Reading: Video Transcript: Going on Offense: The Personal Battle

🎬 Welcome back!
This is session 30. You're coming to the end of this class—only six more sessions!
📚 Today, I want you to note the title of this session:
🎯 Going on the Offense: The Personal Battle.

🧠 And what we're going to do in this session is acknowledge that all of us have experienced a personal battle with the enemy.

• And just want to begin by reading a few verses—well, actually, a short part of an article I found online this past week.

📜 It’s simple, about this man whose name is Michael Voris.

• Now, Michael Voris, resigned—the founder of the controversial conservative Catholic website, Church Militant—has resigned at the request of the group for breaching its morality clause, according to a news release published by Church Militant on Tuesday.

• Michael Voris, who founded the group in 2006, has left the organization.

📝 "Michael Voris has been asked to resign for breaching the Church Militant morality clause," read the news release from the group, which is also known as St. Michael's Media.

• The board has accepted his resignation.

🕊️ Later it says neither Voris nor Church Militant immediately responded to requests for comment, but Voris posted a video Tuesday evening on X addressing the situation.

• Voris, visibly emotional, offered an apology but did not volunteer details about the reasons for his departure.

• Sometimes it takes very horrible events, even at your own hand, in your life, to surface certain things that need to be faced, Voris said.

• There are some very, very ugly truths from my past that I, for essentially 62 years, have avoided facing because I wanted them resolved. But I understand that touching that pain is going to be a very horrible thing.

• Voris said he thought multiple times this year about resigning.

• I need to conquer these demons, he said, referring both to what he called "act-out demons" and the underlying cause of it.

💥 It's that phrase that struck me:
🗝️ I need to conquer these demons.

Everybody is broken. 🌍 We live in a broken world. Everybody I know of is broken in some way, and for many of those who have broken, there's created an opening for the work of the enemy—that would keep us enslaved, that would keep us limited, that would keep us from engaging in the battle the way God wants us to.

💭 And so, how does the enemy get in?

• Well, we've looked at some of those ways, and if any of them describe you, you should look and say:
  🧿 What if the demons down in me?

📊 We talked last time briefly about this demonic influence scale:

• There's opposition. We all have the opposition of the enemy.

• They always are opposing us.

• Then they can get influence.

• And most of us, maybe, maybe not quite, are experiencing his influence in our lives.

• And we have to, when we sin, go back and repent and go again.

• Some of us are experiencing oppression or depression.

• And we've got to deal with these demons in our own selves before we can successfully deal with them in other people.

🎶 And so I want to do that in this session. Begin that in this session, but I want to do it by first introducing a song.
🎵 You know by now that music is very important to me, and I want to share a song.
It's called Mighty Warrior, which was very important to me and to my wife when we went through a period where we felt like the enemy was on attack—in our marriage and our family—and so we quoted words from this song quite often.

🎤 It's called Mighty Warrior:
🗡️ Commander in Chief, bring us to attention, lead us into battle. To sin, to battle, to crush the enemy. Satan has no authority here, in this place. He has no authority here, for this habitation was fashioned for the Lord. Commander in Chief. Bring us to attention. Oh. Was fashioned for the Lord's presence. Oh.

🔥 Yeah, I still find myself saying those words of that song every once in a while.

• In fact, at some points, I will say to the enemy:
  🚫 You have no authority here. You have no authority here. You have no authority in my life. You have no authority in my family.

💡 So I offer that to you, as we begin to look at ourselves and where we may need to do a personal battle with the enemy.

📖 So with that in mind, let's get to it.
✝️ James 4:7 is the theme:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

📝 Now remember, we're talking about this scale:
🔸 Opposition
🔸 Influence
🔸 Oppression
🔸 Obsession
🔸 Control
🔸 Possession

🌟 Now, this is primarily for those of us who are in one of those first two or three areas:

• We're experiencing the opposition of the enemy,

• Or we're experiencing his influence in our lives,

• Or we're feeling oppressed by his presence, and feel like he's keeping us from becoming what God wants us to be or doing what God wants us to do.

📚 I'm deeply dependent in this next section on writing by a man named Chip Ingram, and in one of his publications, he gave biblical steps for deliverance.
🙏 In other words, these are steps for us to be sure that we have dealt with the demons within us.

🔑 Step #1:
Accept Christ as Savior and Lord.

• Now we've looked at several indications where people inside the church were being, in some respect, influenced by—or sometimes controlled by—the enemy.

• I mean, it must have been shocking for Peter to have Jesus turn to him and say:
  🚫 "Get behind Me, Satan," pointing, probably to Peter, or maybe not even pointing, but equating Peter with Satan—that must have been incredible.

• It must have been amazing for Peter to look at Ananias. Remember Ananias, who brings an offering to the church, but he lied about it? Peter said:
  💬 "How could Satan put it into your heart to try to deceive the Holy Spirit?"

🤔 How did it get in here?

• Well, there are those who suggest that it’s because he gets in where we’re not fully committed to Him.

• And so accepting Jesus as Savior—and some people say you’ve got to take that next step.

📖 One man I was reading was talking about dealing with somebody who was being very disruptive within the church, and they began to talk about:
💡 Is Jesus your Lord?

• In other words, Is He your Commander?

• Is He the one who tells you where to go, what to do, who you are, what you are to be?

🗨️ And she said, "I’ve never heard of this concept before—of Jesus being not just our Savior from sin, but He’s the Lord of our lives."

• We’ve given Him our entire lives, and we invite Him in to control us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

🌈 That’s the first step:
Say, “Lord, come in. Come in and clean out.”
This is very important.

📜 You know, Jesus told that one parable where He says:
⚠️ You gotta watch it. If you clear a demon out—demons out of a person—then if they’re not filled with something, what happens?

👿 The demon comes back and says, “Oh, look, it’s all cleaned, and it’s free,” and he invites seven more to come in and live with him.
🔑 Step 1: Accept Jesus as Lord.

• Repeatedly say, “God, You are the Lord of my life. I invite You in to clear out my life and make me entirely and totally Yours.”

🔎 Step 2: Repent of any known sin.
📖 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

• This isn’t a one-time thing. This is something we do repeatedly.

• The word confess means to say the same thing as—so we’re going to call sin in our life sin. We’re not going to excuse it saying, “Well, it’s because of this.”

🙏 Confess our sins. Repent of it. Do it repeatedly. Make it part of your daily—at least every other day—practice.

• “Lord, search me, know my heart, see if there’s any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139)

• We pray that prayer. We say, “God, come in, show me my sins so that I might clear it out. I don’t want to create any way for the enemy to get into my life.”

🔥 Step 3: Confess and Repent. Renounce the Works of the Devil.

• Paul writes to the Corinthians:
  💬 “Rather, we’ve renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2)

• If you’ve seen the enemy at work in your life—if you’ve experienced him at work—you can say:
  ✝️ “In the power and authority of Jesus Christ, I renounce you!”

🕊️ Early Christian baptism included this practice!

• They would enter the baptismal font, face west (toward the setting sun), and declare:
  💬 “I renounce the devil and all of his works!”

• Then they’d turn around and proclaim:
  💬 “I receive Jesus Christ into my life.”

• A good practice, even today!

🛡️ Step 4: Destroy Occult Objects or Limit Accessibility.

• For those of you who have been in the occult, you’ve got to get that stuff out of your house. 🏚️

• Don’t just toss it in the trash—destroy it! 🔥

• And then, limit accessibility. Think of people who are dealing with pornography: one important step is to limit access.

📺 So, you know, one person started knocking off channels on his TV 📵—those channels he would usually visit before. On his computer, he set up a filter 🛡️ to block access to the places that drew him back into the enemy’s territory. This is for you: Biblical steps for deliverance.

✋ Limit accessibility.

• Break unhealthy friendships.
  💔 This doesn’t mean you have to escape the world entirely—but there are people who draw you closer to God 🌟 and others who pull you away. Break ties with those who lead you into sin.

🙌 Rest in Christ’s deliverance.

• I’m not a slave anymore! 🎶 I’ve been set free!

🚫 Resist the devil.

• When you see him coming, stand firm!
  🗣️ “I’ve been here before. I know you. You can’t fool me. Get away from me!”

• James 4:7: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 🏃‍♂️💨

🧠 Renew your mind.

• Romans 12:1-2 reminds us—don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind.
  📖 How do we do that?

  • Spend time in God’s Word 📚

  • Engage with other believers 🤝

  • Get involved in God’s mission 🌍

• For me, accountability is huge. I connect monthly with a trusted friend, even though we live far apart. 🌐 We ask: What can I pray for you? Where do you see struggles in your life?

🙏 Pray with others.

• You can do some of this by yourself, but having others pray with you is so powerful. 💪 The more people involved in prayer, the more effective it will be! 🙏✨

🗝️ Finally, if it’s needed—deliverance.

• If the foothold is too deep—if bitterness, anger, or sin has gripped your life for so long that you can’t imagine freedom—it’s time to get help. 🆘

• You may be able to do this yourself through Christ’s power, but it’s more effective when someone experienced in deliverance ministry is with you. 🕊️

🎨 I love this cartoon I came across: Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Or better yet—👢💥 he’s being kicked out!

⏸️ Pause for just a moment.
I’ve given you a list of things you can do. 📝 It’s a workable list, something that, as a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the power to do. 💥 It’s going to make you more effective in your work with others if you’ve experienced deliverance. 🌈

🤝 Gather with some people of like mind—study this stuff together 📚, so that together you’re approaching freedom. 🕊️
You know, I showed you that Roman arrangement some time back—the Testudo 🛡️, where everyone locks their shields together:

• Over the top 🧱,

• Protecting from front and back ⚔️,

• A solid wall of defense! 🚧

💒 The Church can be that for you—the Body of Christ—represented by people in your life whom you know, love, and trust. 👫💖

🚨 But wow, pride gets in our way.
I know this. Pride can block us. 🤦‍♂️ We don’t want people to know we’re struggling—they might think less of us. 😔

🙌 One of the greatest things that ever happened to me was realizing the enemy’s work in my life—when it almost destroyed my life and marriage. 💔 But by God’s grace, seven men came to me, individually. They said:
🗣️ “We’re not going to let you go through this alone. We’re going to walk through this together.”
They were from different faith backgrounds:

• 🕊️ A black Pentecostal pastor who prayed loudly for me in restaurants,

• ✝️ A friend from a denomination with theology very different from mine,

• 🤗 Other friends who said, “We’re not going to let you go through this alone. We’re with you.”

💪 By God’s grace, I was set free. My marriage was restored. My ministry was restored after a time. And I thank God for that! 🙌🎉

💬 I want you to experience that freedom. Not just for yourself—but so the Kingdom can experience you as a mighty warrior. 🛡️⚔️
So you can stand tall and say to the enemy with authority—because the Spirit’s in you—
🗣️ “You have no authority here!” 🔥
And then see Satan fall like lightning. ⚡🔥
Oh, what a moment that must have been for Jesus—seeing Satan fall like lightning from heaven! ⚡⚡

🌟 May you experience that more and more fully in your life with Him.

🙏 Join me in prayer:
Holy Spirit, come now.
🙏 Fill us. Fill us. Fill us.
For those who are listening—who have experienced some of the woundedness we’ve talked about—and are feeling the work of the enemy today—set them free, Lord. 💔
I pray in the name of Jesus. 🙏
I command any of the armies of the enemy deployed against those listening—be gone! Go to Jesus. Let Him direct you as He sees fit. 🚫👊
Lord, come and fill us. 🌿 Use us so Your Kingdom may come.
We pray in Jesus’ name for Your glory and honor. Amen. 🙌🕊️

📅 See you next time when we turn to helping others. ❤️🤝