Evicting the Enemy: Taking Authority and Cleansing your House

0:00 You want to always be begging for God for a miracle. You don't want to look like victory. You want to keep getting your butt kicked by Satan. Don't pay attention to what I'm going to say. But I've made a decision as for me in my house, we're going to serve the Lord. And it's a decision I've made for this church as well. You're not going to get your butts kicked. You're not going to be half stepping with the Lord, doing the hokey pokey, one foot in, one foot out. You're going to be a shining example of his goodness and grace. You're going to be a trophy to the goodness of the Lord. Welcome to the CityLight Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYC .com.

0:41 That's CityLightNYC.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by his grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you. Well, let's begin this morning in John chapter 11, verse 43. This is at the resurrection of Lazarus. Many of you have read this account already. Where Jesus' friend Lazarus, he was sick.

1:23 It's a real funny passage because Mary and Martha send word to Jesus, Hey, the one who you love, Lazarus is sick. And then it says he loved him so much he stayed an extra two days. Isn't that funny? I mean, I'm not going to preach on that because that's a whole message in itself. But Jesus loved Lazarus so much that he took his time getting to him. It took him so long he died. I mean, you would think he would say if he loved him so much, he'd double time back to Lazarus, but he didn't. He stayed an extra two days. Whole separate message. But it just shows you that God is never late. He's always on time. And sometimes you think certain things are happening. And from God's side, it's like, Lord, if I were you when you were me, I would come and I've helped you already.

2:07 But God knows exactly what he's doing. Amen. So here's Jesus. God in the flesh, he's standing over Lazarus' tomb and he cries with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped with a cloth. This is how they buried him. And it was a type of mummification. This is a picture of coming to Jesus. This is a picture of the new birth being born again.

2:47 This is a picture of you and me when we became Christians. A resurrection happened. We went from darkness to light. We were made new. We got new life. We were raised from the dead. However, when we were raised from the dead, we weren't already fully sanctified. Notice that Lazarus didn't come out wearing a crisp, clean tuxedo, but he came out with the grave clothes on him and he was all bound. I mean, this was a gruesome sight. And Jesus had to say, loose him and let him go. So Lazarus comes forth, but it's like revenge of the mummy, you know?

3:29 And that's a picture of every single one of us. When we come to the Lord, we still have a lot of baggage, a lot of stuff. And what has to happen is we have to open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit to loose us, to release us, to get the grave clothes off of us. Listen, God's desire, his will is for every single one of his children to be living and walking in victory, to be living and walking in the peace of God, to not have the baggage of yesteryear, the hooks, the demonic hooks of the past still in you, weighing you down, pulling you back.

4:10 It was for freedom that he has set you free. Amen. But there is a process. And really, that's what church is about. Church is about your spiritual formation, making disciples. That happens in the context of community. And it's you learning and getting the tools from the word of God on how to live this life of victory. I'm greedy for the things of God. I don't want to get to heaven and then see, oh, I only received half of what Jesus paid a very expensive price for me to have. I want it all, like that old lady song. I want it all. I want it all. And I want it now.

4:51 Everything, and it's OK to be greedy for the things of the Lord. Amen. Yet there are Christians 10 years into their relationship with the Lord still hobbling about, they smell like mummy. You don't want the breath of the cryptkeeper. You want that, that divine fragrance of the freshness. So how do we get there? Let's look at Romans 12, verse two. I want you to understand, man, I'm telling you right now, the enemy does not want me preaching this message.

5:32 And I distinctly, I distinctly heard from the Lord to preach this message. Pastor Mo knows because he got the sermon title either on Monday or Tuesday. Because there are times where I don't know, I've been waiting on the Lord all week and I don't know till Saturday night. Those are not fun weeks. I like these when the message has been cooking in the oven for a week, you know. But there are times where if you ever go on YouTube and there's a generic title, pray for me that Saturday night. Yeah, you're having fun that Saturday night. I'm literally rolling around on my office floor. God, I need a word from you. God, speak to me, because what I won't ever do is just pull out a random sermon and go, this will do.

6:19 And you'll know it right away. I've never done it. I'd rather get up here and then just make the whole service worship than me just preach any old thing. It has to be the now word of the Lord. It has to be fresh bread from heaven. It has to be something that you need. And this specifically came to me. And I haven't preached along these lines in too long, frankly. Here's the Bible's recipe, prescription, I should say, for how to actually experience life transformation. We can all agree there's two kinds of Christians. Both are heaven bound. Just one is experiencing a whole lot of hell while on earth and the other one is experiencing heaven on earth.

7:01 But there's two kinds of Christians. There's the Christian that's actually filled with joy, walking in victory, receiving answers to their prayers, is helping other, their cup is overflowing, and then unfortunately there's also the Christian that's beat up and bruised, smells like the grave still, still looks like a mummy, and is just hobbling about and for whatever reason just hasn't utilized the keys. Maybe they never got them. The Bible says my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. They haven't gotten the keys, they haven't learned yet how to actually live the victorious life. So a key here, a biblical prescription is do not be conformed to this world.

7:42 That means you don't allow the world to shape you, you actually exert pressure and you shape the world. Man, we really strayed from that one in the last 15, 20 years. But that too is another sermon for another time. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So transformation happens by the renewing of your mind. That's one key. It's not the only key, but it is a major key. Transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So in that journey of resurrection, still with the grave closed, to actually living in joy and in freedom and in victory, there has to be a renewing of the mind.

8:32 There has to be a mental transformation. That's where the battle is, in your mind. And you see this exact same picture with the children of Israel, the biblical Israel, amen. Biblical Israel, hallelujah. The Yisrael of the Bible, amen. And see, when you follow the Holy Spirit, you can preach about all the isms one week, feminism and racism and Zionism, and the next Sunday you're preaching against taking authority over Satan, amen. Amen. Exodus 16, verses two through three.

9:12 This is also a picture of salvation. The children of Israel coming out of Egypt. That's a picture of our salvation. But what you see in the children of Israel time and time again is that they came out of Egypt, but Egypt never came out of them. And so they just continued in this new life, but walking according to what they had learned. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. I mean, this is like days after they witnessed the mighty power of God. They saw the Red Sea split open.

9:54 They saw the enemies consumed. They were liberated from slavery. But here they are whining and complaining, many of them wishing death upon themselves, suicidal. Why? They got out of Egypt. Egypt represents the world. Egypt represents Satan. They came out of that, but it still had its hooks in them. When we sat by the pots of meat and we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Oy vey. Chapter 32, verses one through five. Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, come, make us Gods that shall go before us.

10:45 For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. Yeah, he's up in the mountain talking face to face with God. He's up in the mountain getting the commandments. He's in the glory of God. He wasn't really up there that long. But very quickly they got antsy. And what did they do? They did exactly what they used to do in Egypt. In fact, the golden calf that they built was one of the Egyptian Gods. Come, make us Gods that shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.

11:29 And Aaron said to them, break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters and bring them to me. They're gonna have a good old smelting party. Verse three. So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. Like, how is this happening so quickly? Because they got out of Egypt, but Egypt never got out of them. Listen, it's up to you. How do you want to live this life? It really is. Nobody can come here and live this life for you. I just made a decision. I want to see how far God can take me.

12:09 I see in the scriptures, he is so good. And when he gives, he gives in an overflowing manner. So Lord, let's see, what can you do to a completely surrendered and yielded life? What can you do? And he can do oh so much. Blow your mind, make you want to pinch yourself, you'll think you're dreaming. So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in the ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a molded calf. Then they said, this is your God, oh Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it and Aaron made a proclamation and said, tomorrow is a feast of the Lord.

12:57 Verse six. I'm in the punchline. You know, I have 25, sorry, 32 verses 25 and 26. Sorry for that confusion. I'm sure you were terrified when you heard me waiting for a scripture. I repent to that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for whatever emotions ran through your body right then, I'm so sorry. I love, I can't even see what's back there. I love you, gentleness with the media team.

13:39 I'm, I love you. Everything's okay. It's never your fault, it's mine. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, this is the same party. They melt down their jewelry. They make a golden calf. Like if you actually look at this, you go, what is going on? But it's so easy to judge them in the scriptures yet we behave this exact same way. You know, you look at the disciples, they're watching the miracles happen in real time and then the next day they're in doubt and unbelief and you go, how could they be this way? We're the same way. These things are our examples and it's an admonition to not be that way.

14:21 And here they see the mighty miracle working power of God. We've seen the same thing. They tasted of God, we've tasted of God. Yet a few demonic lies, we let it go into our minds, we let them take a foothold and then we're doing the same exact thing. They saw the people were naked for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me and all the sons of Levi gather themselves together unto him. So this, you know, if the Bible were a book, I'm not gonna say it'd be X rated, but definitely NC 17. You notice the Bible isn't squeamish and it paints vivid pictures, yet somehow it's still holy.

15:07 I never had to shut the Bible and go, ooh, wow, they're real. But they keep it real. God keeps it real. And you say, I wonder why they got naked. Oh, they got naked. They got naked because they were given over to perversion and they were having an orgy. Yeah, scandalous. Also, how, how is this possible? How is it possible in a Christian's life? Cause they got resurrected and they still got the grave clothes on. They've come out of Egypt, but Egypt hasn't come out of them. So there has to be a holy brainwashing. Now, if you're content to live as a Christian with your demons, if you're content to be a Christian, but still live under demonic oppression, you want to always be begging for God for a miracle.

16:00 You don't want to look like victory. You want to keep getting your butt kicked by Satan. Don't pay attention to what I'm going to say. But I've made a decision as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. And it's a decision I've made for this church as well. You're not going to get your butts kicked. You're not going to be half stepping with the Lord, doing the hokey pokey, one foot in, one foot out. You're going to be a shining example of his goodness and grace. You're going to be a trophy to the goodness of the Lord. And that trophy looks like victory. It looks like freedom, amen. But there has to be a renewing of the mind. And just PS, if you're doom scrolling paganism, so what do you mean paganism? Paganism, the world, everything out there, that's paganism.

16:45 If that's what you're getting into your eye gate, if that's what you're getting into your ear gate, for hours a day, you are being indoctrinated. You are being brainwashed. You say, I don't like that you use the word brainwashed. You're already getting brainwashed. The algorithms are doing their job. They're brainwashing you. You have to push back. You have to say, I will not be conformed to this world. There is a reason why, by the way, now we have more therapists than ever before. We have more psychiatrists than ever before. More psychoanalysts than ever before. And also we have more people in depression than ever before. More people in anxiety than ever before. More people battling suicidal thoughts than ever before.

17:29 There is something about the world that we live in because it's now not just trickling in the paganism, the worldliness, the carnal thinking, the secularism. It's not just trickling in. It's being pumped in by the gallon. And Christians can just let their guard down and just consume it and then wonder why they don't have the victory of the Lord in their life. You're gonna be transformed by the renewing of your mind and you won't be conformed to this world. Come on, if you believe it and you want it, shout amen. Hallelujah. So 2 Corinthians 10, verses three through five. Actually, let me pause there.

18:11 Let me just pause there. We won't do that one yet, not yet. Because when this message came to me, it came to me in the form of a question and I knew I had to ask this question of you. And the question was, when was the last time you took a stand, you actually took a stand against Satan? When was the last time you actually commanded him and broke his power over your life, over your home, over your family? And I just felt in my spirit that a disproportionate amount, I mean like 80%, which 80% of the people you have not taken a stand for your life verbally, not thought about it, not, oh God help, but verbally rose up in your God-given authority and said, devil, no more in Jesus' name.

19:06 Because it makes all the difference in the world. You have been given authority over the devil. And by the way, there is a devil. This is, Satan is not a metaphor for evil in the world. Satan is not just like an old-timey belief for just the negative things in the universe. He actually is a person, God is a person, Satan is a person. He once was Lucifer, he tried to ascend, pride was found within him. He said, I will ascend and be higher than God. He was thrust down. A third of heaven's angels rebelled along with Lucifer. They were thrust down and cast out of heaven too. Those angels are now demons.

19:47 Lucifer is now Satan. And he hates you. You don't even know how much he hates you. Do you know why he hates you so much, by the way? Because you have his old job. Jesus said, you're the light of the world. I felt the anointing there. His name was Lucifer, he used to be the light bearer. That's why immediately in the garden, when he saw who God had created, and they were made in the similitude of God, they were made in the image of God, and he saw that Holy Ghost outshining from them. He knew, I want to sabotage them right away. I hate them, I'm envious of them. I want to destroy them. And by the way, he has no limits.

20:28 If you've ever been in a dark place, if you've ever had your home really attacked by Satan, you realize he doesn't have any limits or boundaries. He's never destroying you, and then all of a sudden feels bad and goes, wow. I really, whew, I did a number on them. I'm gonna back off and let him catch a breather. He has no limits. He will keep destroying and keep pushing until that Christian rises up in their God-given authority and, yes, I said commands him to stop. And there's people right here. I'm not angry, by the way. I gotta preach in a certain way because there are spirits right now that don't want me saying this. So if it seems like I'm aggressive, it's not at you. I love you, I kiss you, I hug you, but there is a heavenly fury that must seize you because he will not relent.

21:19 He's not meek, he's not gentle. So let me just pause in the direction I was going and then just talk to you about what Jesus has given you after the cross because a lot of people, they're getting their butts kicked by Satan and they don't even know they can do anything about it. I got an early lesson in this right as I was getting saved. Thank God that the church that the Lord first brought me to, they understood there is a spirit realm. They understood that the devil is real. They understood that Jesus meant it when he said Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

22:00 Then he said, I've come that you might have life and that you would have it in abundance. But when I was getting saved, I was in that Burger King across the street from the church and the man bringing me to the Lord, he had me repeat after him. And he said, say this, the blood of Jesus. I want the blood of Jesus. He said, say it again, but with all your heart. I want all the blood of Jesus. And then he said, say, say Satan, I renounce you in Jesus' name. And I said, Satan, I renounce you in Jesus' name. And I felt like somebody just like unplugged me, like whoo, like just a swirl in my head, but a good swirl, like one of relief. I'm 16 years old. It was my first time sensing something like that, feeling the supernatural like that.

22:41 And I went, whoo, I went to Burger King. Burger King napkins all crushed all over for me, blowing my everything out. I've been crying there, just listening to him tell me the gospel. And I opened my eyes and he goes, did you feel that? I'm like, yeah. He said, I just saw two evil spirits fly off from your head. Now, if somebody just says that to you, if somebody said that to me, I would have said, you know what, I don't know if Bellevue is still open, but Bellevue Mental Hospital is going strong in the early 90s. I said, you gotta get to Bellevue. But I sensed it. I felt, you can't lie to me, I felt stuff leave me. And I went, it was like I could breathe and see for the first time. And he said, I saw two evil spirits, so I believed him.

23:25 So I wanna give you just three scriptures. And if you're having trouble in this area, because no, if you're a Christian, you cannot be possessed by the devil, but you can be oppressed. Possession is on the inside of your spirit. Your spirit is born again. Your spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit. But there's a lot of Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit, but from the outside in, the devil is harassing them, oppressing them. They feel heavy. They feel stuck. They feel like just moving through life, that they're pushing up against a concrete wall. They're tormented with night terrors at night. Their flesh is out of control. They're engaged in sin that they don't even like, but they find themselves defiling themselves.

24:10 And they're going, I don't even know why I keep doing this. It's satanic bondage. And Jesus has given you the keys. And Jesus has set you free. You gotta walk through the door though. By the way, did you know that the anointing, when Jesus announces the anointing in 61, he said, I've come to proclaim liberty to the captives. Not to set them free, but I've already set you free. What are you doing? It's like coming up to a prison cell and prisoners are in there with a crusty bread, you know, tin water cup, and the door's wide open. I've set you free. Walk through the door. All right, Luke 10, 19, we're talking about why you have the authority to take control of your life.

24:53 Of course, submit it to God, but not allow Satan to mess with you. When was the last time, fathers, you took authority over the devil? Christians have one of two problems. One, they never even take authority over the devil. And they just get buffeted for years on end. Or, huh, they learn something like this and then all they're doing is casting out demons and talking to the devil all the time. And that's how you get a crazy-matic, which is a crazy charismatic. And that's why some Christians get weird and get goofy and everything is, you know, they see a demon behind every bush. Don't be that person.

25:33 But also, don't be the Christian who's just waiting for God to do it. When God has already done it, you have to rise up in his authority now. Hallelujah. Some of you, you need to pace your home and say, Satan, I forbid you. I forbid you in Jesus' name to have any activity here. Consecrate your home. You have to do it. I can't do it for you. You know why? Because you have authority over your life. You have way more authority over your own life than I have over your life. You get the spiritual implications. Like every week, I pray for CityLight. Lord, let your hand be upon us.

26:14 We as a staff will oftentimes, we plead the blood of Jesus on the church. That's good. That's right for us to do. But it's a general sweeping kind of carpet prayer. And that's good, but nowhere near as effective as when you, over your own life, declare, Satan, I cancel your plans over my life. Because he has plans for you, and they're not nice, but you can break them, and you have to open up your mouth. I say that, because a lot of people do a whole lot of thinking. It's not real until you say it out loud. That's why Satan battles you so much. When you try to say it out loud, oh, I'll sound crazy.

26:56 Oh, I'll sound weird. Oh, it just feels off. Look at the biblical pattern. They didn't whisper. They didn't think thoughts. They spoke. You received salvation by opening your mouth and speaking and saying Jesus is Lord. Hallelujah. So here's the foundational verse. Behold, I give you the authority. This is Jesus giving you authority. You know what authority is? Delegated power. I haven't seen the old-timey 80s meter maids. Not the meter, but the traffic cops.

27:36 Not meter maids, but the traffic cops. Back in the 80s, it was lit. They would have their walkman on, and they would be dancing in the streets. This was back, like New York was so different. They had rollerbladers everywhere. It was like crazy in the streets, and then you'd have the traffic cop. I'm not gonna dance for you, but they'd be doing like, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh, huh. It was like dancing with headphones on. 120-pound woman stopping a Mack truck. How does that happen? They see that white glove go up, and the Mack truck has to grind to a halt. Why? Because she has authority, which is delegated power. He's not stopping because Nancy put her hand up.

28:17 He's stopping because Nancy, now in her role, is a representative of the state and city of New York, and when that white cloth glove goes up, I better stop, because I don't want a ticket. You have been given authority, which is delegated power. Jesus gave it to you to do what? To trample on serpents, and there should be no Christian who's afraid of Satan. There should be no Christian who ever gets night terrors. There should be no Christian who is afraid to claim their house for the Lord, to claim their life for the Lord, and to break Satan's power. Some of you are getting set free. Some of you are hearing this for the first time, and you're about to be loosed and let go. Those mummy clothes stink.

28:59 You're gonna put on a nice, crisp dress, or nice, crisp tux, hallelujah. Gender appropriate, too, amen. That's how delivered you're gonna be. You're gonna know the difference, no matter what culture tells you, hallelujah. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing, shout nothing. Nothing shall by any means hurt you, hallelujah.

29:40 You ever feel stuck? That's not, oftentimes, I mean, sometimes, not everything is the devil, I'll concede to that. Not everything is the devil, but he's behind a lot of things. And you can get stuck in life, and it feels like you're just on a treadmill, or just you have no, the spark is gone, the hunger is gone. It's like the juice stopped flowing, the energy is gone. There is a demonic agenda to keep you stuck. What do you do? You have to do something, you have to open your mouth. You have to declare, and most of this happens, obviously, in the privacy of your own home. Satan, I break your power, in Jesus' name.

30:24 You foul spirits trying to slow me down. I break your power, in Jesus' name. These are quick, this whole thing takes about 10 seconds or less. You're not being invited to have, like, debates with demons, to engage in big conversations. It's like talking to a dirty old mangy dog. Give the command, do it once, and believe it took effect, amen. But some of you gotta start speaking. This whole thing is being birthed out of some of you. You're getting your butts kicked, and it's unnecessary. You just need to take a stand. Let's look at that next verse, Mark 16 and 17. Do you know that 2 3rds of Jesus' ministry was healing the sick and casting out demons?

31:11 Yet you actually hear so little about demons, Satan. I mean, in spirit-filled circles, you hear it often enough. But there's whole branches of Christianity where they now believe Satan is just a metaphor for evil. Not really a being. And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. It's really crazy what Jesus, this is like one of his last sentences on earth before he was caught back up. And he talks about healing the sick, casting out devils, speaking in the in tongues.

31:53 Today, if they were to put Jesus' last words, so many Christians would say, and Jesus, departing them, said, now remember, be really, really sweet, and be really, really kind, and super, super extra tolerant, and above all, don't be judgmental, because that's the greatest sin of all. No, he's talking about supernatural stuff. Hallelujah, and it's applicable today. Ephesians 119. I'm giving you this because when you begin to exercise your authority, Satan's not gonna just go, oh, wow, look at you. I'm terrified now.

32:34 No, he's gonna challenge you. You say, how will he challenge me? In your mind. A question will arise. Hey, how do I get to do this? Is this even right? I never heard what pastor said on Sunday. Maybe he's off. Maybe he, I mean, he will do anything to get you to stop. So you need to have scripture, because forget what I say, but definitely don't forget what the scripture says. You need a biblical foundation. That's why I'm giving this to you. So when Satan challenges you, and causes questions to arise, all he wants to do is get you to be squeamish, back down, and just take it.

33:16 And he is terrified of the Christian who actually arises in their God-given authority. So here is one of the chief passages that talk about why you get to, why you get to take authority over the enemy. Where did this authority come from? I gave you two scriptures in Luke, another one in Mark. Third time's a charm, because let out of the mouth of two or three witnesses everything be established. Paul is praying for Christians that they would know what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

34:01 Hold on, hold on. So where is Jesus right now? Seated in heavenly places, right? All right. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion. Now, if you're new, you're like, all right, well, what is principality and power and might and dominion? These are actually specific terms for demonic hierarchies, because they're not all itty-bitty passenger demons. There is a demonic hierarchy. And you see this again in Ephesians 6 when he says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities, spiritual wickedness in high places.

34:46 He's right now just establishing that Jesus isn't just above these things, but as an added, he says far above. Jesus has been lifted up far above every demonic hierarchy. Now question, and the answer is in Ephesians 2.6. Where are you in all this? Someone came so close yet so far. I'm not gonna pick on him. Someone said next to Jesus. That's close, but it's even better than that. It's actually within him. You are seated in Christ in heavenly places. Are you catching this? Seems like your butt in the physical, in the natural is in 4401 Broadway.

35:30 But in the spirit, you're seated within Christ. You have to know this, man. This has to be a reality in your life. So that when you give the command to any evil spirit, it's not you shouting in desperation. I've seen some Christians that haven't been taught right. It actually looks, I say this with love in my heart, but just it's like pathetic. Like hey, leave me alone. You are not crying out helplessly. You are royalty. Jesus has made you so. Your sins are forgiven. You have been made righteous. And then Jesus took you in. You're in the body of Christ and you've been exalted.

36:12 You've been elevated. Even though your physical butt is at 4401 Broadway. In the spirit, you are within Jesus on the very throne room. The very throne of God. So that when you give a command, because now you in Christ, you're far above all principality and power and might and dominion. You're actually talking down to that thing. When I go, if somebody's experiencing demonic oppression, I realize I'm talking down to this thing. It must obey. Because I'm in Christ and he's given me authority. And I'm seated in heavenly places in Christ.

36:54 Far above all might and dominion and principality and power and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. Oh, it gets better, watch this. And he put all things under his feet. So somebody here, you say, you know what, pastor, this sounds nice, but I got saved last week. And I realize I'm in the body of Christ, but I feel like I'm just like the little toe on the foot of the body of Christ. Well, even if you're the little toe, you're still under his feet. And gave him to be head over all things to the church. That simply means he gave Jesus to be the head for the church's sake, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

37:43 Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. All right, we gotta get to second Corinthians. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. You feel like your finances are just being squeezed. When was the last time you out loud? And there's a key to that. Cause Satan's not afraid of your naughty thoughts against him.

38:24 Oh, you thought devil back off. What was the last time out loud? Husbands get in the habit of agreeing with your spouse. You know how long it takes to agree? 15 seconds. You're like, that's all I'll ever agree with them about. 15 seconds. Good enough. It's a good start. You keep agreeing for those precious 15 seconds that it'll get prolonged. And then it'll be a couple of minutes. Then you'll be just lo and behold, walking in agreement as God intended with your spouse. But you get together and out loud. Just learn to say Satan, I break your power in Jesus name. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

39:09 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical. They're not natural. They're not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds. I'll just stop right there. A stronghold. Can anybody tell me what a stronghold is? Like in biblical language or middle English language or you know, you're like Lord of the Rings. A fortress. That's a stronghold. A keep, a castle, a big house, a stone house, a fortune, whatever. That's a stronghold.

39:50 Paul is saying we have these weapons for the pulling down of strongholds. What are strongholds? Because this is a key to how Satan operates in our lives. Let's allow the Bible to define the Bible because then it lists what a stronghold is in verse five. Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought, shout thought. Thought. Thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So listen now. A stronghold is a house or a fortress made of thoughts and there's different kind of strongholds.

40:36 Now you even have motivational speakers who will teach on this. They just take Jesus out and they won't use the term stronghold but they'll talk about mindset. Your mindset, your mental position, your mental stance. There's a stronghold of poverty. See, when you were four or five years old, you said, Mommy, Daddy, can I get that? And they said, no, we can't afford that. And you went, oh, we can't afford that. And there was a brick called poverty and the brick went along with the thought we can't afford. And then you heard that about a couple of hundred more times in one form or another. Now you got a couple of hundred bricks making that fortress. Then you went to school, you came out, you struggled and then you kept receiving these lies from Satan.

41:21 Each brick is a lie. It's a self-destructive thought and then a stronghold is when you've amassed enough bricks, now you have this mindset, this fortress that's contrary to the truth of God built up in your mind. And that's how Satan operates. So what do you do? What can you do? Well, there's only one thing that eradicates a lie and that's the truth. So when you're presented with a lie, the Holy Spirit will, as you walk with him, he will alert you. You then have to find the truth of God's word and speak that out loud to cause that brick to be dismantled.

42:02 And over time, and how long it takes is up to you and how aggressive you wanna be with this, but over time you will dismantle it brick by brick by brick until the whole fortress comes crumbling down and you're completely free. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. There's people who have a stronghold of I'm always gonna struggle in life. And you know how that starts? Satan whispers, you get the thought, life is hard. I'm always gonna struggle in life. It's not your thought. It's a demonic thought. You have your thoughts, but have you ever had intrusive thoughts? It's kind of like a fiery dart being chucked into your cerebellum.

42:45 I'm always gonna struggle. But you don't go to the truth of God, you go, yeah. And then a thought comes with a memory. Yeah, I struggled when I was 12. I struggled when I was 50. And internally you say, yeah, I guess I will always struggle. Oh, now you just partnered with that lie. See, even though you're saved, even though technically it's illegal for Satan to mess with you, but when you partner with his lies, you now open the door, open a window, and say, hey, come on in. And then he does it again. You're struggling and he goes, see, all you do is ever struggle. You go, oh yeah, all I do is ever struggle. And brick by brick, you now concoct a fortress made of lies. And that's a stronghold.

43:26 That's how the devil operates. You gotta receive the truth of God's word. Hallelujah. Enemy tells me, oh, all I do is struggle. I go, well, the word of God says that the way of a transgressor is hard and full of sorrow. But Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. That's the truth. Hallelujah. Oh, the devil tries to get me to think lack. But the truth is that the Lord is my shepherd. I will not lack. He makes my cup to overflow. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

44:07 And then I wanna talk about one final thing, which I preached on years ago. The Lord pushed me to preach on it and I honestly thought, this has no audience here at CityLight. And I preached on it and then I was mobbed after service by all the people saying, thank you so much for talking about that. And that's actually about witchcraft and the occult. Because it makes no sense to know your authority in Christ and who you are in Christ, but meanwhile, you've allowed Satan to come into your life because you have inroads into your life specifically from witchcraft. And I know I had a background in that, but I didn't think so many people would identify.

44:49 But the reality is is that, the reality is is that Satan has tried to destroy this country, has tried to destroy Christian in this country. And when you allow tens of millions of pagans to come in with their paganism and false Gods and new age-ism, it's going to affect the climate and culture of a nation, amen. So when I was in sixth grade, I had a spiritual hunger. I remember I was raised as an agnostic atheist. You say, which one?

45:30 We didn't know, we were so confused, my parents and I. But I had a hunger for the supernatural. And in my class, there was a girl and she let me know how her aunt was a witch. And that intrigued me because I was so hungry for the supernatural. I knew there was more to this world. Even though I had no Christian upbringing or training or discipleship, I knew there was more to this world than the physical realm. And she said, my auntie's a witch. And she kind of intrigued me. Then I went to the library and I got books on witchcraft. And there were spells there. And some of the spells I would mimic.

46:10 And then there was this, I was raised in Forest Hills, Queens, in the mini mall. There was this new age store. I got a Ouija board. I got tarot cards. Actually got multiple Ouija boards and multiple tarot cards. I was searching for something. I remember one time I slept on that deck of tarot cards because she said, my auntie, who's a witch, she said, you need to sleep on them for a week before you use them. Wrap them in silk. I feel, wrap them in silk. And so I wrapped it. I said, mom, do you have a silk scarf? Yeah. Can I borrow that? And I wrapped the tarot. And I would try to sleep on them.

46:50 I will never forget. I tossed and I turned. And this isn't the princess and the pea kind of thing, like a little bump. It was underneath the mattress. I remember tossing and turning and being sweaty from head to toe. I was activating something that was not right for me to activate. And that's the problem with witchcraft and sorcery and any of these things. It's your going and touching on a realm that God has not given you dominion over. At least definitely not to go there on your own. If you're gonna go there, go like how John did in the book of Revelation. The Lord took him up, amen. He was wrapped in the spirit's power. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

47:34 And so then after I got saved, I had these blazing headaches that would come. And it only happened like a few weeks after I got saved. And my parents didn't know yet that I'd become a Christian. I couldn't tell them. I didn't know what the consequences would be. And when my dad found out, they were not good. But God is faithful and he had both of them come to the Lord. But we lived on the 12th floor and I couldn't make the call. My dad was working from home before it was cool to work from home in the 90s. I couldn't do it from within my home. So I went down to the lobby and used a pay phone. And the man that led me to the Lord, I said, man, I'm getting all these blazing headaches.

48:18 And thank God for the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Because most Christians, someone said I'm getting blazing headaches. They'd be like, huh? Have you tried IV hydration packets? Are you getting enough water? Maybe a good multivitamin. I said, I'm getting these blazing headaches. And he went, hmm, hmm, hmm. It's Russell. You know when Russell starts, hmm, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are working. He went, hmm, do you have some witchcraft stuff in your house? When he said that, I went, oh, yeah, yeah. But I don't, I don't, I don't mess with it. I don't, he said, you need to get that stuff out of your house. I still had the tarot cards, the Ouija board and all that stuff. Let me read to you some scriptures. Why am I talking about this?

48:59 Because believe it or not, there's people right now here. And you're trying to get the victory and you have this garbage that's a portal to the demonic realm in your home, all right? And you need to destroy it. Do not sell it and pass the demon to somebody else for a profit, all right? You got a jade Buddha, destroy it. Go and shave it off and get a nice jade circle. You got a 22-carat Hindu God with 19 arms and 15 legs and, well, you can melt that down, smelt that down, but destroy it, amen.

49:43 If you know, if you wanna know a good smelter, I know a guy on 47th Street. It will smelt gold down, only charges a couple hundred dollars and give you, no, really, I know him. And if you ever do, no, it's time to cleanse some houses, amen. There's Christians, they're still open to astrology. They still think that psychics are cool. Oh, I just read the horoscopes, oh, tee hee hee. I want, back in the day, remember 20 years ago, you'd get that stupid email, send this to 10 friends to get good luck? I'd delete that right away, hallelujah, hallelujah.

50:24 You want this stuff as far away from you as possible. Deuteronomy 18, verses 10 through 11. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire or one who practices witchcraft or a soothsayer or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who conjures spells or a medium or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead for all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord, so you know, there's sin, there's iniquity, and then there's this highest level of abomination.

51:08 So God is just letting you know that he's serious about this stuff. You cannot play in the spirit realm when you're outside of God's will. You are going to get hurt, and you need to cleanse your house, repent of anything you've done before, don't look at me like I'm preaching to the wrong people. There's 161 nations in Queens, 50 nations represented at CityLight. That means we have some catching up to do, amen. I want the other 111, amen. But when you have that, you're gonna get a hodgepodge of weird pagan beliefs mixed in. We come from former Yugoslavia.

51:50 My mother, when she got saved, she still, after she got saved, she came out of Egypt, Egypt hadn't come out of her. She was still at work. When I was 17, I visited her at work, and I'll never forget, she's sitting there with her girlfriends for the lunch break, they're smoking and drinking coffee. And just a funny memory, because that was normal in the early 90s, you could just smoke in an office on lunch break. Today, they'd have like a five alarm fire, the fireman would come and douse you out. And then she lifts up the cup of coffee. What they would do is turn the Turkish coffee upside down and leave it for about 15, 20 minutes. And then as the coffee would coat the inside of the cup, it would create these weird images, almost like hieroglyphics and just random patterns.

52:31 But then they would use it to foretell the future. I know some did it with surprising accuracy. By the way, demons don't know the future. You don't wanna know how that works? A demon says, oh, I see your marriage is gonna fall apart. And then the person who believes that, now they partner with that and the marriage falls apart. It didn't predict the future, it made that future happen when the person partnered with a lie. For all who do these things are an abomination to, we read that, didn't we? All right, 2 Chronicles 33.6. I don't wanna reread an Old Testament verse more times than I have to.

53:16 Because there's always that harshness, right? All who do, I mean, right? There's a reason why in Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino had him read from the Old Testament, not the New. Even though it's a made up verse. Boy, I lost you on that one. Also, if Sherman Dowell is watching us right now, he's so happy. Also, he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.

53:58 Leviticus 19.31. Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits. Do not seek after them to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. Revelation 21.8. You all good? All right. This is great, Revelation 21.8. Because it's listing the characteristics of people who are hell bound. And notice what it puts first. But the cowardly. The unbelieving. Then it lists some pretty heinous stuff. But just know, for your own personal use, that we are cautioned to never be cowardly.

54:46 Stuff I preached last week. I feel like, you know, some pastor friends watched. And they said, we're just gonna get the word out that you were not suicidal after preaching that. You have no suicidal thoughts whatsoever. I want you to rise up. God will protect you. God will take care of you. Honestly, I would rather die and be with the Lord than be a coward on earth. Coward. One of those scrawny, small, on the inside, eh. I'd rather just be at home with the Lord than be one of those people.

55:27 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderous, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters. And I just want people to see. You might say, why are you hammering this already? I get it. Because you haven't had the conversations I've had with some Christians. When they get that witchcrafty, demonic, occultic hook in them, it is very hard for them to let go. Oh, can I just keep my crystals? Oh, can I just, I just, I gotta have, you know what I'm talking about. I should have asked you to give a testimony. If anything comes up, just raise your hand. But I'd love to, Cassandra comes from that. In fact, when we first had dinner, the four of us, we bonded over some of that stuff.

56:11 No, because you very rarely meet somebody, no, but not in a weird way. She was describing, she was the only one who ever described something that I experienced. But she was way more deep than me. I was in the realm of what you would call, what do they call that, a dabbler. She was eyebrow deep, I was knee deep. So, honestly, people should come to you if they have any questions. All right, let's just, worship team, come on up. Acts 19, Acts 19. I'll close with Acts 19, verses 17 through 20. Remember, you have authority over Satan. Do it out loud. I'm just gonna bless you and your little guy, all right?

56:54 I want you to stretch your hands towards them. And this I'm doing just to teach, so you can learn. Learn to command out of your mouth. God has given you commanding power. Say this, in the name of Jesus, we bless you. In the name of Jesus, you are free. Satan has no more authority. We break his power. Over your life, you will serve the Lord. You will prosper in our God. You will show forth his victory. From this day onward, everything changes. Be blessed, amen.

57:37 Man, I felt that. All right, look at him, look at him. Come here, little man, come here. Look at, how old is he? Right here. Uncle Bobo, come here. Look at this guy. How old is he? He's three, but the kid, three. But he knows how to respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit. Look at that. Can you see him? You gotta, hold on, you gotta let me. Look at that countenance. Look at him. Big jump, big jump, jump, jump, come on. Big jump.

58:17 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, let's close with Acts 19. Because they just had an amazing crusade. A bunch of people got saved. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus. And fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Now, we leave this out too many times in church, but they didn't leave it out. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus, come on, next verse. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together.

59:02 And then they put them on eBay to sell. Because they spent a lot of money, no. Together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver. It lists that specifically. I had a tarot card and Ouija board bonfire. I was 16 years old. I got a friend who had led to the Lord. He was around 14, 13 or 14. He was actually my friend's little brother. But he got saved, his brother wouldn't. And I said, I'm gonna go burn this. He said, can I come? Yeah. And back then, New York City didn't have the wastebaskets it does now that are like a mesh.

59:43 It had the 55 gallon drums. And we put it in there. There was already some trash in there, I'll never forget. And we tossed the match in there and it started burning. We were like, and then within 60 seconds, we'd turn around and it was a black thing of smoke. It was a lot of, and I just went, that's a lot of fire. That's a little too much fire. But no, early 90s in New York, nobody called the cops, nobody showed up. But the reason why it says the cost specifically is to let you know, don't think what you may be hoarding or holding onto is too valuable. If it's a portal to the demonic realm, destroy it. Hallelujah. All right, let's all stand.

1:00:24 You gotta make a declaration over your life. This doesn't take long, but you have to know who you are in Jesus and say it with your whole chest. If you've never done this before, now's your chance. But say this, in the name of Jesus, I belong to the Lord. I am his and he has given me authority. Satan, I break your power in Jesus' name. I cancel your plans over my life in Jesus' name. The blood of Jesus on me, on my home, and on my family.

1:01:09 I am the Lord's, I am blessed, and I have victory. Now shout a big hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Well, let's worship and honor the Lord with our tithes and offerings. The giving, you can be seated. The giving information is on the screens to my left and to my right. Just remember, we do have a full-time staff, a wonderful, elite Navy SEALs team. If you have more questions about this, if you need help, if you're, look, if you're brand new and you heard something like this, you might feel absolutely overwhelmed and lost.

1:01:54 We're not just sending you out, okay, you got some info, deal with it. We are here for you. So, but how do I get a hold of you? You need to listen to Pastor Mo. See, the beginning stage is getting connected with us. Connection card, info at citylightnyc.com. But we wanna help you and lead you in the things of God. Also, the ministry team. On my left, your right, in that blue -lit area. If something I said resonated with you, go up for prayer. Go up for prayer, our ministry team will lay hands on you and pray with you and for you. But the grave clothes are coming off. The musty mummy scent will be replaced.

1:02:41 And I pray right now that the Lord will multiply your giving back to you. If you need to go, go. But if you can't, stick around for a few more songs. Because one of the greatest proactive ways that there really is real spiritual warfare is praise and worship. We'll see you next week. And let's believe God for a mighty harvest of souls on Easter, two Sundays from now. Be blessed, CityLight. Be blessed. Be blessed. This is the CityLight Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and CityLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com.

1:03:28 That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.