Dismantling the Chains and Prisons of Darkness
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Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Dismantling the Chains and Prisons of Darkness
Continue exploring
Connected by scripture or shared themes.
Our message today is dismantling the chains and prisons of Darkness. You know, there are chains by which a person can be bound, and there are prisons by which a person can be enclosed. But the power of God breaks every yoke. This morning, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm sure and I believe that the power of God will break every chain—even death will be broken this morning.
There are chains and prisons of darkness in the physical realm. When we read the Bible, the book of Acts chapter 16, verses 23 onwards, we see the apostles literally imprisoned. The passage says: "When they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the Jailer to keep them securely... he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks."
In Acts 12, verses 3-7, we read about Peter: "Because he saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded further to say Peter also... he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him... Peter was therefore kept in prison but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping bound with two chains between two soldiers... and behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and the light shone in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying arise quickly and his chains fell off his hands."
These were physical prisons with actual physical chains and bonds. The kings of the world wanted to kill them, and that is the purpose of the devil—his mission is to destroy, to kill, and to steal. But although it was a physical act, the church prayed earnestly for Peter. God heard their prayers, sent His holy angel into the jail, and Peter was freed. The physical chains were broken. Hallelujah!
But now the war has changed. It is no longer primarily in the physical; it is in the spiritual. The evil agents, witchcraft—they don't need to come to your house physically to arrest you. They can arrest you from far away. Why? Because there is no distance in the spiritual realm. They can be in one city and arrest a person in another city. It's very easy. They just announce your name, they mention your name, they bring you to the evil altar, and they call your name. And if your name is called and you answer, you are there. When you are there, they will command you—they will subject you to whatever they want.
We also have to understand and believe that when we speak about the name of Jesus Christ, when we call upon the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus is here for us! That is our faith. This morning we will call upon the name of Jesus Christ, and every yoke will be broken, every prison will be dismantled, and every chain will be destroyed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
What are these spiritual problems? These are the chains and prisons of darkness:
All these are the chains and prisons of Darkness that the devil is using now.
If we read Isaiah 42, verse 22, it says: "But this is a people planted in... all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons they have become plunder with no one to rescue them." People are in pits. People have been arrested. They are captured. We see them here, but actually in reality they are not here—because man is spirit. The first man is from the soil, which is what we see here. But the second man is from heaven—that is the spirit, which gives life, which gives success, which gives blessings, which gives healing. That inner man is captured. The soul is captured. When it's captured, you do not feel happy.
The problem we are having today is that people are not coming to the church. They don't come because they don't see the importance of coming to the church. But actually, the reason they don't come is because Satan is trapping them—they are being entangled by the power of darkness.
Jesus came to the world to bring Deliverance. But He will deliver you through His word. He sends His word to deliver them. If you do not come to the church, you cannot hear the word of God. And if you do not hear the word of God, you cannot receive Deliverance—because the deliverance power is in the church. As I am administering this word this morning, there is power behind me. When I speak the word, the word will change your life.
This is how God heals His people—He sends His word to heal them and to bring them from their distractions. Psalm 107, verse 20 says: "God sends his word to heal them and take them into their deliverances." It is through the word of God. If you hear the word of God, the Holy Spirit in the word of God will make change in you—in your inner man. And if your spirit receives the power of the Holy Spirit, your physical will be healed indeed.
But the power of the devil is about to distract people and keep them from coming to the house of the Lord. Witches have got altars; they have evil altars. They will not try to harm you unless they have an altar. That altar is where they meet their god, and their god brings sadness and sorrows to you through the altar. We also have the altar here. We need to come to this altar so that we can send back the missiles. We cannot fight the devil when we are out of the altar. This is the principle of God—God will come through the altar. But people are not coming to the church. They come very late. They are tired. That is the problem we have.
But Jesus said in Matthew 11, verses 28-30: "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus is inviting people to come to the church, to come to Him. Jesus is here when we call upon His name, when we subject His word to you, when we preach the word of God to you. Jesus is behind His word so that He can fulfill it. When the word of God comes to you, you will not remain as you were before—you will be changed.
If you read Acts 10, verse 44, the Bible says: "As Peter was speaking the word all those people who heard the word the Holy Spirit from Heaven jumped in those people." People received the power of the Holy Spirit because they heard the word of Jesus Christ. When you hear the word of Jesus Christ, Jesus will command His Spirit into you. And when you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, everything in you will be okay.
We are in entanglements, we are in bondages, we are in sorrows because we do not receive the Holy Spirit—we do not hear the word of God. Jesus said: "Come to me all who are heavy laden... he's calling you to come." But people are not coming to Jesus Christ. They have so many problems; they are suffering. But they don't come to Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in Luke 4, verse 18: "The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Hallelujah! Jesus has the power to heal the people. But the people do not go to Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in John 5, verse 39: "You are speculating the word of God as if there is life in it you do not come to me to receive life." This is something very wonderful. The meaning behind it is this: you must receive Jesus first before going to His word. You must first of all receive Jesus Christ.
Make sure each and every morning, and evening, and tonight that Jesus is in you. And when Jesus is in you and you speak the word of Jesus Christ, it is Jesus Himself in you speaking through you. That must be a success, and that must be healing.
In John 15, verse 7, Jesus said: "If you abide in me and my words abide in you you can ask whatever you want and that will be done to you." If someone is sending missiles of Darkness—arrows of bitterness, arrows of sufferings, arrows of illnesses and diseases—and you stand with the word of God, having Jesus in you, and you proclaim the word of God, you say: "As God lives, I command all missiles to get back to the one who brought them to me." That missile will go back. Hallelujah! That is the power of Jesus Christ.
Some people make a mistake. They are coming to the church; they haven't received Jesus Christ. They don't find that receiving Jesus Christ is important. But they listen to the word of Jesus. These people will not receive the power and will not have the power to utilize the word of Jesus Christ.
You must first accept Jesus Christ, and then utilize His word. Then the word of Jesus Christ will bring wonders into your life. You will be a machinery of its kind. Whatever you command will happen. But when Jesus is not in you, you are powerless. Although you know the word of God—you can speak a lot of scriptures from the mind—you do not have Jesus Himself in your heart. That word will not function.
Jesus has said clearly that you must first receive Him. You must be an altar of the Lord. Your body itself must be an altar. And when the word of God comes from that altar, which is your heart, it will function effectively. Hallelujah!
But the Bible says from Psalm 107, verses 10-11: "Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death Bound in afflictions and irons because they rebelled against the words of God and despise the counsel of the most high." People sat in darkness and fear of death, in the shadow of death. The shadow of death has covered you. You are worried about your tomorrow, about your life, about your nights. But there is a reason here: they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the most high. That is the problem—why people are under the shadow of darkness, the shadow of death, prisons of darkness. They have rebelled against the word of God.
Psalm 119, verse 67 says: "Before I was afflicted I was lost but now I have accepted your word." Before someone was afflicted, was lost—before they entered into afflictions, God says you were lost. You were separated from God. But now you have accepted His word. Before that, you did not accept His word. That is why you entered into afflictions. Before you were afflicted, your affliction was coupled with your loss—you were lost, separated from God.
It is very dangerous when you are separated from God. You will be a sinner. And whoever does sin is a servant of Satan—a son of Satan. You belong to the devil. The devil will subject you to whatever he wants, including death. But if you stand according to the word of God...
I warn you: Do not attack these evil forces when you do not have Jesus Christ in you. Because these are spiritual powers. They are really powers. They know the power behind the devil. You do not have to neglect the devil—the devil is powerful. But Jesus Christ is the overall power. When you have Jesus Christ, evil and the spirit of Darkness will have no power over you. But when you do not have Jesus Christ, you are powerless. They can just take you wherever they want. They can kill you; they can make you mad because they are power.
Look at the example from Mark 5, verses 2-10. A man with an unclean spirit had his dwelling among the tombs. "No one could bind him not even with chains because he had often been bound with shackles and chains and the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles were broken in pieces. Neither could anyone tame him. And all always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones." This was just a man like you and me—physically okay. But inside there was a devil, a powerful demon. The demon had such power that this man could break chains and shackles. But when the demons saw Jesus coming, "they ran and worshiped him. They asked for forgiveness." Why? Because Jesus is the overall power. The demons have nothing to do with Jesus Christ.
This man was arrested by demonic forces. He was made mad. Nobody could get near him because the man used to cut himself with stones. That is very dangerous. When that infestation happens, it is very dangerous indeed. These forces are also powerful. There is power. Do not dare attack them when you do not have Jesus Christ.
That is why we need to see our pastors. The pastor is important to you—to give you the power of the word of God through the church that Jesus Christ established. But do not tackle these evil forces by yourself when you do not have Jesus Christ. They will erupt against you. Make sure that you have Jesus Christ.
You will use the power of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ will be in you. When you speak out the word, it is Jesus Himself speaking through you. So Jesus will be talking to evil powers: "Get away." And in this world, if we want to be released, we have to fight against the one who is sending missiles to you. Today we see that Israel is fighting against Hamas because Hamas has sent missiles to Israel. And Israel has to send missiles to Hamas in order to get freedom. Just in the physical, someone somewhere is sending missiles to you now. If you want to be free, you also have to send strong missiles against him or her.
The best way to fight spiritual warfare is to attack your enemy, not to defend yourself. You cannot defend today. Fighting is inevitable. We must fight, and we must fight indeed through the name of Jesus Christ, through the word of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
Do not appreciate to remain under sin. Because when you are a sinner, you have no portion in the kingdom of God. The first thing you have to do is to submit yourself before Jesus Christ. You have to repent.
He says: "If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face and repent and forsake the wicked works I will hear from heaven and I will hear them." Hallelujah! This is Jesus Christ speaking to us through His word. We have to submit ourselves diligently before Jesus Christ before God, and God will fight for us. We will not need to fight, but God will fight for us.
When you are going to God with your sins, God will not listen to you. The only prayer God accepts from the sinner is forgiveness, repentance, and confession. Repentance is only what God receives from the sinner. Otherwise nothing you can say—because when you speak the word of God as a sinner, that word will not come out with power. Hallelujah!
This morning we want to dismantle the chains and prisons of Darkness that are entangling us. We have been arrested; we have been captured. We want to get out. We want to dismantle the powers of Darkness. We want to send missiles of God to destroy them. We want to render them powerless.
We have to say sorry to Jesus Christ for our sins. We have to confess that we are sinners and we need repentance. Repent and be washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And when you are washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are sanctified. And when you are sanctified, you are children of God. And when you are children of God, you have the right to use the word of God. And when you use the word of God, demons will be running away from you.
You are a fireman walking in the streets. "I'm a man of fire. I'm walking in the streets." Why? Because the word of God is like a fire—it's like a hammer. The hammer is walking; the fire is walking. Why? Because Jesus Christ is in me. Jesus is in me.
Where you can start is to make sure that Jesus is in you. When Jesus is not in you, you are powerless. Although you have scriptures, although you have the word of God, that word will not work because Jesus is not in you. First of all, you must have Jesus in you. You must have the Holy Spirit in you. Then speak the word of God. That word of God will go with the power of the Holy Spirit and will dismantle the chains and prisons of darkness. And you will get freedom. Your desire will happen. Because no one can stop your desire if you have Jesus Christ. Nobody can stop you when Jesus is on your side, when God is on your side. Nobody can stop you.
I tell you: when God is with you, nobody can stop you. Nobody can stop you when you are alone. But when you have Jesus Christ your King, nobody can stop you.
This is our mission today: to receive Jesus Christ with His power, and His word comes into us. When we speak His word, we are speaking the mission of Jesus Christ. The mission of Jesus Christ is to bring Deliverance to the people. He came to deliver the people. He came and died on the cross for you. And now today He's calling you to come so that He can heal you, so that He can deliver you, so that He can dismantle the chains that are binding you, the prison house in which you have been closed.
We must fight. If you do not fight, you cannot be free. What Israel is fighting now—Israel cannot be free unless they have to fight. And they know this. Just like you in the spiritual: someone is sending missiles to you. You do not need to know him. But what you have to know is that I have to use the word of God. I have to send back the missiles. If he's sending me one missile, I will send to him seven times.
Be strong in the word of God. Be strong in the Lord. You have Jesus Christ. You have His word. You are equipped. You have been saved, and you have Jesus Christ with you. You are free indeed. He will set you free, and when Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed.
But the mistake we make is: we do not have the word of God. We do not understand the concept of the word of God. That is why Jesus said: "You are speculating my word, thinking that there is life in it, and you do not want to come to me to receive life."
The first thing you have to receive is Jesus Christ. The next thing is for you to read the word of Jesus Christ. So you and Jesus Christ are one. When you are one, He is the King of Kings. And nothing—no animal, no enemy—can stand against you. Hallelujah!
Jesus said to the demon: "Come out of this man." When the demon heard that they were told to come out, they were trembling. They tried to say to Jesus Christ: "Don't send us out of this Village. Let's remain here so that we can enter into another person." Jesus did not say anything. But they said: "Allow us to go into the swine... the pigs." A simple language—"Let's go into the pigs; those pigs we will enter and live there."
A demon would like to live in the pig, and you are the temple. Demons come into people, and when they come into people, they come with their mission. Their original intent is to harm people, to kill people, to destroy people, to steal powers. That is their mission. So you have to have Jesus Christ in order to get freedom.
Jesus said in Revelation 3, verse 10: "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will get in. I will live with him and I will supper with him and he with me." Jesus will come into you, and you will eat with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will eat with you. And you will have communication in your body. You will have a communication with Jesus Christ. When you walk around, good stories will come to you. That is Jesus speaking to you. He's speaking to your inner man. Hallelujah!
So Jesus in you and you in Jesus Christ—you are one. When you are one with Jesus Christ, nobody will stand close to you. Because our God is a consuming fire. The Bible says: "Our God is a consuming fire." So when God is in me and I'm walking out, I am already a consuming fire because the consuming fire is in me.
This is our pride in this world: to have Jesus Christ. This is our pride today. We have to have Jesus Christ. If you do not have Jesus Christ, even though you are coming to the church every Sunday, you are here, but that will not make you benefit. You must first of all receive Jesus Christ.
And if you receive Jesus Christ, you will have the power of the Holy Spirit in you. And when you have the Holy Spirit in you, you are anointed. And you will never like to live under sin. Anybody who lives under sin has never received Jesus Christ. That's the truth. Although he's in the church, he's ministering in the church, but he is living under sin. Once you are somebody who's living under sin, even though he's in the church, he's doing wonderful functions—yet that person does not belong to Jesus Christ. That person belongs to the devil.
You know, the devil is also sometimes trying to make himself like an angel of Light. That is the tendency of the devil. The devil is walking around. He's making himself like an angel of Light. He is mingling himself with the children of God as if he is an angel of Light. But he is an Angel of Darkness. He's just pretending. But we will understand. "You—who are you?" We will understand that you are a property of the devil. We understand that you are property of the devil, and we know what to do for you. Hallelujah!
Be careful. You are coming to church? You have to seek Jesus Christ. You have to receive Jesus Christ. And once you receive Jesus Christ, you have to read His word. And once you capture His word, you can use the word of Jesus Christ to dismantle the chains and prisons of darkness.
And once you dismantle the chains and prisons of darkness, you will start to get freedom. And once you get to freedom, you are free indeed. And you will continue to serve Jesus Christ. And you will come into the house of the Lord with joy. You will enjoy the power and the secret of the kingdom of God. Hallelujah!
Let's give claps to Jesus Christ. Yes! We have to appreciate our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Savior—the Savior of our souls. He is dismantling this morning chains and prisons of Darkness for us. He is here because His word is here. And if the word of Jesus is here, He Himself is also here. And when He is here, He is working with us. Hallelujah!
So with you, you will have to stand up and pray. Our first prayer is to ask forgiveness. We must ask for forgiveness, because Jesus will not listen if you are a sinner. You have to repent of your sins. And do not say that I'm not a sinner. Nobody can say that I'm not a sinner. We are all sinners. But by the grace of God we survive. And if we are surviving by the grace of God, we have to submit ourselves before God so that He can protect us, He can shadow us, and He can make us live. Hallelujah!
You can raise up your hands and say:
Jesus, Jesus, I confess that I'm a sinner. I confess that I sinned against you. But this morning I come to you and repent for my sins. Have forgiveness over my sins. Let your Holy Blood cleanse me. Let your Holy Spirit come into me. Speak to me, Lord. Touch me, Lord, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I welcome you, Jesus, to dominate my spirit in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray for forgiveness. We know that we are sinners, but this morning we came before Your holy altar. Cleanse us by Your Holy Blood. Wash away our sins by Your Holy Blood. Touch each and every one of us and anoint us by Your Holy Spirit. Let us have power and dominion over the enemy through Your Holy Blood, through Your Holy Name, through Your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.
Our message today is dismantling the chains and prisons of Darkness. You know, there are chains by which a person can be bound, and there are prisons by which a person can be enclosed. But the power of God breaks every yoke. This morning, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm sure and I believe that the power of God will break every chain—even death will be broken this morning.
There are chains and prisons of darkness in the physical realm. When we read the Bible, the book of Acts chapter 16, verses 23 onwards, we see the apostles literally imprisoned. The passage says: "When they had laid many stripes on them they threw them into prison commanding the Jailer to keep them securely... he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks."
In Acts 12, verses 3-7, we read about Peter: "Because he saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded further to say Peter also... he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him... Peter was therefore kept in prison but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping bound with two chains between two soldiers... and behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and the light shone in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying arise quickly and his chains fell off his hands."
These were physical prisons with actual physical chains and bonds. The kings of the world wanted to kill them, and that is the purpose of the devil—his mission is to destroy, to kill, and to steal. But although it was a physical act, the church prayed earnestly for Peter. God heard their prayers, sent His holy angel into the jail, and Peter was freed. The physical chains were broken. Hallelujah!
But now the war has changed. It is no longer primarily in the physical; it is in the spiritual. The evil agents, witchcraft—they don't need to come to your house physically to arrest you. They can arrest you from far away. Why? Because there is no distance in the spiritual realm. They can be in one city and arrest a person in another city. It's very easy. They just announce your name, they mention your name, they bring you to the evil altar, and they call your name. And if your name is called and you answer, you are there. When you are there, they will command you—they will subject you to whatever they want.
We also have to understand and believe that when we speak about the name of Jesus Christ, when we call upon the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus is here for us! That is our faith. This morning we will call upon the name of Jesus Christ, and every yoke will be broken, every prison will be dismantled, and every chain will be destroyed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
What are these spiritual problems? These are the chains and prisons of darkness:
All these are the chains and prisons of Darkness that the devil is using now.
If we read Isaiah 42, verse 22, it says: "But this is a people planted in... all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons they have become plunder with no one to rescue them." People are in pits. People have been arrested. They are captured. We see them here, but actually in reality they are not here—because man is spirit. The first man is from the soil, which is what we see here. But the second man is from heaven—that is the spirit, which gives life, which gives success, which gives blessings, which gives healing. That inner man is captured. The soul is captured. When it's captured, you do not feel happy.
The problem we are having today is that people are not coming to the church. They don't come because they don't see the importance of coming to the church. But actually, the reason they don't come is because Satan is trapping them—they are being entangled by the power of darkness.
Jesus came to the world to bring Deliverance. But He will deliver you through His word. He sends His word to deliver them. If you do not come to the church, you cannot hear the word of God. And if you do not hear the word of God, you cannot receive Deliverance—because the deliverance power is in the church. As I am administering this word this morning, there is power behind me. When I speak the word, the word will change your life.
This is how God heals His people—He sends His word to heal them and to bring them from their distractions. Psalm 107, verse 20 says: "God sends his word to heal them and take them into their deliverances." It is through the word of God. If you hear the word of God, the Holy Spirit in the word of God will make change in you—in your inner man. And if your spirit receives the power of the Holy Spirit, your physical will be healed indeed.
But the power of the devil is about to distract people and keep them from coming to the house of the Lord. Witches have got altars; they have evil altars. They will not try to harm you unless they have an altar. That altar is where they meet their god, and their god brings sadness and sorrows to you through the altar. We also have the altar here. We need to come to this altar so that we can send back the missiles. We cannot fight the devil when we are out of the altar. This is the principle of God—God will come through the altar. But people are not coming to the church. They come very late. They are tired. That is the problem we have.
But Jesus said in Matthew 11, verses 28-30: "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus is inviting people to come to the church, to come to Him. Jesus is here when we call upon His name, when we subject His word to you, when we preach the word of God to you. Jesus is behind His word so that He can fulfill it. When the word of God comes to you, you will not remain as you were before—you will be changed.
If you read Acts 10, verse 44, the Bible says: "As Peter was speaking the word all those people who heard the word the Holy Spirit from Heaven jumped in those people." People received the power of the Holy Spirit because they heard the word of Jesus Christ. When you hear the word of Jesus Christ, Jesus will command His Spirit into you. And when you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, everything in you will be okay.
We are in entanglements, we are in bondages, we are in sorrows because we do not receive the Holy Spirit—we do not hear the word of God. Jesus said: "Come to me all who are heavy laden... he's calling you to come." But people are not coming to Jesus Christ. They have so many problems; they are suffering. But they don't come to Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in Luke 4, verse 18: "The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to Proclaim good news to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Hallelujah! Jesus has the power to heal the people. But the people do not go to Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in John 5, verse 39: "You are speculating the word of God as if there is life in it you do not come to me to receive life." This is something very wonderful. The meaning behind it is this: you must receive Jesus first before going to His word. You must first of all receive Jesus Christ.
Make sure each and every morning, and evening, and tonight that Jesus is in you. And when Jesus is in you and you speak the word of Jesus Christ, it is Jesus Himself in you speaking through you. That must be a success, and that must be healing.
In John 15, verse 7, Jesus said: "If you abide in me and my words abide in you you can ask whatever you want and that will be done to you." If someone is sending missiles of Darkness—arrows of bitterness, arrows of sufferings, arrows of illnesses and diseases—and you stand with the word of God, having Jesus in you, and you proclaim the word of God, you say: "As God lives, I command all missiles to get back to the one who brought them to me." That missile will go back. Hallelujah! That is the power of Jesus Christ.
Some people make a mistake. They are coming to the church; they haven't received Jesus Christ. They don't find that receiving Jesus Christ is important. But they listen to the word of Jesus. These people will not receive the power and will not have the power to utilize the word of Jesus Christ.
You must first accept Jesus Christ, and then utilize His word. Then the word of Jesus Christ will bring wonders into your life. You will be a machinery of its kind. Whatever you command will happen. But when Jesus is not in you, you are powerless. Although you know the word of God—you can speak a lot of scriptures from the mind—you do not have Jesus Himself in your heart. That word will not function.
Jesus has said clearly that you must first receive Him. You must be an altar of the Lord. Your body itself must be an altar. And when the word of God comes from that altar, which is your heart, it will function effectively. Hallelujah!
But the Bible says from Psalm 107, verses 10-11: "Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death Bound in afflictions and irons because they rebelled against the words of God and despise the counsel of the most high." People sat in darkness and fear of death, in the shadow of death. The shadow of death has covered you. You are worried about your tomorrow, about your life, about your nights. But there is a reason here: they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the most high. That is the problem—why people are under the shadow of darkness, the shadow of death, prisons of darkness. They have rebelled against the word of God.
Psalm 119, verse 67 says: "Before I was afflicted I was lost but now I have accepted your word." Before someone was afflicted, was lost—before they entered into afflictions, God says you were lost. You were separated from God. But now you have accepted His word. Before that, you did not accept His word. That is why you entered into afflictions. Before you were afflicted, your affliction was coupled with your loss—you were lost, separated from God.
It is very dangerous when you are separated from God. You will be a sinner. And whoever does sin is a servant of Satan—a son of Satan. You belong to the devil. The devil will subject you to whatever he wants, including death. But if you stand according to the word of God...
I warn you: Do not attack these evil forces when you do not have Jesus Christ in you. Because these are spiritual powers. They are really powers. They know the power behind the devil. You do not have to neglect the devil—the devil is powerful. But Jesus Christ is the overall power. When you have Jesus Christ, evil and the spirit of Darkness will have no power over you. But when you do not have Jesus Christ, you are powerless. They can just take you wherever they want. They can kill you; they can make you mad because they are power.
Look at the example from Mark 5, verses 2-10. A man with an unclean spirit had his dwelling among the tombs. "No one could bind him not even with chains because he had often been bound with shackles and chains and the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles were broken in pieces. Neither could anyone tame him. And all always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones." This was just a man like you and me—physically okay. But inside there was a devil, a powerful demon. The demon had such power that this man could break chains and shackles. But when the demons saw Jesus coming, "they ran and worshiped him. They asked for forgiveness." Why? Because Jesus is the overall power. The demons have nothing to do with Jesus Christ.
This man was arrested by demonic forces. He was made mad. Nobody could get near him because the man used to cut himself with stones. That is very dangerous. When that infestation happens, it is very dangerous indeed. These forces are also powerful. There is power. Do not dare attack them when you do not have Jesus Christ.
That is why we need to see our pastors. The pastor is important to you—to give you the power of the word of God through the church that Jesus Christ established. But do not tackle these evil forces by yourself when you do not have Jesus Christ. They will erupt against you. Make sure that you have Jesus Christ.
You will use the power of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ will be in you. When you speak out the word, it is Jesus Himself speaking through you. So Jesus will be talking to evil powers: "Get away." And in this world, if we want to be released, we have to fight against the one who is sending missiles to you. Today we see that Israel is fighting against Hamas because Hamas has sent missiles to Israel. And Israel has to send missiles to Hamas in order to get freedom. Just in the physical, someone somewhere is sending missiles to you now. If you want to be free, you also have to send strong missiles against him or her.
The best way to fight spiritual warfare is to attack your enemy, not to defend yourself. You cannot defend today. Fighting is inevitable. We must fight, and we must fight indeed through the name of Jesus Christ, through the word of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
Do not appreciate to remain under sin. Because when you are a sinner, you have no portion in the kingdom of God. The first thing you have to do is to submit yourself before Jesus Christ. You have to repent.
He says: "If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face and repent and forsake the wicked works I will hear from heaven and I will hear them." Hallelujah! This is Jesus Christ speaking to us through His word. We have to submit ourselves diligently before Jesus Christ before God, and God will fight for us. We will not need to fight, but God will fight for us.
When you are going to God with your sins, God will not listen to you. The only prayer God accepts from the sinner is forgiveness, repentance, and confession. Repentance is only what God receives from the sinner. Otherwise nothing you can say—because when you speak the word of God as a sinner, that word will not come out with power. Hallelujah!
This morning we want to dismantle the chains and prisons of Darkness that are entangling us. We have been arrested; we have been captured. We want to get out. We want to dismantle the powers of Darkness. We want to send missiles of God to destroy them. We want to render them powerless.
We have to say sorry to Jesus Christ for our sins. We have to confess that we are sinners and we need repentance. Repent and be washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And when you are washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are sanctified. And when you are sanctified, you are children of God. And when you are children of God, you have the right to use the word of God. And when you use the word of God, demons will be running away from you.
You are a fireman walking in the streets. "I'm a man of fire. I'm walking in the streets." Why? Because the word of God is like a fire—it's like a hammer. The hammer is walking; the fire is walking. Why? Because Jesus Christ is in me. Jesus is in me.
Where you can start is to make sure that Jesus is in you. When Jesus is not in you, you are powerless. Although you have scriptures, although you have the word of God, that word will not work because Jesus is not in you. First of all, you must have Jesus in you. You must have the Holy Spirit in you. Then speak the word of God. That word of God will go with the power of the Holy Spirit and will dismantle the chains and prisons of darkness. And you will get freedom. Your desire will happen. Because no one can stop your desire if you have Jesus Christ. Nobody can stop you when Jesus is on your side, when God is on your side. Nobody can stop you.
I tell you: when God is with you, nobody can stop you. Nobody can stop you when you are alone. But when you have Jesus Christ your King, nobody can stop you.
This is our mission today: to receive Jesus Christ with His power, and His word comes into us. When we speak His word, we are speaking the mission of Jesus Christ. The mission of Jesus Christ is to bring Deliverance to the people. He came to deliver the people. He came and died on the cross for you. And now today He's calling you to come so that He can heal you, so that He can deliver you, so that He can dismantle the chains that are binding you, the prison house in which you have been closed.
We must fight. If you do not fight, you cannot be free. What Israel is fighting now—Israel cannot be free unless they have to fight. And they know this. Just like you in the spiritual: someone is sending missiles to you. You do not need to know him. But what you have to know is that I have to use the word of God. I have to send back the missiles. If he's sending me one missile, I will send to him seven times.
Be strong in the word of God. Be strong in the Lord. You have Jesus Christ. You have His word. You are equipped. You have been saved, and you have Jesus Christ with you. You are free indeed. He will set you free, and when Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed.
But the mistake we make is: we do not have the word of God. We do not understand the concept of the word of God. That is why Jesus said: "You are speculating my word, thinking that there is life in it, and you do not want to come to me to receive life."
The first thing you have to receive is Jesus Christ. The next thing is for you to read the word of Jesus Christ. So you and Jesus Christ are one. When you are one, He is the King of Kings. And nothing—no animal, no enemy—can stand against you. Hallelujah!
Jesus said to the demon: "Come out of this man." When the demon heard that they were told to come out, they were trembling. They tried to say to Jesus Christ: "Don't send us out of this Village. Let's remain here so that we can enter into another person." Jesus did not say anything. But they said: "Allow us to go into the swine... the pigs." A simple language—"Let's go into the pigs; those pigs we will enter and live there."
A demon would like to live in the pig, and you are the temple. Demons come into people, and when they come into people, they come with their mission. Their original intent is to harm people, to kill people, to destroy people, to steal powers. That is their mission. So you have to have Jesus Christ in order to get freedom.
Jesus said in Revelation 3, verse 10: "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will get in. I will live with him and I will supper with him and he with me." Jesus will come into you, and you will eat with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will eat with you. And you will have communication in your body. You will have a communication with Jesus Christ. When you walk around, good stories will come to you. That is Jesus speaking to you. He's speaking to your inner man. Hallelujah!
So Jesus in you and you in Jesus Christ—you are one. When you are one with Jesus Christ, nobody will stand close to you. Because our God is a consuming fire. The Bible says: "Our God is a consuming fire." So when God is in me and I'm walking out, I am already a consuming fire because the consuming fire is in me.
This is our pride in this world: to have Jesus Christ. This is our pride today. We have to have Jesus Christ. If you do not have Jesus Christ, even though you are coming to the church every Sunday, you are here, but that will not make you benefit. You must first of all receive Jesus Christ.
And if you receive Jesus Christ, you will have the power of the Holy Spirit in you. And when you have the Holy Spirit in you, you are anointed. And you will never like to live under sin. Anybody who lives under sin has never received Jesus Christ. That's the truth. Although he's in the church, he's ministering in the church, but he is living under sin. Once you are somebody who's living under sin, even though he's in the church, he's doing wonderful functions—yet that person does not belong to Jesus Christ. That person belongs to the devil.
You know, the devil is also sometimes trying to make himself like an angel of Light. That is the tendency of the devil. The devil is walking around. He's making himself like an angel of Light. He is mingling himself with the children of God as if he is an angel of Light. But he is an Angel of Darkness. He's just pretending. But we will understand. "You—who are you?" We will understand that you are a property of the devil. We understand that you are property of the devil, and we know what to do for you. Hallelujah!
Be careful. You are coming to church? You have to seek Jesus Christ. You have to receive Jesus Christ. And once you receive Jesus Christ, you have to read His word. And once you capture His word, you can use the word of Jesus Christ to dismantle the chains and prisons of darkness.
And once you dismantle the chains and prisons of darkness, you will start to get freedom. And once you get to freedom, you are free indeed. And you will continue to serve Jesus Christ. And you will come into the house of the Lord with joy. You will enjoy the power and the secret of the kingdom of God. Hallelujah!
Let's give claps to Jesus Christ. Yes! We have to appreciate our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Savior—the Savior of our souls. He is dismantling this morning chains and prisons of Darkness for us. He is here because His word is here. And if the word of Jesus is here, He Himself is also here. And when He is here, He is working with us. Hallelujah!
So with you, you will have to stand up and pray. Our first prayer is to ask forgiveness. We must ask for forgiveness, because Jesus will not listen if you are a sinner. You have to repent of your sins. And do not say that I'm not a sinner. Nobody can say that I'm not a sinner. We are all sinners. But by the grace of God we survive. And if we are surviving by the grace of God, we have to submit ourselves before God so that He can protect us, He can shadow us, and He can make us live. Hallelujah!
You can raise up your hands and say:
Jesus, Jesus, I confess that I'm a sinner. I confess that I sinned against you. But this morning I come to you and repent for my sins. Have forgiveness over my sins. Let your Holy Blood cleanse me. Let your Holy Spirit come into me. Speak to me, Lord. Touch me, Lord, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I welcome you, Jesus, to dominate my spirit in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray for forgiveness. We know that we are sinners, but this morning we came before Your holy altar. Cleanse us by Your Holy Blood. Wash away our sins by Your Holy Blood. Touch each and every one of us and anoint us by Your Holy Spirit. Let us have power and dominion over the enemy through Your Holy Blood, through Your Holy Name, through Your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.