Our message this week is titled, “When the enemy is already inside.”
Ephesians 4:27 says, “Neither give place to the devil.” It means that it is possible for somebody to allow the enemy into his or her life. And if you give place to the enemy, he will definitely stay. That is why the passage says, “Do not give place to the enemy.” Many people are looking for their enemies outside. Unfortunately, the enemy is already inside.
James 4:7 says, “Summit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” It means that if you do not resist the devil, he will stay with you. 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, “Lest satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” It means that if you are ignorant of the devices of satan, he will take advantage of you. Ignorance is no excuse in the spiritual world. If you do not have knowledge about the devices of the enemy, he will take advantage of you.
Going by current events, it is clear that our generation is living in the dark. We have many beautiful and powerful inventions but most of them are being turned around to destroy people, including those who invented them. It is clear the enemy has really worked hard to promote ignorance even in the church of God. Unfortunately, the words of Jesus are still ever true today: “Men love darkness rather than light, because their own deeds are evil” (John 3:19).
Nowadays, among Christians there are many prodigals who are living in the midst of swine. There is also a slow satanic brainwashing going on now among Christians. Many Christians are gradually getting used to darkness. Ignorance is being promoted. Little by little, many churches are making sin to appear very light. Gradually, things like fornication and adultery are being swept aside. There has never been so much darkness in the minds of men and women than now. Indeed, the end time is here. The crime wave is mind boggling. Television sets have introduced Sodom and Gomorrah into every sitting room. Many people who call themselves Christians are grieving the Holy Spirit because they do not want to offend the wicked. They do not want to be seen as peculiar and strange people. Many believe that merging with darkness can change darkness. If they are not careful, they will be the ones that will be changed. The early church did not dim their light to match the world in which they were living. A good study of the Acts of apostles reveals that everywhere Paul went, he was troubling the powers of darkness.
Beloved, in your place of work are you known as a Christian? Perhaps you know how to sing praise worship songs but your lifestyle does not portray Christ. It is a tragedy. We need to pray hard because many people are looking for their enemy outside but the enemy is already inside. When the enemy is already inside, many things go wrong.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GIVE PLACE TO
THE ENEMY?
1. To give place to the enemy means to give any sin a foothold in your life. Many years ago, a certain brother was brought to church for prayers. He had a very strange sickness. He fell sick anytime he got to the examination hall to write an examination. He could write any other thing without any problem but not examinations. When he was brought to me, the Holy Spirit said he had given a particular sin a foothold in his life. But if he confessed it, he would be free. I told him what the Lord said but he said, “No! No! By the grace of God, I am born again, sanctified, baptized in the Holy Spirit, and living a pure life.” I said, “That means the Holy Spirit is lying.” He said no. By the time we prayed, the Lord revealed what he was doing. He had a next door neighbour who was a fornicator. Anytime he was in the act, the brother would go to the keyhole and be peeping to watch him. I confronted him with that and he said, “Yes sir, you are right sir.” Here was a man who claimed to be born again and sanctified, peeping into the room of fornicators. But immediately he confessed the sin and got broken down in the spirit, his hands stopped shaking during examinations. Many people are looking for the enemy outside but the enemy has already entered inside.
2. To give place to the enemy is to allow the enemy to gain entrance into your life. For example, some sisters would see a saloon named, “Hot head or Mermaid” and would still enter there to do their hair. Later, they would be complaining of bad dreams. Of course they would have bad dreams. They submit their hair to people who would not ordinarily have access to their hair. And through that means, they steal their virtues and divert their glory.
3. To give place to the devil means to eat at the dining table of darkness. Those who are addicted to partying should pray that they do not end up eating poison. They have to be very careful. When somebody who was sick and was healed by a herbalist holds a party through which he or she distributes his or her problems, many people will go there to eat the food. What happens is that the problem will be automatically transferred to them.
4. To give place to the enemy is to allow the enemy to construct a building in your life. If you do not want the building to continue, you break it down and stop the construction.
5. To give place to the enemy is to allow a satanic exchange of your destiny. A destiny can be changed. When somebody goes to a fortune teller to foretell his future and the fortune teller sees that he has a colourful destiny, he will end up stealing his virtues.
Sometime ago, a certain woman followed her friend to a herbalist. When they got there, the herbalist shifted his interest to her instead of her friend who actually wanted to see him. The herbalist said to her, “Madam, you have a wonderful destiny, a beautiful destiny and you have many stars. Can you give me some?” And she foolishly said, “Yes Baba.” And right from that day, her fortunes began to go down.
6. To give place to the enemy is to engage in fornication or adultery. It is deceit of the highest order to think that somebody who is sleeping with you outside marriage loves you. In fact, such a person is your greatest enemy.
7. To give place to the enemy is to allow anger to control you. Anger is an expensive luxury. Anger reveals our true nature. Anger and temper shorten life. Your anger is a weapon for your opponent. And he who angers you conquers you. Once the enemy sees that anger is your weakness, like Moses, he will use it against you.
Anger is temporary madness. If you go to bed angry, the devil will become your bedfellow. You are as big as what makes you angry. An angry person manages everything badly. When you get angry at somebody, you are trying to use fire to quench fire, which does not work. The truth about life is that the emptier the pot, the quicker the boiling. Little quantity of water will boil over quicker than a lot of water. Angry people are normally very empty people. Anger is so bad that more than any other thing, it has opened doors to the enemy to operate in people’s lives. It has opened doors for the enemy to destroy marriages and all kinds of things. Many marriages would have still been in place today if not for anger. Anyone who gets angry to the level where his or her body begins to vibrate is finished.
8. To give place to the enemy is to show unforgiving attitude towards others. When you do not forgive others, the demons called tormentors will be released to torment you.
9. To give place to the enemy is to harbour hatred against anyone. Hatred is like burning the house because you want to kill the rat. Hatred is self- punishment. In the school of deliverance, hatred is the handcuffs of demons. Once you have hatred in your heart, the enemy has already handcuffed you. Hatred hits a person harder than his or her object of hatred. Two people who hate each other cannot claim to love God. It is not possible. So hatred is like cancer. And the Bible says that hatred is murder. So, if you hate anybody, you are a murderer.
10. To give place to the enemy is to take what does not belong to you. When you engage in stealing, you give place to the enemy. In fact, most nations are nations of thieves. The spirit of “I saw, I coveted. I took and I hid” has taken over the lives of many people. Although people try to avoid the raw word stealing, the scriptures cannot be broken. Men have tried to use other words to cover up stealing. They call it ‘fiddling’ or ‘pilfering.’ In Nigeria, it is called ‘embezzlement.’ In some places, it is called ‘creative accounting.’ But as far as the word of God is concerned, if you are jealous of people who have stolen, you are a thief. If you are secretly admiring those who cheated and got away with it, you are a thief. If you are only scared by the consequences of being discovered, that is why you do not steal, you are a thief. Any pastor ministering for gain is a thief. If you are using your company supplies without permission, for example, papers, postage stamps, pens, envelope, telephone etc without permission, you are a glorious thief. When somebody lends something to you and you refuse to return it or you are carefully hoping that the person will forget, you are a thief. Every form of fraud or cheating during examination is stealing. If you hit a parked vehicle somewhere and quickly run away because you do not want the owner to know or because you do not want to bear the cost of its repairs, you are a thief. If you appropriate something kept in your care for your own selfish purpose, you are a thief. That would give the enemy a chance to devour your blessings. When you fail to return a lost item to the owner, you are a thief. If you read stolen books, you will fail. When you purposely go to work late and collect full pay, you are a thief. When you convert things that belong to your company to personal use without permission, you are a thief. If you spend the time you are supposed to do your work in the office reading the Bible, you are a thief. As a bachelor, if you claim to be married with children in order to evade tax or get some benefits, you are a thief. A pastor who steals money from the church purse is a thief and is inviting the leprosy of Gehazi.
11. To give place to the enemy is to harbour abominable materials in your possession.
12. To give place to the enemy means to fail to tame your tongue. The tongue has the power of life and death. You can kill yourself as well as others with your mouth. When you fail to control your tongue, you give the enemy a place. That was what happened to prophet Isaiah. His tongue had a problem, so the angel of God had to put coals of fire on it.
13. To give place to the enemy means to fail to control your appetite. Gluttony and careless eating will give the enemy access to your life.
14. To give place to the enemy means to give in to worry and anxiety. The Bible says, “Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God and believe also in me” (John 14: 1).
15. To give place to the enemy is to run the race God did not ask you to run. When you get involved in what you should not tamper with, the enemy has the right to ensnare you.
16. To give place to the enemy is to eat the bread of sorrow.
17. To give place to the enemy is to allow bitterness into your life. Do not be bitter against anyone.
18. To give place to the enemy is to open your mind to wandering spirits. There are many people who do not concentrate during prayers. They give place to wandering spirits.
19. To give place to the enemy is to continue in the iniquity of your father’s house.
20. To give place to the enemy means to trivialize the things of heaven.
21. To give place to the enemy means to be sucking from the breast of familiar spirits. That is your best friends are those who are possessed or those who have questionable character.
22. To give place to the enemy means to be warning yourself in the fire of the enemy. That is you move close to the enemy because of the benefit you will get.
23. To give place to the enemy means to engage in any form of deception.
24. To give place to the enemy is to allow the flesh to control your life. When Mr. Flesh is on the throne of your life, your enemy will do anything to you.
25. To give place to the enemy is to make your head a landing place for curses.
26. To give place to the enemy is to allow the enemy to find a place in your life. Jesus said, “The prince of this world cometh unto me and findeth no place in me.”
27. To give place to the enemy is to place your head on the lap of Delilah.
28. To give place to the enemy is to live a powerless life.
29. To give place to the enemy is to live a life that lacks the fire of the Holy Ghost.
30. To give place to the enemy is to show no resistance to the enemies that are fighting you.
Beloved, when the enemy is already inside, other evil visitors will enter easily. When the enemy is already inside, there would be a bad aura around you. Good things would be diverted from you. You will make unpardonable mistakes. You would pray only to have temporary relief because they are already inside. They just wait a little bit and start again. When the enemy is already inside, they would create a ladder for future attacks.
HOW TO DEAL WITH THE ENEMY
THAT IS ALREADY INSIDE
1. Repent of every known iniquity and sin.
2. Hate the enemy with perfect hatred.
3. Quote the words of God against the enemy. Tell them that it is written and they must release you.
4. Openly rebuke them. Curse them in the name of the Lord.
5. Pray uprooting prayers because many of them have been in place for years. They need to be uprooted.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Every stranger of darkness in the temple of my life, die, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every arrow of witchcraft in my life, die, in the name of Jesus.
3. Plantation of failure in my spirit man, your time is up. Therefore, die, in the name of Jesus.
4. Every environmental witchcraft, die, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every satanic exchange of my destiny, be nullified, in the name of Jesus.
