In this sermon, the speaker announces that this will be their last session in a series on practical issues of bondages. They emphasize the importance of addressing these issues and providing application for understanding God's message. The Christian life is portrayed as a blessing and the possibility of walking free is highlighted. The speaker also discusses generational bondages and how evil bondages and hatred of God can be passed down to future generations, resulting in curses and spiritual struggles.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Praise the Lord this morning. It's such a blessing to be alive. Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus. You're all wide awake. This little announcement before we get into the session this morning. I'll be having my last session in this series on Sunday morning. As I began to get into the practical issues of bondages, I realized I can't just skim over these. They need to be addressed. They need some application so that you can understand just what God is saying. In order to do that, it takes more time. So I took that time and stretched out those individual ones into three days. And then we'll finish on the victory side on Sunday morning. Praise God. We do want to finish there. You know, we've been covering a lot of negative issues, but in reality, the Christian life is a blessing. And we can walk free. So I just want to let you know that there are six tapes in the session, not five. All right, let's stand to our feet for prayer. And we'll sing a little song and then have prayer. Let's sing, Come Bless the Lord. You know, the boys start, the ladies follow. Can we do that? Come bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord. We stand by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the holy place. And bless the Lord, and bless the Lord. Come bless the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord. We stand by night in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the holy place. And bless the Lord, and bless the Lord. Yes, our God and our Father, we bless you this morning in Jesus Christ's name. We speak blessings upon your head, O God our Father. We thank you. Thank you for this new day. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being our Father. Thank you for sending your dear Son into the world. Thank you, Father, that He spoiled principalities and powers. And made a show of them, openly triumphing over them in the cross. Thank you, Father. O God, we want to commit this session into your hand. Each and every one of our hearts, Lord. Watch, guard over every heart in this room this morning. Father, we ask you again. From your throne, bind Satan and every evil spirit. That would try to block somebody from hearing. That would hinder this meeting in any way. That would hinder this messenger in any way. Bind them, Father. We ask you to do that in Jesus Christ's name. And fill me with the Holy Ghost, Lord. For the anointing breaks the yoke. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I just want to say a couple of things to finish up yesterday that I felt should have been said, but we were running out of time. I just wanted to say a couple of things about gluttony. You know, we finished with eating disorders. And I just felt I should say a couple of words about gluttony, which is a major sin in America. Not a little one. A major one. But many, many multitudes of people are blinded to it and they do not recognize what a sin it is. But it is a major sin and it leads people into bondage. The Bible says that the drunkard and the glutton, they lie down together. God, in His word, He puts them in the same category. One is drunk on alcohol, the other is drunk on food. Now, you may not understand that, but you can get drunk on food. Now, you won't be staggering around like a man who's drunk on alcohol, but you will be dull, you will be slow, you will be slothful, your mind will not be clear, you won't function like you would if you would eat properly. You can get drunk on food. An alcoholic is controlled by drink and a glutton is controlled by food. Many gluttons are not overweight. But just because they're not overweight, that does not mean that they are not a glutton. A glutton is one who is controlled by food. I liked what Brother Roman said last night, you know. Are you a body that has a soul or are you a soul that lives in a body? Which one's in control? All right, this morning we're going to give a different title to the message as I saw the categories falling together a bit in a pattern. We're going to give a different title to this message and entitle it, Tear Down the Strongholds. Tear Down the Strongholds. Reading, if you'll turn with me to 2 Corinthians, where that word is found, 2 Corinthians chapter 10, reading from verse 3, Paul says these words, and they're powerful words, and they're worthy of much meditation. He says, And I believe that. I believe we're supposed to walk through this world in the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Not warring in the flesh, but warring in the Spirit. I tell you what, that is a powerful combination. When you have a child of God who is clear and open and free, walking through this world in the Spirit and gentleness and love of Christ, warring against the enemy and snatching souls out of his kingdom, that's beautiful and that's powerful. Though we walk not after the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons, and by the way, that word weapon there is the same Greek word as the word armor over in Ephesians chapter 6. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God through the pulling down or the tearing down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ and having a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Tearing down strongholds. We are to walk through this world tearing down strongholds. But dear young people, you can never tear down anyone else's strongholds until you have torn your own down. And that's what these sessions are about. When God wanted the children of Israel to take the land of Canaan, He led them to the strongest city in the land of Canaan first. That was Jericho. Jericho was the stronghold of the land of Canaan. It was a large city. It was a walled city. The walls of the city of Jericho were so thick that they had chariot races on the top of the wall. People lived in the walls of the city of Jericho. It was a stronghold. It was a walled city. The people that lived in Jericho were a powerful people. They were a warring people and they were known to be fierce warriors. Jericho was a seat of evil. That city was so evil that God pronounced everything in the city an accursed thing and warned the children of Israel, Don't you carry anything out of that city or you will be accursed. And God even led Joshua to speak a curse on anybody who tried to rebuild that city. And guess what? When a man decided he was going to rebuild that city, he buried his firstborn and his lastborn doing it just like Joshua said. Jericho is a clear picture of spiritual warfare. A clear picture. Here comes Israel. They have the ark which is the symbol of the presence of Almighty God. They have the promises of God underneath their belt. God has promised them, I will deliver this city into your hands. They have the strategies which God has given them and their hearts are filled with the faith of obedience enough that they were crazy enough to march around that city and go back to the camp at Gilgal, trusting God, not knowing how or what God was going to do. Look at the Canaanites. This is a picture of spiritual warfare. There are the Canaanites hiding in their strong city, hiding behind the wall, looking out over the top and trembling. You get the picture? By the way, that's how the enemy looks at a child of God who understands these things that we're talking about. He stands there in his stronghold, looking out and trembling. They are already defeated and they know it and that's why they're hiding inside of that city. Did you ever consider that before? I mean, they could have come down on the children of Israel while they were going around that city so many times, but there they are, hiding inside the city. Here comes Israel. Think about it. Total silence. Walking around the wall. Total silence. There is a powerful, calm, spiritual, confident silence in the children of Israel. I like that. No fuss, no muss. Just a calm, steady, confident silence. You know, like the silence of Jesus there when he was writing, you know, in the sand and he was so calm he didn't need to do anything. His silence was louder than his words in that situation and I believe the silence of the children of Israel and that inner confidence that they had was more powerful than if they had words to say. Now who's playing cat and mouse? Hmm? Now who's playing cat and mouse, young people? On the seventh day, seven times, they go around the city of Jericho and shout the shout of victory. And I guarantee you they didn't just make noise. The confidence and the faith and the belief in their heart went ringing up out over those walls. And the walls came crumbling down and Israel ran in and spoiled the enemy. Hallelujah! I like that. That is a picture of spiritual warfare, young people. That is a picture of how easily the strongholds in your life can crumble. If you rise up in faith and deal with your issues and cast them down, that is a picture of how easily they can just crumble into nothingness. The word stronghold means a fortress, not a wooden fort like colonial America, but one made out of stones and blocks and high walls. When King David and King Solomon subdued the nations around them, they then went and built fortresses or strongholds there in those places on the borders going into each one of those countries. And they placed soldiers in those strongholds and chariots and horses and weapons and all the provisions that the soldiers needed. And they put a stronghold in that country's land. And from that stronghold, Solomon and David before him controlled that country. Don't forget that. They controlled the area from these military strongholds. A stronghold, according to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, is a lie that is accepted into the heart again and again and again until it becomes a whole system of false thinking. A stronghold is a whole false theology that controls an individual's life. A stronghold is a mindset that is impregnated with hopelessness. If you're sitting through these meetings, young people, and you find your heart overwhelmed at times with hopelessness, that is a lie. But there's a stronghold in your life that makes your heart overwhelmed with hopelessness. There's no hope for me. That's a lie. It's a lie. A stronghold is a lie upon a lie upon another lie expanded, intensified by unfortunate circumstances, brick upon brick upon brick until it is a walled fortress by which the enemy controls areas of your life. Many times a stronghold begins through a traumatic experience. We all have them. Life is full of them. But many times a stronghold will begin in a person's life through a traumatic experience. Example, a person, a child, is molested when they're young. And this happens a lot. They think, this happened because of me. This happened because I'm bad. This happened because I'm dirty. Truth or lie, young people? Lie. Absolute, utter lie. Yet, that little child, that thing is there, it is there, it is there. The enemy often gets an advantage right there and begins his words. Those lies, they grow. Sometimes they grow for years into a huge fortress that devastates and debilitates a person's life. As everything else we've been discussing, these things happen gradually. Starting here, one lie, another lie, another lie. Maybe a traumatic experience comes into your life. Big lie, another lie, more, more, more, all the way down to the other end where there's a fortress that is built and the enemy is controlling that person's life. Now, I praise God, most of you that are in this room, you're not over here. But I wonder what lies you are believing and allowing those things to get a grip on you and control or to begin to control your life. When I was a child, I was told by my dear mother, and she is my dear mother, in her ignorance, she told me many times, you're dumb, you're stupid, you'll never amount to anything. I believed that. My mom told me that and I believed her. Years went by. Those words formed my personality. I was a very timid person and I lived under a failure mentality and I was afraid of people and I was so shy, I wouldn't even look at people when I walked down the street for fear that I would catch their eye and they would catch my eye and talk to me that I'd have to talk to them. I remember the first time it dawned on me that that wasn't true. I'm not a failure. I remember the first time it dawned on me. I was in Indiana. I was the associate pastor, one of the associate pastors of the largest church in America at the time, directing a bus ministry, bringing 5,000 children to Sunday school through these buses and overseeing 350 college students in ministry. And it hit me one day, I was sitting in my office. I'm not a failure. I'm not a failure. I'm not. What's this? Where did this come from? I'm not a failure. And the stronghold began to crumble and this timid fellow was coming out of his shell. And today, people would never believe that I was ever timid. But you ask my wife, she'll tell you. I was counseling with a man some time ago who was suicidal. He tried to kill himself a couple times. One time he almost did it. What happened to him? When he was a little boy, he had a very hateful, mean dad. Now, don't be hard on his dad, because his dad had a hateful, mean dad. And that's all he knew. You know, we learn from our dads. And dad, often in a rage of anger, would tell this little boy, You're stupid. You're dumb. You'll never amount to anything. This dad would tell this little boy, You're going to end up in a mental institution someday. This small, innocent little boy believed his dad. What else can you do when you're a little fella? You know? So he began to think this way. I am no good. I am a failure. These thoughts began to form his personality. At school, the mean boys saw insecurity written all over his face and all over his life and his actions. And guess what the mean boys did at the school? What do you think they did, fellas? Yeah. Can you imagine? They tormented him. And he believed it more and more. That was a traumatic thing that he went through at school almost every day. And he believed it more and more. I'm no good. And I'll never amount to anything. And I'll probably end up in a mental institution someday. In his youth, he became bitter at his dad and rebelled against him for the way that he treated him. He began to hear voices. You'll never amount to anything, they said. You're mental. Just kill yourself. Eventually, these spirits had such control over this man that they compelled him to get a rope in his hand and put it around his neck. But God spared him. And praise God, the walls of Jericho fell down in Jesus' name. And he's okay today. But I give you that story to let you know how this whole thing happens. A stronghold, a lie, another lie, maybe a traumatic experience that makes you shudder. More lies. You believe them. You keep believing them. Soon, you've built a whole system of lies inside of you. It begins to absolutely form your personality. Yesterday, I mentioned the problem of eating disorders. That whole thing is just a lie. That's what it is. Anorexia and bulimia. It's just a big lie. One lie on top of another one, on top of another one, until it begins to consume the mind and the heart, until it begins to control the individual's life. It's just a lie. But it's a stronghold, and it is a stronghold. And when it gets so far that it becomes, in fact, a fortress built with strong walls, it's not so easy to shake that lie off. A false philosophy, a mindset of falsehood, fear is the same way, young people. It works the same way. Fear is just a lie, grown into many lies until the person is gripped with fear about something. That's all it is. And by the way, fear is sin. Fear is sin. Dozens of times in the Bible, God says, Trust! Fear not! Trust! Fear not! Trust! Fear is sin, young people. Fear of failure. Fear of death. Fear of sickness. Fear of man. Fear of parents getting a divorce. Fear that I won't get married. Fear of the dark. Fear of the devil. And you fill in the rest of the blanks. You know who you are. You know where you're at. You know whether you're being gripped and controlled by fear. If you are, dear young people, it is a stronghold. And it can be tore down in Jesus' name. Very simply, ripped and tore to the ground and no longer control you. Fear is a lie, young people. Anxiousness, worry and fear, they go all hand in hand. If you let it grow one block at a time, soon you will have a stronghold that will control your life. And a spirit of fear will grip you. This is not from God. We are not supposed to walk through life being afraid. We are not supposed to walk through life that way. Most of the time our fears are the imaginations of our mind and heart. And dear young people, those imaginations are exalting themselves against the knowledge of God. Fear of death. Oh, I'd be afraid of that. Bless God. We're going to go to heaven when we die. Why would we be afraid to die? That is exalting itself against the knowledge of God. And we could make many, many more illustrations here. If you let it grow one block at a time, soon you will have a stronghold that controls you and grips you. This is not from God. It is not from God. We are not supposed to live in fear. Fear God. Skip all the rest of them. Put your trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your trust and confidence in the truth of His Word. And let the truth of His Word tear down the strongholds of the lies that have been built up in your mind and your heart. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty through God through the tearing down, the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imagination and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. That's beautiful. That is how you will deliver yourself from that dripping fear that you have in your life. Fear is a lie. That's all it is. And guess what? If you don't deal with it, it won't go away. You need to deal with it. Let's look at curses a bit. By the way, God has not given us the spirit of fear. Instead, God has given us the spirit of love and of power and of a sound mind. Now that's a good medicine for you to take. The spirit of love and power and of a sound mind. And John said, Perfect love casteth out fear, but fear cast torment, but perfect love, trust, casts out fear. So I don't know who I'm talking to here this morning, but if you're one of those who is being controlled by fear, I want to encourage you. That stronghold needs to go down in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent! Renounce that thing! Believe the truth of God's Word instead! Yield your heart to the sovereign ruler of the universe, and trust God instead. Alright, let's look at curses. The world of curses is very real, young people. More real than us educated Americans would like to admit. The people who live in third world countries, like Ghana and Haiti and places like that, they are very much aware of the power of a spoken curse. They're very much aware of it. In fact, they don't throw them around like we do here in America. Because they're very much aware of the power of a spoken curse. Many people think that a curse is something that is done by a witch doctor, and it falls under the category of something that a witch doctor does. But that's not what a curse is. Let me tell you what a curse is. The definition of the word curse, it means to utter a wish of evil against someone. It means to call for trouble to fall on someone else, as a prayer for evil to happen to someone else. It means to vex, harass or torment someone with evil words. And it simply means to speak evil of someone else. These definitions fall underneath the word curse. Turn with me to James chapter 3. We'll get a little more insight into this whole thing. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, you know the verse, death and life are in the power of the tongue. Now, bless God, life is in the power of the tongue. And if you use your tongue for the right things, it will in fact minister life and blessing to other people. But if you choose to use your tongue the other way, it can minister death to those who come underneath its power. James chapter 3 and verse 6 says this. The tongue is a fire. The tongue is a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. Those are pretty strong words that God says about that which comes out of our mouth. Those are pretty strong words. Look at verse 8. The tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Now, let's think about that for a moment. A person's words can be full of deadly poison. They can go into the heart of an individual. They can pierce like a sword. They can go into that person's life and poison that person's life for weeks and months and years. Deadly poison. We gave the illustration of that little boy. That little boy who almost committed suicide was poisoned with deadly poison when he was a little boy. Amen? That's what happened to him. Full of deadly poison. Therewith, bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. That's what God says about it. We mentioned already the illustration of that little boy. What happened to that little boy? His dad cursed him. He believed it. He walked in it. He received it. It's as simple as that, young people. Parents can curse their children. It's a very sad thing. I hope you will never, ever do. But parents do it. They do it in a moment of frustration. They do it at a time when they're not sure what to do. They do it because they are at their wit's end, maybe. Maybe they do it because their child has been a bad boy again and again and again, and they're frustrated and they don't know what to do with him, and out of their mouth they come these things. Most of the time, in our setting, they do it ignorantly. But they do it. And I'm sorry about that. If you're sitting here this morning and you're saying, That's me. That's me. I'm sorry. Some of you may have grown up under verbal curses. I hate you. I wish you weren't even born. You'll never amount to anything. You're the reason why we had a divorce. And on and on and on go the list of absolutely utter poisonous words. And to a child who is open and innocent and has never been taught yet to block anything that's dangerous that might come into them, they just take him in. They take him in. I'm sure your parents did not realize the power of their words. Some of you may be still living underneath those words. But I'm here to tell you this morning, you do not have to live underneath those words anymore. And your mom and dad do not want you to live underneath those words. They didn't do right. They didn't know what they were doing. But I guarantee you, they do not want you to live under the power of those words. You don't have to, young people. If I were you, I would get on my knees and acknowledge, Lord, I see it. I would get on my knees and acknowledge before the Lord, I have been agreeing with those words. And letting those words guide me and affect me. Repent. Repent of believing those lies which were ignorantly spoken out over you, young person. Repent and renounce them. Reject them, remember? Remember? Renounce? Reject them in Jesus' name. And the Bible says that in the Lord Jesus Christ, every curse is broken. In Jesus Christ's name, young people, every curse is broken. You need to recognize, I've been living under that thing. You need to recognize, those words are affecting my life. You need to recognize, this is not from God. It is exalting itself against the knowledge of God and God's will for my life. You are not a failure. It isn't your fault. You are in Christ Jesus. You are accepted in the Beloved. You are dear children of God. And God loves you. And He has a beautiful plan for your life. I guarantee you. But listen, if you choose instead to live underneath the load of that thing, you will never see God's will come to pass like it should. Loose yourself from those words, young people. We are free in Christ. Yes, it is true. But if you unite with them and agree with them and believe them, they are going to have an effect in your life. Let's look at another curse. Sometimes, we curse ourselves. Imagine that! I mean, don't get too hard on your mom and dad. Maybe you curse yourself. Listen, something goes wrong. You try to do something. It didn't come out the way you thought it should. And here you are. Now, nobody else is around. You're by yourself, see? In the sanctuary of your own heart and your life. And there you are. I'm so stupid. That figures. That's the way it always is with me. I'll never amount to anything. Hmm? Hmm? You are prophesying over your life, young person. You are prophesying over your life. Those are not little words. Those are powerful words. That figures. That's the way it always is with me. Once a failure, always a failure. That's just the way it's going to be. Hmm? You are preaching a theology into your life when you do that. Stop it! Repent! Renounce it! Many times you picked it up somewhere else. But now you picked it up. It's so much a part of you. You're preaching it. And it'll destroy you, my dear young people. It will destroy you. Repent! Renounce it! Break it in Jesus' name! And change your theology about yourself, blessed God. Change your theology with this book. You're not a failure. God has a beautiful plan for your life. You're a dear person. And God loves you. And by the way, there are a few evil spirits around that are more than happy to help you out with your negative theology. They are more than happy to help you if your throat gets tired of preaching it yourself. They're very glad to just put in a few extra words to bury you in all your negative attitudes about who you are. Those are lies. It's a stronghold, dear young people. Tear it down in Jesus' name. Don't let that thing stay there. The enemy is shooting at you from that stronghold. Tear it down. Blessed God, tear it down. There's hope for you. Listen. If there was hope for me, there's hope for you. God has a beautiful plan for your life, dear young people. A beautiful plan. Your theology is just lining up with the accuser of the brethren, isn't it? He likes your theology very, very well. In fact, you might have gotten some of it from him. If I were you, I would get on my knees and break that thing and change my theology. One more curse. The curse that comes from cursing others. The curse that comes from cursing others. The laws of sowing and reaping come in here. Parents curse their children in frustration and bring lots of trouble upon their own head. Husbands curse their wives. Wives curse their husbands. Children curse their parents. Church members curse the preacher. People out of envy curse the one that God is blessing and making him prosper by speaking evil and trying to ruin the person. Workers curse the boss. Oh, not to his face. No way. After he gives the command and walks away and he's around the corner and he's gone, then you let him have it. Right? Same thing with mom and dad. You'd never say those words to your mom and dad. You'd know better than that. You wouldn't do that. Dad tells you to do this or that. Dad gives you a little correction. Mom gives you a little direction. I want you to go do this or that. You go outside the house. You look both ways. You're far enough away and you let her go. That mom, I'm so sick and tired of that and what she said. And you just go on and on and on. Watch it. Watch it, young people. The curse that comes upon you for cursing somebody else is no little thing. You know what it says about that in the book of Proverbs? He that curseth his father and mother, the raven shall pluck out his eyes. And I guarantee you, young people, that verse does not mean he who curses their father and mother to their face, the ravens will pluck out their eyes. Most children will not do that to their parents to their face. They do it in the barn. They do it around the side of the garage. But they do it. And if you have, you need to repent. Don't you do that again. Set a watch over your mouth. Deal with the issues that are down inside the heart that would cause you to even do such a foolish thing as that. Deal with it, young people. You go around wishing someone would die, you may die. You may be the one who dies. Repent. And ask God to break the power of that in your life. You know, in the early days of our fellowship here, this is 20 years ago, we were just a little band in Lowley, just a few families meeting together. And a lot of people didn't like us. They didn't like us. They had a lot of bad things to say about us. You know, and this stuff, you know, it made its way back, you know. Just leave them alone and they'll die, they said. But you know, first few weeks of our little fellowship here, 20 years ago, we'd sit around on Sunday afternoon and have fellowship over all the curses that everybody was saying about us. Did you hear what they said? Do you know? No. What was it? Well, they said, and they said, can you imagine that? No. Yeah. That's what they said about us. And finally, after a few weeks of that, it dawned on me. This is not going to build a church. And I brought it up one day on a Sunday afternoon and I said, brothers and sisters, let's stop doing this. Let's talk about Jesus. That'll build a church. If we dwell on all this garbage, it'll come to pass. And we shook it off and we repented. And guess what? We freed ourselves from the whole thing. I want to recommend the same to you, young person. I want to recommend the same thing to you. In Christ, we are free from every curse. But we cannot unite with them and appropriate that freedom in our lives. Leave the words of the curse behind. In Christ, we're free from every curse. Oh, how many witch doctors have been baffled by that. They spew out their curses and do their spells on the missionaries and nothing happens. And they can't figure this out because they don't understand the protection that is in Christ Jesus. But I also tell you this, young people. There have been some half-hearted missionaries who learned some pretty hard lessons when they got out on that mission field and found out that they are open to those curses if they live a half-hearted Christian life. All right, one more and then we'll be done here today. I want to say a few things about generational bondages. In the Old Testament, several times in the Old Testament, God says words like this. I am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me. Underline, them that hate Me. Because you can get pretty far off on the whole thing if you don't underline those words. Of them that hate Me. When the generation behind us is given over to evil bondages and hatred of God, spirits can be passed down unto the next generation. Curses can be transferred to family members in the next generation because of evil things that were done or said in the past. I see this all the time in Africa. Brother Mel, Sister Barbie, when they were in Africa working there among the Dagomba people, many, many parents would bring their children to them. Children plagued with epileptic seizures. Thrown into the fire and thrown into the lake, you know, at will. You start asking questions and find out that the day that Grandpa died at his funeral, that little five-year-old boy started having epileptic seizures. Even the influence of a strong bondage can affect the children. The effects of witchcraft, which we spoke about witchcraft two or three days ago. The effects of witchcraft at times are passed down to a child. We've seen it many times. So much so that when you sit down with somebody who is in bondage and they're having all kinds of problems in their life, you begin to ask those questions. Tell me about your parents. Tell me about your grandparents. What was Grandpa like? Was Grandpa a water witcher? You begin to ask questions like this to find answers to the bondage that is in a life. Now, this is no big deal. Don't get afraid as you sit here. This is no big deal. They simply need to be renounced and broken in Jesus Christ's name. The Syrophoenician woman had a child that was possessed. The child was innocent. Matthew chapter 17 and Mark chapter 9, you know the story there. The little boy who was thrown in the fire, foaming at the mouth and all those things. The Father brought the little child to the disciples while Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration. They couldn't cast the devil out of the little boy. It was a deaf and dumb spirit. Jesus came back down off the Mount, blessed God, found out the situation, and He began to talk to the Father. And He said to the Father, How long has it been this way with this child? And the Father said, From a little child. These things get passed down. Adopted children sometimes have issues to deal with from past generations. This is a known fact and is becoming more known all the time because adoption is something that is taking place more and more all the time in this land. It's an option instead of abortion. And praise God for it. But as God's loving, caring people adopt these little ones that have been rejected, for who knows what the reasons are, they get a bit puzzled at times. Loving Christian parents bring the unwanted into their homes. They bring the child into a loving environment. They care for the child the same way they do their birth children. They bring them into their very hearts and love them with everything they've got. Yet problems arise and many parents are totally baffled by them. They don't understand what is going on. And I tell you it's because things like this pass down. And you don't know what that child's parents have been into many times. A five-year-old adopted boy begins molesting one of the children in the family. Listen! That's not natural for a five-year-old. Five-year-olds don't do that. That's not natural. That child is under evil influences. Fists of rage and anger, violent outbursts of hitting, taking your supper and throwing it up against the wall. These are some of the things that happen and the parents go, Whoa! What is going on? I'll tell you what's going on. You're dealing with more than just a little child that you adopted. But don't despair. Those things are broken in the name of the Lord Jesus and by His precious blood. They can be broken. But we do need to come to grips with them because all these loving people, this remnant people around the United States, they are adopting children, dozens and dozens of them. And it's wonderful. But we'd better learn how to deal with these children. And it's not that way with all of them, but some of them it is because of their past. There are generational issues that need to be dealt with and they can be broken and they can be cast out in Jesus' name. Many adopted children face issues of rejection and believe the lie of the enemy. Here's the lie. Someone rejected me. That's why I'm adopted and I am not loved. I must be no good. But in reality, the absolute opposite is true. Think about it. The absolute opposite is true. The truth is they are so loved and cherished by God that God delivered them from a terrible life and placed them into a loving Christian home. Oh, what the enemy will do! Oh, the lies that he does! Puts into somebody. This happens. Many adopted children have to work through all of that. It's a lie. It's a lie. You are so special to God. He cherished you in such an individual way that He guided your life, supernaturally worked and overshadowed your life and moved you out of a devastating situation and put you into a loving Christian home. What a different theology about an adopted child. Let's turn to Romans chapter 8 in closing here. We're going to take now all these issues that we've been looking at that last these three days. The rebellion, the bitterness, the hurts, all the things we spoke about yesterday, all the things that we've spoken about here today. And we're going to put them underneath these verses. And I want you to do it from your heart. In Romans chapter 8 and verse 31 and following. What shall we then say to these things? If God before us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies it. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Praise God! Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Have you been through that yet, young person? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, young people, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's God's word. Tear down that lying stronghold and put those verses in its place. In Jesus Christ's name. Let us stand. And let's pray together. Loving Father, we bow down to You at the end of this message, the end of this meeting. Oh Father, we acknowledge before You that we are Your children. We are the sheep of Your pasture. You love us. Oh, how You love us, every one of us. Oh, how You long after that hurting one that is in this room today. Like a shepherd longs after a wounded little lamb. Oh, Father, I pray, care for Your lambs, dear God. Care for them. We rest underneath Your everlasting arms here this morning. I commit these young people into Your care. Shepherd Your little lambs, Father. I ask You to do that in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated.