In this sermon, SM Davis shares the testimony of a preacher from Kenya named Titus Kamala, who was saved in a miraculous way. Kamala was a drunkard who passed out in public and was mistaken for dead by the police. He was thrown into a morgue with other dead bodies, where he woke up and found himself face to face with a cobra. In this unusual passage from 2 Samuel 5, David becomes the king of Israel and faces opposition from the Jebusites. Despite their taunts, David takes the stronghold of Zion and establishes it as the city of David. Davis emphasizes that Satan is a master deceiver and his attacks are often subtle and deceitful. Many families and individuals are being destroyed by Satan without even realizing it. Davis warns that homes don't just fall apart, but are often under attack from Satan's well-planned strategies. He also highlights that Satan can appear as an angel of light, making it easy for people to be deceived by him. Davis concludes by pointing out that many families and young people who are struggling are actually falling prey to Satan's plans to defeat them.

Welcome to From the Pulpit. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers too. This week we have S.M. Davis with his message Conquering Satan's Strongholds. Turn in your Bible with me tonight please to the book of 2 Samuel chapter 5 and then be ready to turn with me to several other passages throughout the Bible but we'll begin in just a moment with 2 Samuel chapter 5. I believe it was in 1998 that a preacher came here from Kenya, Africa by the name of Titus Kamala and he gave one of the most unusual testimonies of how he was saved. He was raised in the home of a drunkard and eventually became one himself, got drunk one night out in public and passed out and was so passed out and so out of it that the police came by, picked him up and thought he was dead. Took him to a third world country morgue, opened the door and threw him in on a pile of other dead bodies. Locked the door. I don't know why you lock the door to a morgue but anyway they did. Locked the door and he woke up after a while and realized where he was on a pile of other dead bodies and he told how that the news report literally was picked up and went around the world of him trying to get out of there and finally being rescued and how God used that to bring him to Christ. I don't know about you but if I got that close to death, I think if I was lost I'd want to be saved too. And after he was saved he started preaching and winning souls and one of the villages he was in, in Kenya, Africa, the witch doctor got wind of what was going on and came after him. And the witch doctor said to him and two fellows with him, my God, referring to Satan, is bigger and more powerful than your God, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm going to prove it to you. And the witch doctor reached around, picked up a basket, opened it, took out a large deadly cobra that he had already used to kill other people and threw it at brother Kamala. The cobra reared its head, spread its cape, and posed and poised to strike. And brother Kamala said, I didn't know what to do so I did the only thing I could think of to do. Now would you look with me at 2 Samuel chapter 5, an unusual passage that I don't think I've ever used as the text in a message before. This is the time when David is becoming the king over the entire nation of Israel. Chapter 5 verse 3, so all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David king over Israel. Verse 6, and the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, which spake unto David saying, notice this, very, very unusual saying, except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither, thinking David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion, the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, whosoever getteth up to the gutter and smiteth the Jebusites and the lame and the blind that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain, wherefore they said, the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. Now, isn't this a very strange thing? What is he referring to when it says that, verse 6, except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither, and then David says that the blind and the lame are hated. Now, you won't need to turn there, but just let me read to you a passage from Psalm chapter 115, verse 4, because I believe this is what it's referring to when it refers to the blind and the lame. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They're blind, they can't see. They have ears, but they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk not. See, they are lame as well, neither speak they through their throat. And so you could refer to these not only as blind and lame, you could also refer to idols as deaf and dumb. Because they're nothing but the Jebusite said to David, you cannot take this unless you do something about the blind and the lame. You should not come in hither because they're looking at their idols as being powerful, as part of the strength of this stronghold of the city. And notice that David took the strong, very key word for the message tonight, David took the stronghold of Zion. This was a fortress, it was a stronghold that they thought was strengthened by the idols and the idolatry, but it was not. And so David sent those folks up and they said the blind and the lame shall not come into the house. They're going to be, they're going to be tossed out. I believe they were burned or torn apart or whatever. Verse 9, so David dwelt in the fort and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Milo and inward. And David went on and grew great and the Lord God of hosts was with him. So David took a city that had been a stronghold for idolatry and conquered it and made it a fortress for God. How interesting that is. Turn over in your Bible to Matthew chapter 12. In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus used a true story about an unclean spirit to describe the attitude of the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel, by the time Jesus came, had cleaned the idolatry out. The blind, the lame, the deaf, the dumb. Those idols that could not see, speak, hear, walk, touch or anything. And the children of Israel had finally gotten rid of that. But in Jesus' day, they had not replaced it with love and sincerity and obedience and true worship. And notice the story that Jesus then tells. Matthew 12 verse 43, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father who hath ears to hear, let him hear again. The kingdom of, excuse me, I'm in chapter 13. I need to be in chapter 12. Sorry about that. Chapter 12 verse 43, When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out, and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell therein. The last state of that man is worse than the first, even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. So the demons now have created. This man started out with one demon. He wound up with seven more, more wicked than himself. And the demons have created a stronghold in this man's life. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And the apostle Paul here gives one of the most powerful verses in the New Testament for Christians to be aware of, especially because we are in a spiritual battle. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they are not fleshly weapons, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. You notice again the casting down of strongholds. And a couple of more verses in Ephesians chapter 4. Here are instructions to the Christians at Ephesus concerning their walk as Christians. In verse 26, Be ye angry and sin not. That's a present passive imperative in the Greek. It means be angered, be acted upon by somebody trying to get you angry, but don't react and sin by getting angry. So be ye angry means be angered and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Read verse 27 out loud with me, would you please? Neither give place to the devil. This word stronghold is a powerful, powerful word. And the key truth that I want to share with you this evening is that God wants to use his people to conquer Satan's dark, wicked strongholds of deception and idolatry and ungodliness. Isaiah 34, 13 described a fortress that was an habitation of dragons and a court for owls. And God wants to use his people to conquer these strongholds and replace them with fortresses of truth and godliness and righteousness. So I want to speak to you tonight on the subject, conquering Satan's strongholds or how to conquer Satan strongholds. How many of you have ever visited a fort? Let's see your hands. A fort or a fortress. A little over a year ago now, my wife and I were in South Alabama and we went to Fort Morgan right on the Gulf of Mexico. And we saw there walls and cannons and barracks and places to store food and ammunition. A group of men could literally hold off an attacking force for days or weeks. And I suppose that they probably did. I remember when I was in Baltimore, Maryland visiting Fort McHenry. That is where Francis Scott King was on the ship and saw the Star Spangled Banner, deer still flying. In fact, just recently I was able to visit the grave of Francis Scott King there in Frederick, Maryland. And here is Fort McHenry. And it was a powerful fortress that was able to withstand the bombardment that came against it. A fort is a stronghold. It is a place of tall, often stone walls, sometimes up on a hill. It may have massive secure gates. It would be a place that could stand up to a powerful assault because of its almost impregnable nature. I've also visited castles and forts in France and in Romania and saw rooms and yards full of all kinds of ancient weaponry. I looked through the Bible to see how many times this word stronghold occurred. And I found out that it occurred 27 times in your King James Bible. But that the Hebrew word, mipsar, is translated fortress or fence city or strong city 23 more times for a total of exactly 50 times if I counted right. The first time the word stronghold occurs is in Numbers 13, 19 where they were checking out the inhabitants of Canaan land. Before they went in to conquer Canaan, they wanted to check out and find out whether they lived in tents or in strongholds. It made a difference what your strategy was. If you're going to go up against an enemy and he's in a tent or he is in a stronghold, such as a fortress of a walled city. In 1 Samuel 23, 14, David was in the wilderness in strongholds and God protected him there. It's interesting to me that the city of Tyre, right on the coast, the city of Tyre was referred to twice as a strong city in Joshua 19, 29. And then it was named after several other cities in 2 Samuel 24, 7 as a stronghold. I love Nahum chapter 1, verse 7. It says, The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. But that word stronghold only occurs one time in the New Testament. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. It is saying to us that Satan is a builder of strongholds, not in the physical realm, but in the spiritual realm. Do you realize that it is possible that there are people here tonight that Satan has built a stronghold, a fortress in their life? And you live in continual defeat because of it. Now if you study the biblical history of Satan and the unclean spirits, you will find that Satan, our adversary, was once Lucifer, the light bearer and anointed cherub of God, Ezekiel 28, 14. I believe he may have been an archangel along with Gabriel and Michael. He had incredible power, beauty, and wisdom. His very being rang with fabulous music of every sort. Isaiah 14, 11 refers to the vials. We get the word violin from that. He had in his very being the ability to make the music of stringed instruments. Ezekiel 28, 13 refers to the tablets in him, timbrels and drums, pipes, flutes and trumpets, wind instruments. And so he in his very being had the ability to make this fantastic orchestral music. But Ezekiel 28, 17 tells us that his heart was lifted up with pride and he wanted to be equal with God. Apparently he deceived many of the angels into following him in his sin. And Revelation 12, 9 records that the devil was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. But Satan and his army of fallen angels do not simply float around all the time. Yes, they travel, but primarily they look for a place where they're able to reside. Ephesians 4, 27 commands you and me as Christians to not give place to the devil. It means the same thing as a room. In fact, that same Greek word is translated five times in the New Testament as room. And Paul is saying to Christians, don't give Satan a room in your life. In Matthew 12, 43 to 45, an unclean spirit left a man. We read it a few minutes ago. That man had apparently been providing a place for that spirit to live. Now that man, the Bible says when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, perhaps the unclean spirit was cast out of the man. Maybe something happened to make the demon feel uncomfortable about staying. Maybe he experienced true salvation. Maybe godly music came into his life. Maybe there was words of praise. Maybe there was sincere worship. I don't know. Maybe the spirit just decided to go looking for a new place to stay. We're not told why. We're simply told he went out of the man. And what did the spirit do? He started looking for a place to stay. He walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. And the word place is there when it says he walketh through dry places seeking rest. Same word used in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 27. Neither give place or room a place to rest to the devil. The same word is used in Luke 9, 12. And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve and said unto him, Send the multitude away that they may go into the towns and country round about and lodge and get victuals. For we are here in a desert place. Now you could stay in a dry desert place, but it wouldn't be very pleasant. Humans don't like it. Neither do demons. When the spirit found nowhere else to call home, he went back. And amazingly, that fellow had cleaned up his house. He threw out all the filthy junk in his life. You can imagine all the filthy junk a man could get in his life. He got an empty religion with ritual and no reality. Let me tell you, nothing is emptier than empty religion that just has ritual and no reality. And the spirit said, Wow, what a place to live. So he went traveling again and found some other spirits who were looking for a place to stay. And he invited them to move in with him. And they did. And the latter end of that man was worse than the first. The history of the unclean spirit. Secondly, the home they desire. They left their home in heaven. That is still the home of the rest of God's angels who did not follow Lucifer. Matthew 22, 30 refers to the angels of God in heaven. Matthew 24, 36 refers to the angels of heaven. Mark 12, 25 refers to the angels which are in heaven. Apparently, heaven is the home of the angels. And they are dispatched to earth to accomplish specific purposes for God. I remember a preacher years ago who made it come alive for me as a little boy. He talked about that passage where the angels do always behold the face of their father, which is in heaven. And he said, Here's what's happening. The father's on the throne. The angels are right there in front of him. And they are beholding the face of the father, which is in heaven. And the heavenly father looks down and sees one of his children who needs some help. And he says, Angel, quick, go there. And with the speed of thought, the angel is right there to rescue you and me, to minister to us, to help us. Thank God for the angels. Jacob in Genesis 28 saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder that reached to heaven. Angels delivered messages to Mary and Joseph and Zacharias. The shepherd saw a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God at the birth of Jesus. Then Luke 2.15 says, It came to pass as the angels were gone away from them into heaven. The fallen angels left their past home. Matthew 25.41 tells us about their future home. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Revelation chapter 20 verse 10 expounds further on that. In Matthew 8.29, the unclean spirits living in the men of the country of the Gergesenes said to Jesus, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? They were saying, Please leave us alone. Art thou come hither to torment us before our time? And the word time means appointed time or season. They were saying to Jesus, You're not going to make us go to hell early, are you? Heaven was the past home. Hell is the future home of Satan and his demons. Their favorite place to reside right now is with humans. But they'd rather live in hogs than in hell or not have anywhere to live. In that same passage, they begged Jesus to let them live in hogs and he gave them permission, but the hogs wouldn't put up with them. There's a big lesson there to lost folks. If there's somebody lost here tonight, if unclean spirits fear the torment of hell badly enough to prefer living with hogs, maybe you better think twice before you flippantly laugh and joke about going to hell. The hogs wouldn't have them and cast themselves into the sea. Now, what is the home that Satan and his fallen angels desire? They desire to live with or in human beings. Now, some of you are already thinking this, so I'll ask it and then answer it. Pastor, do you believe a Christian can be demon possessed? Doctrinally, I personally believe that a Christian can only be oppressed and not possessed. Practically, it seems to make little difference. I have seen Christians who have definitely allowed what Paul warned the Christians at Ephesus not to do. Don't give the devil a place, a foothold, a room, an area of control, an area of jurisdictional authority. Don't give the devil ground in your life. Don't do that. Third, how do Satan and his demons move in? Several years ago now, we visited Uganda, Africa, and we were there with the stencils, and they took us in their house, and they showed us everything. Here's your room. Here's the bathroom. Here's the kitchen. Make yourself at home. They came here to the United States. We took them to our house. And we said, hey, you treated us. Now, we're going to treat you. And here's your room, and here's the bathroom, and here's the kitchen. Here's the living room. You make yourself at home. And some people think that that is what you have to do to get Satan to take a room in your life. Now, I'll admit that will work. And there are spiritually blinded fools in our day who will pray to Satan and ask him to come in and take over their lives. And they are fools. Some worship Satan and involve themselves in all types of satanic rituals. You know, if I were to ask you, what is one of the poorest countries on the face of this earth? And you were thinking you would say the country of Haiti. Do you know why Haiti has had so many problems for so many years? I think it's because of a letter I received from a preacher just a few years ago now when he said, I was in Haiti this past February. I was contacted by several pastors asking me to arrange a crusade for the year 2004. The reason is because that is the anniversary of the signing over of the island to the devil. Parenthesis, voodoo. On January 4th, 1704, the island was given to Satan by the sacrifice of a pig and by the people drinking its blood. Do you wonder why Haiti is in such a mess tonight? Until somebody turns that around, that will stay a curse for generations on a country. Now, may I insert right here, if you're wise, you won't read stories or watch movies about these kinds of witchcraft and satanic things. Demonism and witches and all of this. You are inviting Satan to have a place. I remember so clearly, a group of us were on an airplane flying to Ghana, South America, and there weren't enough seats for us to all sit together. So they sat together and I had to sit in another seat just up there with somebody. Right next to me, there was a man reading a Stephen King novel. I really didn't know anything about Stephen King. Don't really to this day. I'm just telling you what I glanced over. Saw his book open and read one paragraph. That so glorified demonic powers that I felt a chill come over me and an oppressive spirit surround me. And I had to pray immediately for God to forgive me for reading that and cleanse my mind and put His hedge of protection about me. I was afraid God was liable to take that plane down because of me. I'm serious. I said, oh God, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. God, cleanse my mind. I plead the blood of Jesus against what I just read. Folks, watch out for psychics and fortune tellers and palm readers and witches and spirit guides and those that the Bible refers to as those having a, quote, familiar spirit. Most of the time when Satan gets ground in a person's life, he does so without them knowing about it. You don't have to say, Satan, come in and take over. I seriously doubt if there is a person in this room whom Satan hasn't gotten ground in your life at some time or other, whether you even knew it or not. He doesn't usually use a frontal attack. He is deceitful and cunning like a lion slipping up on its prey. He roars after the victory, not before. He kind of puts his foot in the doorway of your life and works his way in without you even know it. He is a master deceiver and his work to destroy you and me is not always an obvious thing. John 8, 44 tells us that Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Many are having their lives and families destroyed by Satan but don't even know it. In fact, they will defend and fight for that which is destroying them because Satan is a deceiver. Hear me, homes don't just fall apart. In many, many cases, they have succumbed to Satan's well-planned attacks. Young people don't just become rebellious. They often fall prey to Satan's subtle plans to defeat them. He is very deceitful. 2 Corinthians 11, 14 tells us that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. He came as a serpent in the garden. Eve did not suspect who he was. It's very easy for you to not recognize Satan as Satan when he comes. I noticed two families continually having problems getting along some time back. And as I watched them, I wondered if they realized that it was probably Satan working to divide them. Somebody wisely warned, do not negotiate with Satan. You must learn to recognize his attacks. Somebody told a little story like this. A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft, soothing voice. Is it not better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let us negotiate the matter. Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, I want a fur coat. Good, said the bear. That's a negotiable question. I only want a full stomach, so let us negotiate a compromise. They sat down to negotiate and after a time, the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach. The hunter had his fur coat. And Satan says to you, let's negotiate, but there are some things that are not negotiable. You cannot compromise with the devil. You can't negotiate with him at all. You've got to learn to recognize him. But J.B. Buffington in a message said, we must identify our enemy if we're going to have victory. He said, during World War II in the Air Corps, we had to identify all the battleships and airplanes of the Japanese, the Italians, the Germans, the Russians, and the Americans. We had to know friend from foe in a split second. He said, by the time you had an airplane bearing down on you, you didn't have time to say, hey, let me grab the book and see which one of those, what kind of plane that is. He said, by the time you do that, you're a dead duck. I saw a World War II training video where they were showing the men. This is the way you identify. They put the American plane on this side. They put the Japanese plane on this side. And they said, they look alike like this, but these are radically different. Here are the differences. You must learn to spot them in an instant. Could I tell you something? You better learn to spot the devil in an instant, because if you wait, it may be too late for you. Ephesians 6 describes ranks in Satan's organization. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the spiritual wickedness in high places. He has his forces well organized on this earth. Principalities refers to governments. Powers refers to top demon princes, such as Daniel had to deal with in the book of Daniel when his prayer was delayed all of that time. And then the angel came and said, we've been working to get this to you. Then there are rulers, those under the demon powers. Then there is spiritual wickedness. A multitude of Satan's forces, an unseen host of demonic powers. Are you recognized that there could be more angels and demons in this room tonight than there are people? Satan works wherever he can get permission to work. And we debate about demon possession or demon oppression, and we miss the simplicity of the truth. Demons go where they are allowed to go or have a right to go for as long as they are allowed to be there. Satan goes where you let him go. He gets a place in your life. One way he does it is through certain possessions. In Mark chapter 5, the Jews had those hogs and it was a possession they were not meant to have because they were under the Levitical law and it was an unclean thing. And the unclean had a right to enter the unclean. See? Jesus wasn't deliberately destroying a herd of swine. Jesus was giving permission where ground had already been yielded. I'm thinking of a family that had a problem with a child and they changed a lot of things, but they didn't go through their home and cleanse their home. Of whatever things may have been in their home that were allowing Satan to get ground in their child's life. And this child still had these demonic things he was playing with in his bedroom. And the child, the parents were telling me the child seems to be tortured, but we've already pleaded the blood of Jesus against them. And I said, but you don't understand. They have a right to be there. You have given them that right. You must take away that right. Then you can reclaim the ground and rebuke them in the name of Jesus and the oppression can be ended. With some possessions comes a curse. Joshua chapter 6 and 7, there was Achan who took that thing that the Bible says was accursed because it was devoted to God. He wasn't supposed to touch it. And because of that, until they dealt with that, they could not go on. We must always consider the spiritual value or impact of earthly or material possessions because sometimes material possessions aren't just material possessions. They have spiritual things that tie in with them. In the book of Judges, Gideon destroyed that grove of idols. He destroyed them. That's the reason I try to not allow idols to be displayed in missionary displays. When missionaries come, I'll say to them ahead of time, now if you have anything that's an idol, if you'll do me a favor. I know some people say, well, you've prayed over it, there's nothing left there. And I have no debate with that. I'm just asking, don't put them out. I don't want them there. In Acts chapter 19 verse 19, there were books that were burned. And they counted the price of these books that were full of sorcery and witchcraft and all of this kind of stuff. And they found out the value of it was 50,000 pieces of silver. And that was in Acts chapter 19 verse 19. And in verse 20 we read, So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. Sometimes Satan can take ground simply through the possessions that you have. But a big way according to the context of the passage here in Ephesians chapter 4 that Satan can take ground is through anger and its related sins. Notice, be ye angry and sin not. And then in verse 34, you have the catalog of sins that relate to anger. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor, that's brawling, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, that's intention or desire to hurt somebody else. So when he says, be ye angry and sin not, neither give place to, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Why does he say that? Because if you get angry, if you get angered, and then in your anger you allow your anger to rise till it becomes sin, and you don't deal with that right away, and the sun goes down on it and you sleep on it. Parents, do not send your children to bed with angry words. Do not let your children go to bed when they are angry. Let not the sun go down on your wrath. Do not let the bedroom become a place of bitterness. Because when that anger turns inward and the sun goes down, and you lie in bed and you think of those angry words that were said to you, and you think of how disgusted you are and how upset you are, that anger can turn into bitterness, which can give Satan ground or a place in your life. The only time, folks, that anger is right is when it's God's anger, not yours. Any time that it's your anger, it is wrong. James 1 20, For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Psalm 37 8, Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Ecclesiastes 7 9, Anger rests in the bosom of fools. Ephesians 4 31, That word in Ephesians 4 31 referring to anger is the same word that was used in Mark chapter 3 verse 5, where Jesus displayed anger. It is never used again. The Greek word is never used again in the rest of the New Testament in relation to any other human being. But it is used right there to say to you and me, let all bitterness and wrath and anger be put away from you. Jesus could handle it. You can't handle it. Get it out of your life. One of Satan's biggest ways of getting his room or his place in a family's home is through the father's anger or the mother's anger or both of their anger. Listen to this article. My husband and I have three children. In the last two years, we have tutored our 13-year-old daughter in math. However, when Daddy tries to tutor her, it becomes a confrontation instead of a learning experience. He yells at her. He makes sarcastic comments. She in turn gets an attitude and resents that he ridicules her in front of her siblings. I find his methods immature and inefficient. He shouts. She cries. What is being accomplished? I no longer like the person my husband has become. He finds a reason to yell about something as soon as he gets home. He's told the kids that he would use physical discipline if it weren't for me. I'm ready to get a divorce because I'm unhappy. The kids are unhappy. He's obviously unhappy too. Now, what is happening in that home? That father's anger is creating all kinds of destruction for his wife and his children. How does rebellion develop? Anyway, here is the hurt that has come into your life. Listen to me. It could be real. It could be imagined. It doesn't matter. With the hurt comes bitterness. You review the offense over and over and as you do, what's happening? The Bible talks about a root of bitterness springing up and thereby many be defiled. So, you've had this hurt. It could have been caused by anger. It may have been. And you review it over and over and as you do, it's like you're pushing that root under the soil and watering it. And then you know what I watch? I see those who then become rebellious and stubborn. First Samuel 15, 23 says, Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. So, you've got rebellion like witchcraft and stubbornness like iniquity and idolatry. And here now is somebody who says, Boy, I tell you, I've heard this so many times. I've had, especially young people, but I've had adults do the same thing. Look me right in the eye and say to me, I like being bitter. I like being angry. I am not going to forgive. I don't want to forgive. I don't see any reason for me to forgive what they have done to me. So, here is this anger and it is producing Satan, being able to take a place and build a stronghold in somebody's life. And this person now, what did it say? Casting down imaginations and every high thought, every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So, what happens is this person in their mind begins to justify this. I have a right to be angry. I have a right to be unforgiving. I have a right to be rebellious and no, I'm not going to quit. Thank you. I like it. I think it's fine and I'm going to hold on to it. And they don't realize they're not holding on to anything. They just opened the door to the devil. And he has created a place. He has created a... He has taken a room. He has created a stronghold and a fortress in their life. Could I tell you something? You talk to somebody who believes a lie, sometimes it's hard to convince them otherwise. Have you ever noticed how you can talk to people who believe abortion is all right, the murdering of helpless unborn babies, and they will fight you over that? Have you ever noticed that there are people who think homosexuality is all right? That there's no big deal, that sodomy is just something that well, you know, it's no big deal. They have allowed Satan to create a stronghold in their minds, in their imaginations and they think that is right. Through anger and strife and bitterness and unforgiveness, even ungratefulness, Satan can take ground in a person's life. Hebrews 12, 15, and 16 is the passage that talks about how that root of bitterness springing up and thereby many be defiled. And then it goes on and it says this, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. So he relates, watch me now, he relates bitterness and moral failure. And you know what I've seen over and over and over again? I have seen when a young person gets rebellious. And it's not always a young person. It could be almost anybody. They get rebellious or they get bitter. The next thing that happens is the I don't care attitude. Well, they treated me that way. Mom did that, dad did that, brother did that. I just don't care. Now where does the don't care attitude lead to? It leads to moral failure. Because you don't care what happens anymore and so the gates are wide open and Satan can do anything he wants to to your life. In 2 Corinthians 2, 10 and 11, Paul talked about the need to forgive others. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. Another way Satan can take ground in your life is through jealousy. In 1 Samuel chapter 18 verses 7 through 9, the Israeli army had returned from defeating Goliath and the Philistine army. Women were singing and dancing in the streets. Saul has slain his thousands. Oh, I like that song. Boy, that sounded good to his ears. Then they came to the second stanza. Same tune, different words. Saul's expression changed. The glimmer in his eye changed to a grimace on his face. David has slain his ten thousands. And Saul said, what can he have more but the kingdom? Verse 9 says, and Saul eyed David from that day and forward. Could I ask you, listen to me, who are you eyeing tonight? Who is it, teenage girl? Who is it, teenage boy? Who is it, worker on the job? Who is it who has received more acclaim, gotten more opportunities, gotten more recognition, gotten a bigger raise or a higher promotion? Who is it sings better than you or more often than you? Who is it who is a better teacher or got a better title or plays basketball better than you? Who are you jealous of? The very next verse says, it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul. And it simply means God gave an evil spirit permission to take over a place in Saul's life. Why? Satan had earned and had a right to that place. That is why. Satan is looking for a place to stay. He's probably not going to come in the front door. He's probably going to come in the back door through all these different ways that we're talking about. You know what I've noticed about teenage rebels? A rebel is one of the most confused and deceived people alive. They really think they are running their own life. In reality, they have lost control, are out of control, and Satan is running their life for them. Could I share with you what I believe is a strong biblical thought about why some parents lose control of their children? I wonder if when parents refuse to go to the trouble to make a child obey, the child's continued disobedience then allows Satan to get ground in the child's life so that the child is more difficult than ever to control. Now, if that is true, then parents would have to both pray over the child and insist on first-time obedience before the child could be set free. Pastor, give me some Scripture. I'm glad you asked. I was about to in Mark chapter 9. A father brought a son to Jesus who had been under the control of an unclean spirit since he was a child. Mark 9, 21. And that Greek word was used in other places to refer to children as young as three years of age. Satan may also come into your life through pride. 1 Timothy 3, 6 warns how pride can come into a believer's life so that he would then, quote, fall into the condemnation of the devil. Pride is taking personal credit for what God and others have done. Pride is trying to impress others. Pride is overestimating one's own importance. Pride is thinking we are better than somebody else. Listen to me. At the heart of racism is pride. At the heart of a lot of indebtedness, not all of it, but some indebtedness is pride. At the heart of a lot of contention is pride. The Bible says by pride comes contention. Satan may get a foothold in your life through pride. Satan can only do his work if he can get the ground in somebody's life so he can do it. And do you realize what I have just described here? Not only the history of the unclean spirits, the home they desire, how they move in, but I'm describing to you right now the horror of a satanic takeover. Because once Satan gets a foot in your life, a foothold, he takes that one place, he doesn't stop there. Then he says, I've got this room, I'm going to try to get another room here. And he takes more ground and more ground and more ground. And I've seen people who started out with a little bit of bitterness over rebellion and it wasn't long until they were in alcohol and drugs and pornography and immorality and homosexuality and other things too wild and too wicked for me to even mention from this bullpen because they allowed Satan to take the ground in their life. So what is, I'm glad there is hope for deliverance. What is the hope for deliverance? I'm talking to somebody right now who may have already given Satan a room or ground in your life. What do you do? Remember that Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. What do you do? First of all, you recognize who your enemy is. First Peter 5, verse 8 says, your adversary the devil. Did you know if Satan can get you mad at others instead of upset at him, he scored a double victory. The Bible doesn't say your adversary, your dad. The Bible doesn't say your adversary, your mom. The Bible doesn't say your adversary, your wife. The Bible doesn't say your adversary, your husband. The Bible doesn't say your adversary, your ex-husband or ex-wife or son or daughter or... It doesn't say... The Bible doesn't say your adversary, your in-laws or your neighbor. It doesn't say that. No, it says your adversary, the devil. And you're going to have to bring... Somebody put it like... Somebody said, and I wonder about this. I don't really know about this. I just share it with you. They said, fiery darts are thoughts that Satan sends your way to deceive you. Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is a way which seemeth right unto man. And so Satan will plant these thoughts in your mind. In Acts chapter 6 they were asked, why has Satan tempted you to lie? So you've got to recognize who the adversary is and recognize the lies he has told you such as you are justified to be bitter. You are justified to not forgive. You are justified to hold on to this. And Satan holds on the ground. Recognize your enemy. Confess your sin to God. Whatever it is. Is it anger? Is it bitterness? Is it rebellion? Is it rock music? Because rock music is the thing. Anytime you find rebellion, in our day you almost always find rock music which is feeding that and building that. Whatever the sin is, is it jealousy? Confess that sin to God. And then ask God in the name and through the power of the shed blood of Jesus to take back any place or ground that Satan may have taken in your life. Revelation 12, 11 says they overcame Satan, thank God for this, by the blood of the Lamb. And then you've got to fill the emptiness of your life. Remember that guy in Matthew chapter 12? His life was, it was empty and you better put some, once you get the devil out you better fill your life. What you gonna fill your life with? You fill your life with truth. You fill your life with the truth that you can love anybody you choose to love. You can forgive anybody if you choose to forgive. You can get victory over any sin. Satan will tell you, you can't get victory over this. I want to tell you, through the blood of Jesus you get victory over any sin. You fill that empty room with truth, with the power of the Holy Spirit, with the joy of the Lord, with faithful Christian service, with witnessing to the lost, with Bible reading and meditation and prayer, with strong godly standards, with godly melodious music. You look for every opportunity you can to yield your rights. What's he saying? Not only in Ephesians 4.31 did he say, let all this be put away from you. In the next verse he said, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ask yourself this question, is this really worth fighting for from God's viewpoint? A lot of people fight over stuff not worth fighting for. A lady wrote, we know two sisters who haven't spoken to each other in ten years because they both wanted their mother's ice cream scoop. Come on folks, yield your rights. Give up the ice cream scoop or the dresser or the end table or the picture or the money or the car or the dog or the cat or the room or the parking place or the dress or the anger or the shoes or the right to be bitter or the right to have the last say so. Decide when Satan comes to me looking for a place to build a stronghold, he's just going to have to keep looking because by the grace and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, his strength is going to be gone. And by putting all of this in my life where it should be like it should be, I will be able to build a fortress of truth that will stand against Satan's strongholds. I began with Titus Kamala, saved out of a terrible background. And after he got saved, started preaching and winning souls and a witch doctor came after him and said to him and two guys with him, my God, Satan is bigger and more powerful than your God, the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm going to prove it to you. He opened a basket, took out a deadly cobra that he'd used to kill people and he threw it at Titus Kamala. The cobra reared his head, spread his cape, poised to strike. Brother Kamala said, I didn't know what to do, so I did the only thing I could think of to do. I looked at the snake and I remembered Mark 16, 18, they shall take up serpents and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. And I looked at the snake and I said, I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be gone from here. And the snake fell over backward and crawled back to the basket. The second time, the witch doctor said, we're not done. Grabbed the snake out of the basket, threw it at the guy again and he did exactly the same thing. I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be gone from here. And the snake crawled back to the basket. Third time, same thing happened. And by that point, he was feeling his faith. And I wouldn't suggest this, I'm just telling you what happened. This is what happened. He looked at the witch doctor and said, now, enough of this. You've got two minutes to get saved or you're going to die and go to hell. And he started looking at his watch and counting down. It's been 30 seconds, I suggest you get saved. At one minute he said, sir, you have one minute left to live. You've seen the power of my... I don't suggest that, I'm telling you what happened. And the witch doctor screamed, tell me what to do. And he said, fall on your knees right here, repent of your sin and ask God to forgive you and cleanse you from your sin and renounce your spiritism and your witchcraft and trust Jesus as your savior. And within 30 seconds to spare, he cried out to God and got saved. And brother Kamala said the fellow got baptized and began faithfully serving God in their church. I want to tell you, thank God, God's power is more powerful than Satan's. You know Jesus, have you trusted him? Does Satan have ground in your life? You've been listening to From the Pulpit. This week you heard S.M. Davis with his message, Conquering Satan's Strongholds. Tune in next week for another powerful message from God's word on From the Pulpit.