Frankie Mazzapica - The Devil's Greatest Fear
The title of today’s message is «The Devil’s Greatest Fear.» What if I told you this: the devil is living rent-free in people’s lives, and they don’t even know it. It’s kind of like when I was talking about Peter earlier. They have no idea the negative thoughts, the negative emotions, and the negative patterns that are drawing them. It’s as if it pulls you toward a particular sin. This is not you; this is the enemy, like a bowling ball just rolling down the lane right into their life. The devil’s greatest fear — listen to this — is that complacent believers will wake up.
See, believers are often just asleep. What do I mean by that? They believe in God; God is there. You ask them, «Do you believe in Jesus?» «Yes.» «Do you believe in God?» «Yes.» «Are you a Christian?» «Yes.» But they’re asleep. What do I mean by that? Their hearts are cold, and they think — watch this — that the status of their life, the struggles, listen, the struggles in their lives have nothing to do with Satan. It’s just how their lives are. The devil’s greatest fear is when you back up and go, «Hold on a minute, this isn’t right.» That’s the devil’s greatest fear.
I have a daughter; she’s 11. I have three kids: a 20-year-old daughter, a 17-year-old son, and an 11-year-old little girl. My son and I were out late last night — we call it a «daddy-bubby night.» We called him 'Bubby' when he was six months old; when he’s 79, we’ll still call him Bubby. We went out last night and were just having fun together. We got home around 11:00. I walk in, and to no surprise, Ally is sleeping. And who do you think is sleeping right next to her? Kate. We call her Bug. She’ll be Bug until she’s 57. Bug is in the bed, and I’m looking at her: «I would let you sleep in the middle, but I have a big day tomorrow. I’m going to be getting up. You’re out. You’re going to your bed.» I say, «Bug, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!» She wakes up, and I say, «It’s time to go to your bed.» She’s like, «Okay,» and she’s walking like this. I’m guiding her, and she’s going to walk right into the wall. I get her upstairs, tuck her in, and she’s just falling down, and she looks at me and goes, «Good night, Mommy.» I was going to say, «I’m Daddy,» but then I realized, «No, she’s sleeping; she’s not here.» She has no idea what’s going on right now.
The enemy’s greatest fear is that you walk around believing in God, with no idea — no clue — and you think your life is bad just because that’s how life is. Then you learn to live that way. Now, watch this scripture I want to read to you — this is in Mark, chapter 1, verse 23: «And immediately, there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out.» Hold on — where were they? The synagogue. What’s the synagogue? A church. There is a guy with a demonic spirit in church, an unclean spirit.
If you read it slowly, he cried out, «What have you to do with us? If I say to you, God, what do you have to do with us?» Who’s talking here? And who’s us? You got a mouse in your pocket? No. «What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.» But Jesus rebuked him, saying, «Be silent and come out of him.» There are demons talking through him. The demons ask, «What do you have to do with us?» There are demons in him. Jesus says, «Be silent. Come out of him.» The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, so they questioned among themselves, saying, «What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.»
Watch this. This is so cool. Jesus has this authority, and then look what He does with this authority. Next, uh, the Luke verse: «Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.» What does He do with this authority? He says, «I love you. You can’t see the devil. It’s not like you can walk up to him and punch him in the nose. You can’t see him. So what I’m going to do is give you the same authority I have to cast out any demon in your life.»
Now, I have three major points, then I’ll be done. The first one is the authority that’s given to you. The second one is what’s gripping your heart. The third one is when spirits vanish. Now, the authority is when God gives it to you. Now hear me say this: your promotion — there is no way to be promoted to authority. You inherit it. Let me say it again: you cannot be promoted to authority; you inherit it. You cannot do good things when you sense there’s a demon in your life. There’s a demon messing with you. You might say, «I don’t want to be depressed, so why am I depressed? I don’t want to be down. Why in the world are doors of opportunity opening for everyone else but never for me?» I’ll tell you, I think I’m fighting a demon. There’s a spirit. The enemy’s greatest fear is that complacent Christians will wake up and use the authority they’ve been given.
It’s not a promotion. If you haven’t prayed in 97 days, that doesn’t mean you don’t have authority. You don’t get promoted to authority; you receive it. I go to high school football and basketball games all the time because my son is a student there. My daughter, who is in college now, was once a student there two years ago. One time I went to see Luke play basketball. A couple of years ago, I walked in and the lady was saying, «It’s $8 to get in, $8 to get in.» I’m thinking, «These kids are not that good; you shouldn’t be asking for $8.» But anyway, $8, $8, $8. Then this lady sitting there said, «What’s your name, sir?» I said, «Frankie Mazipikica.» She goes, «Mazipikica? Do you have a daughter named Presley?» I said, «Yeah, I knew her when she went to school here.» She said, «Sir, you’re never going to pay for anything ever again. You’re going to just walk in here, let me know you’re here, and you’re going in. I knew your daughter; your daughter is awesome. You’re getting in for free.» So when I show up — I’ve never been to the high school, never turned in one assignment, never been to class, never shown up, never taken a test, nothing — I just happen to have the right last name. That’s it!
I wasn’t promoted; I just happened to have the right last name. Guess what? You just have the right name on your lips. It’s the name! Yes, this inherited authority. If you haven’t prayed, if you haven’t worshipped, if you haven’t done these things, you may feel a little distance, and you need to close the gap. You want to have a closer relationship with God. But even still, the name of Jesus causes these evil spirits to vanish — they’re gone! Aren’t you happy about that?
Come on, point number two: What has a hold of your heart? This guy goes to church, but listen to me: whatever comes upon you, whatever captures you, whatever spirit captures you, has arrested your heart. The spirit that you entertain is the spirit that captures your heart. Have you ever noticed that Cinnabon is always on a corner? When you go to the food court in a mall, and there are 12 restaurants, Cinnabon is always on the corner — it’s never in the middle. Why is that? Because they want the smell of a Cinnabon to go both ways. So when you come, you’re lured in. I’m glad you’re here, but just hold on. When you go to Lids to buy a hat or Abercrombie, whatever — but the ladies come out, and you’re walking down, you’re like, «Oh my God, they arranged that!» You think you just suddenly wanted a Cinnabon; you didn’t want one before you smelled it. They arranged that before you ever got there — they were like, «We’re going to go both ways on this one.»
Do you know when you go to Disney World, they have a fan of some sort? Thank you, Corey, for telling me about this. They have scents that they blow out between the trees and around restaurants. They blow out this scent, so when you’re walking around, you have no idea; you’re thinking, «This place is like heaven! This really is a magical place!» You know what? «I feel like eating cotton candy.» You didn’t feel that way until they started blowing that scent up your nose. They capture your attention!
When you go to the rodeo, what’s that thing called when they put the powder on it? What is it? Funnel cakes. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, «You know what I want? I want to pound a funnel cake today!» No, nobody does that. But when you walk into the rodeo, it’s like, «I’m gonna get me one of those funnel cakes!» You get halfway through it, and you’re sick to your stomach. You’re asking, «Why did I get this funnel cake?» Because they lured you in!
What I’m trying to tell you is that the enemy comes along and just lays out these breadcrumbs, and all of a sudden, you wake up and you’re mad, you’re depressed, you have no hope. Everyone say «hope» on three. One, two, three: «Hope!» Say it real loud: One, two, three: «Hope!» This is what hope means. Hope means that you are on the edge of your seat with expectancy. You have this suspicion that God has something really good coming up. Now, if you don’t have hope, you don’t think anything good is coming. You think you’re stuck, and your life is going to be like this forever because you have no hope.
Now let’s all remember everyone’s favorite scripture: Jeremiah 29:11. «I know the plans I have for you,» says the Lord, «plans not to hurt you or harm you, but they’re good to prosper you and give you hope.» I’m going to put hope — no, let me take that word out; I’m going to take an expectancy and put it in your heart so that you know something good is coming. You don’t know what it is, but it’s in there. «For I know the plans I have for you,» says the Lord, «Plans to prosper you,» and I’m going to put hope in there so that you are expecting it! You’re ready for it!
But if you take hope out, you don’t think God’s going to prosper you. You think you’re stuck in this spot and you’re going to be there forever, so the enemy comes along and takes out hope, and you think that’s normal. No, it’s not normal to feel like you’re stuck! The enemy’s greatest fear is that complacent Christians will wake up and go, «Hold on a minute! This is not right!»
Last point: you have two weapons and only two weapons: the name of Jesus and scripture, the word of God. Those are the only two weapons you have; you don’t get anything else. When your voice says the name of Jesus and your lips speak the word of God, evil spirits vanish. One name: Jesus! Is anyone here? Statistically speaking, about half of you have probably been lying in bed and suddenly freeze up, feeling this evil spirit and you can’t move. You’re thinking, «If I could just get Jesus out, I’d be okay.» You shout, «Jesus!» and all of a sudden, you’re free. Now wave at me if that’s ever happened to you. Come on! Look at these hands all over the place! Now wave at me if you’re lying. Put your hand over your head and say «Yeah, that’s happened to me before.» Go ahead.
That’s all over the place — like 25% of the room! That name — Jesus! — suddenly, your spirit knows it! The enemy’s greatest fear is that complacent Christians will not be awakened. When Spencer is driving down the road and she’s about to get into a wreck, what does she shout? «Jesus!» She doesn’t go, «Jehovah Jireh, my provider.» No! Have you ever been driving down the road and something happens? «Jesus! Jesus, help me!» Your spirit knows it. I mean, I do it before I’m going to get in a wreck. On the highway, I come over this hill, and I see that stupid white car with the lights. «Jesus, no! Jesus, no!» What rises up? It’s in here; your spirit knows it.
The devil’s greatest fear is that complacent Christians will be awakened and you start saying the name of Jesus 79 times a day. Smith Wigglesworth — you can play now; thank you — Smith Wigglesworth, one of the greatest ministers to ever walk the planet, said, «I rarely pray for 20 minutes, but 20 minutes doesn’t go by without me praying.»
The enemy’s greatest fear is that complacent Christians will awaken and walk through their life saying, «Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!»
How many of you use ChatGPT? No student raised their hand? Never cheated? Never asked ChatGPT to write an essay for me? Next week, I’m going to preach online. Get on ChatGPT, get on Google, and type in «What verse can I use for this situation?» and memorize that verse. The enemy’s greatest fear is that complacent Christians will wake up.
Let’s all stand to our feet, please. I’d like for all the prayer partners to come down. If you’re new here, you may wonder why we have prayer partners down here. If you’ve been here, you might think prayer partners are normal. But if you’re new and you’re like, «Why do you have prayer partners down here?» It’s because sometimes you’re too weak to pray for yourself. Sometimes, you just need someone to pray for you. That’s why they’re here. If anything I talked about today resonates with your heart and you want someone to pray for you, they’ll say that name: Jesus.
So in a minute — not now — I want you to come down and take the hand of a prayer partner and let them pray for you. But also, let me ask this question: If your heart were to stop beating in the next five minutes, are you 100% sure you know where you’d spend eternity? 100%? If not, I want to encourage you, in a minute, not right now, to come down here, take someone’s hand, and say, «I want you to pray for me.» Think like you’re the only one in this room because sometimes people won’t come down and pray for someone because they feel embarrassed to pray with someone. The Bible says, «If you’re ashamed of me in front of people, I’ll be ashamed of you when I see you.»
So I want to encourage you to come out of your seat and pray with somebody. If all the prayer partners are already praying with someone, we’ve got ushers at the bottom of the aisle, and they’ll point you to the first available person. There’s no official dismissal; you can leave whenever you’re ready. But let’s sing this song one time 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 His countenance be lifted up on you and bring you peace. In Jesus' name, Amen.»