. And the kid spits in the pastor's face. Like it hit him in the eye and just like, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be graphic, but that's what happened, okay? This is the reality of demonic possession. They were very angry with this man of God. So this demon possessed guy spits in his eye and the pastor said these words, I'll never forget it. He said, you better really be demon possessed. He said, you better actually have a demon in you and not just be overreacting because you just spit in my face. And you know, that speaks to the reality, that story speaks to the reality of true demons have to obey your commands. That's part of how you know it's true demon possession because think about it. If the Holy Spirit is really in you and the authority is really on you and it's a real demon. Can that real demon resist the real authority of the real Holy Spirit living in you? Not a chance, no way. So then part of how you know it's real is the fact that it comes out relatively quickly or if it doesn't come out relatively quickly, you go in fast and pray. And if that doesn't work, then you've identified it as a stronghold. So there still could be demonic influence but that really severe case of possession, that's something that's very specific. Now, from where do we get our authority? The Lord. So by what do demons come out? Authority, how do you walk in that authority? Back to the basics, people of God. I hope this blessed you, let's pray. And I want you to pray with me. Ask the Lord as I look at your comments I can see the comments here on the screen but I'm also looking at your comments here on YouTube. I want you to ask the Lord to really open your eyes to the realm of the Spirit through his word. Ask him to help you to trim all this extra stuff. Again, I love deliverance ministry, I practice it. It's one of the main things you're gonna see at one of our services. But you know, we have to do it biblically if we're gonna do it effectively. So Father, I pray that you would make them people of the word and the Spirit. I pray, Father, that you would wash our minds with your word. Thank you, Lord, for this aha moment. Thank you, Lord, for the perfect clarity and the peace that you bring along with that clarity. Thank you for the joy of the scripture. Thank you for the guiding of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for that authority that you've placed in us. Thank you that we walk in victory. Thank you that you've given us power over the forces of darkness. The mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it to say amen. I want you to write this in the comment section. I just want you to write two simple words, all authority. Those two words, all authority. Publicly declare that, all authority. Live or replay, write it down now, all authority. Just write those two words, why? Because all authority has been given to him. We worship him, we honor him. That authority is his. And we walk in it when we walk with him. I want to read a portion of scripture to you. This is found, and then we're gonna get to Q and A later. This is found in 2 Corinthians chapter nine. 2 Corinthians chapter nine, I'm gonna read verses six through 11. Watch this now. Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure for God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have, I love this, then you will always, not sometimes, you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. Just a couple more verses here, stick with me. As the scriptures say, they shall freely, they shall share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous when we take your gifts to those who need them. They will thank God. And a couple of things here, you will always have everything you need. What a statement. Not sometimes have some of the things you need that you would always have everything you need. Then the Bible says, God is the one who provides seed for the farmer. In other words, God's the one who gave you your resources. They belong to him and he will increase your resources. Watch this, he will provide and increase your resources. Why to produce a harvest of generosity in you? Paul the apostle is saying here that as you give, God produces and increases your financial resources. That's what the Bible teaches, period. So I want you to take a step of faith with me. There will be tens of thousands of people. This may reach the hundreds of thousands like the others or may just fall in its normal state of the tens of thousands. But there will be at least tens of thousands of people who watch this teaching. Can you imagine if every single one of you were to join forces and supply a need for this ministry? I want to challenge you to give to the ministry. This is God's ministry. And as you give to this ministry, God will provide and increase your resources. That is a promise of scripture. Now as it stands, right now we are in the middle of what we call Project ETV. Now Project ETV is a very big project that we've been doing. Phase one is a $2.75 million goal. As it stands, we're at $2,051,000. And we have just about a month to clean up the rest of that. So we need, I'm looking at it now, we just need 700,000 more. We started needing for phase one, 2.75 million. Now we only need 700,000. Can you believe that, Steve? It's gonna come in. So guys, this is the month. If you've been praying about giving to this now is the time. I need everyone watching, give something. Everyone needs to give something if this is gonna work. So I need you to ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, what's the sacrifice I'm gonna make? And I'm gonna have you go right now to davidhernanisministries.com slash expand to give your one-time gift. Take a look at the progress we have on our studio that's under construction right now. What doesn't look like much? I just, I'm sorry, I found that funny. It looks like, there we go, that's a better one. The other one looked like a tornado actually hit here. So there's some construction. Go back to the main photo, please, the one that I liked. There we go, there's some real progress happening. That's actually the main studio there. They're putting up all of that metal framing because that's gonna be one giant room but they're gonna fill that with special soundproofing material so that we can film any day 24-7. Next slide, please, look at this. These are some walls going into place, guys. I can't wait for you to come and be a part of the services that we're gonna be having. You're going to be awesome, awesome, awesome. Also, there's some progress even happening now on the giving form, you can see it. So I need some of our big donors. If you've been waiting, I've talked to some of you. You're saying, I'm listening to the broadcast. Now is the time. We need people to sow sacrificially. Whether your gift is $25 or $100,000, everyone has to make their move now. We can do this spirit family for nothing is impossible with God. God will come through and it's gonna be a glorious day when we finish phase one and then we'll take a break from fundraising and we'll go back into phase two, maybe in a matter of months, maybe in a year or so, but it's a long-term project but phase one is almost complete, guys. We're at 75%, we just need the other 700,000 to come in within the next month. I think the construction workers or the contractor may extend that because they were set back because some of the work they had to do in the area of tornadoes. Either way, we need you guys to go and give right now. DavidHernandezMinisteries.com slash expand. Whether you're watching live or on replay or you're from some other part of the country or you're some other part of the world, we need everyone now to pitch in and help make this happen and it is going to happen. We're so excited about what the Lord is going to do through his ministry. So I'm seeing progress even happening now. You can actually watch the progress bar move. Thank you for those of you who are giving and if you enjoyed this teaching, everything you need to know about casting out demons, then you will love everything you need to know about the prophetic. It's an extensive teaching about the ministry of the prophet and the gift of prophecy.