Transcription
[Music] We're in a series, if you're new tonight, on "When the Devil Knocks." Let me also say this: if you're new, that this is the most important meeting of the week. If we have anything to say or anything to celebrate on Missions Sunday, it's because of what happens here week after week on Wednesday night. As people are calling on God, God is showing himself powerful. We've been doing it for 20 years, and so seeing what God has done at the church is absolutely amazing. In fact, today I was in one meeting and we were talking about missions, and when you just watch what God has done through you and through your giving in missions, and you watch the way the Lord is causing people to step out in faith and believe God, I was thinking back to our last Mission Sunday a year ago, and how all of these faith promises were made, totaled around five million. And that's, you know, you wondered like, "How's that gonna happen? What, what is God gonna do?" But over four million dollars was given to missions. So, I mean, come on, that's amazing. So we're praising God for all of those things. But the prayer meeting, and as we pray as a church, that's what makes a difference. So thank you for being here. And I know this, I know God's not only gonna work in the church, he's gonna work in your life as well.
Well, tonight, as we continue our series on "When the Devil Knocks," we're going to be talking about demons. And when he, when the devil knocks, sometimes demons say, "Hello." So they are there. They are real. They are not from the realm of fairy tales or fiction. And I don't know tonight the spectrum, but I can safely assume there are some of you, and you know well about the power of the enemy. There, there are others of you, and you're new to this whole thing, and so you're just learning about this. But I want you to know that demons are for real. They are spiritual beings. They are fallen angels who, along with their leader, the devil, or Satan, or Lucifer, all kinds of names, has made it their purpose to oppose God, to oppose God's people, and to oppose God's purposes. And when you're walking with the Lord, you can be sure. Well, in fact, let me just say this: whether you're walking with the Lord or not, you can be sure that there are demons operating and working. We talked about that Sunday when we looked at Ephesians chapter 2, that there is, there are spiritual forces of darkness. And it would be true that as you and I walk with the Lord, we're going to encounter those in one way or another. And it's a part, as well, of gospel ministry.
In fact, I hadn't been in the ministry very long, and maybe working full-time for less than a year, when I had my first encounter with something that, that still to this day, I can remember. It was 34 years ago. We got a call, and the church I was working at was here in town. And the lady on the other to the phone, you could hear some shouting in the background. And she said, "Do you believe that people can be demon-possessed?" I said, "Yes, I do." She said, "Do you believe you can cast demons out of people?" I said, "Yes, I do. I believe I can do that because any believer has the authority to do that. If you're walking with the Lord, you're full of his Spirit, you have the authority to do that." So she, she said, "Well, my son is demon-possessed, and I need you to come and cast the demon out of him." And so, initially, I have to be honest, I, I would tend to be a bit skeptical because sometimes people think there's demonic activity when, in fact, there isn't. But she began to talk about the things her, her son was doing. He was 12 years old, and he was uncontrollable, and was exhibiting strength and ability that she was saying was supernatural. And, and again, this is 34 years ago. And so when I tell you that story, some of you, when you hear, you're gonna say, "I just don't know how that could be true." But you know, God honor, this is, this is the truth. So she says, "I haven't chained up in the basement." I said, "What?" She says, "He's, he's demonized." So I grabbed one of the other pastors, we go down to the center part of Springfield, we go down into, we go to the front door. She says, "He's down in the basement." So you can hear a lot of racket down there. And I get down there to the basement, and there's this 12-year-old boy that's got chains, like a harness of chains, and the chains go out to eye bolts in the wall. And it's kind of like, it's like one of these stone basement walls. And you know, the floor joists are all open, and it's, you know, it is just really a very unusual. I mean, it's the stuff you would expect to see in a movie. And she says, "Don't get near him," because she says, "You get near him, he'll break your arm." He had put a, it was interesting because I'd visited the man. The man was probably 250 pounds, a big guy. And this 12-year-old kid, who probably didn't weigh, soak and wet, 90 pounds, had broke his arm, had broke his leg, and had put him in the hospital, the guy. And so we're talking for a little bit. She's saying, she's saying, "You know, I said, 'Well, how do you feed him? How do you, what, what's happening here?'" Well, I have, I have football players who come over from, at that time, SMS or from Evangel, and they get on ends of the chain and take him to their, to a restroom, and they try to feed him. And, and she said, "But it's not easy." So the associate and I, we, we say, "Hey, we're gonna, we're gonna lay hands on him." And she says, "He'll break your arm." And so we anoint him with oil, and, and it takes the associate pastor, who's a big, he's a very strong guy, pushing on and to get my hand on the boy's head. And so we're praying, and there are different demons that identify themselves by name. Initially, to say they're not going. And then, you know, one by one, they leave until finally the last one speaks, calls out, says, "I'm the most powerful. You can't make me leave." And, and eventually, he too leaves. That the demon leaves, and the boy just, you know, kind of falls limp. And so we take that, we take the chains off of him, help him to the restroom, give him some food to eat. And then the boy proceeds to say, "You know, I don't know why you did that because I like the power I have when the demons are there." So he does not want to be free. So we're talking and trying to convince him otherwise. And unfortunately, as the story goes, you know, the mother was like, "Well, I don't want him if you're," she's talking to him, "if you're gonna invite the demons back." Because he said he was, then I would want you to be chained up. And I said, "Well, you know, I'm gonna call the state on this Division of Family Services." And they came, and the boy ended up in a psych ward, committed suicide. All that to say, you can cast demons out of somebody and not have the person happy they're delivered. Some people welcome that power and that presence. Not everybody, but some do.
Now, let me just say this: that's a, that's a fairly dramatic story. But I think we need to realize that when we're dealing, when we're talking about demons, we need to have this awareness that we're talking about very powerful beings. We're talking about beings that have a huge impact on the lives of people, whether they see them or not. Not all demons are the same. Just as there are categories of angels, there are cherubim and seraphim and archangels and the four living creatures, and we don't know what kind of being there are. There are all kinds of angelic beings. In the same way, there are all kinds of demonic beings. In fact, when you look at Ephesians chapter 6, it gives us classifications of demonic beings: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers." So there are, there are levels, there are hierarchies of demonic beings, there are rulers, there are authorities, there are powers of this dark world. You say, "Well, what do each one of those do?" We don't know. We just simply know that on more than one occasion, Paul will use this kind of classification of angelic or demonic beings, "and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." All that to say, there are categories of demons. What happens is, you know, when we start talking about, well, how do they interact with us? Certainly, they are trying to work to thwart God's purpose in your life. Certainly, they try to cause you to doubt the purpose of God, as we talked about last time. Try to get you to, to really not believe in God, if they can. And not even to believe in them. One of the things that the demons would love for you to do is not even think they're real. So that's their plan. That's what they try to do. But invariably, when you're talking about demons, people want to know, well, what about demon possession? And what about demon, you know, oppression? And can a person be obsessed? I mean, possessed, oppressed? What's the difference? And the fact of the matter is, the Bible does not make any of those distinctions. So the Bible simply uses one word, primarily, "demonized." It's a might, means to be demonized, to be under the control of demons. So whether the demons are inside, outside, whether they're sitting beside you or waiting for you in, in a certain place, scripture doesn't differentiate on that. To be demon, to be under the control of demons. And obviously, there are, there would be intensities related to that. Some people have opened the, their the door of their life and their heart and their home and their circumstance to satanic power, demonic power. And depending on the person, depending on the, the opportunity, depending on a whole host of factors, that can happen. Sometimes people don't open the door, but there are other factors in their family life. We'll talk some about that. But demons can do a lot of things to people. They can attack the, the physical, the mental, and the spiritual aspects of people's lives.
Let me just give you some things they can do. Demons can cause physical illness. First of all, they can cause an inability to speak. So somebody can't talk. And you see this, you see demonic activity repeatedly in the ministry of Jesus. And I would suggest to you that it is as prevalent in our day as it was in his. So there are certain things that could be physical maladies. Now, I'm not saying, as we name all these things, whether it's physical illness or mental illness, I'm not saying or suggesting that if you have that, it's demonic. But I do think scripture is clear that some of it is. This case, you have the inability to speak, and that's not the only example of that. Also blindness. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 22, there was a man who was blind, and Jesus identified it as being the result of the work of a demonic spirit. Somebody who has disability. In Luke chapter 13 and verse 11, there was a woman, and when Jesus saw her, she had been bent over, unable to straighten up for 18 years. And Jesus identified that as being the result of a demon. And it was, in fact, because when he got rid of the demon, she was straight. So there's some people who put up with illness that is, in fact, not rooted primarily in a physical issue, but in a spiritual issue. Very familiar. Matthew chapter 17, epilepsy would be another. There's a boy in Matthew chapter 17, he's having seizures, and in that particular case, it's demonically induced. Demons can cause a whole host of mental problems. And again, I'm not suggesting mental illness is primarily demonic. However, I do believe that from scripture, you can see there are examples of mental illness that is demonic. In Mark chapter 5, do you have the Gadarene demoniac? And in Matthew tells us there were two of them. And here are some characteristics from that one story: there was a preoccupation with the dead. They lived among the tombs. One of the things, and I think one of the things that speaks to the demonic activity in our culture, in our society, and in many cultures around the world, is a preoccupation with the dead, worshiping the dead, you know, being around the dead. And batch it with with things. And you watch Halloween in our culture, and people have gone crazy in their fascination and celebration of things that I believe have clear demonic undertones. Another would be nudity. I mean, this particular individual in, in Luke chapter 18, verse 27, it tells us that for a long time, he had worn no clothes. So in, in the Jewish way of thinking, it would be absolutely perverted and shameful to be naked. And so again, I think when you look at our culture, and you look at the overwhelming promotion of nudity and nakedness, it is demonic. Let me, let me make an even more clear statement: pornography is demonic. So when you are, if you are given to that, it's not entertainment, it's not, it's not just okay, it's not just an admiration of God's creation. No, what you're doing is you're opening the door. Either when you're looking at it by yourself, with friends, with, with your mate, you are opening the door. You might as well say to the devil, "Come right on in." And when you watch the bondage that comes out of pornography, then you know that certainly there's demonic activity connected to it. Fits of violence. In Matthew chapter 5, this individual, it says this, "He was so fierce, no one could pass." I mean, he was violent. Superhuman strength would be another marker of demonic activity. It says this in Mark chapter 5, "And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces." He not only gets himself free, but he breaks the iron in pieces. Another example of demonic, or another aspect of it, is manic-depressive psychosis. This, this crying out, this yelling out, is is indicative of demonic activity. "Day and night, he would cry out, always crying out." Another one would be self-harm. Mark chapter 5, it says, "cutting himself with stones." The Greek word there is *kathakopto*. He was a cutter. Again, I'm not saying that every person who cuts themselves and does that is demonized. However, I would suggest to you that much of it is demonic. That there is demonic activity working, and that Satan's seizing the opportunity, seizing the weakness, seizing a chance to be at work, because "the thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy." Jesus said that. John chapter 10. Loss of personality. I mean, the, whether people have multiple personality disorder, whether people have that variations of that. Remember when Jesus met this gathering demoniac? He said, "What's your name?" They said, "We are Legion, for we are many." Suicide. They, remember the boy, the epileptic, that that demon kept trying to throw him in the fire and kill him. Demons, we know this, in Revelation chapter 9, try to murder, and they actually are sent out and released to murder in the end times.
Demons can also cause spiritual problems. They twist the truth. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul warns Timothy, "Listen, beware of people who come in to the church and teach the doctrine of demons." So we have to be careful that we have sound teaching, because Satan loves to masquerade as an angel of light, Paul says in 2 Corinthians. And he loves to come in and try to twist truth, or create truth that isn't true, that all to derail, to sidetrack, to give people, even when it comes to, to demonic activity, either to deny it on the one hand, or to have people become overactive in their thinking and talking about it, so everything is demonic, or to twist insight, you know, to, to just skew insight. So like James chapter 2, "Demons believe and they tremble," but they don't have faith. So they can twist faith and try to make people think, "Well, if I believe in, I acknowledge the reality of something, that's the same as possessing a saving faith." And that's not true. Demons are capable of doing all those things and more.
Now, for the sake of time, and because on a prayer meeting, what I'm trying to do is give you just a basic primer, let me just give you four observations that I think are really important for us as believers to keep in mind. The, the takeaway from this, the number one takeaway from, from what we're talking about, as we're talking about dealing with the devil, is, is the spiritual world's a real world, and we have to, we have to be reminded of that every now and then. Sometimes the Lord lets us sense demonic activity or perceive demonic presence, or sometimes angelic presence, simply for the purpose of reminding us that this physical world is not all that there is. And because of that, we're involved in a spiritual battle. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 6, "We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers." You're fighting demonic forces every single day. You get up, you choose to serve God, that's going to be challenged. And at the root of that are demonic forces. So I think we have to, we have to accept that as a given. What would be inappropriate, and what the enemy would really love, is for you to become consumed with trying to identify where they're at. Listen, there are, there are very possibly hundreds of millions of demons, and it's not important to know their names, and it's not important to obsess over what they're doing. I don't want to figure out what they're, what they're doing. I just want to figure out what God's doing, because when I know what he's doing, then the rest of it takes care of itself. And people get caught up in, in doing the demon thing. If there's demonic activity present, that has a believer deal with it. But if you're constantly having to deal with that all the time, and you become obsessed with that, that I would suggest is a very unhealthy spiritual imbalance that will work against you accomplishing the things God would really want to do through you. We have to be careful about where we go with some of, some of this.
Second, any time we don't deal with sin, it creates an opportunity for demonic activity. I mean, this, this scripture really, whenever I read it, I think, "Wow, it's just such a great reminder that Satan can, can get a foothold in our life through seemingly things that, that you wouldn't think he would." For example, look at this: Ephesians chapter 4, "In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you're still angry." So the idea is, listen, if, if you're angry about something, deal with it before you go to bed, because when you don't, "do not give the devil a foothold." Think of that. That if you're going to go to bed angry, you just, same as open the door and said, "Devil, come on in. I'll see you in the morning." You know, that's what you're saying. "Go ahead, have your way in my life. Go ahead, as I'm sleeping tonight, you, you can fill my mind with all kinds of things." I, you, when you go to bed angry. So if anger would do that, imagine the other things that could open the door to demonic influence.
This is a third thing, and we have to be careful. I'm not talking about living in fear, but I'm talking about living in a wisdom and a wise awareness regarding what the enemy wants to do, and making sure that we don't foolishly open the door to give him a foothold, and that we're careful that we're thinking about those kinds of things. We have to be careful what we allow in our lives, lest we open the door to demonic influence. Some in this room tonight, you're just frankly too comfortable with evil. You say, "What do you mean by that?" You are caught up, you, you have a preoccupation with things like, whether it's zombies, you know, programs or movies that that have those kinds of messages and plot lines. And, and you say, "Well, I'm just interested in it." Listen, I'm gonna tell you what. We, we had an individual who was on staff and got caught up, unknown to me, got caught up with a fascination with vampires. And we were watching the person go backwards. We are watching them literally. And trying to figure out, "Why is this person not like they were? What's going on?" And there are a whole lot of reasons that seemed plausible along the way, 'cause we're like, "What? I feel like, what's the matter? What are you okay? But what's going on here?" Till finally, it came out, "Man, I've been consumed with watching vampire movies, and it's affected my life." I'm just saying, a person has to be very, very careful. I remember, you know, a family called, and they were over in, in a town west of Springfield, and they called and they said their house was haunted. You say, "Can a house be haunted?" Absolutely, it can. And so again, I was like, "Well, why would you say it's haunted?" Well, because, I mean, we do have a ghost. And so when we went over to talk with them, what had happened was, one of the, one of the children was working at one of the theaters and had chosen to take home all of the, all of the like, the movies, stuff from "The Omen" and "The Exorcist" and all these kinds of things, and had, as well as covered with that is bedroom. So what happened is, initially, when you'd walk down the hall toward his bedroom, there, you'd feel a cold wind. And then it began to be where you feel something bump you. And then it got to be where something would kind of grab you. And they, they thought it was all very, very fine. They kind of thought it was fun that they had a ghost in their house. Until one night, there, the dad was an over-the-road truck driver, a big guy. And they're sitting down, and they're watching, they're watching television, they're all in the, in the living room. And a boy shouts out, "This is my house! Get out!" And they did. And they weren't gonna go back in that place. So, I mean, we talked to them, listen, you've let, you've let, you know, they didn't know. We, it wasn't until we walked through the house and just saw what was there, and we're like, "Well, right here's the problem. This isn't, this isn't difficult to figure out. You need to burn it. You need to renounce." He had witchcraft books in his room. Listen, this, that stuff is not harmless. And I think you have to be really, really careful. I think you have to be careful what you do with literature. I think you have to be careful what you do with what your kids are reading, what your kids are watching. There are some things that are just frankly, I don't care how popular they are, they're not worth messing with, because you don't want to give the devil a foothold. And then it's true that you can have, you can have a home and a family terrorized by the devil. I mean, we were a couple years ago, there was a family that he stopped me in the hallway. They came for the first time. And he was, you know, you could tell he was a guy who knew how to handle himself. And he said, "Hey, listen, do you, do you think demons can kill you?" I said, "Well, I suppose they could. Why are you asking that?" And so I said, "If we're talking." And he says, "Well, because I, I was laying in bed now, and I know a demon was trying to choke me and strangle me." And I mean, this is a guy who's, who's muscled and looks, looks tough. And so we talked a little bit, and then he starts talking about their home. And he says, "You know, our house, we have chairs going across the floor at night. We've got plates sliding across." And he said, "You know what? We won't get up in the middle of the night because when we get up in the middle of the night, nobody gets out of bed in the middle of the night." And I mean, this is a guy who, come to find out, had fled the cartels in in Mexico, had been deeply involved in them, had been an enforcer. I mean, this was a guy who was a bad dude. But he's not getting out of bed because if he gets out of bed in the middle of the night, there's a doll that's running around in their house. So we, we asked, you know, "Hey, well, they, did you use, do you know where the doll is? Or is this doll just materialized?" No, we know where it is. It's always in a different room, and it's always in a different place. So, you know, it's, "Debbie, can," Tammy, and, and so we go down the hallway, and, and we go in this one room, and we're praying over the house. We're saying, "Hey, listen, you don't need to be afraid. We're gonna pray. You know, we make sure they're right with the Lord. We're gonna pray over the house. We're gonna anoint that the home and anoint you, and we're gonna believe God's gonna deliver you, and we know you will." And so we're in this one bedroom where they say there's a lot of activity. And there's the doll up on the shelf. They said, "There's the doll right up there. There's, there it is." And so the doll is, its eyes are closed. And then as we're praying, Debbie looks up, sees the doll, and the doll has one eye open, and it's got this silly grin. It's kinda like, you know, I can't do it, but just to sitting there grinning like with its eye, Curt can make the face. It's hilarious. And it's weird, but it's not hilarious. It's weird. But he can make the face. Anyway, anyway, sorry, Kurt. So anyway, we get the doll, we put the doll in the trash bag, we pray over the house, and that was the end of it. Something that's kind of, because, you know, some of the issues, just like, "Wow, this is very unusual." And so we're out with Kurt, Timmy, afterwards, and, and I said, "What do you do with the doll?" And he's like, "I don't know." They're asking one another, Kurt and Timmy, what they did with it. All. And what's in, finally they decide, "Sin the back of the truck." I said, "Well, don't look now, but there goes the doll driving your truck." It's crazy. You know, now, when I tell you about that, is that, is that the one thing? Is it real? That demons can do that? Yes. Is it also real that Christians have the authority to stop demonic activity in the name of Jesus? Listen, I don't, I didn't go home afraid to get my bed and to lay down and sleep, not afraid to have the lights off in the house, afraid of the dark, not afraid to go back into their house. Listen, nobody needs to be. If you don't know the Lord, I'd be really concerned. Or if you are tolerating evil and opening the door to the devil, then I'd be concerned. But if I, I would also advocate that you should, or advise that you should do what it takes to deal with it. There are some here tonight. I'm just telling you, because I talk to people and I hear this enough that I know it. So there are some of you, and you feel like there's a demonic presence that's either associated with a member of your family or a friend, or in a place where you're, where you are living, and you're saying, "Man, this thing." And here's what I would advise. I would advise that you, as a believer, and if you say, "Well, I'm just, I'm just not sure," then I would advise that you, you get your life group, or some people from your life group, maybe not the whole life group, but get a couple of people, or call one of the pastors, and pray over your house. And in Jesus' name, you know, get victory in Jesus' name. We don't have to be fearful of demonic activity or, or demonic presence. I mean, Jesus said this in Mark chapter 16, "He said, 'These signs will accompany those who believe in my name: they will cast out demons.'" Listen, if you believe in the name of Jesus, you can cast out demons. If you're a Christian, you can cast out demons. If you are a Christian, you can rebuke the enemy in Jesus' name, and he has to leave you. But you can't do that if you're tolerating sin, or you're opening your life to the influence of the enemy.
Now, I take demonic activity as a given, and, and spiritual warfare is a given. Paul says, as Romans chapter 7, he says, "So I find this law at work: whenever I purpose to do good, evil is right there with me." So when I, when I sense, when, when I'm getting ready to do whatever it is that is, is something for the Lord, I assume the enemy's going to attack it. I'm not surprised by illness. This week with the staff, he says, "Flu season." Yeah, I know. But the enemy can target, and can attack. He does that. And sometimes God says, "I'm gonna let him do that, but it's gonna be for my glory and your growth." But we don't have to be afraid. If you feel, because you know, when we talk about all of this, the presence of the enemy, no musicians come right now. If you feel the presence of evil, stop and pray. Honestly, if you're a believer, where, and you feel like, you know what, I know I'm saved, man, you're good to go. If you love the Lord, you're good to go to deal with the enemy. Just, you, you don't really need to have a pastor come. You don't really need to have anybody else. You don't need to even call somebody and say, "Hey, I think I got a demon here." Listen, just rebuke the devourer. If you're a husband and a wife, and you're in a home, and, and you know, there was a time in Kansas City, and I look back now, and I say, "God was getting ready to do some things in Debbie and my life," and it had to do with, you know, both Overland Park and James River. But during that time, there was a night when I, I can remember, I mean, when you have these encounters, you never forget them. But I don't live in fear of these things. I just say, "Hey, you know what? The Lord is, is good." But we were laying in bed, and I felt the presence of evil, probably greater than I've ever felt it in my life, being to this day. And felt I could tell where it was standing. And I'm laying in bed, and I'm thinking, "Wow, that I can sense that." And I'm praying. Debbie, meanwhile, is awake, and I didn't know it, because it's the middle of the night. I woke up, I sensed it. And Debbie said, she just all said, and said, "John, do you feel what I feel?" And I said, "Yes." And we both knew instantly. We got on our knees, and for over two hours, we interceded and prayed till that being was gone. You know, listen, that sometimes that's might, that might be what it takes, because God wants you to to dig in and to do some spiritual warfare and to pray. We didn't need to call. I'm, I'm not opposed to people saying, "Oh, you're a pastor." Listen, we're followers of Jesus, just like you. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, right? I don't believe that there's, do people have certain gifts? Sure. But I think we, I think we err if we let somebody else do everything for us. Let's say you need to read the word. Great to have a pastor who can preach and explain. Learn it, but you need to read the word. But you could pray with power. You can, you can drive the enemy out of that situation, out of that circumstance. You can believe God for the victory. You can, you can pray through. And don't be discouraged if you say, "Demon, begone," and if it doesn't happen, then you just start talking to Jesus. Don't spend all your time talking to the devil. Spend your time talking to Jesus. And, and let Jesus fill your home and your heart. If Debbie and I go into, you go into places at times where you like, you know, a hotel, and you say, "It's just weird. Something's gone down in here, and I don't like the feeling." You ever had that? Been pray, clean it up for the next person. I mean, you're cleaning it up. And I, I hope that after every place there being, I've been in, that because we've honored the Lord, that when people come in, they sense the presence of the Lord, because people can sense his presence. So I say, "Hey, Lord, set your hand on this place, on this room, and whatever's happened that's dishonored you, in the name of Jesus, if it's opened the door to the power of the enemy, then we rebuke the devourer. And Lord, we say, let your presence reign in this room, and let the peace of God that passes all understanding be here. May we, may we experience it, and maybe the people that come in after us experience it." I believe that's a good prayer to pray, right? So I'm, what I'm trying to help you see is, less, and it's there, but it shouldn't dominate your thinking. It should be a part of your awareness as a spiritual being living a spiritual life, knowing we fight spiritual battles. So we're aware of it, but we're not fixated on it. And if you, if you find people fixated on it, then you need to, you need to find a different crowd, because it's not good. There's a German monk by the name of Martin Luther. He knew that we need not fear demonic activity, and that thought so inspired him. He wrote this: "And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us." Let's sing. Get in the Word of God. Let the word be in you. Speak the word. Love the Lord. Live the word. Let, let you know, sanctify Christ in your hearts. You know, maybe down-home, and you just be in love with him. You know, "Yea, this is what this is what James said: 'Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Then resist the devil, and he'll do what? He'll flee from you.'" So there are demons, there is a devil, and they are powerful. But in Jesus' name, we are more than conquerors, because greater is He who is in us than he's in the world. [Applause]