In this sermon, the preacher discusses the power of the devil and his influence over various realms, including the political, physical, mental, and spiritual realms. The preacher emphasizes the need for believers to be aware of the devil's tactics and to stand firm in their faith. He encourages the congregation to rely on the word of God and the blood of the Lamb to overcome the devil's oppression. The sermon also references biblical passages, such as Mark 1:35, to illustrate the example of Jesus in facing temptation.

Back to our subject again this evening, and this is our fourth evening now on this great subject of demonology. And in dealing with demonology, on the first week we looked at Lucifer, the leader of the demons. And yesterday we looked up the devil and his angels. And then on the second week, we found out that we wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities. And we took this word, principality, that week, and found out that it's a Greek word called archi, and it's translated by the word prince, because these principalities are princes, demon princes. And then we went through the book and we found a lot of demon princes. You remember the Pharisees insulted Christ by saying that he cast out demons by the prince of the demons, Beelzebub, and we got one of the names. And so we went into this very closely and found these demon princes, oh, they're quite an army, and they're organized, and Satan hasped them for a very particular job. You see, they come against the governments and the parliaments of this world. This force moves against the political realm in our world. Now, I don't know the name of the demon prince that's over this province, but he has done a mighty job for the devil, there's no doubt about it. And then last week we moved on to see these powers that we wrestled against. There's a vast difference between principalities and powers. And we saw these demon powers coming against the physical last week. You remember the woman that was bound for 18 years. You remember how Satan was able to touch Job's body, and with one touch, Job was covered from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head with four boys. We saw the man that was blinded. We saw the man that was dumb. We saw the man that was deaf. And we saw these demon powers coming against the physical. So, that's the battle as it goes. We're commencing again in Ephesians, chapter 6, please. Paul's letter to the Ephesians. And we're at the sixth chapter, and Paul is saying, verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Now, here's the mighty demon army that we go against, but against principalities. And they're moving chiefly in the political realm. Against powers, and we have seen these demon powers move in the physical realm. And now, tonight, we're going to watch them moving in the mental realm. Now, this is a very important part of our study this evening, and we've taken great time with it. Of course, we'll go on when we're finished looking at these powers. We'll have to see them in the spiritual realm, moving against God's children. And we'll be taking that up very carefully next week. Of course, we'll have to see the rulers of the darkness of this world. And they move in the evangelical realm, just to blind the minds of them that believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine in. That's their task, to keep people in the dark. But tonight, we're looking at these demon powers moving in the mental realm, against the mind. Let's go over to where Peter's preaching, in the house of Cornelius, at the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, please. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10. And you remember that Peter was very reluctant to come down to this Gentile house to preach the gospel. But eventually, God brought him, and he came into the house of Cornelius. Verse 34, we'll start up. Acts 10, 34. Then, Peter opened his mouth and said, Of the truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. The word which God sent on to the children of Israel, speaking peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word, I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Now, that's the word we want to look very carefully at, this word oppressed. Because I think that you can see immediately that we're in the mental realm just now. But this is a very thrilling and exciting and wonderful word that you hear in the Greek. Oppressed of the devil. Let me take you over to James, the epistle of James, and we're up a second chapter. James, chapter 2, and you remember that James was a very practical preacher. James, chapter 2, and we need to read you a little bit to get the connection properly. My brethren, so that he's speaking to the believers, and he's encouraging them, My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if they come into your assembly, a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and they come in also a poor man and vile demons, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool. Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and thou become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. I hope it will never be said of this assembly. I hope this charge cannot be laid to us. I trust there will always be a ministry in this place that will go out towards the poor at all times. And at this moment, there's a great ministry. Just to get at home to those whom he was writing to, he says, Do not rich men oppress you. That's the same word. But being in a different setting, I think you can see this. You know, there was a lady who came in to me just a few weeks ago, of very decent, upright, out-and-out belief. And she said, Mr. Mullen, I'm being haunted, oppressed, by a man for a bill that I cannot pay. There was a rich man, hard on her heels. You know what we say sometimes, she was being pushed. Well, that's the idea that we're at when we're over little press with the devil. Sometimes the devil gets something on you. Something that you've been giving off. Something that you are standing condemned off. And he haunts you with it. And he oppresses you. And there are people whom he has overcome and knocked down because of this mental oppression. I think that you'll see it again. Let's go to Mark's Gospel. And it's the first chapter. Mark's Gospel. Chapter one, verse thirty-five. I'm trying to save time by cutting out a verse or two, but you'll get it all right. Mark one, verse thirty-five. And in the morning, rising a great while before day. You know, we do read in another case that the Lord left us an example that we should follow in His steps. And I could pitch the sermon on that this evening. An example in temptation, He left us that example from Matthew chapter four. An example in supplication. A great while before day. Some of the believers can't get up from their work. I don't think it's a testimony to the Lord if you're running for the bus every morning. You haven't even got your breakfast, let alone pray. Well, if you were getting the example, He was off a great while before day. But that's not the subject, is it? And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed. And surely if my master needed to do this, how much more I? And Simon and Bathob were with Him, followed after Him. See the word followed? It's the exact same Greek word, word for word, letter for letter, I mean. Letter for letter. It's the same word. Actually, one of the translators has translated this. And Simon and Bathob were with Him, hunted hard after Him. They were hunting for Him. Where had He gone? Ah, that's the word oppression, isn't it? And the devil hunts after you, doesn't he? Let me show you the word again. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And we'll come to this portion, one of these evenings, when we're dealing with the evangelical, the rulers of the darkness of this world. Paul talks about false apostles here. Verse 13. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to the works. And then he lets these Corinthians see what these false teachers would do. He says in verse 19. For you suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves alive. For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage. You see the word bondage? It's the same Greek word. Sometimes it's translated oppressed by the devil. Sometimes it's translated followed after, or hunted after. Sometimes it's translated by the word bondage. You see the whole idea is before you know. The old devil gets something on you. And then he hunts after you. And then he oppresses you. And then he bends you. And he puts you to the floor. And he holds you down. We're talking about wrestling. We wrestle not. He'll hold you down in bondage. It is oppression of the mind. This is oppressed by the devil. You know one morning, and it's just about six months ago, in the bunch of letters I got, I received one that I looked at very, very carefully. It was written on beautiful paper, and it was written with a beautiful hand. And I thought, I wasn't sure, but I thought I'd detected a sheer stain or two at the end of it. Turned it over, and over and looked at it. It was a lady from, I won't tell you the place, but away in the heart of the country, somewhere between a hothole and Lost Sharkin. And I looked at this, and then I took it up to the room, and then I put it down before the Lord and prayed about it. This woman was in deep, dire distress of mind. She'd actually stated three or four times that she was going off her head. That she felt she was going to lose her reason. And she would need to talk to somebody that would probably understand her. I get a lot of letters, I assure you, that I just throw down, and I don't bother my head with it. You can blame me, or excuse me, or do whatever you like, but that's exactly what I do. But this one I felt, I can't do that with this. So I got the car out, and I drove from here to Antrim, and then on down into Randallstown, and then on down into Port Blenheim, and then on down to Dunlinning, and away down into the heart of the country there between Lost Sharkin and a hothole. And I began to look for this lady. I called at the garage or two, and these men had never heard of her. So I went on. I stopped with an old road man on the road, and I asked him, he said, I don't think there's anybody above here like that. So I went on another mile or two and went to a little garage. He said, hi, you're not far away. He said, if you go right along this road, that narrow one up there, the biggest and the best looking house that's there, that's where she lived. She was a very well-to-do lady. So I went on, and I opened the gates into the drive and took the car in. And when I got off the drive, there was a lady standing on the doorstep, the door open, which I could describe her to you. She was long and thin, white-haired, well-dressed, well-spoken. She said, you're Mr. Mullin. I said, that's right. I said, Madam, are you the lady that wrote the letter? She said, you've come at a good time. They're all out. So I went in and sat down beside her. Talked gently, and found out she'd been saved about 25 years ago, saved at an old brethren mission. I said again. But the thing that was troubling her was something that had gone on a long time before that. When she was a young girl going to school, just 15 years of age, ready to stop the big school and go into the college, the road man along the road had cornered her one day, and knocked her down, and had sexual intercourse with her, and she never told anyone. And now when she's almost 70, or whatever age she was, she says, I lie at night and I stare into the ceiling, and I cry and cry and cry, and something haunts me. So I said, the devil haunts you. What am I going to do? I said, you know, there's a way to defeat this, dear, that you can step out absolutely free. And I assure you whom the Son sets free is me. So I took it away over to the prophecy of Isaiah, and I read that our Lord Jesus was stricken and smitten of God and afflicted, but He was wounded for our transgressions. And I took up this phrase, our transgressions. I said, do you really believe that when He hung on the cross that He was wounded for our transgressions? She said, of course I do. I said, do you think that He bore our sins in His own body on the tree? Of course I do. I said, see what that has to do with it. I said, dear, I want you to answer this question. Did He bear all your sins, all your transgressions, but this one with the robe on? I'll tell you this before you answer me. If He didn't bear that one, you're damned. If you count that as sin on your part, I'm not so sure, but even if it is, if Jesus Christ didn't bear it, you're damned, because He's not coming back to do anything more about it at all. I can see her sitting, frightened up. Then she just fell on the knees. She put her arms round me, squeezed me. She says, my God, it was settled and calmed. Ah, yet it was. But the devil was haunting her. He hung her bent, he hung her down, he rented his trial. He was oppressing her. There's somebody in here with a secret. Somebody in here, as you say. You know what fills me more than anything? My sins, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sins, not in part, but the whole. He nailed to the cross. I bear it. You know, they're gone, aren't they? And you can beat the devil if you grasp the magnet. But you know, when you take up demonology, it's just like last week, you know. We took up sickness, sickness that came from Satan, and sickness that came from demons. And you know, you must not get the idea that every time somebody is sick, that it's the devil. You see, Epaphroditus was sick nigh unto death for the work of Christ. Wasn't anything about demons about it. And we went into all kinds of sickness. There was a doctor here last week, and he said to me on the phone the next day, my, you know more about sickness than I do. Well, I said, this book knows more than you. And you only need to find out the book. Now, it's the same with oppression. Don't be getting the idea that every time that you have some sort of oppression, that it's the devil. You'll have to learn to diagnose this, you know. Let me take you way back to 2 Samuel, chapter 19. Second book of Samuel, and it's the 19th chapter. I think you know something of the story, and that will make it easier for us. It's the story of Absalom, David's son who rebelled against him, and Absalom was killed. You remember, a man came out of the bottle with the tidings. 2 Samuel, just read a couple of verses in 18. Chapter 18, verse 31, And behold, Cushi came, and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king, for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is. And the king was much moved, get the word, went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, would God I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, my son. And it was told Joab, who was the captain of David's folks, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people, for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. And the people got them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed feel away when they flee in the battle. But the king covered his face and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son. It went on for long enough and Joab came into the house to the king and said, Thou hast shamed this day the fates of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life and the lives of thy sons and thy daughters and the lives of thy wives and the lives of thine concubines, in that thou lovest thine enemies and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day that thou regardest me the prince of my servants. For this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. Therefore arise and go forth and speak comfortably unto thy servants, for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not out forth, they will not carry one with thee this night. And that would be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from the youth until now and the king of Rome. You see, he was oppressed. Oh, he had lost a loved one and we all know all about it. Of course, he's getting down on the earth. It's not the devil, you know. Some of you sit and weep far too long. You need to get up, you know. You mourn for the rest of your life. You think the Lord wasn't guiding things at all. So don't let's get this thing off the bones. There are people oppressed by this and that and the other. And you have to learn to differentiate between that and demon oppression. And I've put in a lot of time at it and sort of understand. Do you remember this? Let's go back to Romans and we're at the ninth chapter. Romans chapter nine. Paul writing said, verse one, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continuous sorrow in my heart for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. You know, that's a different sort of burden altogether, isn't it? Can I say to you this evening that that swat killed Mori Machin and just in case we get too swanky in here let me tell you he was a Presbyterian minister. Even from his youthful days when he was sixteen years of age standing at a shop window at Christmas time with his mother looking at the presents she was jazzing over the window she heard them sobbing. She said, what's wrong with you? He said, mummy, mummy can't you hear? She says, I hear nothing, what's wrong with you? And the people were going past with their presents. He says, mummy, can't you hear the thump, thump, thump of Christless feet on the road to hell. There's not too many of us oppressed like this. Not too many of the servants of God have died with broken hearts over sinners. Not too many of us have great heaviness and continual sorrow. The less yelping out of you if you had wouldn't be any trouble in the assembly, you know. May God get us there. I'm just trying to show you the different kinds of oppression that can come. But there is such a thing of being oppressed of being hunted of being brought into bondage by the devil or bringing something and keeping it before your mind. Now, let's move on in this subject because we're moving from mental distraction is what I call that. And there's people who have had distraction about this and that and the other and we'll come to that in a moment. But let's move from mental distraction to mental possession. So, when the devil comes to possess you. Let's go to Matthew's Gospel, chapter fifteen, please. Matthew's Gospel, chapter fifteen, verse twenty-one. Then Jesus went hence and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast. That is, from Cana of Galilee from Tyre and Sidon. And cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O God, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. Now, I want you to get the word grievously vexed because that's a very important word, that word vexed. Because you can see that this girl, she was possessed of the devil, you know. Let's go back to Matthew twelve for the moment until I show you this. Matthew twelve, verse twenty-two. Then was brought unto him one possessed with the devil. Now, there are Greek scholars on the right and left of me here. And you can go home and look your Greek book or your lexicon and you'll find the word vexed and the word possessed is the same Greek word. For that this girl that was grievously vexed, for mine was grievously vexed because for mine I've been taken possession of by a demon. It's a terrible thing, isn't it? You know, there's another word for this and it's a really distressing word. It's the word tormented. Because vexed and possessed and tormented is the same Greek word. Let's go way back to Matthew chapter four, I think it is. It's Matthew chapter four, verse twenty-three. And Jesus went about all Galilee keeping in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria way up over the border there. And they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments and those which were possessed with devils and those which were lunatic and those which had the palsy and he healed them. I'm just taking out the word torment. You know the difference between torment and torture, don't you? Well, if it's torture it must be something you're doing on my body. We hear of some of the rebels taking men away and torturing them and we hear of some of the protestant organizations doing the same. You know that torment belongs to the mind not the body, don't you? I hope you do. You know, there's a day coming in this old world of ours. This is something I don't want to go into tonight because it belongs to another night altogether but just show you for a moment. It's Revelation chapter nine. The book of Revelation and it's chapter nine and I'm not wanting to expand it because we will take a whole night to hear. Chapter nine, it belongs to the very heart of the great tribulation that's coming on to this old world of ours. This one, and the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven onto the earth and don't think it's one of the stellar sparkling stars that we see, twinkling ones. No, this was an angel unto him. The word him will direct you. It was a person and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And if we were going into the exposition of this the bottomless pit is where a great many demons are held captive this evening. Oh yes, there's quite a crowd held in chains but there's quite a crowd in the heavenlies with the devil, principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness. But these other ones are going to be let loose. And when they're let loose, this is what God is going to say to them. Verse four, And it was commanded them that they should not haunt the grass of the earth, and that should make you think, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the feel of God in the forehead. You know they're intelligent enough to differentiate between the 144,000 that are field and the followers of the beast who are not field. Verse five, And it was given that they should not kill them. God put this limitation on and they can only go as far as God will allow them. But that they should be tormented five months or the day it will be when the whole world, all that follow the beast will be tormented by demons. Five months. Did you see what it says? It says in verse six, And in those days shall men seek death, shall not find it, and shall desire to die. Death shall flee from them. All the demons will keep them from dying no matter what they do. An old fellow came to argue with me about that. He says, you know, that must be wrong. If you want to die you can shoot yourself, you can take poison. Not on this occasion you can't. When demons in dwelt people on this earth, you remember we're going to look at it in a moment, the lard fell into the water. Oh, he wasn't burned. He fell into the fire after. Oh, he wasn't burned. The man in the tomb cuts himself with stones, puts big gashes across his breast and across his face and lies out all night and nothing happens to him. He's okay. He's got more than tublets inside. He's got a demon that looks after him. We've got a lot to learn about this shit. Yes, I want you to get this, you know, the devil can come and take possession and torment you and you can be egregiously vexed, or at least a person can be egregiously vexed. That's what I call mental possession. I want to try to draw the difference between mental destruction and mental possession. And then let's go to Matthew chapter 17 just to see this other scene before we put them together. Matthew chapter 17. The Lord Jesus has been up on the Mount of Transfiguration here and he's coming down with Peter and James and John. Verse 14. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic and so vexed, for oft times he falleth into the fire and oft into the water. And I brought him to my disciples and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with thee? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the demon that was in the boy and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour. It was the demon that made him lunatic. Now that word lunatic is a very interesting one. One of our great translators, Old Williams, who was a Quaker and who has a translation, I think, second to none. He has this word here, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is mentally deranged. What is mentally deranged? And lunatic is the same thing anyway. Now the word lunatic that's here, it's actually the word lunar. And the word lunar in English means moon. Now that's very interesting, isn't it? Because, you know, if you have been to some of these films in your long-saved days, I don't expect you to be there now and I hope you're not. Belongs to the world, let them keep it. You may have seen some of these vampire, blood-sucking, demon-possessed characters and they always come abroad like a fool of the moon. Of course, you know, even science, even medical science will tell you that if a man is mentally deranged or there's lunacy or madness about him or he's a dangerous character because of his mental unskillfulness, he's always worse at the fool of the moon. So some of you watch yourself, the moon is full tonight. You know, the moon plays a tremendous part and I don't think we know this. You see, the moon plays a tremendous part on agriculture. That's a fact, you know. See, I was before man at one of the largest nurseries in the land for some time. I had 70 men under me, addictions of hallmark. And I remember one lady came, she was a sighted lady. She said that she had always come to buy stuff there and she always talked to me and said, well, you know this, this cress? We love mustard and cress when my mother-in-law comes. We can grow the mustard but we can't grow the cress. She said, our gardener has tried it every way and they've told him everything. I said, I'll do it for you and it'll have to be tonight. She said, well, we'll give hope, and that'll be quite enough. She said, the moon is at full. She thought I was banning, you know. So I went up to see them and got into this great mansion and they took me out to the greenhouse. She said, we'll put the lights on. I said, you'll not, you know. Just leave it as it is. And if you've ever had any trouble sowing cress for sandwiches, if you fill a little fish box at the full of the moon and put the feet on and cover it with a little sand, in two days you will have 100% yield. And I'll tell you, we think try it at any other time and it'll not, you'll not get the quarter. Now, there's a farmer in the meeting tonight. He and I are as thick as can be. It's good to keep in with the farmers. You could get a cast for nothing now, only I don't want it. But just for the fun of the thing, sowing the barley in the last season, he sowed it in the moonlight. He's here now. And the yield was absolutely perfect. Over two tons per acre. He's there, I could make him stand up, only he'll die if I make him stand. And I don't want him to die. Yes, you know that the moon has an effect on agriculture. Yes, you know the moon has an effect on some people too, don't you? Yeah, I see you smiling. They know something about this, don't you? When Mr. Ervin, I wish he were here tonight, I think he dodged this, you know. When he and I were in Athens, we went out at about 12 o'clock midnight and the moon was half full. And we went into some great park or other, I don't know where it was, but the scent, it was either an orange grove or a lemon grove, but the scent, it was absolutely marvelous. I think I would say this honestly, that it was the nicest night I've ever seen in my life. And there was two Greek girls came past about 18 years of age. They were like Greek goddesses. And in classic English we said, Good night, boys. Oh, you see. And we walked on, thank God we walked on. And Ervin said to me, Isn't it romantic? I went to have a mission once and I was staying with a couple. Oh, they were a long time wed. And I enjoyed my days with them ever so much. I just called the girl Nora and the man Eric. You'll never know where it was or anything about it. But one night we'd come home from a meeting. There was a lot of people saved and I dealt with them. It was late and we sat around the fire. It was cozy. I said, Long, are you two married? Oh, she says, you know, we're about 12 years married now. You know, we nearly busted up the first month. And he said, You're not going to start this again, are you? I said, Mr. Mulwick, I'll tell you, you know. You see, when I married him, he was the manager of the big firm here where we lived. And just after we were home from our honeymoon, he was shifted to another branch about 50 miles away. And I was sorry to see him go, but it was a step up. He was getting up in the business. And she said, you know, I was sitting here last night and I was so broken hearted that one night I got on the bus and I took the bus to where he was. He was actually in Port Stewart. Now, he lived 50 miles from Port Stewart, which meant she had to get one or two buses. I'm not telling you where she came from. And she said, you know, I was very excited to see him coming out of the office. It was a beautiful moonlight night, beautiful moon. And she said, look, don't let's go for any supper. Let's go down the strand. And she said, we went down the strand and oh, it was lovely. She said, I was glad to see him. She said, I just wanted to cuddle him. That's just the truth of it. And she says, when we got onto the strand, he took my hand and that was lovely. And he says, Nora, I must see you now. She says, do you like gas? He says, every morning I just get toast and beans. I wish you were there to make my breakfast. She said, I could have murdered you. She said, I pulled my hand away and away I went. I said, go and stay in your digs and keep your toast and beans. She says, I sent them a letter the next day not to come back. It was nearly gone. So for any sakes, watch the moonlight now. But I think you know this, you know. This moon has a tremendous effect on our world. But somehow the devil uses this moon and I don't know how but I can tell you that he uses moon and stars. I suppose you do see the horoscope, do you? I hope you're passing by when you see it. There's a girl in the meeting now. Now sit still and they'll never know who you are. Don't blush. I'm not looking at her. She said to me, oh, some time ago she said, you know this was my birthday. I said, is that right? She said, I'm Aquarius. She hadn't said querious, it would be nearer. She said, you know what it said this morning, Mr. Moore? She said, it said that in a month's time you'll meet a dark-haired man, a lovely man, with plenty of money and she was all sailing away into the sky, you know, she was all worked up and I said, do you see that feeling that's within you just now? She said, yes. I said, there's a word for that. She said, what is it? I said, daft. I said to her, I said, you know, if you would only take time to think out of the millions and millions and millions of folk in this world, think about the Chinese, think about the Japanese, think about the Russians, think about the Americans, think about the people in the jungle, think about the people on the desert, think about the people in all the cities, millions and millions and millions. How many have the same birthday as you? I said, you know, there must be a million girls with a birthday today. Is there a dark-haired man with money for every woman? She said to me, I'll never read the old thing again. I'll just pass it by, just forget about it. You see, I think that the moon and the stars and the sun, they were put there for signs, for seasons. There's coming a time when the great tribulation will come, when the sun will be darkened and the moon will refuse to give its light and the stars of the heavens will fall. And somehow, just because the Lord is going to use these heavenly bodies in a certain way in a day to come, and in a day that's further than that, to block them out so that the glory of the Son of God will be seen. I believe the devil takes them not. He uses the moon and sun, and our sun worshipers all over the world. I think you can see this. You know, the devil can come against the mind and you can have this mental distraction. Then the devil can come against others and there can be this mental possession. And then the devil can take complete control and there can be this mental possession. Because this boy went into the water often and into the fire. And you know, I was reading one of the stories from the Voodoo Temple, where when one of these priests in the temple got totally possessed with the devil, he could put his head and his hands into boiling oil and he never was blessed. A missionary that I love, a sensible, sane character, a man of God, not a fool by any means. He said, Willie, I saw a man possessed with a demon jump from the ground to sixty feet high onto the top of a tree and down again. And as often as he liked. You see, the devil can pervert your mind. You know, when you begin to see mental distraction and mental possession and mental possession, the question comes, can demons touch the body of the believer? Can demons possess the mind? Last week we saw them coming against the bodies of certain people. We found this out that in Job's day, the devil, even the devil himself, the leader of the demons, he could only touch Job's body when God allowed him. I think it spans the common logic tonight that if the devil or demons could touch us without the permission of God, he would make a mess of us. So many people ask me, can the devil possess the mind of the believer? Never! Absolutely never. That's one thing the believer has above all the folks in this world. You see, this body of mine, at this very moment, it is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in me. You don't think that the Holy Ghost will dwell in here and let a demon in, do you? Only he who now hinders will hinder, and he will hinder this. But you know, there's a far greater answer to this. You see, this body is not only the temple, but when a man or woman comes to the Lord Jesus, Jesus said this, Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed. Now that word, free indeed, is a tremendous word. You see, as a believer in this dispensation tonight, I'm free from the law. I'm not a seventh-day Adventist. I don't need to fiddle about with the law to be saved. Jesus Christ is the end of the law for me, for righteousness. I happen to be justified without the deeds of the law. See, I'm free from the law. You know, I'm free from the fear of the tomb tonight, because Jesus met the devil at Calvary and destroyed him who kept so many people in fear of the tomb forever so long. Oh, I'm free. I can tell you this. Dr. Ironside wrote this, Judgment fears no more around me. The great Christ's throne holds no terrors for me. I'm free from the judgment. There's no condemnation for me. I want you to get the hold of this. I'm free from the devil. He can't come in here and possess me, neither can he take possession of my mind. Let me just go over to 1 Peter for a moment, and at the second chapter, 1 Peter, and at the second chapter, let's do this quickly. He's talking to these saints, and he's saying in verse 3, If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, let's hold the word gracious, for whom coming is unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God. Let's hold on to the chosen. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up of spiritual house and holy priesthood. It's what he's done for us, you know. It's not the old Aaronic priesthood anymore, and it's certainly not the Levitical priesthood. You know, all the believers have been brought into this holy priesthood. And I don't only mean men. I mean men and women. You don't think the sisters are outside of this, do you? I hope you don't, because Jesus meant all the believers. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corn of stone, elect precious. Now, here's the bit. He that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe. You know, he's very precious. Very precious because he'll keep me from being confounded. He's very precious because he's the chief corn of stone. He's very precious because he has brought me into this holy priesthood. He's very precious because he was chosen of God. He's very precious because he is gracious. You know, I want you to get the hold of this. It's perfectly true that the demons can only touch the body of the believer when God permits it, such as he did in the case of Job. It's very true that the mind of the believer can never be possessed or perverted. We shall not be confounded. But it is true that the devil can oppress the believer. I believe the lady I told you about was a believer. I believe she was distrusted. You see, I've seen people distracted because of sin, a sin. Somehow their mind was always on it. And you need to get them to rest on the cross. I've seen women distracted about security. Oh yes, I have. They get to a certain age. Now just don't let me lean into any of you because I don't mean one of you. But a girl gets so far along when she's not married and she has a look at the end of the day and she has no security. And sometimes the devil picks her up and haunts her. And she needs to be brought to the place where she sees Christ will never leave her nor forsake her. Where God will supply all her needs. Come what may or what must. I've seen people distracted not only about sin and security. I've seen people distracted about candles. I know of Manjuba Devils or First God Hanaret. Scandal. I think that some of you know that Richard Dexter was one of the greatest evangelists that Britain ever had. A man who preached God for God. And in the little town where he lived, you know, the folks would take off their hats as they passed them by. And the man of God was so taken up with God that there were times he could hardly see the people. His heart was breaking like with shame. And there was a girl in the back street found to be with child. So the Roman Catholic priest and the Roman Catholic priest said to her, You'll have to blame it on Richard Dexter. A big man, and a holy man, and a godly man, and just as man as he was. The scandal. Brutal. And he died. Don't let the devil scare you. There's folks who will say things about you, you know. I don't give too much for them. See this glass tonight. I'll look at it now. In Ulster, 1974, with the rebels on the streets. Don't you let anybody scare you. The devil would take it upside down. I've seen lives broken by destruction about sin. I've seen women broken by destruction about security. What will I do at the end of the day? The Lord will be with you. I've seen lives broken by scandal or some stigma. Happened long ago. Friends, we've been going slowly through this. Now we're just about to step into the most difficult bit of it. We've seen these principalities in the political realm. We've seen these demons in the physical. We've seen them in the mental. Now we're going to see them in the spiritual. Oh, how the devil comes against believers. In a thousand ways. The page won't hold it next week. But we're going to take time to do it. So make a date with us and be here on that very moment. 669, please. 669. We'll take time to sing it all. Oh, my comrades, see the signal waving in the sky. Reinforcements now appealing. Victory is mine. 669, please. Help us to hide it in our hearts that we might overcome the devil by the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb. Bless all the policemen in the building this evening. Take us to our homes in safety. They, Lord, preserve our going out and our coming in.