Megachurch pastor Louie Giglio emphasized the importance of spiritual warfare to a crowd of young adults earlier this month, telling them they have more authority over the darkness of this world than they don’t think so.
The 65-year-old pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, preached on November 8. sermon at The Porch, a young adult ministry at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas.
Giglio said that “even shipwrecks do not destroy God” because what the enemy has planned for those who trust in Jesus will never prevail against the living God.
“The message of the story is not that we are on a ship. The message of this story is that even shipwrecks do not destroy God,” Giglio preached.
“When evil came against you and when evil went out of you, in the pain of it all, in the brutality of it all, in the brokenness of it all, in the darkness of it all, He made you go through all of this. And the enemy said to you, “You won’t make it.” But you did it. The enemy said, “You won’t make it.” But you did it.”
Giglio focused on Acts 27which describes the apostle Paul’s journey to Rome, during which he was shipwrecked and, later, bitten by a venomous snake which, miraculously, did not kill him.
“The enemy said, ‘You will not live. You will die.’ But you are not dead. And you are living now. And He gives you breath. The Word says, ‘He gives life to all things, breath and everything else.’ And he has promised you that he cannot be thwarted if you put your life in his hands,” the pastor continued.
Giglio told the young adults that they “are part of a generation that needs to know that you have much more authority (over the enemy) than you think.”
“When you are under the authority of God, you can take authority. And you can say to the darkness, ‘not here,'” he preached. “Many of us in this room right now have things hanging on our hands that we must, in the name of Jesus, get rid of.”
There are many paths a Christian can take to be delivered from spiritual warfare, Giglio said. But he also felt that some Christians, especially generations of young adults, do not realize what authority they can have over the “darkness” of the “enemy” through the Holy Spirit.
“I’m not saying we don’t need help, friends, accountability, guidance, mentoring, process, healing. I’m not speaking against any of that. But I’m saying right here, in this moment tonight, that some of you have the power to get rid of things in your life in the name of Jesus, here and now,” Giglio preached.
“You don’t need a process. You just need to realize that this thing that came out of the fire is going to go back into the fire tonight. Because I’m on a mission. I’m called by God. I am chosen and anointed by God, and I have authority in the name of Him whose authority I am tonight,” Giglio added as the crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
“I say to you, ‘Dread, depart from me. In the name of Jesus, depart from me. All these crazy desires of the flesh, depart from me.'”
Giglio said some Christians will let their fears of a difficult situation caused by spiritual darkness prevent them from commanding with authority so that the enemy will leave them alone.
“I think the mentality we have sometimes is, ‘Oh my God, a viper came out of the fire. Do you see that? Is everyone watching that? Do you realize what happened to me? Do you understand how serious a situation I find myself in right now?'” Giglio said.
“Are you convinced of who and what you are? And are you convinced of the power of the name you bear?”
Giglio said many silently struggle with spiritual warfare because they are under the false impression that their struggle is something that only a group of Christians or a pastor can rid themselves of their lives.
“Is there anything you can talk about tonight? You don’t need a pastor to take authority over it. You need to take authority over it. You don’t need your little group takes the authority for you. You need to take the authority over this. You don’t need another coffee shop. You don’t need two more lattes,” Giglio said.
“You have to take control of this and say, ‘Let me go.’ And you may have to say, “Let me go” every hour for the next 45 days or 45 months. But you will not give in, and you will exercise authority, and you will say, “Let me go.” “
Giglio emphasized that “it’s time to get rid of it and let God write something new about you.”
Nicole Alcindor is a journalist for The Christian Post.
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