Frankie Mazzapica - Identify Demons Assigned to You
The title of today’s message is «Identifying the Demons That Have Been Assigned to You.» Let me lay a brief foundation. The person in history who has had the most books written about them is Jesus. I’m not just talking about the Bible; I’m talking about historical books. There has not been one person in the history of this world who has been written about more than Jesus. His existence was so significant that when he died and when he was born, it was so significant that they decided to start counting years on the Earth. We all know that this world is older than 2025 years, but why do we say «in the year 2025»? Well, it’s BC and AD: Before Christ and After Death. They said this is so significant we’re going to start counting right now. This is who Jesus is—Jesus is the Son of God who hung on the cross. This is why we celebrate Easter. We didn’t just look at a bunny and say, «You know what? That’s cool.» This is about Jesus rising again from the grave. I just want to say this is who we’re serving: He loves you so much that he’s paying attention to you when you’re not even paying attention to him. He’s a good God. But you don’t know what good is unless you know what bad is; otherwise, you wouldn’t know there’s something evil, and this is Satan.
If—I’ve said this before—if there’s someone you love who has passed away, and you know they’re in heaven, if they could come back just for a second, they would say this: «I don’t want to come back,» and then secondly, they would say, «heaven is real and hell is real.» This is the reality. But Satan has demons—millions of demons—and many of these demons have been assigned to you. There are some demons, some evil spirits that we all fight. For example, having faith that God will come through for us and take care of us: that’s a battle of faith we all fight. But then, there are some demons that are assigned to you but not to the person next to you. For example, in families I’ve talked to, the father dies young—like in his 50s, the son dies in his 50s, the grandfather dies in his 50s, and the great-grandfather dies in his 50s. This is a demonic spirit that comes down through these generations. Oftentimes, if somebody commits suicide, there’s someone else in their family who’s committed suicide. These are demons that attack. Someone who has an addiction typically has an addiction to a substance linked to their father, mother, or uncle. There are families where they don’t have that; they fight different battles.
But it is extremely important that you know what spirits have been assigned to you. Because then when they come, you can back up and say, «Hey, I know what’s happening right now.» So I want to give you the first of three major points. The first point is how to identify these evil spirits. Number two, I want to talk about the cost required for victory. Just because you know there’s a demon there and just because you believe in Jesus, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to be victorious over this spirit. I know a lot of people who are Christians, and they’ve been fighting the same battle for 20 years. There’s a cost to victory. Number three, my last and final point: talking back to the devil. If he’s going to talk to you, you need to talk to him. You know, if someone comes up to you and says, «Hey, you’ve got a fat head,» what are you going to say? No, you’re going to say something back. Hopefully, it’s not equal to that. You don’t want to look at their face and say, «Hey, if you’re going to look at my face, I’m going to look at your face.» You want to say something back. When you spend time with the Lord, you’re like, «I’m not going to match unkindness with unkindness.» You’re not going to suck me into that. But the reality is, you’ve got to know how to talk back to the devil. But I’ll get to that; that’s my third point.
Let me talk about identifying demons. There are many different evil spirits, but I want to group the most popular ones into four different categories. Are you ready? Say yes! Come on, let me hear you say yes! Yes! Yes! Take a look at this: where do demons attack you? The first category is faith and passion. Faith is believing that God is there and that he rewards people who seek him. That’s in Hebrews 11:6. Believing in God, trusting in God, or spiritual apathy—when I was putting these notes together, I was looking for the term indifference, but I couldn’t think of it. However, while speaking in the first service, I thought about it: indifference or apathy means that you can take it or leave it. «I believe in God,» but «I’m not super passionate about it.» Like, «I believe in him, but it’s apathy.» Your spirit craves God, but there’s a spirit opposite that comes into your life and causes this apathy: you can take it or leave it. It’s apathy; it’s a spirit.
Some of you are looking at that list and thinking, «Okay, you’re going fast; slow it down just a second.» All right, emotional pain: loneliness, shame, anger, depression, insecurity. You don’t wake up in the morning and say, «You know what? I feel like having some shame. You know what? I’m going to be depressed all day today. You know what? I’m going to get angry, and I’m going to get so angry that I won’t even be able to control it.» Nobody thinks like that. These are spirits that come to you. Now, to get angry is called being human; to remain angry—now we’re talking about a spirit. Are you with me? Say yes! Let me go on to the third category. There we go, now we’re in cadence: physical temptations—overeating—it’s called gluttony in the Bible, substance abuse, sexual immorality. When you start drifting into that, I just want you to know that there’s a demon around you. It’s very interesting with sexual immorality because before you get married, the demon says, «Hey, that’s fine, go ahead and be sexual.» But after you get married, it’s almost like he wants the opposite; he doesn’t want you close. Are you with me?
All the men are like, «Yeah, that’s good stuff!» Here’s the next one: twisting God’s word—all the women are like, «Yeah, yes! Let’s go!» You men—okay, I just got all tangled up. A biblical worldview blended with a secular worldview: what does that mean? It means you believe in the Bible but you also believe in your own theology. Like, «Yeah, I believe in it, but I also believe in…» So when you come across something in Scripture that you don’t like, you back up and say, «Well, I just believe…» Now you have your own theology. This is a big, big problem because if you don’t believe the entire Bible, you have to ask yourself, «Are you really a Christian, or are you just picking your theology?» A worldview is when you trump the Bible with what you believe. But watch this; this is a major, major problem. Take a look at this statistic: according to the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, only 6% of Christians have a biblical worldview, with many embracing a blend of various belief systems.
Similarly, research by the Barna Group found that approximately 9% of born-again Christians possess a biblical worldview. 9%! That means 92% of Christians believe in God but also believe in what they think. 92% do not forsake the gathering of the brethren: don’t stop coming to church! Well, yeah, but don’t—anger gives a foothold to the enemy. Don’t remain angry—it’s in Ephesians 4:26. Don’t stay angry! «Yeah, well they’re an idiot; that’s why I’m going to remain angry.» It’s this addiction: «Well, I love the Lord, but I can still be an addict.» It’s your own theology!
92%! You line up ten Christians; nine of them have their own theology, and one of them says, «Everything in the Bible is real, and that’s how I live my life.» Oh my goodness! Well, most of you have ten people in your row. Why don’t you pick out the nine? This is how the enemy gets us: he draws us; he compels us toward these things—these evil spirits. When I go fishing, if I go fishing for four hours, I feel like I did really good if I catch two. Okay, now I’ve got a guy in our neighborhood who used to invite us over for catfish for dinner all the time. Our family stopped going of our own accord; this was about the time we stopped going. We were there one time, and I asked him, «How do you catch this many catfish in such a short amount of time?» Because he would text me or call me in the morning—he used to—and say, «Hey, you want to come over for catfish?» I’d say yes. He’d say, «Okay, I’m going fishing right now.» I have a family of five; he’s got stacks of fried catfish, and I’m like, «How in the world do you have this much catfish?»
Of course, guys are like, «Well, you just have to know how to fish, brother.» His wife comes in and tells the truth. «Now don’t listen to him; he just throws chum on the water.» «Chum? What’s chum?» How many people know what chum is? All right, the rest of us are about to puke. Chum is when you take a bucket half full of blood, fish guts, and chopped-up fish, and then you go out on a little canoe and dump it into the water. All these catfish come up and start chewing on the chum, and then you take your hook, drop it into the chum, and the fish grabs the hook, and you pull the fish into the boat. Now, these fish could be way far away, but as soon as they smell the chum, as soon as they smell the blood, they come running over.
When I found that out, that was the last time we’ve been to his house to eat catfish. Now, what’s happening is this evil stuff—I’m going to call it evil, not disgusting—because when you’re chasing blood, that’s evil. When this hits the water, the fish come, and what the enemy does is he comes in and begins to stir evil in your life. What he does is he tries to make it feel normal—that sin is normal, that not living for the Lord is normal. Normal people learn to live without God; they get comfortable. So what ends up happening is the enemy will come into your life, and he will just throw the chum. So the next time, go ahead and put up that list—all four things—the next time these things begin to come to your mind, you’ve got to say, «No, no, no! You’re throwing chum in the water! You’re trying to mess up my mind, play with my mind, mess with my emotions.»
My daughter goes to Texas A&M. She called me and said, «One of my close friends up here is crying because she’s suicidal.» I’m like, «That person doesn’t want to kill themselves; God doesn’t want them to die. So, where is this coming from? There’s chum in the water!» Are you with me? Say yes! When these things pop up, there’s chum in the water. There is a spirit around you tormenting you. You’ve got to know: I was fine ten minutes ago. What spirit just walked up on me? Are you with me? Say yes!
Okay, so now let’s talk about point number two. You don’t want to live that way; you don’t want spirits tormenting your family, tormenting your marriage, tormenting your children, tormenting your finances. Have you ever saved as much as you can, but it feels like there’s a hole in your purse and it’s just falling out? It’s like you can’t hang on to it—these are spirits of poverty coming toward you. Sometimes, you just have to go get a job, but I will say this: not everything is a demonic spirit, but there are more of them tormenting you than you realize. Are you with me? Say yes! There’s a cost.
There are two main areas where you’ve got to be willing to pay the cost. In Luke 14:28, it says this: Jesus says, «Hey, count the cost before you decide to be a Christian.» Before you say, «Lord, You Are My Savior; I’m going to live for you,» count the cost. It’s real easy to come and just say, «You know what? I believe in Jesus.» No, no, no, no. Hold on, hold on, hold on; make sure you understand what you’re saying here. In Romans 12:2, it says, «Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but allow the Holy Spirit to transform you into a new creation.» That means you talk differently, you dress differently, you worship the Lord. You tell yourself, «I don’t think the Lord’s going to be pleased with this, so I’m not going to do it.» Hold on; let me think—in 1 Thessalonians 5, I think it’s 31, where it says, «Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.» Don’t grieve Him! If it’s not 1 Thessalonians 5:31, then it’s in Ephesians 4:31. But it says, «Do not grieve,» which means the Holy Spirit is like the presence of God, and so before you jump in, think about the decision you’re making here that you’re laying your life down, you’re choosing to worship him and live for him. Make sure you understand because if you’re not doing that, get used to the chum; get used to it because you won’t win.
Aren’t you glad you came to church this morning? Aren’t you glad? But don’t worry about it; I’m really not talking to you; I’m talking to the person next to you. So, there you have it. There’s submission involved. Imagine just for a second: my wife says, «Hey, honey, will you take care of dinner tonight?» And I say back to her, «Is this a matter of divorce?» «Hey, can you take care of the laundry tonight?» «Okay, is this a matter of divorce?» «Hey, hun, do you mind vacuuming?» «Are you going to divorce me if I don’t vacuum?» And see, this is how most people live their lives. They think to themselves, «Okay, I know that I’m copying the behavior and customs of this world. I’m not worshiping the Lord; I’m not longing for the Lord. But are you really going to send me to hell over this? Like, really?»
And the Bible says this in Hebrews 10:26: if you continue to sin flagrantly—in other words, «God, I don’t really care what’s in the Bible» —what I believe is that you are a loving God, and it really doesn’t matter. And the Bible says this: if you continue to sin flagrantly, then the sacrifice from the cross no longer applies to you. All right, so there’s a percentage of this room that just decided they’re never coming back to this church. But let me say this: in 1 John 1:9—and this happens every day for me—it says that if you confess with your mouth your sins, immediately he forgives you. And I stumble multiple times a day where I have to look at the Lord and say, «I know you didn’t like that; I know that grieved you, and I’m really sorry, and I need your help not to do it again.» See, mercy forgives you, and grace gives you the strength to not do it again.
Now, there are some things that just battle me over and over and over again, and I’ve asked the Lord to forgive me for that like 792 times, but it’s still going to the Lord and saying, «I’ve laid my life down for you. I’m just kind of struggling in this area.» The Lord is like, «I see you. I see you, and I love you.» Never forget this: there’s a difference between being evil and being weak, and sometimes we’re just weak. That’s the first thing; we’re going to count the cost. You really’ve got to say, «I’m all in on this; I’m not just going to be kind of sometimes in; I’m really, really, really all in. I’m all in on this.»
Then number two: undercounting the cost means you stoke the fire. See, when you’re in this room, you can feel your spirit going, «I think this is right; I believe this is right.» That’s the fire of the Lord stirring up within you. The Bible says in John 6:44 that no man comes to Jesus unless drawn by the Son. If you have a desire to know more, want more, that’s not by accident. The Lord is drawing you to himself. Some of you are only here because your wife made you come, and that’s okay, but you’re a grown man; you could have decided not to come. The Lord drew you here—he drew you here! But the Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:6, «Stir to fan the flame.» Do something purposefully so it doesn’t go out. I’ve got to play worship music in my car; I’ve got to turn my car into a moving church. I’ve got to say, «Hey Siri, play worship music!» I’ve got to get that in; I’ve got to keep that going.
I’ve got to walk through the day and just say, «I love you; I want you to know I love you. I love you; I want you.» You know the prayer I pray most? «I love you. You know I need you.» I pray that same prayer right there all day long: «I love you; you know I need you.» But you’ve got to keep that flame going. It snowed—does anyone get to play in the snow? Yes, sir! You know why it snowed here in Southeast Texas and not North Texas? The Lord loves us more; someone needs to tell you that. Around 11:00 at night, when it was snowing the most, I was in bed; Allie was in bed, we sleep with blinders on, and we play brown noise. I’m cuddled all up; she’s cuddled all up. It’s so warm and my arm is out; I can’t sleep unless my arm is out. Anyone else like that? All right, three of us—awesome.
So we’re just about to fall asleep, and here comes my 17-year-old son—"I just started a fire in the backyard. You guys want to come?» They’re clapping for you; I don’t know why! We’ve got a fireplace out there, like a brick fire pit. My first thought was, «Where was this fire around 6:00?» So I’m like, «Hey, it snows like this once every 30 years, you know? Yeah, we do want to get out of bed!» So we go out there, we’re sitting around, and I’m like, «I’m so happy that my clothes are going to smell like smoke and I’ve got to go take a shower when I get out of here. This is awesome.»
He starts sneaking up behind me with a snowball and pings me! «Isn’t this awesome?» No! My bed was awesome; that’s what was awesome! So we’re all done, and we’re walking back into the house, and Allie goes, «Should we throw water on the fire or something like that?» in the fireplace area. Now keep in mind, Luke built a fire; it was so high—some of y’all saw it—and both Luke and I said it at the same time: we were like, «No, just leave it alone; it’ll put itself out by tomorrow morning. It’ll be gone.» The next morning you wake up; it was gone. It’ll put itself out; we’re not going to throw any more logs on it.
Some of you are ahead of me: we’re not going to just not pay attention to it, and it’ll go out. Let me just tell you: the passion and longing that you have for the Lord, if you’re not intentional—purposefully, intentionally—about keeping that fire inside of you going, it will go out. You will look back on yourself and think, «Man, I can’t believe I was so passionate about God. Man, I’ve kind of calmed down now; I’m a little more normal.» No, no, no, no! You’re not normal; you’re swimming in the chum. I know you don’t feel like waking up this morning to come to church; I hit snooze a lot this morning. I know. Why did you come? You’ve got to stoke the fire!
Why do you play worship music? You’re stoking the fire! Why are you praying? You’re stoking the fire! Why, why, why are you saying, «Lord, I need you?» You’re stoking the fire! And what ends up happening, point number three, is that you learn how to talk back to the devil. You begin to say, even if your faith is really low, when you start feeling the chum come into your life and you’re starting to have all these emotions and all these thoughts, you begin to think to yourself: «I can’t fight this by myself. My son is in trouble and I can’t rescue him. My finances are in trouble; I’m physically sick.» Did you know God heals people physically just like Jesus did a long time ago?
I’ve prayed for three people who had blind eyes—bang, bang, bang. Three! I can’t even count! You think I’m lying; I promise you I can’t even count! Or I’ve whispered in a deaf ear: «Jesus, bang!» I’m just telling you that miracles still happen, and every single time a miracle happens—a true miracle happens—the name of Jesus was a part of that. So you’ve got to say, «Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I’m thinking this; I’m feeling this; I’m thinking this; I’m feeling this. You’ve been assigned to me my whole life! Guess what? In the name of Jesus, leave me! In the name of Jesus, leave me! In the name of Jesus, leave me! In the name of Jesus, leave me! In the name of Jesus, leave me! Leave me! Leave me! Leave me! In the name of Jesus, leave me! Leave me! Leave me! Leave me! Leave me! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!»
Would you stand up on your feet if you would? I’d like for all our prayer partners to come down, if you would. All our prayer partners, come down. I know we have more than one. There are times in life when your faith is so thin, it’s like paper; you’re trying your best to believe in the Lord. I want to say this: when you’re trying to believe, you have faith. When you’re looking up, you have faith. You say, «I don’t have much"—you don’t need much! If you’re looking up, sometimes you’ll have a whole bunch of faith; sometimes you won’t have a bunch of faith, but just a little bit of faith is enough. It’s like just a little gasoline and a little match—you can ignite a lot. But sometimes your faith is so low, you need somebody else to pray for you. The problem is so big, your faith is struggling, and you need someone else to pray for you. And that’s why these prayer partners are down here—they want to pray for you.
Now, if all the prayer partners are taken, just come to the bottom of the aisle. We’ve got great ushers down here who’ll point you to the first available person. But we didn’t come to church today just to sing a few songs or listen to me speak; you came to church because you love the Lord. You’re curious about what the Lord can do in your life. That’s why you came. And so now, this is the action part: if you want someone to pray for you, we’re down here to pray for you.
Now, some of you in this room, if your heart were to just stop beating like it did for Joe; if it were to just stop beating, you don’t know where you’d spend eternity. You really don’t know. And for that reason, you’re the most important person in the room. Because your heart is like throwing a basketball in the air: if I had a basketball and I throw it in the air, it’s going to come down; it’s going to bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce—eventually, it’s going to stop bouncing, and it’s just going to rest on the floor. I just don’t know when the last bounce is going to happen. Your heart—you don’t know when the last beat is going to happen. But I can promise you this: somebody in the world your age died yesterday. If you don’t know where you’re going to spend eternity, I want you to come down here and just say, «I need to get my life right with God.»
The Bible says if you’re ashamed of him in front of people, he’ll be ashamed of you when he sees you. So I want to invite you to come down and pray with somebody. If you just need someone to pray with, come down. There’s no official dismissal; you can leave whenever you’re ready. But let’s just sing this song at least one or two times through before anyone goes. If I have the pleasure of meeting you, because we’ve never met, I’m not going back to that room; it’s the room on the left, by the way, just behind the café. I’ll be back there in about five or ten minutes. But in the meantime, let’s just worship and sing this song at least one or two times through before anyone goes. May the Lord bless you; may he keep you; may his face shine down upon you and be gracious to you. May the peace of God be with you all the days of your life, with your family and wherever you go, all the days of your life, in Jesus' name. Amen.