The sermon titled 'Don't Arm the Enemy' emphasizes the dangers of arming the demonic realm by giving them power through our actions like addiction, indulgence in sensuality, and opening doors to darkness. It highlights the need to confess, seek accountability, and fan the flames of passion for God. The message warns against falling into discouragement, engaging in occult practices, and allowing harmful influences into our minds and bodies, urging listeners to confront the enemy and choose the path of light and repentance.

The title of the message is Don't Arm the Enemy. Don't Arm the Enemy. And I'm going to give you a quick synopsis. Do you know what that is? A synopsis is a sentence or two on what the story is about. If you look at the trailer of a movie, that's a synopsis. It tells you what you're about to get into. The synopsis for this message is this. They have been disarmed. I'm talking about the demonic realm. Has been disarmed. But, we arm them again. We have the power to win, but we often lose. And many times we sing that song about being delivered and set free. I'm set free, but then we're worshiping going, but Lord, why am I in bondage? Why do I keep falling in this area? Why can't I get this under control? I don't understand. I'm free in the sun, but I'm bound in sin. There's an enemy there that I feel that I can sense. Verse 13, then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists, I don't know if you know what that is, but they would travel around, apparently, held to the Jewish religion. They would travel around and they would try to perform exorcists on people. Exorcisms. We see that sometimes in old movies and even maybe new movies now. I don't know. I'm not up to speed. It's not a good thing to play with, for sure. So they would travel around and supposedly do this. They took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits. Now this is funny. They're traveling around. They saw clearly that God was moving. Jesus was healing. The demonic realm was being crushed. And they say, okay, we're going to cast out demons in the name of Jesus whom Paul prays about or talks about. So here's what they said exactly. We exorcise you by the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. That's like saying, if a friend of yours is praying, I'm praying in the name of Jesus at that church that Martha goes to. There's no relationship there. And also, there were seven sons of Siva, a Jewish chief priest who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, think about this. The evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? Now, you can speculate a lot into this, but obviously, this person knows who the seven sons of Siva are. They know the demonic realm. It's not saying, well, who are you? I've never seen you before. He's saying, I know Paul's power. And I know who Christ is. And I know they have the authority to cast me out. But who are you? You're nothing to me. You actually have no authority over me. You are on my side. You can't command me to be removed from this person. But who are you? Then the man in whom the evil spirit was, he leaped on them, overpowered them, prevailed against them, so they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Now, when a person, and I've talked about this before, and I don't want to get into a long thing on it, but the Bible really, possession is a word we use that wasn't in the original language of the New Testament. And we think of this word like possessed, like a robot, right? I'm possessed by the devil. And really, he has a demon is what they would say. He's demonic. He has a demon. There's something influencing that person. He's lost his grip. It's a stronghold. This demonic realm now is controlling this person. So, in this area, they often lash out, right? When they're confronted by light, they lash out. Now, this is sometimes why people are scared. Because there are, I just talked to a lady who drove to Bakersfield and visited somebody in the hospital there. And a friend of his was there. And she talked about being also involved in the satanic church. And when she had deliverance, deliverance, she heard about the foam in the mouth. She felt like throwing up and violently throwing up and screaming and yelling. This thing was taking place inside her soul. And that is real. That's real. If you've seen and if you know, especially talk to missionaries in Africa or different places, the Middle East. When the demonic realm exposes itself, there's a fight. They don't want to leave the battle. There's a screaming. So that's why Christians are a little taken back. You know, I don't want this to happen. I don't want to run out of here naked. I don't want to run out of here wounded. But the difference is they had no power, no authority. The believer in Jesus Christ has the power and the authority in the same way that Jesus did because of the same Holy Spirit. Now, sometimes it took, like this lady I talked to, I think she said she sat in the church praying with the people for six hours. Six hours praying for this release in her heart. But let's think about this for a minute. Naked and wounded. This is exactly what happens when the demonic realm wins. We feel shame and pain. When the demonic realm wins in a certain area, don't we feel shame and pain? That's what happens. There's shame. Lord, how could I let this happen? There's pain in our lives. Now, I'm going to get to where the rubber meets the road. Are you ready? That's not very encouraging. I think the 9 a.m. is pretty sleepy. Nobody had any coffee this morning, right? Very important fact. This is undisputed, but it's important. Very important. It appears that the kingdom of darkness had much more power and authority before Jesus' ministry than it does now. Than it did after Jesus' ministry. They were running havoc. They were creating a lot more turmoil. Well, Shane, that's a wonderful idea, but do you have Scriptural support? Yes. Are you ready? Here we go. Matthew 12.28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. So Jesus is saying the kingdom of God that you've been praying about is here. I am the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has come upon you and actually, as a believer, it is within you. So now the demonic realm, who's running crazy, they can do whatever they want. Now there's a kingdom here that's going to fight them. There's a kingdom there that's going to bind them. The kingdom of God has come upon you. Now you can cast out and remove the demonic realm. Matthew 10.7 As you go, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead. I forgot about that one. Cast out demons. Freely you have received. Freely give. And basically what that means is give freedom, give hope, give deliverance. This power of the Spirit has been given to you freely. Now you go out and you do these things. See, there wasn't believers in the Old Testament. They couldn't go out and do these things. Unless the Spirit of God came upon a person, they could not overcome the demonic realm. That's why you would read in the Old Testament, and the Spirit came upon Samuel. And the Spirit of God came upon Elisha. And the Spirit of God came upon such and such Samson for a particular task. But now in the New Testament, the enemy is running for cover. The enemy, he's coming against authority he never came against before. One more case you're not convinced. Next. Colossians 2.15 Jesus, having disarmed the principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them. So He just disarmed them. So what happens? Satan will try to minimize or counterfeit those things that are most important. For example, your authority in Christ. Who you are. And actually, it's who the Holy Spirit is residing in you. Now, if you just think about this for a second, I know it gets discouraging because we get defeated a lot, right? But if you have the Holy Spirit in you, that's biblical teaching. And the same Holy Spirit that's in you was in Christ. The Bible talks about the same Spirit is in you that raised Christ from the dead. That same authority, that same power, that same unction, that same boldness, it's the Holy Spirit that now you can confront the demonic realm. But He'll want to hide that, right? And make it timid. And I knew I grew up this way, and sometimes it's still a struggle. You think of God and the devil. Who's going to win here? They're kind of competing against each other. We already know who won the battle. We already know that Satan is a defeated... He's already defeated. He's already defeated, so Satan will try to hide that from us or he'll use phony healings. He'll want you to avoid application of the Word. Don't fast and pray. Don't be filled with the Spirit. All these things that are so important. Actually, he doesn't care if you read your Bible as long as you don't apply it. He loves the man who reads his Bible and yells at his family and doesn't go to church and curses and has illegal business practices. He's part of his plan to cause hypocrisy and deception. So you have spiritual authority over the demonic realm. And I'm going to talk about as I get into the message. It's a sobering message. I'll just let you know up front. The reason is, I believe the enemy, as you do, is sent to kill, steal, and to destroy. So when I look around and I see the mayhem that is taking place, I see the debauchery that is taking place, the perversion that is taking place, and you see the enemy is shooting and winning often. There should be a righteous indignation that rises up within you. That he's stealing. He's killing. He's destroying. This isn't reading a comic book. This is real life. You cannot arm and entertain the devil and expect to win. You cannot arm him and expect to win. What we do here has enormous spiritual ramifications. I want you to think about that for a minute. What we do here has enormous spiritual ramifications. How we live actually affects the spiritual realm. You must fight. I know some of you didn't want to hear that this morning. We get this idea of following Jesus is like laying in the grass meadow and looking up at the clouds and waiting for heaven. But it's not. I challenge you to look at what the Bible says about warfare. It's the strongest language it could use. If we wrote it today, it would be like, and grab your nuclear bomb and your stealth fighter and your navy battleship and go to war. It's the strongest thing you can bring to this. And this is why many fall back into sin. They've lost the battle. So let's talk about this for a minute. Don't arm the enemy. Let's start at the bottom of the foundation from verse 15. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you? Believing and thinking about him now and then because of what others have told you is not enough. Now, call me naive. Call me ignorant. But I'm one of those types of preachers when I go into an audience, I'm pretty convinced that not everybody sitting there is saved. Oh goodness. There's a good chance. Because many people know about Jesus. That's why they don't have the power. That's why they don't have the authority. They know about Jesus. Let me give you a good example. My younger daughter, I won't say the name, a while back we got cast iron pans. And do you know they can stay hot for a while? After the flame has turned off? Right, so the flame is off. You know, just sitting there. I'm like, no, don't touch it. It's still hot. Hot. She's like, okay. But you know what kids, once you tell them no, right? I should have just said nothing. Well, a couple minutes later I hear the crying. What happened? I touched it. I touched it. I grabbed it. And I realized, she believed it was hot. But it wasn't until she touched it she experienced the heat. See, many people can believe. I believe there's a Jesus. He lived, right? And there's a God. I mean, look at this. I believe. And they believe they're good. They'll come to church. Yeah, I believe. They'll go through life. I believe. But they've never touched the iron. They've never experienced God. They've never repented and embraced that gift of salvation. So that has to be the foundation. Believing and thinking about Jesus is not enough. James 2.19 paraphrased. I love this Scripture. You say that you believe there is one God. Good for you. Even the demons believe in God and tremble. Good for you. When you say, in the name of Jesus... See, when you say, in the name of Jesus, or pray in the name of Jesus, there must be a relationship. You're saying, in the name of my Savior, in the name of my King, in the name of my Deliverer, in the name of King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that's what I'm proclaiming this. Not in Shane's strength. Not in your strength. You're proclaiming it in the name of Jesus because I have that relationship. See, not only do I believe I've touched the iron. Oh my goodness, if I touch the iron, that it set me free and redeemed me and guides me and comes back and holds me when the enemy is beating me up, that's the Christ I know. So I come with that power and that authority. That's what it means here. I mean, do you know, we sing a lot, His name is victory. His name is actually victory. His name is deliverance. His name is the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end. His name is Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He carries all these names that denote authority and power and ruling and reigning. So you come in that name. That's why you can walk into something and you can preach or you can speak or you can pray in the name of Jesus. And the demonic realm has to take note of what you're doing. Now, people will say the devil is after me or the devil's this and I've been there myself too. But I don't know if it's actually him. Because he's not omnipresent. He's not everywhere. He's not omniscient, all-knowing, all-powerful. He's not everywhere. He has a demonic... That's why they're called demons. That's why so many of them went into the swine. So what you're facing many times are demons. Now, truth be told, I'll just be transparent, I don't like this topic. I just wish they didn't exist. I wish that life just is hard. I don't like the idea that there are little minions trying to influence my children, trying to influence me, trying to break apart the church, trying to come into your lives. I don't like that. And so one aspect of not liking it is sometimes I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to preach about it. I don't want to give them any type of recognition. But on the other hand, if the Bible talks about it... We have to come to this realization. Reading the Scripture this week, I came to this realization. Either we're supposed to cast out demons, and I don't mean some weird stuff you see on TV, but just go and help somebody get through their bound by Satan, either we're supposed to or we're not as believers. Either we're supposed to go and heal the sick or we're not. See, sometimes it's like, oh, I know it says that, but 2,000 years later, how can you live like that? We can't live like that. Either the Bible means what it says or it doesn't. And there's nowhere in Scripture where it says, now these things are going to wane. These things are not going to occur anymore. Now granted, I don't have a perfect picture of what this looks like. I know when I get involved in ministry and traveling around, and for example, the hospital homes, you'll look demonic. You'll look the demonic realm straight in the face. Curse you, tell you to get out, spit at you. Where does that come from? That's just not a bad day. I've had bad days, and I don't do that. There's something there. If you don't know God, like I just said above, if you don't know God, there is nothing you can do. You can try willpower. You can embrace positive thinking. You can hope for karma, but you will never be set free. Shane, that's so depressing. Well, I only depress you to show you where the light is, to show you where the truth is. What kind of pastor would I be if I offered false hope? Just offered false hope. There's nothing you can do to fight the demonic realm. You must start here. Repent and believe. This is the first step in disarming the satanic realm. You must walk out of the darkness and into the light. Crystal clear on that, right? That's the first step. That's what happened here. That's why these men were defeated. So I'm going to give you some things to help you. How do we arm the enemy? Now granted, nothing is new, right? If it's new, it's not true. If it's true, it's not new. A lot of this I've picked apart over the last year or so here, but I'm going to put it all in one sermon. How do we arm the enemy? Anybody think of that? Don't arm the enemy. Okay, well Shane, how do we arm the enemy? Here's how we arm the enemy. We give the enemy ammunition. To arm somebody or something, you give them the ammunition. You give them the weapons. You give them the things that are trying to destroy you. We give them the ammunition. That's exactly what happens. So let's talk about how we give them the ammunition. I know you're curious, right? Number one, three things and I'll be done. You can go eat lunch. What we allow in the mind. Now, of course, I've mentioned this before, but it fits perfectly in with arming the enemy. What we allow in the mind. A stronghold or a fortress cannot easily be broken down. So if the enemy has caused something in your life it has to be a stronghold. This is not coming out, right? Except by prayer and fasting. It's reached that level. There's a fortress. There's a stronghold. I'm bound. I can't come out of this. 2 Corinthians 10, 5 says this. You cast down arguments, which is an argument is your self-excusing yourself. No, no, you don't need to work on that. You don't need to. And all these wrong ideas that are coming into our mind. And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. So when something exalts itself against what God has proclaimed. The media is a big one on this one, right? They come up and they say, no, this is what we say God says. No, that's not true. You need to come against those things, those high things that exalt themselves against God. Bringing every thought into the captivity to the obedience of Christ. And the brain is very interesting. Study something online. Neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity. It means the brain. They used to think the brain was like a computer. Right? Pre-programmed. Pre-programmed to live a certain way. Pre-programmed to die a certain way. Your environment. There's nothing you can do because you're pre-programmed. Now they're understanding the brain. Neuroplasticity means it can be changed. It can be altered. It can be renewed and restored. A verse has come to mind on that one. Do not conform to this world but be renewed or be restored by the renewing of your mind. So the mind is being renewed. So it really changes how... I think personally, if we really thought about how powerful our thoughts were, we would change our thoughts. Because sometimes, well, that's just a thought. That doesn't really matter. No, that's where he's coming in. That's where he's firing those darts. We give the demonic realm too much influence in our lives. We act on the thoughts they plant. For example, you remember when Jesus said, get behind me, Satan. What did Peter do? He said, Christ, Jesus, you will not go to that cross. One of the most blasphemous, worst statements a person could ever make. Did Jesus rebuke Peter? Have you ever thought about that? Peter, that's not... You'll see. I know you don't know right now. He said, Satan, you get behind me. Now, was Satan planting thoughts in Peter's mind to try to demotivate Christ? I mean, who knows? We know that Jesus said, get behind me, Satan. You don't know the thoughts of the Father. So Satan will say, get back to that relationship. Go back to that relationship. Click on that site. Take that drink. Pop that pill. Take that hit. Prove yourself right. Show them how great you are. Elevate yourself. My favorite, get the last word in. Now, this is why it's challenging. Not only is the devil against me, my flesh isn't my friend either. That's why even theology hundreds of years ago talks about, especially if you read the Puritans, that we're coming against the flesh, the devil, and the world. Those are really what's coming at us because the demonic realm cannot maybe plant any thoughts and just my flesh will want to go somewhere because the world is influencing me, right? Try fasting and driving by Carl's Jr. Smelling it. Seeing the signs. Oh, see, just the flesh and the pull of the world. That's enough, right? And then like, no, I'm going home. And then those thoughts. Why? Come on. I know I'm minimizing this, but I could really elevate this. This is why a person goes back to alcohol. This is why they'll go back to medication. Back to now certain things that now they're legal. I guess it's okay. They go back to bondage in this area because he starts planting thoughts. It's really in the thought life and in the music people. That's why I talk about music and entertainment. Here's something you need to understand. Especially young adults. They're listening to music. Why just enjoy it? I mean, it's not really. But see, enjoying it and allowing it is changing your mind. To enjoy and to allow it, it actually is affecting you. You can't supposedly enjoy something and it's not affecting you because our enjoyment comes in what we're enjoying. If I'm enjoying the things of the world, those things are starting to shape my mind. If I'm enjoying the things of God, that's directing me in that direction. I don't know if some of you, there's not a lot of young adults in here, but there was a person by the name of Chester Bennington who recently committed suicide. He was the lead singer for Linkin Park. I don't know how many of you knew that. But they released a statement, the band did. Talking with you about the years ahead together, your excitement was infectious. Your absence leaves a void that can never be filled. A boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice in the room is missing. Why'd you read that, Shane? Oh, it's not for that. I read this. Wait until you hear this next paragraph, sentence. We're trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. This isn't a statement. A statement his band made. The demons were always part of the deal? After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place. You fearlessly put them on display. You don't think that's why there's a spirit of suicide in our young adults? You don't think that's why there's cutting and drug abuse? Because he made a deal with the devil. That's possible. If you've talked to people coming out of the satanic church or anything, they'll tell you there's a point in their life where the demonic realm was so strong, the darkness was so strong, they had power and authority, the fake kind, right? Maybe some type of could read into mind something, but they said, Satan, I'm yours. I make a pact with the devil. And then Satan can elevate you. He might know some people in Hollywood. He might get you that record deal. Who puts a statement like this out? We try to remind ourselves that demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. And I talk to people who listen to this stuff. Listen to this music. I know Christians who are listening to this hard, gothic, demonic music, and they're finding enjoyment in that. If you find enjoyment in that, something's wrong with your heart. That should not entertain. You should not enjoy that. I mean, those change of thoughts. I remember 30 years ago, I still remember Metallica, those lyrics, darkness imprisoning me, absolute horror. That's what I'm singing in my 20s. See, they're planting those thoughts. That's how he enters. Wake up, folks. That's how he enters. Well, too bad for young adults. No, too bad if you're older, too. That's still how he enters. Entertainment and allowing these things in are basically you're giving approval. Hi, my name is Shane, and I approve this ad. And just this week, God showed me so many Scriptures, just reading through the Old Testament, too, as well. And it really stuck out. I wrote it down yesterday, I believe. Like He told Hezekiah, do not listen to those men who are coming. Elisha, do not listen. Do not listen. Do not listen. Do not listen to those people who are trying to get you to go astray to the other gods. Do not listen to those Hittites, Persites, Ammonites, all these ites that are trying to get you to fall. Do not listen. Do not listen. See, that goes before do not do. Do not listen. Woe be to the rebellious children who take counsel, but not of my spirit, who devise plans, but not of my spirit. Do not listen. See, it opens right here. Now, there's a difference, because I will read books from different religions, and things to try to learn better for apologetics, but the mind's not open to what they're serving. It's open to what God's Word says and showing the inconsistencies. And you can't just watch an R-rated movie and say, I'm just trying to watch it just to see if, I don't know, see if it's good for my kids. Five minutes into it, you already know it's not. And when it says R right there, that's just a good thing right there. Well, what about The Passion of the Christ? Oh, you got me on that one, I guess. And I just went online. What is trending on Netflix? What is trending? I want to see what's trending. Saw. This movie Saw. Saw. There's a head inside of a scale. Maybe weigh something. The Dead Zone. Jigsaw. Happy Death Day. The Evil Within. Resident Evil. The Snare. Seven Witches. That's trending. In a society that is a so-called Christian society, with millions attending church. I'll tell you what, it's not just unbelievers putting that on the trending list. Come on, church, wake up! Where's the Christian who has fully surrendered to God, full of the Holy Spirit, who wants to denounce these things, who wants to fight the darkness, not embrace it? Where are they at? Because that's what a true follower of Christ is. I'm not getting legalistic, I'm getting narrow. The narrow road. And I didn't even get into the... I didn't even get into the... I just picked the horror films. You should see the sexual perversion ones. It's just amazing. Now, conviction comes in. It's a wonderful thing. This might be... I mean, without fail. Without fail. When I talk to people about suicide, or severe anxiety, or fear, or whatever it is, and I say, tell me about your mental diet. Mental diet? What's that got to do with anything? The mental diet. What you're allowing in. If a physical diet changes this, right? A mental diet changes this. I mean, I know, I do silly things. I don't even know why I did it. Went on Facebook and I liked it. An old valley scanner report. Why did I do that? I go, let's go on like that. I don't need to know every single crime and every single car crash and every single robbery and every single shooting. And it's like, what am I doing? Did that build me up spiritually? Now I'm ready to come and preach. Now I'm like, come on family, let's get out of here. But we allow, because see, here's the battle. Here's the battle. The weapons of your warfare are not carnal. You're not going to fight the devil with something like this. Pulling down strongholds. Casting down arguments. And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, you bring that thought into captivity. You stop it here before it gets to here. All the time. Right, it's right here. Right here. This is where the battle, this is where you're arming the enemy. It's interesting too, I read this week. Mark 5, it's where Jesus cast out the demon in the man with a legion of demons within him. And I always find it interesting that the city actually asked Jesus to leave. Would you get out of here? They were comfortable with the demonic in their area. Many of you have grown comfortable with the demonic. Because it's not, you don't just walk out and see Halloween decorations with a guy hanging. Or exorcism and all these. We forget that he's an angel of light. It's the demonic realm. Comes in and it's an angel of light. He presents, it's not that big, I'm comfortable. Comfortable. Listen, I don't even know how many. For argument's sake, I say there's a dozen people right now that I'm trying to help with alcohol. And in every case, it's like, but, I'm comfortable. I'm comfortable with that. I can relax, or marijuana, now it's legal. I'm comfortable with it. But see, what they don't realize is they're comfortable now, supposedly, but the end result is, doesn't look like where you start. When the enemy starts you there, his goal is to destroy everything. So that's the direction it's going. That's, I'll just be truthful with you, right now, that's the direction it's going. If you're hooked to something, if you're addicted, the enemy's got you bound. That's one of the great deceptions, is to get you comfortable. I remember reading a book, I believe it's by Russell Moore, Tried and Tempted. He talks about how cows now, they're just, you know, they're just at the slaughterhouse, and they're just on the conveyor belt, or whatever it is, and they're just, you know, looking around, and before they know it, boom, a big heavy piece of metal. They were comfortable. They were walking, this is nice, this is wonderful. Because they found out, they take them away from seeing the death of other animals, they take them away from all this chaos, and confusion, and blood, and gore, they make the animals enjoy it, because then, I mean, I could get into that more, but how it affects the meat, because all these toxins are released, adrenaline, cortisol, that gets into the meat, into the food, they want the animal relaxed. Same thing. Guys, this is where my heart really is, because I see people, I see people start a medication, for an injury, and then a year later, it's destroying their house. That's always what happens. That's always what happens. Ephesians 4.27, do not give the devil a foothold. Give him no opportunity at all. I've mentioned quite a while ago, but it might help a little bit. You know what a foothold is, right? It's when your teenage daughter is mad, and she goes to close the door, and you just put your foot in. No, it's not. See, it's not closed. I have an entry point. I can go right in. There's a foothold. There's something, there's this area. That's why in these type of subjects, you've got to guard off these areas. You can't give him a foothold. What about family patterns? People call this generational curses. I've always just kind of strayed away from that, because I don't think that a certain family is cursed from here on out. Now, I think we're all trying to say the same thing, but it's just not terminology I use. What I refer to often is entry points. If there's something in a family that is often passed down, whether it's sexual perversion, alcoholism, anger, you know, right? I'll never be like my father, and then you realize, I'm just like my father. So there's entry points. There's entry points where the enemy will be able to work. And this is why the home needs to be a holy sanctuary. See, what you do affects your family. We forget this. We forget this. That drink you're taking, that website you're looking at will affect your children. It will affect your marriage. It will affect your family. These are entry points the enemy is looking for. And then the third point, what we allow in the mouth. Back to the point of illegal isn't always good. Marijuana, pills, alcohol alter how you think you're no longer in control. Now, this is an interesting topic because this is probably one of the number one reasons where I just talked about the thought life, the entertainment, but this also, allowing these things, because what they do is they alter your mind. And when your mind is altered, where does it start? So when it's altered, then you open the door and you'll do things you'll never do. You never thought I'd do. Ask somebody the next morning after a busy night. I never thought I would, they opened the door to that. There's also people I'm talking to, they don't go here but hooked on marijuana now, but it's medicinal. Yeah, but you lost your mind. You can't even keep your job. It's not just medicinal. Now, disclaimer, I'm not against certain medicinal uses for things. That's, I believe, God has given us wisdom in these areas, but medicinal use of anything is about this much. And abuse is about as long as America. And we use the medicinal excuse to continue in our addiction. Anytime somebody who's addicted says that, I say, uh-huh, that's your excuse. I don't say it just like that, but that's obviously their excuse, right? So think about this. It changes how you think. And I personally have never met anyone who is walking in the power of God, doing the will of God, filled with the Spirit of God who is a user. I'm hooked to anything. Because it alters the mind. Alters the mind. I remember reading about a year and a half ago, just reading the interactions or the warnings on Xanax that you take for anxiety. And after reading what can happen from taking it, it's worse than what you're dealing with. Under a doctor's care to go off can result in seizures? Possible death? Hallucinations? Panic attacks and anxiety? Wait, aren't we taking it for that? Read it. Go online and study what these things are. You're opening the door. Now if somebody needed something for three days while they're coming off of alcohol and withdrawals, you know, there's a little bit of freedom there. But overall, you have to be careful because many people, we like how we feel then we want to keep going back to it. Right? And the world is absolutely ready to feed this addiction, isn't it? I remember. I told you before. I got a root canal a couple years ago. I went deep. It's going to hurt. Here's a Vicodin description for a month. A month? A month. Yeah, if you need more, if it's still hurting. And it was bad that day. Oh my goodness. It was bad. Next day, it was hurting. I'm like throwing these things away. We don't need to use these. We don't. But you can get really hooked. Oh, this feels good. My tooth is not hurting anymore. This feels good. I just need to go to sleep. This feels good. I need to go to sleep. This feels good. I need to cope with my day. And you get hooked to that. And then tolerance builds up and one's not doing it anymore. And see, that's how the enemy works in all these areas. It's interesting. Alcohol, I believe, from what I'm researching, it could be wrong. Alcohol comes from the Arabic word akul, which some say means body-eating spirit. Ephesians 5.18 Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Debauchery is excessive indulgence and sensual pleasure. Now, and I know a few in this room and others, I'm not talking about the person who has a beer now and then. Right? You got it. Or a glass of wine. I'm also not condoning it, but I'm just saying that's not what I'm talking about. Actually, the people who do that and do it right love exactly what I'm saying. And they agree with what I'm saying. I'm talking to the person who now it's become an addiction. Where now it's become an ongoing basis on a regular, you have to have it. How do I know, Shane? Just go a month without something if you want to see if you have to have it. Most of you can't get through one day without coffee and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. There's this addiction that comes in. Same thing with alcohol. Ephesians 5.18 Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. So, who gets the ammunition? See, it goes back to who gets the ammunition? And it's interesting. In the Greek, there's a word, pharmakia. Some pronounce it pharmakia. I believe it's pharmakia. It's drug-related sorcery, like the practice of magic arts. Do you know where we get that word now? Pharmacy. So be careful. I mean, maybe it will leave you and go, Shane, you just went over the top here on this one. I don't care. But I've seen, this is destroying many lives. People close to me. This is eating away at them. Eating away at them. Oxycontin, Xanax, Vicodin, Valium. All these things. Opiates. They dull the mind. Dull the senses. I can't get through life. I need this. And that's the deception. I can't get through life. I take this, right? And then a couple hours later, this isn't cutting it. And then things are falling apart. And then I go back to this, and you go back to the very thing that is destroying you. Galatians 5.19-20 Now the deeds of the flesh, what the flesh wants to do, are evident. Which are this, immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, and pharmacia. Sorcery. It's the lust of the flesh. So here's how you give an entry point to the enemy. I mean, don't test this out, but try doing a Bible study after two strong beers. It's not going to work. It's not going to work. What about if I even came up here and said, guys, I had a hard morning. I just stopped and got a marosi. What do they call this thing? Champagne and orange juice. You know, how could you? How could you? I don't know what it's called. Mormosa. Okay. I saw some people we know serving those at a garage sale. Seven in the morning. Problem. But no, it's freedom. It's my liberty. No, it's a problem. It's an addiction. Anytime you open it up to this, that's why people are struggling with pornography. That's why they're struggling with their diet and their eating habits because it's sensuality. You open it up and it just comes at you. Isaiah 28.7 The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They are out of the way through intoxicating drink. They err in vision and they stumble in judgment. So you will not be able to see clearly and direct your family and lead your family and you'll make bad decisions that aren't aligned according to God's will. That's what it does to you because now the wrong spirit is guiding. We can go to church and sing hallelujah but if we go home and open up the six pack you just done done what the spirit was doing in your life. Or the pill. Or the drink. Or the smoke. Or the computer. Or anything. If you don't fight in this area you will fall. Here's what we need to do. Confession. Confession brings it to the light. People get frustrated when it doesn't happen immediately but it is a battle. It's a battle. Accountability helps the confession stay at the forefront. Here's the one thing about accountability. Don't trust in it of itself. Accountability will not fix your problem. However, it's a great tool. Because when you bring something to the light if there's somebody there who keeps you accountable they can keep bringing that to the light. And as soon as you start to snap at them and get upset at them you know that that sin is starting to get back underneath that rock again. So that's what confession does. You bring it to the light. You're accountable. You open up. Hey, this is in my life. And people are given the ability to ask you about certain things. So do that. Confess it. Bring it to the light. That was a quick hour. My goodness gracious. I thought I had like 20 minutes left. Well, let me just here's what I want to do during this prayer time. I just have such a passion for this topic because I'm traveling over this way. I'm going to prison. Sometime to visit a friend. And all of the chaos going on right now around my life and around this church and around this it has to do with this topic. The demonic realm is winning in many lives. And it's causing havoc. So if you need to fan the flames again if your heart is cold to God then go to the heat. Go back to Him. 2 Timothy 1.6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. So Paul laid his hands on Timothy and ignited something in Timothy. It fanned those flames. So we're going to have prayer next door. If you need to fan those flames again you know exactly what I'm talking about if you're right there. Every Sunday without fail people come and pray this prayer. They've lost it spiritually. They are declining and they know it. They have no passion for God. Worship is boring and they can't open their Bible. You need to fan the flames. You need to get that passion back. The prayer team needs to pray with you and have that open up again. Have you ever been there where you say I'm all churched out. I'm discouraged. I failed. Discouragement is arming the enemy. Discouragement is arming the enemy. I also want to pray for you if you've armed the enemy. If you've opened yourself up to magic Ouija boards to the occult to drugs and alcohol. They say here's where this word dabbling comes from. I'm just dabbling. Have you heard that? That just means I'm making an excuse to continue. That's what it means. But you're not dabbling. You're actually arming the enemy. And if you've been into this music like I mentioned, and you've been allowing these things into your mind, you've armed the enemy. Come over for prayer. If you're living in the darkness, if you're living in the darkness, you're already on His side. If you've only believed in Jesus but have never repented and embraced that gift and experienced God, we want to pray for you. All week I've been wondering if I should read this or not because I didn't want to come across the message is already strong enough. But sometimes we need something to remind us of the path that we are on when we have given up to the enemy. This is written from a girl. Well, actually, it's an unknown author, but they say it's from a person who lost somebody and maybe I think died themselves to a heroin overdose. I'm only going to read a short clip here, but this is the enemy condensed. If I could condense it, this is exactly what I'd say. The nightmares I'll give you while lying in the bed, the voices you'll hear from inside your head, the sweats, the shakes, the visions you'll see, I want you to know these are all a gift from Me. But then it's too late and you'll know in your heart that you're a mind and we shall not part. You'll regret that you tried Me, they always do, but you came to Me, not I to you. You knew this would happen many times you were told, but you challenged My power and you chose to be bold. You could have said no and just walked away. If you could live that day over, now what would you say? I'll be your Master. You will be My slave. I'll even go with you when you go to your grave. Now that you've met Me, what will you do? Will you try Me or not? It's all up to you. I can bring you more misery than words can tell. Come take My hand. Let Me lead you to hell. Folks, we need a wake up call. I'm all for love and grace and encouragement, but there comes a time when you need to confront the enemy. Too many of your people are playing patty cake with the devil. They're playing games. Well, it's no big deal. It's my one vice. There's so much brokenness around us. I've got friends now that are getting divorced. As they explain this to their children who are crying, I don't know what happened. I'll tell you what happened. A couple years ago, remember when you opened that door? It's no big deal. Because that's what the devil does. Well, that wasn't too bad. That wasn't too bad. Come on, that wasn't too bad. And that's how, that's the, he doesn't push you off the building. Right? If you've been coming to Westside for a while, you've heard me say this before. He rarely pushes you off the building. Because you'll go, oh, no thank you. What does he do? Oh, that was comfortable. That wasn't bad. And we keep walking and walking. It takes a very humble, wise person to look over the cliff and see that's where I'm going. That's where I'm going. That's where it's leading. And this is why it's so hard. You have to take action on something you don't yet see. You have to take action on something you don't see. Do you not? Because you have to look and say that's where it's leading. That's where I'm going if I don't stop. And the devil will come in and plant thoughts. That it's okay. You deserve it. You had a hard day. You're tired. It's a fight. It's difficult. It's challenging. But the reward always comes after the fight, doesn't it? Always comes after the fight.