#3 - "Renunciation" - Fr. Pierre Ingram

[Music] and let's just give thanks to God for what he's doing here what he's doing in this place what he's doing in this parish in this community and all the relationships that are being formed and having drawn all of you here today to receive from him to receive healing and deliverance which are always available to us when we ask for them what I'm gonna be sharing with you this afternoon is the key number three and key number four of unbound and key number three is I renounce in the name of Jesus but we're really going to be talking first about what we need to renounce in order to know what we need to renounce we have to become aware of something that is hidden something that is secret something that the enemy of our human nature wants to keep concealed so in order to become aware of these things we need to ask God for light and we need to ask God for light always but especially when we're trying to undo the lies and deceptions of the enemy so why don't we actually begin by asking God for light right now name the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen so Lord our God you are the one who sets us free deliverance is in your hand you are powerful you are mighty you desire what is good for your children you desire us to be set free from all of our bondage Lord shine your light into the innermost recesses of our minds and hearts even those places that we like to keep locked up even those places that we like to keep secret from ourselves and from others places where evil may have gained a foothold we pray Lord that you will expose all the works of darkness in us enable us to see them in the full light of day so that we may confront them and have the victory in Jesus name Amen in the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit so four key number three we're going to be talking first about the devil's strategy how he got in there in the first place we're going to be talking specifically about some common entry ways that the enemy uses and exploits and then finally how do we close the entryways once and for all let's not be taken aback by the simplicity of all of this if we know the gospel we know that the teaching of Jesus is very simple it's meant not for the learned and the clever it's meant for little children and little children enter the kingdom first so yes this is very simple teaching but that doesn't make it easy doesn't make it easy to apply in our lives okay when we we want to talk about the devil's strategy we want to unmask it we have to stay balanced because when we hear that there's an enemy who hates us and wants us to live in hell for all eternity that can be very unsettling that can be very disturbing and he likes that we're disturbed about him right so he can exploit that just as he can also exploit our false complacency where we think we don't have an enemy at all right so both opposites need to be rejected right we have to have a balanced understanding of the devil and his strategy so we don't want to quake in fear but we also don't want a false peace we have to firmly believe and confess that Jesus has already won the decisive victory that's the fundamental conviction that has to illuminate our minds as we are thinking about the enemy right yes there is an enemy yes he's after us but the final victory is our Jesus has won it he scored the winning goal all we need to do is run out the clock okay we're still out on the field we're still playing the game but the victory has already been decided okay we just need to allow Jesus to have the victory first John three verse eight says the the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil so that's what he's about that's what Jesus was about when he was in Galilee that's what Jesus is about right now he came to destroy all the works of the devil to cast them out completely and Jesus himself declared that he has bound the strongman right there is a strongman who has taken us captive but Jesus has overcome him and bound him so that he could plunder his property Jesus is the stronger one who has defeated Satan already and when we have been reborn through faith and through baptism into Christ we stand in Christ's own authority over all the enemies of God Luke 10 verse 19 behold I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you that's a pretty sweeping statement right it's not I have given you authority over some of your enemies know all of them serpents scorpions over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you so no matter how much fear we may have in our hearts no matter how threatening the enemy may seem we know we stand in the truth of the victory that Christ has won for us so that's on the one hand on the other hand we do have to be wise to the deceptions of the enemy and the fact that even though Christ has defeated him we are still vulnerable to just two deceit we are still vulnerable to lies we can still be tempted we can still be harassed even if the enemy realizes he can't prevent our eternal salvation he's gonna do everything he can to slow down or block our progress and holiness right so even in the lives of great Saints who are already well on the way to the kingdom of heaven Satan will still harass them and try to make them feel miserable or he will try to block our effectiveness in reaching others with the good news of salvation so even if we are firmly in the kingdom of Christ he's going to try to seal us off right just to seal off the damage that we're doing to his kingdom of darkness so to muzzle us right to muzzle us so that we don't lead anyone else to Christ we don't lead anyone else to freedom and victory okay that's why st. Peter warns us be sober minded be watchful your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour so that's the scary part all right the scary part is yes we do have an adversary he is a roaring lion he is trying to get someone that he can devour and sink his fangs into and unfortunately for us he's an extremely intelligent lion and he's been around since the beginning of creation he's tempted many people to their eternal ruin and he knows how to do it has a very high success rate right angelic beings are far more intelligent than we are and they don't have to sleep they don't go on vacation right they're constantly observing us ready to exploit whatever weaknesses they find so that calls for sobriety not panic right st. Peter doesn't say panic run away no he says be sober minded and vigilant okay so spiritual a spiritual vigilance means that we don't let ourselves be lulled into a false sense of security we don't let our spiritual senses go to sleep we don't sedate them right that's why Lent is so good because we strip away the things that we normally use to sedate ourselves right all these material comforts and material pleasures they act as a sedative that might make us good feel good physically but spiritually they dull our minds they prevent us from being attentive to what's going on in the spiritual realm which includes all of these mash nations of the devil okay so st. ignatius loyola in his famous rules for the discernment of spirits he compares the tactics of the devil to those of a skilled military commander now st. Ignatius in his former life was a soldier so he knows very well about this military imagery rule 14 on the discernment of spirits the conduct of our enemy may also be compared to the tactics of a leader intent upon seizing and plundering a position he desires a commander and leader of an army will in camp explore the fortifications and defenses of the stronghold and attack at the weakest point right that's what an intelligent general does he doesn't just show up with all of his troops and just rush in and just attack attack attack attack right that's a shortcut to total defeat just rushing in and just attacking everything in sight know that stop will make a camp will observe will send out scouts will reconnoiter the fortress before we launch the assault okay we take time we plan this out we map it out and what is he going to assault is he okay we're gonna look at this this fortress it has incredible gates massively fortified you know three feet of solid steel okay forget that we're not going to attack there okay but then oh there Hey look there's a culvert over here right there's like water wastewater coming out that way but hey it's wide open you know we could get a whole bunch of guys crawling up through there put a bunch of dynamite and blow the thing to kingdom come great that's where we'll strike right so that's how the enemy goes about his business he observes us continually night and day and he looks for the weak spot the vulnerability in the same way the enemy of our human nature investigates from every side all our virtues theological cardinal and moral where he finds the defenses of eternal salvation weakest and most efficient there he attacks and tries to take us by storm okay if he kept attacking us where we were strongest he would have lost a long time ago he would no longer be in business okay so the first step toward victory is knowing that we're under attack is knowing that we have an enemy who's observing us who's looking for our weak spots and if you heard John's talk his first talk is introductory talk you know that the battle is real it really is going on and the stakes are very high once we know we are in a battle the second step is to become aware of the enemy's strategy if we're faithful Christians were always attentive to what God's will is for our lives right that is ordinary Christian life is seeking to do God's will that's how we get to heaven that's how we get holy is that we we're constantly seeking God's will but in order to be faithful in carrying out God's will we also have to know what the enemy is doing to try to prevent us from doing God's will so it's not enough to know positively what God wants us to be doing for his glory but we also have to know what to avoid what the snares are what the pitfalls are if you're driving around Detroit you need to know where the potholes are unless you want to lose your whole suspension and undercarriage of your car okay so you we have to be attentive we have to ask ourselves what Satan's plan is for our lives so that we can oppose it with all of our might okay discernment of spirits is aimed at welcoming the influence of the good spirit right the holy spirit God's holy angels God's messengers even those of flesh and blood right the people that he sends us we want to welcome all of that the work of the evil spirit the bad spirit we want to opos with all our strength okay we have to oppose with great vigor it's not sufficient to give a half-hearted defense because we know what the end game is the end game is the destruction of the entire fortress he wants to take us out completely right so even if the infiltration looks rather minimal what's just this little temptation over there doesn't look too serious right except right it's the it's the secret passageway by which the whole army is gonna eventually make its way in so we have to ask ourselves and this is the role of a good examination of conscience which is it's good to do not just when we're preparing for confession but every day if we can at least take five minutes to examine our consciences to see where's my weakest point right it's good to celebrate our victories it's good to celebrate our strengths it's good to receive affirmation from others for all the good things we do for God that's great but we also have to be honest about what's not going so well what is weak what is vulnerable to attack where do I continue to experience failure in my following of Jesus despite my good intentions despite my good resolutions despite the encouragement of others an earnest prayer and regular confession maybe even after seeking counseling or inner healing prayer or Eve after seeking professional help if I'm still experiencing failure especially in an area that involves serious sin I need to ask myself is the enemy at work as the enemy broken through the defenses we need to examine our own conscience but we need to do it in the light of the Holy Spirit we need to beg God for revelation right Revelation is key for the whole unbound process I'm not the one with my unaided mind trying to figure out what needs healing and what needs deliverance I'm praying God to show me reveal what needs deliverance what needs to be set free it may not be the first thing that comes to mind it may be something a little more hidden we want to God to lead the way we want him to shine a light on the dark places where the enemy seed seeks to hide where he and his demons have gained access to mess up our lives and where they've built comfortable little nests for themselves when the enemy gains access he likes to dig in for the long term but father I've been struggling with this for years mm-hmm that's how it goes he's not gonna go away on his own he's not gonna let go he's gonna be there so long that you begin to forget that he's an alien presence right you get used to the parasite for so long that you forget it's not a part of the host right so that's a very dangerous spiritual state to be in but we all find ourselves in that state sooner or later in our struggle against the forces of darkness let's talk about the entryways what are some common ways in which the enemy gains access to us keeping in mind the image of the stronghold that the enemy commander is examining I'm gonna go through a list and as I go through the list just ask yourself and ask God which of these might apply to your situation again just like when we do an examination of conscience the purpose is not to condemn ourselves but it's just honesty like where have I opened the door top of the list of course would be willful sins right if I deliberately choose something that I know is against God's law well I'm choosing bondage I'm choosing slavery right Jesus says truly truly I say to you everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin because that's the nature of sin it's rebellion the more we sin the deeper the bondage becomes even though Satan promises us freedom he even dared to promise Adam and Eve that they would be like gods but what he delivers his bondage so all we get for believing his lies is deeper misery the only way we can truly be free and guarantee our enduring freedom is obedience to God so when we commit sin deliberately not only are we breaking God's laws but we are withdrawing ourselves from the father's house we're withdrawing ourselves from God's loving Authority and willingly submitting to another Authority the authority of the Prince of Darkness so we go from being in the house of somebody who loves us and wants us to be happy forever and we're switching addresses to the house of someone who hates us and wants us to suffer in hell forever with him not a good trade-off and we have to be clear in our minds that there are only two kingdoms in the spiritual realm right there aren't like 14 kingdoms there are only two kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness either were in one or were in the other and thanks be to God st. Paul exclaims he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son notice the change of address right he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son as Christians we know a transfer has taken place there I have I'm no longer at that old address okay if mail comes to the old address we need to send it back right so many times the enemy tries to to convince us that we're still living at the old address we have to send those lies packing I am no longer that man yes I committed those sins but I am no longer that man thanks be to God he has set me free okay so I'm either in one kingdom or I'm in the other when I commit sin especially grave sin and I leave it unrepented and unconfessed I'm giving Satan a legal right to influence and oppress me simple as that when I commit serious sin sin that separates me from God's friendship and I don't repent I leave it unrepented and unconfessed I am willingly signing over to Satan legal authority over me in my life and that's why a lot of us are in bondage it's because of willful sin that's why the very first key in the unbound model is repentance that's step number one I have to repent of willful sin you've already learned about that this morning okay so it's wonderful to see many of you have taken advantage already of the opportunity for sacramental reckon so liyan so that's one entryway willful sin there are others that are more subtle so number two would be involvement in the occult we're living in a strange culture right now on the one hand we have a rejection of traditional faith and morality right we have people saying traditional Christianity is bad it's oppressive it makes us unhappy it makes us miserable it makes us feel guilty about ourselves so that's bad organized religion that's all bad oh but all these New Age practices all these esoteric things all this occult stuff superstition witchcraft oh yeah that's great yeah well welcome that in right so we create this big vacuum by expelling Christianity from our culture right everything to do with judeo-christian morality from our legal system and political life and everything else big vacuum guess what gets sucked in not the best of the best right the worst of the worst all kinds of occult practices fascination with witchcraft black magic white magic various ways of telling the future belief in horoscopes palm reading tarot cards consulting mediums summoning spirits channeling spirits and the list goes on right no matter how innocent these things may appear or how they may be presented to us sometimes they're even presented under the appearance of a game something fun something that doesn't involve commitment or you don't have to believe in this just kind of go along with it for fun right there are only two kingdoms there are only two sources of spiritual power in this world if things are being done or if things are being revealed by forces that go beyond human capacity either it's coming from God or it's coming from the enemy right and the Church teaches clearly that any of these practices are grave sins against the first commandment so in the Catechism number 21 17 we read that all practices of magic or sorcery by which one attempts to tame occult powers so as to place them at once at service and have a supernatural power over others even if this were for the sake of restoring their health right so sometimes this is presented as healing or we're just gonna do these things these rituals and practices to heal you to make you feel better they're gravely contrary to the virtue of religion these practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone so obviously if it's done in a malicious spirit it's worse or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons obviously wearing charms is also reprehensible spiritism often implies divination or magical practices the church for her part warns the faithful against it okay so their grave sins against the first commandment so we need to bring them to confession but besides doing that we have to break the power of the spirits that were involved right we invited them in through these occult practices we have to renounce them we have to push them out we have to break the unholy bond that we created with them whether it was knowingly or unknowingly so we seek communion with God we seek communion with the Friends of God the saints of God that the angels in heaven that's what those are the people we want communion with we don't want communion with evil spirits but that's exactly what happens in the occult self-inflicted curses right if we have ever explicitly prayed to an evil power or we've made any kind of deal or bargain with it even if we were in anger or in desperation that too creates a legal entryway for that spirit to wreak havoc in our lives response to trauma so we in our society we are becoming more aware of the reality of PTSD and all of the consequences all of the aftermath of that in people's lives all the wreckage that the trauma creates many of us have suffered traumatic experiences and events as children or later in life it's not the event itself that is the entryway to evil rather it's the response that we make if we believe a lie associated with the trauma right so for instance in my own testimony I shared the losing of my father right at 8 years old so a traumatic event but that's not what allowed evil into my life to create that fear of death that I lived with for so many years right it's the lie that if this happened to him it's gonna happen to you too right so the lie has nothing to do with the reality of what happened it's an additional thing that comes alongside and it comes from the enemy who tries to exploit the trauma to convince us in a thousand different ways that we don't have a good father that we don't have a God who loves us and cares for us we have a God who can't be trusted and if we believe that lie that comes along with the trauma that's when evil worms its way in and once he warms his way in he can stay for a very long time so we have to ask ourselves not just you know what did the trauma do to me but in experiencing this trauma did I accept into my mind things contrary to the truth of the gospel whatever is contrary to the truth of the gospel does not deserve a place in my mind but many of us live with lies that have taken firm root for many many years things that that are not what Jesus revealed circumstances of birth right not being wanted as a child being rejected by one or both parents being given up for adoption growing up in a broken family right these circumstances of birth again we didn't choose them they happen to us but if we react in a way that's not in accord with the gospel with the truth of God's love for us that too can be an entryway and finally associations an environment when we enter into friendship with other people we're giving them power over us over our lives hopefully all of our friends are good people who are gonna lead us closer to God but we can also enter into friendship into close association or even into business partnerships or romantic partnerships with people whose lives are not under God's Authority but are under the enemy's authority and when that happens power is imparted to them power is imparted to the enemy over us we have to break that Association how do we close the entryways once we've identified them once God has revealed them to us through prayer and or through conversation with a friend or counselor we have to basically reverse the invitation that was given for those spirits to come in and the way to do this is really simple that's key number three of the unbound model we verbally renounce all the evils we've identified in the name of Jesus it's as simple as that right friend for instance if we've identified that victimhood a spirit of victimhood has taken hold of us and we were convinced that you know we will always be on the losing end of life because everyone hates us and wants to get it okay that spirit of victimhood I renounce in the name of Jesus right the spirit that I'm an orphan and I'm doomed to be an orphan forever i renounced that in the name of jesus so every single spirit that we identify we renounce it's important to name Jesus he's our captain he's our victorious Lord he's the one who's broken the stranglehold of evil on the human race and in him we we know we have the victory right his is the name above all names there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved and by calling on his name were exercising the virtue of faith right every time I say Jesus I'm exercising my faith assuming that I'm conscious of the one to whom of whom I'm speaking right so faith is being exercised very important we're also exercising the virtue of hope that he will give us the victory over the spirit that we're renouncing and if we can also say it with love when we name Jesus even better right so Faith Hope and love the three virtues that unite us to God we're using simply by invoking Jesus in the name of Jesus I renounce the spirit of now it's important to also speak these things out loud if you've ever been to a baptismal liturgy and glory to God we're gonna have many coming into the church through baptism at the Easter Vigil here right you know that there's a verbal renunciation that takes place right before baptism we ask those to be baptized if they're old enough otherwise the parents and godparents to renounce we say do you renounce Satan do you renounce all his works do you renounce all his empty show and all of us do this together when we renew our baptismal promises at Easter time renouncing means rejecting it means saying no to someone it means expelling something from your will renouncing evil is an act of taking responsibility it's different from complaining we can complain all day long right we can lament the fact that this spirit is in our life that's not going to do very much we need to renounce it right we need to take a stand against the bully we're gonna say look you've been beating me up for forty years no more okay in the name of Jesus I renounce you to your face right and we have to name our enemies specifically it's very important to so we're not just renouncing bad stuff right we need to get very specific the enemy is very specific when he attacks us right he attacks specific areas of our life we need to be just as detailed and precise when we renounce we name him he loves to remain hidden that's part of his strategy just of identifying our enemies by name is already the beginning of victory so we know his name he can't hide any longer when you receive prayer for this key the minister who's praying may suggest a number of specific things for you to renounce based on what you shared right so the spirit of fear rejection abandonment pride lost control manipulation any number of things some of them may not apply to you but it's not it's not going to hurt you to renounce them some of the suggestions might be based on the ministers own experience of the kind of things that people need to renounce they're in your kind of situation or the minister may be responding to a prompting of the Holy Spirit right so it's good to be docile even if you may not immediately recognize you know control I don't have an issue with control you know so just go with it okay so okay I renounce control in the name of Jesus after going through their own list they may ask you if there are any further things that you wish to renounce and you too can either go on your prior awareness of your struggles or you may at that point receive an inspiration of the Holy Spirit too you may find yourself for announcing things you didn't think you need to renounce so that's key number three I renounce in the name of Jesus key number four is to take authority over the spirits that we have renounced what's Authority well let's go back to the source of the authority that we're exercising which is Jesus what stunned the crowds about Jesus ministry is that he taught he healed he cast out demons with authority unprecedented authority he didn't refer to any other teacher as the source of his authority he didn't quote other rabbis he didn't quote prophets he simply said oh man oh man I say to you he didn't perform extensive rituals to heal people he just healed with a word simple word from Jesus was enough to heal the sick to cast out demons and even to raise the dead Jesus didn't pray for half an hour to expel demons right he simply said get out of him and the demons always left right it always happened it was effortless that authority reveals that Jesus is greater than anyone who's ever existed his word does what it says each and every time because it is the very word of God through which everything was created he is that word of God made flesh but what many Christians fail to recognize is that by our union with Christ we share that authority that he has st. Paul says for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ Galatians 3:27 we have put on Christ in our baptism just as the newly baptized are clothed with white robes we put on Christ for real not just in our minds or imaginations we really put on Christ we really stand in his authority and we can exercise that authority we are adopted children of God when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his son born of woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons so you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through God it's so tragic when a Christian doesn't live in his or her full identity as a son or daughter of God but keeps on living as a slave even though the whole purpose of the coming of Jesus was to make us sons and daughters we can still continue to live as slaves bound by fear there's nothing in creation that children of God need to be afraid of our Father made all this stuff earth wind fire all the elements he made them he made you he made me and not only that he's redeemed us by the blood of Christ so we don't have to submit to any other creature even the angelic spirits those creatures in fact need to submit to us that's God's order even the evil spirits yes even though they're in rebellion against God they can't escape God's power it's complete insanity to rebel against an omnipotent god right Satan is completely insane how do you rebelled against a God who can do whatever he wants how are you gonna succeed and he knows he can't succeed which makes him rage even more right but it's stupid right it's just so they don't have any real authority we have authority over the spirits and we can speak and we can act in the name of Jesus because we are his that's my deepest identity I belong to him I'm his ok he's purchased me with his blood and I'm free so I can take authority in the fourth key of Unbound I exercise my god-given baptismal authority against evil I act with complete confidence that if I issue a word of command in the name of Jesus any evil spirit who has been afflicting me is compelled to depart that's just the way it is that's just the order of things as God has established it if I've gone through the previous three keys if I have repented if I have believed if I have forgiven those who have harmed me and if I have renounced then I've sealed off all the possible entry ways through which the evil spirits could come back right it doesn't do much good to kick them out if I've left the back door open wide so they just come back in with all their buddies right that's no good I have to seal off all the possible entry ways then I kick him out then he's gone for good so I can be confident that the evil spirit will not return I can say get out and stay out so just like we renounced in the name of Jesus we take authority in the name of Jesus out loud we speak it we say in the name of Jesus I break the power of every evil spirit that I have renounced and I command them to leave now that's it it's simple like I said the gospel is simple it's not complicated children can understand it it's not difficult to comprehend it can be difficult to put into practice it can be difficult to believe and accept that I have Authority when I've been living under fear for so long that's why it's helpful to have someone praying with me right to have a brother or sister they're right beside me who has faith when maybe my faith is weak you mean I can really be free yes you really can be free I take a stand stand up to him renounce him take authority over him so it's good to get specific about which spirit we're commanding to depart now I said it's good to have someone there to help me but I can do it by myself right I don't have to come to LGC I don't have to go to a prayer team I can be in my bedroom taking authority I write I have I have the authority each one of us does I'm not relying on the authority of the person praying for me okay if father peer Ingram is praying with me I don't say you know by the authority of the faith that father Pierre has in Jesus be gone no okay no it's in the name of Jesus I take authority so unbound is all about learning how to take my own stand against evil in my life it's not pride okay it's not pride to take this Authority it's not pride to claim the birthright that we have as children of God as sons and daughters of a father who loves us beyond our imagination that's not pride we know we're weak we know we're sinful but we know were his we belong to the Conqueror of sin and death so remember young David right David was a humble shepherd boy nevertheless he confronted the champion Goliath who was threatening and intimidating the whole Israelite army for days on end Goliath would come out and would taunt the whole Israelite army give me a man to fight with me right so full of boasting full of arrogance and David comes and very calmly replies to him not with pride but with simple faith the simple faith of an Israelite you come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts the god of the armies of Israel whom you have defied this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I will strike you down and cut off your head and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that all the Earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hand may that be your experience as you take a stand against your enemies and when the victory god bless you [Applause]

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Keywords: OLGC, Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church, Catholic Church, Plymouth Michigan, unbound

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Length: 45min 30sec (2730 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 11 2018