1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,560 Hi, this is Dave Olson. I'm the senior leader of 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,600 Heartland Church located in Ankeny, IA. 3 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,039 I hope the following message challenges and courages and 4 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,160 ultimately changes you. Thanks for joining us. 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:19,000 We are going to jump back into our series on spiritual warfare 6 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,000 and the battle we're living in understanding evil. 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,000 And so I want you to turn with me to Psalm 82. 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,880 Psalm 82, we're going to look back at that one now. 9 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,480 Just a little bit of review just for those who weren't here for 10 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,480 our other installments, kind of give you a little back store. 11 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:40,360 And where we're at here, we talked about that the the Second 12 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:46,400 Temple Jewish theologians had a theology that looked at 3 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:48,760 entrances of evil rather than just one. 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,400 As modern evangelicals, we recognized the one entrance of 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,920 evil and that was the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden and that's 16 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,660 where man, man's nature became fallen and we understand that. 17 00:01:00,660 --> 00:01:05,340 But the Jewish people also had two other episodes or entrances 18 00:01:05,340 --> 00:01:08,820 of evil within their theology. One of them we're somewhat 19 00:01:08,820 --> 00:01:14,340 familiar with and that is the. So Genesis 3 is the one that 20 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:16,820 we're understand. We understand we're Adam and Eve 21 00:01:16,820 --> 00:01:19,300 sinned. But Genesis 6, it says we're the 22 00:01:19,300 --> 00:01:22,260 sons of God, entered into the daughters of men. 23 00:01:22,890 --> 00:01:26,770 And out of these this union came the Nephilim, the giants of old. 24 00:01:27,610 --> 00:01:31,290 And so there's different theologies on that. 25 00:01:31,290 --> 00:01:34,970 There's what I was taught was that was the sons of Seth going 26 00:01:34,970 --> 00:01:39,610 into the sons of of of Abel or of Cain rather. 27 00:01:39,610 --> 00:01:42,810 And and that was, you know, and so they they de mythologize it 28 00:01:42,810 --> 00:01:45,250 and just kind of take the supernatural out of it. 29 00:01:45,250 --> 00:01:48,490 But the early church believe that was where demons came from, 30 00:01:48,490 --> 00:01:51,850 that demons were the disembodied spirit of this this half breed 31 00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:54,290 race, and that these sons of God actually were. 32 00:01:55,130 --> 00:01:57,690 They were Watchers. And we see the Watchers show up 33 00:01:57,690 --> 00:02:00,570 in the book of Daniel. If you remember, Dan or 34 00:02:00,730 --> 00:02:04,370 Nebuchadnezzar has a dream in this, this angelic creature that 35 00:02:04,370 --> 00:02:08,130 he refers to as a Watcher comes to him and pronounces judgment 36 00:02:08,130 --> 00:02:10,610 on him. There's several episodes in 37 00:02:10,610 --> 00:02:13,190 there. And so throughout Scripture we 38 00:02:13,190 --> 00:02:16,590 see this term, the sons of God. The the first chapter of the 39 00:02:16,590 --> 00:02:20,510 book of Job where it says the sons of God gathered and the 40 00:02:20,510 --> 00:02:22,910 Satan in the Hebrew, it says the Satan was among them. 41 00:02:22,910 --> 00:02:25,190 And the Lord says to the Satan, where have you been? 42 00:02:25,190 --> 00:02:27,910 He said, I've been going to and fro throughout the earth. 43 00:02:28,510 --> 00:02:32,190 And so this Son, these sons of God, were these angelic or these 44 00:02:32,470 --> 00:02:35,270 these supernatural creatures, They were not human beings. 45 00:02:35,510 --> 00:02:37,910 We see this show up in a number of passages. 46 00:02:38,390 --> 00:02:43,150 And so then we have the third entrance of evil that we often 47 00:02:43,150 --> 00:02:47,030 don't talk about, and that is the rebellion of these creatures 48 00:02:47,030 --> 00:02:49,430 known as Elohim. Now let me just, let me just 49 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:54,230 pause there, or sons of God or these ruling spirits. 50 00:02:54,230 --> 00:02:55,750 Now we're going to look at that and give you a little 51 00:02:55,750 --> 00:02:57,470 background. I want to, I want to root this 52 00:02:57,470 --> 00:03:00,150 in Scripture because this is important for us to understand. 53 00:03:01,430 --> 00:03:05,600 In order for us to function and fulfill our purpose. 54 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,320 We want to study the whole scriptures. 55 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,360 Amen. We want to know what the Bible 56 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,920 says on these subjects and so we're going to look at that. 57 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,280 But the the, the I was taught all in Bible school that Elohim 58 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,960 was a title for God. How many of you just had been 59 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:22,400 taught that? That's that's what I was always 60 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:23,520 taught. But if you look at the 61 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,000 scriptures, you find out that this term, Elohim is used of a 62 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,880 number of different types of beings in scripture. 63 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:35,170 Even Samuel when when the witch of Endor called him forth. 64 00:03:35,170 --> 00:03:37,530 Now there there's a problem passage. 65 00:03:38,130 --> 00:03:39,450 You know, we're not going to get into that. 66 00:03:39,450 --> 00:03:42,170 Whether that was Samuel or whether it wasn't, we're not 67 00:03:42,170 --> 00:03:44,450 going there. As much as I'm being pulled, 68 00:03:44,490 --> 00:03:48,210 we're not going there. But the fact is he was, he was 69 00:03:48,210 --> 00:03:52,090 called an Elohim. So an Elohim, The Elohim is a 70 00:03:52,090 --> 00:03:56,330 title of a of spiritual residence or a type of being. 71 00:03:56,330 --> 00:03:59,570 It's not. It's not a class in the sense of 72 00:03:59,770 --> 00:04:03,570 God being the only Elohim. I was taught that, and so I was 73 00:04:03,570 --> 00:04:05,610 always intrigued by Psalm chapter 8. 74 00:04:05,730 --> 00:04:08,130 If you've been around here more than five years, you know that's 75 00:04:08,130 --> 00:04:11,090 one of my favorite passages. What is man that thou art 76 00:04:11,090 --> 00:04:14,210 mindful of him, the Son of man, that thou would visit him. 77 00:04:14,490 --> 00:04:19,450 You put glory and honour you. You made him a little lower than 78 00:04:19,450 --> 00:04:22,130 the the New Testament says angels, but the Old Testament 79 00:04:22,130 --> 00:04:25,940 says Elohim like, well, what's the deal? 80 00:04:25,940 --> 00:04:26,860 Which one's right? Uh, huh. 81 00:04:26,860 --> 00:04:31,180 And it's because of our misinterpretation of this verse 82 00:04:31,220 --> 00:04:33,460 Elohim or this concept of Elohim. 83 00:04:34,860 --> 00:04:37,740 So there are beings that's a class of being. 84 00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:41,660 It's a spiritual entity. And so there are classes of 85 00:04:41,660 --> 00:04:45,220 beings, types of spiritual beings that we need to be aware 86 00:04:45,220 --> 00:04:47,660 of and scripture, God put it in there for a reason. 87 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:54,690 I was telling Kathy I I was on this Facebook group that deals 88 00:04:54,690 --> 00:04:57,850 with a certain subject and so they were they were all excited 89 00:04:57,850 --> 00:05:00,890 that this one pastor of this large church was preaching on 90 00:05:00,890 --> 00:05:04,250 the subject. Guy has about 15,000 people in 91 00:05:04,250 --> 00:05:05,650 his church. I thought, I wonder how he dealt 92 00:05:05,650 --> 00:05:07,450 with this. I listened to it and I told 93 00:05:07,450 --> 00:05:12,650 Kathy I was so irritated because he was like apologizing that the 94 00:05:12,650 --> 00:05:18,130 Bible's actually supernatural. And he was saying could it be 95 00:05:18,130 --> 00:05:21,660 that when people struggle with addictions and and there's 96 00:05:21,660 --> 00:05:24,860 things bad things are happening. Could it be that it's not just 97 00:05:24,980 --> 00:05:28,660 happen chance that possibly there are intelligent evil 98 00:05:28,660 --> 00:05:37,180 beings coming into play And I'm like yeah, and we we dance 99 00:05:37,180 --> 00:05:39,860 around that stuff because it's we're uncomfortable around here. 100 00:05:39,860 --> 00:05:41,660 We're just weird. We're not uncomfortable with it. 101 00:05:43,620 --> 00:05:48,300 But we need to understand these things because we Paul said, you 102 00:05:48,300 --> 00:05:50,140 wrestle not with flesh and blood. 103 00:05:50,140 --> 00:05:52,620 Your real battle is not flesh and blood, but with against 104 00:05:52,620 --> 00:05:56,540 principalities and powers, rulers of this dark age over 105 00:05:56,540 --> 00:06:00,620 this present darkness, authorities and powers, You're 106 00:06:00,620 --> 00:06:02,860 engaging them whether you know it or not. 107 00:06:03,300 --> 00:06:06,980 You're better off knowing it. Ignorance is not bliss in this 108 00:06:06,980 --> 00:06:10,660 scenario. And so we need to understand 109 00:06:10,660 --> 00:06:13,660 these things. And so there's this other 110 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,800 rebellion that took place in Scripture that we see alluded to 111 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:23,160 in Psalm 82, and it's really the Old Testament backdrop for what 112 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,400 the New Testament refers to as principalities and powers. 113 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,120 And so we need to understand this because all three of these 114 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,160 entrances are these episodes of evil, These three falls, if you 115 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,240 will. Each one of them involves 116 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,120 different entities and also requires of us a different 117 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:44,550 response. Not going to get into this other 118 00:06:44,550 --> 00:06:48,910 than to say the first one, I can't rebuke my flesh. 119 00:06:49,590 --> 00:06:53,430 I yeah, I was born in sin because of our great, great 120 00:06:53,430 --> 00:06:56,790 grandma and Grand Pappy's Adam and Eve, their sin. 121 00:06:56,790 --> 00:06:59,790 And we were born into sin. And we've got to contend with 122 00:06:59,790 --> 00:07:03,350 that nature. We have a new nature, but it at 123 00:07:03,350 --> 00:07:05,510 times it wants to rear its head. We talked about that. 124 00:07:05,510 --> 00:07:08,430 How to deal with that? You know, as much as I want to 125 00:07:08,430 --> 00:07:11,100 deal, begin to deal with it again, it's because it's so 126 00:07:11,100 --> 00:07:12,780 important. We just need to know. 127 00:07:12,780 --> 00:07:14,580 You can't rebuke that. You got to deal with it. 128 00:07:14,940 --> 00:07:16,900 You've got to be discipled. You got to mature. 129 00:07:17,060 --> 00:07:18,860 You got to deal with your woundedness, you got to renew 130 00:07:18,860 --> 00:07:22,060 your mind, you got to heal your emotions so that that old nature 131 00:07:22,060 --> 00:07:24,100 doesn't have an Ave. to manifest itself. 132 00:07:24,420 --> 00:07:26,460 You don't rebuke it. You don't cast it out. 133 00:07:28,300 --> 00:07:35,300 You discipline your new man, your your spiritual man is going 134 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:37,140 to manifest in your physical man. 135 00:07:37,420 --> 00:07:39,580 And it comes through the conduit of your soul. 136 00:07:39,860 --> 00:07:42,860 And that's where the problem is. So you got to Discipleship 137 00:07:42,860 --> 00:07:44,820 happens in the soul. So deal with it. 138 00:07:44,860 --> 00:07:47,660 OK, so we got to. If we don't understand that, 139 00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:51,820 then we're trying to, you know, cast out our own character. 140 00:07:51,820 --> 00:07:55,500 Ain't going to work. Number two, you don't counsel a 141 00:07:55,500 --> 00:07:58,780 demon. The 2nd fall resulted in demons. 142 00:07:58,780 --> 00:08:00,260 You don't sit and counsel a demon. 143 00:08:00,620 --> 00:08:02,780 I've tried. Seriously. 144 00:08:03,140 --> 00:08:04,900 Try to have a conversation with the demon. 145 00:08:05,100 --> 00:08:07,940 Don't work. It's matter of fact. 146 00:08:07,940 --> 00:08:12,070 It's highly irritating. I don't have conversations with 147 00:08:12,070 --> 00:08:15,230 demons when I when I'm dealing with someone with a demonic 148 00:08:15,230 --> 00:08:17,910 issue, I don't ask for information from a demon. 149 00:08:18,630 --> 00:08:21,270 They, you know, they're they're liars from the beginning. 150 00:08:21,270 --> 00:08:23,510 I don't, I don't ask for information. 151 00:08:23,950 --> 00:08:27,230 And so we just deal with what we do is we tell that thing to be 152 00:08:27,230 --> 00:08:29,750 quiet so we can get information from the individual needing 153 00:08:29,750 --> 00:08:32,990 deliverance. And so we deal with that so that 154 00:08:32,990 --> 00:08:35,750 we can get them free. So this needs to be cast out. 155 00:08:35,750 --> 00:08:38,070 You don't discipline a demon. You don't counsel a demon. 156 00:08:38,270 --> 00:08:39,870 You don't try to disciple a demon. 157 00:08:40,429 --> 00:08:42,870 Some of you have tried. Some of you lights. 158 00:08:42,990 --> 00:08:44,350 Oh, that's been the problem. Yes. 159 00:08:44,670 --> 00:08:49,590 So OK, the third one, this third entrance of evil. 160 00:08:49,590 --> 00:08:52,910 Now we're dealing with a different level of evil when we 161 00:08:52,910 --> 00:08:56,750 talk about Ephesians Chapter 6, Principalities and Powers, 162 00:08:56,910 --> 00:09:01,190 Rulers of this Dark Age Cosmo Crators is what the Greek is 163 00:09:01,190 --> 00:09:03,790 good. That's not one Cosmos creators 164 00:09:04,150 --> 00:09:08,390 it, it means rulers, world rulers, they have a world reach 165 00:09:08,750 --> 00:09:12,990 that are overseeing this present darkness, this skotoast that we 166 00:09:12,990 --> 00:09:17,030 talked about the last couple we or two weeks ago about this 167 00:09:17,030 --> 00:09:20,230 darkness that darkens the mind. So people can't see the truth 168 00:09:20,430 --> 00:09:22,790 and they're groping about and they can't connect the dots 169 00:09:22,790 --> 00:09:25,390 between their actions and the consequences. 170 00:09:25,630 --> 00:09:27,910 We're seeing that on the Evening News every night. 171 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:30,800 It's all over. TikTok. 172 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,040 You want to see some confusion and some skotoes Get on 173 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,280 Facebook. There's some skotoes going on 174 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,520 out there. People don't connect their 175 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,760 actions with the consequences, and they're wanting to be 176 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:45,960 relieved of the consequences while they caught all the 177 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,920 actions. And so though you know there 178 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,520 there's a lot of darkness, but what's going on is there is 179 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,720 these operatives, these rogue entities in the spiritual realm 180 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:00,090 that need that, that we're contending with, Paul says we 181 00:10:00,130 --> 00:10:05,330 wrestle with, but we don't cast them out. 182 00:10:06,330 --> 00:10:11,930 In fact, you'll never see Jesus addressing these principalities 183 00:10:11,930 --> 00:10:16,090 and powers. He cast out devils, and one of 184 00:10:16,090 --> 00:10:20,090 the reasons is because they had not yet been unseated, Jesus 185 00:10:20,090 --> 00:10:25,010 unseated them at the cross. They have been defeated. 186 00:10:25,770 --> 00:10:30,260 However, we need to understand although they've been defeated, 187 00:10:30,660 --> 00:10:34,380 they need to be unseated. We need to we need to remove 188 00:10:34,380 --> 00:10:36,900 them. We need to contend and we need 189 00:10:36,900 --> 00:10:42,300 to remove them from their place. The the the the victory of Jesus 190 00:10:42,300 --> 00:10:45,740 is a legal victory, but there's still a lot of cleanup to do. 191 00:10:45,740 --> 00:10:48,860 A lot of times preachers, including this one, will use 192 00:10:48,860 --> 00:10:52,100 this. This illustration there was in 193 00:10:52,100 --> 00:10:54,940 World War 2. There was D-Day and we had to 194 00:10:55,340 --> 00:11:01,460 establish a presence on the the coastline of France. 195 00:11:01,580 --> 00:11:05,860 We had to once again put our feet on that continent and begin 196 00:11:05,860 --> 00:11:09,260 to move in. And the Germans knew and the 197 00:11:09,260 --> 00:11:12,380 Allied forces knew. Once we got a beachhead, 198 00:11:13,100 --> 00:11:18,580 essentially the war was over. However, the bloodiest battles 199 00:11:18,580 --> 00:11:23,710 were fought afterwards, because even though they knew it was all 200 00:11:23,710 --> 00:11:26,150 of there's no way that they could keep hold of this thing. 201 00:11:27,350 --> 00:11:29,790 There would. They fought tooth and nail to 202 00:11:29,790 --> 00:11:33,110 keep the little that they had, and it's a very similar 203 00:11:33,110 --> 00:11:35,750 situation. If you see this in the book of 204 00:11:35,750 --> 00:11:42,070 Joshua, Joshua Moses has died. God says, OK, Joshua, it's time 205 00:11:42,070 --> 00:11:44,390 to quit grieving your spiritual father. 206 00:11:44,630 --> 00:11:47,190 I've got job for you to do. You're going to go into the 207 00:11:47,190 --> 00:11:50,870 promised Land and he tells them everywhere you put your foot is 208 00:11:50,870 --> 00:11:54,480 yours, man, that's a good word. Glory. 209 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,120 However, we've got to understand what that word meant. 210 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:05,560 It is yours legally. It's yours, potentially, but 211 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:10,720 it's not yet yours, actually. You've got to go and take what 212 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,760 has already been given to you, and it's a picture of our 213 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,480 spiritual reality. And if we don't understand that, 214 00:12:19,690 --> 00:12:26,090 we can fall into what I call charismatic bravado, slinging 215 00:12:26,090 --> 00:12:30,810 hash, making, you know, big sweeping statements. 216 00:12:30,850 --> 00:12:35,490 But the reality is not showing up in our life we lay claim to 217 00:12:35,490 --> 00:12:38,090 things that we're not really walking in. 218 00:12:40,370 --> 00:12:45,210 And the fact is, Jesus has won the victory, But it's ours to go 219 00:12:45,210 --> 00:12:49,280 in and register this victory. We've got to take the ground 220 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,720 that he won. And a lot of this goes back to a 221 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,920 true understanding of what Kingdom is. 222 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:05,960 We think of Kingdom as a place, as a geographic location. 223 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:10,800 That is not how the Bible uses this term. 224 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:16,430 The Greek word is Basilia and what it really means is the 225 00:13:16,430 --> 00:13:20,870 King's right to rule. I've, I've talked about this 226 00:13:20,870 --> 00:13:24,150 recently where, you know, in Spanish if Hoal was here, he'd 227 00:13:24,150 --> 00:13:28,190 say you're right, Pastor. In Spanish the the word we 228 00:13:28,190 --> 00:13:33,030 translate Kingdom is Reno reign, the reign of God. 229 00:13:33,910 --> 00:13:37,790 And it's a better translation. It's a more vivid translation 230 00:13:37,790 --> 00:13:40,670 than what we use, really. The the word Kingdom means 231 00:13:40,670 --> 00:13:43,590 King's dominion. That's it's a compound word 232 00:13:43,590 --> 00:13:47,880 Kingdom and so the Kingdom of God when it comes, it's God 233 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,920 bringing his dominion. But we have to follow through. 234 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:57,520 So what Jesus did on the cross is purchased the legal right for 235 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,280 us to go in and take what is ours. 236 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:04,120 But the the enemy exercises squatters rights and we have to 237 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:07,040 unseat him. And there is a wrestling match 238 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,960 that takes place. And if we don't understand that 239 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:16,640 then we live in this, we can get into some weird cosmology. 240 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,920 So let's look. So what I want to look at this 241 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:24,240 morning is I want to look at how do we deal with principalities 242 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,480 and powers. And we may not get through this 243 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,440 all today. We might have to extend our 244 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:34,270 series into the future, and it won't be next week, but but I 245 00:14:34,270 --> 00:14:35,750 want to. I want to look at this because 246 00:14:35,750 --> 00:14:37,550 this is an important distinction. 247 00:14:37,710 --> 00:14:40,590 We're not dealing with it when we're talking about 248 00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:43,750 principalities and powers. We're not talking about low 249 00:14:43,750 --> 00:14:48,110 level demons. These these disembodied spirits 250 00:14:48,110 --> 00:14:51,430 of the nephalum, these rogue entities on the earth that were 251 00:14:52,190 --> 00:14:55,390 that were that that early church looked at them as sentenced to 252 00:14:55,390 --> 00:14:58,910 the earth. We're looking at these rulers in 253 00:14:58,910 --> 00:15:01,070 the spiritual realm. Where did they come from? 254 00:15:01,540 --> 00:15:04,180 By how did they come to their position? 255 00:15:04,660 --> 00:15:08,420 And how do we deal with them now that they've rebelled? 256 00:15:08,420 --> 00:15:12,300 Those are the questions we need to understand, because you don't 257 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:16,980 deal with them the same way. Jude says that Michael himself 258 00:15:17,580 --> 00:15:20,980 told the principality. The Lord rebuke you. 259 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:23,060 He didn't just go in there and say I rebuke you. 260 00:15:23,060 --> 00:15:27,660 He said the Lord rebuke you it. Michael's got some mojo. 261 00:15:27,660 --> 00:15:29,580 I mean that. He's one bad dude. 262 00:15:29,580 --> 00:15:32,810 OK, so we need that. We need to pause there and 263 00:15:32,810 --> 00:15:38,450 realize that we don't just sling hash, that We need to understand 264 00:15:38,450 --> 00:15:42,810 our role so that we can deal with these entities the way God 265 00:15:42,810 --> 00:15:44,970 would intend. OK, Did we pray? 266 00:15:45,970 --> 00:15:48,650 Because I really feel the need to pray, Father. 267 00:15:49,130 --> 00:15:53,170 Lord, I ask that you would instruct us this morning, Lord, 268 00:15:53,170 --> 00:15:58,330 that you would teach us, Lord, expand our understanding. 269 00:15:58,330 --> 00:15:59,730 And Lord, we want to be a people. 270 00:15:59,890 --> 00:16:05,290 We want to be a house that is firmly anchored in your book. 271 00:16:06,050 --> 00:16:10,050 And so, Lord, I ask for the spirit of wisdom and revelation 272 00:16:10,050 --> 00:16:13,170 in this room this morning that your teaching would fall like 273 00:16:13,170 --> 00:16:15,530 rain. Lord, I ask that even now, Lord, 274 00:16:15,530 --> 00:16:18,650 that there would be verses that would come to people's minds and 275 00:16:18,650 --> 00:16:21,050 they would begin to take notes that they would chase down 276 00:16:21,050 --> 00:16:22,860 later, that you would speak to them. 277 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:26,220 Things that either I forgot to say or I don't even know yet, 278 00:16:26,220 --> 00:16:28,940 but you're going to show them. And Lord, we ask that you would 279 00:16:28,940 --> 00:16:33,860 teach us as a people, as a house, so that we can fulfill 280 00:16:33,860 --> 00:16:36,620 your purpose in Jesus name. Amen. 281 00:16:36,620 --> 00:16:42,500 Let's get into this passage, Psalm 82, verse one, who I'm 282 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:44,900 reading out of the ESV and you could read it out of a bunch of 283 00:16:44,900 --> 00:16:47,140 different translations. It's essentially the same thing. 284 00:16:47,460 --> 00:16:50,740 So I didn't choose one because it's got my pet interpretation 285 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,920 verse. One God has taken his place in 286 00:16:54,920 --> 00:17:03,280 the Divine Counsel COUNCIL. It's a body, an administrative 287 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,560 or governing body, a counsel Okay. 288 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,640 And it will go into a Hebrew word study on that in a moment. 289 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,319 In the midst of the gods, little G he holds judgment. 290 00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:16,520 Now depending on what translation you read, some 291 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,250 translations will have the little quotes. 292 00:17:19,410 --> 00:17:23,010 Gods, you know, as if you know, kind of to to call into 293 00:17:23,010 --> 00:17:25,849 question, you know, like this is a, we're just talking about, you 294 00:17:25,849 --> 00:17:29,530 know, kind of what other people call gods, But that God doesn't 295 00:17:29,530 --> 00:17:31,330 call gods. The word is gods. 296 00:17:31,330 --> 00:17:37,130 It's elohim. So God the Elohim has taken his 297 00:17:37,130 --> 00:17:39,850 place in the divine council. In the midst of the elohim, he 298 00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:41,770 holds judgment. But in the Hebrew, it's very 299 00:17:41,770 --> 00:17:45,610 clear. The first one is a distinct, A 300 00:17:45,610 --> 00:17:48,130 singular. The second one is plural. 301 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:52,400 And so we we use that terminology and we get nervous 302 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,520 with it because we we automatically assign a set of 303 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,200 ideas to this term God. But it's it's not talking about 304 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,800 uncreated beings, it's talking about created beings. 305 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,240 That's why the Old Testament calls God the Most High God. 306 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,440 If there were no other little G gods, that wouldn't be much of A 307 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,960 compliment, would it? You say Dave Olson is the most 308 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,140 handsome 58 year old guy on the platform? 309 00:18:18,140 --> 00:18:20,060 Well, that's not much of A compliment. 310 00:18:20,060 --> 00:18:21,580 I'm the only guy up here, you know. 311 00:18:21,580 --> 00:18:25,980 That's not saying anything when we say that God is the most high 312 00:18:25,980 --> 00:18:30,700 God in comparison to what these other little G gods, they're 313 00:18:30,700 --> 00:18:35,700 created beings, but God bestowed upon them a high level of 314 00:18:35,940 --> 00:18:40,780 authority and honor in his created order. 315 00:18:40,780 --> 00:18:43,180 OK, hang with me here. I know this. 316 00:18:43,180 --> 00:18:44,580 You think, Pastor, He's a heretic. 317 00:18:44,940 --> 00:18:47,310 Now that's hearing a word in the midst of the gods. 318 00:18:47,310 --> 00:18:49,710 He holds judgments, holds judgment. 319 00:18:49,710 --> 00:18:53,510 And now we're going to hear what the Lord says. 320 00:18:53,510 --> 00:18:57,990 Now let me just pause there. If you go back up, all virtual, 321 00:18:57,990 --> 00:19:00,750 all translations, because it is part of the scripture, It says 322 00:19:00,750 --> 00:19:05,070 this is a Psalm of Asaf. It's a Psalm of Asaf. 323 00:19:05,190 --> 00:19:08,470 Asaf was an interesting dude. Asaf was. 324 00:19:09,470 --> 00:19:14,390 It says in Second Chronicles 28 or 29 rather 30, that he was a 325 00:19:14,390 --> 00:19:18,100 seer, that he prophesied under the direction of King David and 326 00:19:18,100 --> 00:19:21,780 first Chronicles 25 two some believe him to be the grandson 327 00:19:21,780 --> 00:19:25,500 of the prophet Samuel, which is interesting, this generational 328 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:27,340 influence that came down through his life. 329 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:31,500 He was among three musicians who led the prophetic intercessory 330 00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:33,860 worship of the Tabernacle of David. 331 00:19:34,380 --> 00:19:37,220 If you really want to learn about ASAP, talk to Rick Irwood. 332 00:19:37,300 --> 00:19:40,420 He's got some fascinating I've I've called Rick on this several 333 00:19:40,420 --> 00:19:42,620 times. It's just fascinating because 334 00:19:42,740 --> 00:19:46,510 Rick is, you know, very similar. This Psalm is an example of 335 00:19:46,510 --> 00:19:50,550 material that simply would not have been possible to know 336 00:19:50,550 --> 00:19:52,390 without a revelatory encounter from God. 337 00:19:53,990 --> 00:19:55,030 Because listen, what it's saying. 338 00:19:55,870 --> 00:19:59,430 Saying that God gathered this council of these spiritual 339 00:19:59,430 --> 00:20:03,630 beings and he sat down, He convened these beings and he 340 00:20:03,630 --> 00:20:06,230 rebukes him. He he calls, he calls them to 341 00:20:06,230 --> 00:20:09,310 order, and he begins to rebuke them for not fulfilling their 342 00:20:09,550 --> 00:20:12,070 role. How did a soft know that 343 00:20:12,070 --> 00:20:16,530 happened? ASAP had a revelatory encounter 344 00:20:16,530 --> 00:20:18,690 in which the Lord allowed him to see. 345 00:20:18,810 --> 00:20:21,410 Matter of fact, in the Old Testament you see this phrase 346 00:20:21,410 --> 00:20:24,410 show up Psalm. I want to say it's Psalm 28. 347 00:20:24,450 --> 00:20:29,050 Let me see if I wrote that down. Psalm 28 or not. 348 00:20:29,050 --> 00:20:32,330 Psalm Jeremiah 28. I don't know where it's at. 349 00:20:32,330 --> 00:20:33,650 I'll. I'll look it up in a minute 350 00:20:33,650 --> 00:20:36,490 here. But Jeremiah 28 uses this phrase 351 00:20:36,490 --> 00:20:40,010 and there's several other places where it talks about he who has 352 00:20:40,010 --> 00:20:45,660 stood in the council of the Lord and the word is COU&CIL, not 353 00:20:45,820 --> 00:20:49,940 SEL. Now the fact is, sometimes those 354 00:20:49,940 --> 00:20:52,700 will be translated interchangeably by some because 355 00:20:52,700 --> 00:20:57,020 they're uncomfortable with council and they are very 356 00:20:57,020 --> 00:21:02,180 related because you go into his counsel to get his counsel the 357 00:21:02,180 --> 00:21:04,820 where you get the info as you get into the meeting. 358 00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:09,300 And this is relevant to you and I, because although in the New 359 00:21:09,300 --> 00:21:13,600 Testament this was closed and a prophet was one who had said 360 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,400 stood in the council of the Lord, some scholars believe, and 361 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,880 I I, I think they're probably right, that one of the criteria 362 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:26,200 to be a prophet, a legit prophet in the Old Testament, would be 363 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,160 one who stood in the council. You look in Isaiah. 364 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,600 When Isaiah was called, that was a divine council scene. 365 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,760 And Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up in his train, filled 366 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:40,200 the temple, it rocked him to his toenails and shook him to his 367 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,880 teeth. And he was called to be a 368 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:49,520 prophet from then on. But he had this encounter in the 369 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:56,000 council and so ASAP, and it says he is a prophet, he's a seer. 370 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,560 He was brought into this this scenario where he has this 371 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,360 vision of what's really going on, and it's God the Creator, 372 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,920 the Most High. God gathers this counsel and he 373 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,760 rebukes them for what they didn't they were not doing, and 374 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,360 he assigned them. So what does he say? 375 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,720 How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the 376 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:24,920 wicked? Seela, think about that. 377 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,440 He says Give justice. Give justice to the weak and the 378 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,880 fatherless. Maintain the right of the 379 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,280 afflicted in the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy. 380 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:37,880 Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 381 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,400 And then in verse five it shifts gears. 382 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,960 And I believe it's a reference to these weak and needy, 383 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,760 destitute people in need of deliverance, he says. 384 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,160 They, Speaking of the weak and needy, have neither knowledge or 385 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,200 understanding. They walk about in darkness. 386 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,720 All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 387 00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:02,020 So let's back up for a minute. The rebuke gives us an 388 00:23:02,020 --> 00:23:04,580 indication of their responsibility. 389 00:23:07,060 --> 00:23:11,940 What he rebukes them for not doing the is the flip side of 390 00:23:11,940 --> 00:23:15,140 what he assigned them to do. This was their role. 391 00:23:15,300 --> 00:23:17,780 It was an administrative governing role. 392 00:23:21,420 --> 00:23:22,780 Now what does that have to do with us? 393 00:23:22,780 --> 00:23:25,060 Well, there's there's a lot of things that has to do with us, 394 00:23:25,380 --> 00:23:28,980 but among them, let me just pull up something here. 395 00:23:44,230 --> 00:23:48,990 I'm so sorry. Oh, here it is. 396 00:23:51,350 --> 00:23:53,470 OK, here's here's a couple things. 397 00:23:53,470 --> 00:23:55,910 This worldview was prevalent in the ancient world. 398 00:23:55,950 --> 00:23:58,830 OK? This was no mythology, mind you. 399 00:23:58,830 --> 00:24:02,470 It was the oral history of those to whom God had revealed how he 400 00:24:02,470 --> 00:24:04,550 rules. This was clearly the view of not 401 00:24:04,550 --> 00:24:08,180 only the Hebrew writers of the Old Testament, but was all but 402 00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:10,900 also of the surrounding nations, of the ancient people. 403 00:24:11,340 --> 00:24:14,780 And so you see this, this worldview and many of the 404 00:24:14,780 --> 00:24:18,740 ancient writings of these, the the surrounding culture around 405 00:24:18,740 --> 00:24:21,900 the Hebrew people. But it wasn't some mythology 406 00:24:22,060 --> 00:24:25,060 that they adopted. This was by revelation that God 407 00:24:25,060 --> 00:24:27,580 gave to his people. Now why is this important? 408 00:24:27,580 --> 00:24:31,380 Number one, It helps us understand mysterious or problem 409 00:24:31,380 --> 00:24:35,330 passages in the Old Testament like this one, Psalm 82, which 410 00:24:35,330 --> 00:24:37,490 for years I just read over and thought, well, that's weird, 411 00:24:37,610 --> 00:24:42,370 let's move on. So what is this divine counsel? 412 00:24:43,530 --> 00:24:46,530 Why would God even need one? Well, the answer is he doesn't, 413 00:24:47,370 --> 00:24:52,010 any more than he needs you or I, any more than he needs angels. 414 00:24:53,450 --> 00:24:57,970 I remember talking to a, an old pastor one time, a an elderly 415 00:24:57,970 --> 00:25:01,650 pastor about angels and he said, well, I don't, I don't think 416 00:25:01,650 --> 00:25:04,010 that's what angels do. He said why would God need 417 00:25:04,010 --> 00:25:07,490 angels? I don't think he does, but we 418 00:25:07,490 --> 00:25:11,650 can't ignore the fact that he uses them #2. 419 00:25:12,090 --> 00:25:15,330 It grants us insight into how he rules. 420 00:25:16,250 --> 00:25:20,610 God delegates authority is foundational to his Kingdom. 421 00:25:21,130 --> 00:25:24,730 Now if we don't have that as a backdrop, then there's going to 422 00:25:24,730 --> 00:25:27,210 be a lot of things we misunderstand and and it 423 00:25:27,210 --> 00:25:30,690 inevitably pulls us into a theological category called 424 00:25:30,690 --> 00:25:34,810 cosmology. The cosmology is how the cosmos 425 00:25:34,810 --> 00:25:39,930 works, and your cosmology will have a controlling effect on how 426 00:25:39,930 --> 00:25:43,890 you live your Christian life. Those with the an overly 427 00:25:43,890 --> 00:25:49,530 simplistic cosmology will find themselves coming up against not 428 00:25:49,530 --> 00:25:53,610 only some problem passages, but insufficient in there. 429 00:25:53,850 --> 00:26:00,130 There, there's two forms of an overly simplistic cosmology. 430 00:26:00,980 --> 00:26:05,780 Some people think that God micromanages every little detail 431 00:26:06,180 --> 00:26:08,740 of human existence and in the cosmos. 432 00:26:09,620 --> 00:26:13,060 Anybody got a word for that? Someone want to yell it out? 433 00:26:14,780 --> 00:26:17,900 Yeah, Sovereignty. Or Yeah, it's under the the 434 00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:23,100 heading of Calvinism that interprets sovereignty as God. 435 00:26:24,260 --> 00:26:26,460 What's it Micromanaging? Everything. 436 00:26:26,460 --> 00:26:31,130 Like everything that happens has been not only allowed by God but 437 00:26:31,370 --> 00:26:35,130 intentionally orchestrated by him so that everything that 438 00:26:35,130 --> 00:26:38,210 happens is God's will and God's will always happens. 439 00:26:39,010 --> 00:26:43,130 Well, if that's the cosmology you buy into, that is going to 440 00:26:43,130 --> 00:26:45,970 undermined if nothing else, your prayer life. 441 00:26:46,610 --> 00:26:49,210 Because you're going to be hard pressed to really get yourself 442 00:26:49,210 --> 00:26:52,450 up early and stay in the prayer closet when you think your 443 00:26:52,450 --> 00:26:55,460 prayers really don't matter because God's will is going to 444 00:26:55,460 --> 00:26:58,220 happen every anyway. Everything that happens is God's 445 00:26:58,220 --> 00:26:59,940 will and God's will always happen. 446 00:26:59,940 --> 00:27:03,300 So why am I praying other than to get intimate with God and I 447 00:27:03,300 --> 00:27:10,300 can do that later is what my mind would think anyway, as I'm 448 00:27:10,300 --> 00:27:15,700 saddled with the responsibility that I've got to enforce his 449 00:27:15,700 --> 00:27:21,790 purposes in the earth As a Co Regent, As one who rules and 450 00:27:21,790 --> 00:27:25,870 reigns with him. As a God who exerts his rule 451 00:27:26,150 --> 00:27:31,270 through layers of delegates. God delegates to delegates. 452 00:27:32,510 --> 00:27:35,460 There are layers of rulers just like. 453 00:27:35,460 --> 00:27:38,940 And when God adopts this language of it ain't of Kingdom 454 00:27:39,020 --> 00:27:42,940 when he's speaking to an ancient people, when an ancient king who 455 00:27:42,940 --> 00:27:46,020 had, you know, outlying areas, he hears that one went into 456 00:27:46,020 --> 00:27:48,140 rebellion. He didn't say, well doggone it, 457 00:27:48,140 --> 00:27:50,260 get my horse, I'm going to go over and take care of that. 458 00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:52,740 The king didn't go out and do that himself. 459 00:27:53,220 --> 00:27:57,500 He ruled over delegates and he would send a general or a vassal 460 00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:00,900 ruler to go and bring that Kingdom back into subjection to 461 00:28:00,900 --> 00:28:03,060 him. And we see the same thing in 462 00:28:03,060 --> 00:28:07,100 Scripture, that there are layers of delegates, including you. 463 00:28:07,500 --> 00:28:13,740 God's will is done through you. Furthermore, God's will is done 464 00:28:13,740 --> 00:28:15,860 through delegates who are imperfect. 465 00:28:17,980 --> 00:28:22,060 You know, touched by an Angel. Had it right that sometimes 466 00:28:22,060 --> 00:28:26,620 angels mess up. I don't think they look like 467 00:28:26,620 --> 00:28:29,740 Monica, but you know, they they they might, I don't know. 468 00:28:29,740 --> 00:28:31,660 But you know sometimes they mess up. 469 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,720 There are layers of delegates that some of which have 470 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,120 rebelled. And so when we pray, if you see 471 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:44,640 Daniel praying to God in heaven goes on the original Daniel fast 472 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:49,440 the 21 day fast Daniel's praying for 21 day and all of a sudden 473 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:53,080 an Angel breaks through on the 21st day as Halo's bent his, you 474 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:54,320 know, his wings are ruffled. He's. 475 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,800 He said, man, I took off the day he started praying, he said. 476 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:01,680 But I had to fight the Prince of Persia. 477 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:06,360 Who's the Prince of Persia? It's what we're talking about. 478 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:12,200 And God didn't just show up to Daniel in person, All right, 479 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:14,000 Daniel, when you started praying, I wanted you. 480 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,760 I felt like you needed to lose a little weight. 481 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,440 So I waited till the 21st day. You're looking good, by the way, 482 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:20,240 son. But anyways, here's what you 483 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:21,800 were asking. That's not what happened. 484 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:28,070 He sent an Angel, a delegate, to fight through the opposition in 485 00:29:28,070 --> 00:29:31,590 the spiritual realm. The reticence or the resistance 486 00:29:31,590 --> 00:29:34,190 was not in the heart of God, the Angel said. 487 00:29:34,190 --> 00:29:37,830 I was sent the moment you started fast, and that day I was 488 00:29:37,830 --> 00:29:40,790 on my way. God was more than willing. 489 00:29:41,510 --> 00:29:44,150 The resistance was not in the heart of God. 490 00:29:44,390 --> 00:29:48,420 It was in the resistance in the heavenly realms, fighting 491 00:29:48,420 --> 00:29:53,260 through a Prince of Persia, a principality, one of these rogue 492 00:29:53,260 --> 00:29:55,740 entities that had rebelled against God. 493 00:29:56,300 --> 00:29:59,700 And Daniel had to keep praying until the thing broke through. 494 00:30:00,900 --> 00:30:03,580 And Daniel didn't get to day five and say, man, I'm really 495 00:30:03,580 --> 00:30:13,780 hungry, must not be God's will. Again, the resistance was not in 496 00:30:13,780 --> 00:30:17,020 the heart of God. And if we don't understand these 497 00:30:17,020 --> 00:30:20,030 things, if we don't take the word serious, if we are like 498 00:30:20,030 --> 00:30:23,150 that pastor that say, could it be that there's an evil entity 499 00:30:23,350 --> 00:30:25,150 that has intelligence? Duh. 500 00:30:26,790 --> 00:30:30,270 It's in the word and we need to understand what these things, 501 00:30:30,270 --> 00:30:33,270 what's going on. And so there are these, there, 502 00:30:33,270 --> 00:30:36,710 there is these principalities in the heavenly realms that are 503 00:30:36,710 --> 00:30:39,230 resisting. So then that the question, the 504 00:30:39,230 --> 00:30:41,710 obvious question to me is how did they get there? 505 00:30:42,750 --> 00:30:48,070 Who made them boss? Who put them over regions? 506 00:30:48,630 --> 00:30:51,430 Because the implication of the word principality. 507 00:30:51,670 --> 00:30:53,910 It's like where we get the word municipality. 508 00:30:54,150 --> 00:30:58,350 It's a pality, is a geographically distinct area. 509 00:30:58,550 --> 00:31:02,830 That's why the Prince of Persia was called the Prince of Persia. 510 00:31:02,830 --> 00:31:05,790 It's not the Prince of that. Vaguely that area of the earth. 511 00:31:06,310 --> 00:31:09,590 It had a distinct name assigned to a distinct Kingdom. 512 00:31:10,190 --> 00:31:14,510 There was there's geographic boundary lines to the spiritual 513 00:31:14,510 --> 00:31:18,750 realm, just as there are geographic boundary lines 514 00:31:18,990 --> 00:31:23,710 distinct to the physical realm. And there are ruling spirits 515 00:31:23,710 --> 00:31:29,710 that try to exert rule from literal Thrones in the heavenly 516 00:31:29,710 --> 00:31:33,510 realm. Now, Colossians speaks to this. 517 00:31:33,510 --> 00:31:36,670 Let's let's pause for a moment and go to Colossians. 518 00:31:38,990 --> 00:31:40,830 Matter of fact, let me look it up here because I don't want to 519 00:31:40,830 --> 00:31:43,790 have to close that. Look at Colossians chapter one. 520 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:51,360 You know what? I bet it will change my It'll 521 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,160 change what I'm reading on my laptop if I open it in that, 522 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,760 won't it? Wonderful technology. 523 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,600 Thank you, Jesus. OK, Colossians chapter one. 524 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,520 And this is an interesting This is really the resume of Jesus. 525 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,760 OK, Paul's giving us his rundown. 526 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,680 If, like, if you're going to give your resume, this is what 527 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:11,880 Paul is doing for Jesus. He's going to tell him. 528 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:18,220 Look at I'm in the Amplified. Can't read that it'll take us 529 00:32:18,220 --> 00:32:22,700 all day. You know they do. 530 00:32:22,860 --> 00:32:25,620 Some people have called the Amplified the female version. 531 00:32:26,540 --> 00:32:30,620 Hey it wasn't me. I I I was just point I wasn't. 532 00:32:30,620 --> 00:32:36,220 I don't agree with them. I'm just saying that some people 533 00:32:36,220 --> 00:32:42,460 do I those they shouldn't. Those people. 534 00:32:45,370 --> 00:32:46,970 Yeah. Thank you, John. 535 00:32:47,090 --> 00:32:50,730 Thank you. John saved me. 536 00:32:50,730 --> 00:32:53,210 OK, look at this. Look at verse 15. 537 00:32:53,210 --> 00:32:54,330 Whoo. That is small. 538 00:32:54,730 --> 00:32:57,370 He is the OK. This is Speaking of Jesus. 539 00:32:57,570 --> 00:33:01,730 He is the image of the invisible God, the first born, overall 540 00:33:01,730 --> 00:33:04,530 creation. For by him and through him all 541 00:33:04,530 --> 00:33:06,770 things were created. Now listen to what he He 542 00:33:06,770 --> 00:33:11,620 references what God created. And and just by the way, it's it 543 00:33:11,620 --> 00:33:14,700 starts out with what he created and then what he redeemed. 544 00:33:15,220 --> 00:33:16,900 So he's saying it's all twice his. 545 00:33:17,420 --> 00:33:20,220 He was the author and then he was the Redeemer. 546 00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:24,580 He created it and then it went. Those that to whom he had 547 00:33:24,580 --> 00:33:26,820 delegated it rebelled. He won it back. 548 00:33:26,820 --> 00:33:32,940 OK, so listen to what he says. He created all things, whether 549 00:33:32,940 --> 00:33:38,100 things in heaven or on earth, visible and invisible. 550 00:33:38,140 --> 00:33:42,800 He's talking about both realms, whether Thrones isn't that 551 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,760 interesting, or powers or rulers or authorities. 552 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,920 All things were created for him, by him and for him. 553 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,400 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 554 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,920 And he is the head of the body of the church, the first born at 555 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:58,920 the beginning of first born from among the dead. 556 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,160 And he goes in to begin to talk about how he's redeemed it all 557 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,160 as well. But what he's talking about is 558 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:05,360 this. He's saying that there are 559 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,680 Thrones. Invisible, invisible. 560 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,960 He reiterates this and other passages that there are 561 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,440 spiritual Thrones. Matter of fact, in Daniel it 562 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:18,400 says that Daniel, I want to say it was Daniel that saw. 563 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:23,040 He saw a divine counsel scene and he said he saw Thrones, 564 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:26,280 plural. And then the the ancient of days 565 00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,920 took his throne. So there are these other rulers. 566 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,480 The word throne literally means a seat of authority. 567 00:34:33,159 --> 00:34:34,800 It's used the same way we think of it. 568 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:39,790 They are positions in the spiritual structure of the 569 00:34:39,790 --> 00:34:45,870 universe that are positions of delegated authority, and the 570 00:34:45,870 --> 00:34:50,270 person that occupies them can leverage them for their ends, 571 00:34:50,270 --> 00:34:54,429 their value system. And so God created these 572 00:34:54,429 --> 00:34:56,909 Thrones. He He, they were created by him 573 00:34:56,909 --> 00:35:01,190 and they were created for him. God created a universe with 574 00:35:01,190 --> 00:35:04,750 layers of authority. There is structure to the 575 00:35:04,750 --> 00:35:08,000 spiritual realm. It's not just a bunch of angels 576 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,680 going around playing harps. And then we just pray to God 577 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:13,480 we're interacting with him, and then he just comes down and 578 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,880 answers our prayer it. This is the Kingdom and there 579 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,640 are layers of authority. There are angels that when we 580 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,600 pray, the Father hears our pray prayers and sends angels on 581 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:28,640 assignment to fulfill what we're praying, just like he did with 582 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,170 Daniel. And there's opposition in the 583 00:35:31,170 --> 00:35:34,890 spiritual realm because some of these creatures, these entities, 584 00:35:35,010 --> 00:35:38,970 have rebelled against the Most High, and although they've lost 585 00:35:38,970 --> 00:35:42,890 their authority, some of them still occupy a position that 586 00:35:42,890 --> 00:35:48,890 they need to be displaced through intercession and not 587 00:35:48,890 --> 00:35:50,330 they. They may have lost their 588 00:35:50,330 --> 00:35:55,850 authority, their authorization from heaven, but they retain the 589 00:35:55,850 --> 00:36:01,120 trade secrets of the Kingdom. They understand things you and I 590 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:05,160 do not. And that's why we need to press 591 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:10,920 into the council CIL to receive the council SEL. 592 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,880 We need the Council of the Lord because they're dealing on a 593 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:22,520 plane that we don't understand and it's God's good pleasure to 594 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:26,560 teach them a lesson. Ephesians says to teach these 595 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,120 principalities and powers in heavenly places. 596 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,840 He's going to instruct them and teach them lessons through the 597 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:35,320 church. They're going to learn about 598 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,320 him. He I I look at it as he grabs 599 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,960 him by the nap of the neck and says you're going to watch this. 600 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,880 You're going to Sunday school today, watch what the church is 601 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,360 going to do. They they they're they they're 602 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:48,720 not as smart as you. They don't know what they you 603 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,400 do. You think they will deny me when 604 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,240 they go through trials, But look at my children this morning. 605 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:56,200 Look at that one. You know what she's going 606 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,440 through this week? But look at her worshiping and 607 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:01,480 look at this one over here. And he forces them to watch. 608 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,720 And through us they learn about God and they don't like it. 609 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:12,680 But it's also his good pleasure to overcome darkness through the 610 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,160 church. God's not doing it directly. 611 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,960 He does it through a praying church that will pray to him, 612 00:37:20,990 --> 00:37:22,750 engage him, He'll send his angels. 613 00:37:22,910 --> 00:37:25,390 We continue in prayer to overthrow evil. 614 00:37:25,870 --> 00:37:30,350 And there's also the the, the, the ground level activity. 615 00:37:30,590 --> 00:37:35,790 Now when we read Psalm 82 and what God is rebuking them on, 616 00:37:36,070 --> 00:37:39,550 look at what it says. It's talking about unjust 617 00:37:39,550 --> 00:37:45,310 systems that favor the powerful, the wealthy, the elite of 618 00:37:45,310 --> 00:37:50,300 society, and misuse and abuse the weak, the destitute, and the 619 00:37:50,300 --> 00:37:53,220 vulnerable. And God calls him to account. 620 00:37:54,500 --> 00:38:00,660 So what happens is when we begin to talk about systemic evil that 621 00:38:01,060 --> 00:38:04,060 finds its roots in the principalities and powers, 622 00:38:05,140 --> 00:38:09,180 because just like the enemy came to Jesus in his temptation, you 623 00:38:09,180 --> 00:38:12,260 remember that. And he offered him positions of 624 00:38:12,260 --> 00:38:14,860 authority in the earth. He said if you'll bow down and 625 00:38:14,860 --> 00:38:18,450 worship me, I will give you all the kingdoms of kingdoms of this 626 00:38:18,450 --> 00:38:20,410 world. And Jesus didn't challenge him 627 00:38:20,410 --> 00:38:22,170 and say you don't have authority to do that, did he? 628 00:38:23,290 --> 00:38:26,770 He didn't question his authority, he just said no, I 629 00:38:26,770 --> 00:38:29,450 won't. I'm not going to bow before him. 630 00:38:29,610 --> 00:38:33,050 And in fact that offer, and it's always this way. 631 00:38:33,050 --> 00:38:36,890 By the way, every temptation that you received from the enemy 632 00:38:37,050 --> 00:38:41,490 at some level is actually an indication of your destiny. 633 00:38:44,620 --> 00:38:48,500 That's why it's tempting he's poking on something you say, 634 00:38:48,700 --> 00:38:50,860 Pastor. Well, what if I'm what if I'm 635 00:38:51,260 --> 00:38:53,220 attracted to drugs? I'm tempted to drug you. 636 00:38:53,220 --> 00:38:56,180 That's my destiny. No, the peace you are seeking 637 00:38:56,180 --> 00:38:58,260 through those drugs is your destiny. 638 00:38:58,860 --> 00:39:01,500 But the enemy is trying to lure you into a shortcut. 639 00:39:01,980 --> 00:39:03,300 Well, Pastor, I'm. I'm. 640 00:39:03,700 --> 00:39:08,380 I am tempted with pornography, and that is false intimacy. 641 00:39:08,380 --> 00:39:12,340 But you were created to really connect with people, and you're 642 00:39:12,340 --> 00:39:14,140 trying to get it through a shortcut. 643 00:39:14,580 --> 00:39:17,620 And the enemy will always try to give you the very thing God has 644 00:39:17,620 --> 00:39:20,580 called you to, promising it through a shortcut. 645 00:39:20,780 --> 00:39:23,780 And when you get it, you don't, you're not qualified to steward 646 00:39:23,780 --> 00:39:25,100 it because you took the shortcut. 647 00:39:25,300 --> 00:39:28,460 And in actuality, the journey is what qualifies you to steward 648 00:39:28,460 --> 00:39:30,820 it. And so God doesn't take you 649 00:39:30,820 --> 00:39:33,900 through a shortcut. He awakens it within you, a 650 00:39:33,900 --> 00:39:37,020 vision, a sense of destiny, a desire. 651 00:39:37,220 --> 00:39:40,860 And if you will walk with him, he will fulfill all the desires 652 00:39:40,860 --> 00:39:42,700 of your heart. But it's going to be through a 653 00:39:42,700 --> 00:39:47,510 process and he did the same with Jesus, he says to him, he says, 654 00:39:47,510 --> 00:39:49,670 I will give you all the kingdoms of this world. 655 00:39:51,110 --> 00:39:55,230 It's evident from these this scripture in Psalm 82 that these 656 00:39:55,230 --> 00:40:01,190 principalities, they they occupy an administrative governing role 657 00:40:01,190 --> 00:40:04,310 in the world. And this at least some of them 658 00:40:04,310 --> 00:40:10,950 are favoring the powerful elites that will bow to them and. 659 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:15,160 They will worship these people, will worship them, and in trade 660 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,160 then they'll give them those positions of power and 661 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:20,360 authority. And God is rebuking them. 662 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:24,960 And so and engaging powers and authorities in the spiritual 663 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,000 realm. Prayer is essential. 664 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:32,960 We see that with Daniel that we're enlisting the powers of 665 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,160 heaven to come and engage in battle. 666 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,040 Gabriel is on his way and Michael has to come and help him 667 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:43,520 is what it was Gabriel that and Michael came to help him. 668 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:47,880 Michael the Archangel, Archangel, Archae. 669 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:53,800 ARCHE is the Greek word that we translate principalities. 670 00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:58,600 So Michael is a principality. He is the Prince of Israel. 671 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:03,640 Just as there was a Prince of Persia, he is the Prince Angel 672 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:07,730 for Israel. That's still loyal to God, but 673 00:41:07,730 --> 00:41:11,570 there are there's a battle going on in the spiritual realm, and 674 00:41:11,570 --> 00:41:17,330 your prayer really does matter in this regard, but so does your 675 00:41:17,330 --> 00:41:22,090 activity on the earth. Because one of the ways we can 676 00:41:22,090 --> 00:41:26,450 overcome principalities and powers is work for justice on 677 00:41:26,450 --> 00:41:33,490 the earth. When unjust corrupt people get 678 00:41:33,490 --> 00:41:39,690 in power, they fuel the demonic in the spiritual realm, and you 679 00:41:39,690 --> 00:41:43,730 see it from this passage. And the enemy loves to get 680 00:41:43,730 --> 00:41:46,130 wicked people into power. Corrupt people. 681 00:41:47,650 --> 00:41:51,290 When the wicked rule, the people Groan proverb says. 682 00:41:51,490 --> 00:41:54,450 But when the righteous rule, the people rejoice. 683 00:41:55,810 --> 00:41:59,010 So we've got to in our nation. We are very fortunate. 684 00:41:59,130 --> 00:42:01,690 One of the one of the most spiritual things you can do is 685 00:42:01,810 --> 00:42:07,560 cast your vote in an election. We can vote for righteousness. 686 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:14,760 We can vote for godly ends. But we can also work on the 687 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,960 ground level. A number of years ago when I'm 688 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:21,960 going to keep your Bible here, John, a number of years ago when 689 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:23,840 Jamie Galloway came here the first time. 690 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:26,760 Jamie's a prophet travels the world. 691 00:42:27,340 --> 00:42:29,540 Great young guy. He's not so young anymore. 692 00:42:29,540 --> 00:42:35,700 But when we first met him he was and Jamie he came and he when he 693 00:42:35,700 --> 00:42:38,660 came he said I have never spoken in Iowa. 694 00:42:38,660 --> 00:42:41,100 I've been longing to speak in Iowa. 695 00:42:42,500 --> 00:42:47,540 He said I had a dream many years ago about the Twelves and he 696 00:42:47,540 --> 00:42:50,900 said it was about a revival coming to Iowa that was 12 times 697 00:42:50,900 --> 00:42:54,100 greater than what we've seen. And he kept saying this, he kept 698 00:42:54,100 --> 00:42:57,690 saying 12/12/12 and he was talking about all these twelves 699 00:42:57,690 --> 00:43:00,170 in his dream. And so after he was done, I 700 00:43:00,170 --> 00:43:02,690 didn't know Jamie at the time, he we we were hosting a 701 00:43:02,690 --> 00:43:04,610 conference. So I went up and and I said, 702 00:43:04,610 --> 00:43:06,850 Jamie, do you do you know what our address is? 703 00:43:06,850 --> 00:43:11,770 He said no. And I said it's 1212 NW 36th St. 704 00:43:12,530 --> 00:43:13,970 He said that's not a coincidence. 705 00:43:13,970 --> 00:43:17,290 He said you need to get ready. I said, well what does that 706 00:43:17,290 --> 00:43:23,490 mean? And he quoted me that obscure 707 00:43:23,490 --> 00:43:28,040 passage in Matthew where he says, if you bought you, you 708 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:33,840 drive off the strong man and and you sweep the house clean, and 709 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:37,160 the enemy comes back and looks at the house and it's swept 710 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:42,040 clean, set in order but uninhabited, It will bring seven 711 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:43,720 of its friends. It'll be worse in the end than 712 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,920 in the beginning, he said. There's not only an individual 713 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:50,520 application of that, there's a regional application of that 714 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:54,880 principle that in revival the enemy is displaced. 715 00:43:56,210 --> 00:44:00,410 And the Lord spoke to me and this was the idea of what he 716 00:44:00,410 --> 00:44:05,250 said, he said. You can actually cut people of 717 00:44:05,250 --> 00:44:09,130 influence off from the influence of the enemy through loving 718 00:44:09,130 --> 00:44:12,530 them. Well, if you can win their 719 00:44:12,530 --> 00:44:18,570 heart, then they will respond to you rather than to those 720 00:44:18,570 --> 00:44:24,770 principalities and powers. Love is an act of spiritual war. 721 00:44:25,550 --> 00:44:30,270 Honoring people, serving them well, keeping our attitude 722 00:44:30,270 --> 00:44:36,190 right. I I OK, I got a confession. 723 00:44:39,110 --> 00:44:48,730 I like to drive fast. I've always loved muscle cars. 724 00:44:48,730 --> 00:44:51,650 I love to watch shows about muscle cars. 725 00:44:52,490 --> 00:44:55,890 You know, I've. I you know, when I was about 14, 726 00:44:55,890 --> 00:44:58,370 I wanted a ZL1. You know what that is, guys? 727 00:44:58,370 --> 00:45:02,130 ZL1. It's an aluminum block, 427 728 00:45:02,130 --> 00:45:04,770 Chevrolet. It's aluminum, so it's 729 00:45:04,770 --> 00:45:09,530 lightweight and it is. It's like 700 horse stock, if I 730 00:45:09,530 --> 00:45:11,250 remember right. It was amazing. 731 00:45:12,250 --> 00:45:17,890 God never gave me one. That was a desire of my heart. 732 00:45:19,090 --> 00:45:22,560 But he's never given me that desire and I would dare say it's 733 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,760 because my maturity level has not warranted that entrustment. 734 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:33,440 OK, but even though I like to drive, I, I, I When I drive 735 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:37,600 around this town, I try to really be careful and smile and 736 00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:41,320 give people the right away. The other day I had my Heartland 737 00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:48,890 Worship Collection T-shirt on. And of you. 738 00:45:49,050 --> 00:45:51,250 It's going to happen to you. You, you know, people know you 739 00:45:51,250 --> 00:45:53,930 from church. Listen, we've got to love. 740 00:45:53,930 --> 00:45:58,170 Well, I would never intentionally be a jerk, OK? 741 00:45:58,170 --> 00:46:00,570 But I'm capable of doing it unintentionally. 742 00:46:00,570 --> 00:46:05,090 And I need to be very careful that we had someone come up to 743 00:46:05,090 --> 00:46:08,610 me one time and say my sister waited on you and your children 744 00:46:08,610 --> 00:46:10,250 at a restaurant. Your wife and your children are 745 00:46:10,250 --> 00:46:12,370 there and they just kind of let it hang in the air. 746 00:46:12,370 --> 00:46:15,530 And I'm thinking did something happen? 747 00:46:16,890 --> 00:46:19,730 And and then she said, she said, you know what she told me I'm 748 00:46:19,730 --> 00:46:24,010 like what? She said your children were 749 00:46:24,010 --> 00:46:28,770 tremendously well behaved and you taught you tip very well. 750 00:46:28,890 --> 00:46:35,490 I was like Hallelujah cuz that that matters. 751 00:46:37,530 --> 00:46:39,530 I didn't give her a tract that looked like a 20. 752 00:46:39,530 --> 00:46:42,770 She'd get excited and open it up as you need to get right with 753 00:46:42,930 --> 00:46:46,250 Jesus. You know, whoever thought that 754 00:46:46,250 --> 00:46:49,730 would be a good idea. How insulting, unless you put a 755 00:46:49,730 --> 00:46:55,490 50 in there, you know. But those we need to love people 756 00:46:55,490 --> 00:46:58,730 well because we can produce an influence over their lives. 757 00:47:00,410 --> 00:47:03,090 So we we are in a spiritual matter. 758 00:47:03,090 --> 00:47:06,250 There are, there are spirits that operate within given 759 00:47:06,250 --> 00:47:08,370 geographic regions. We'll pick up on this in the 760 00:47:08,370 --> 00:47:10,570 future. We'll we'll get back into this 761 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,960 after, you know the next installment that I get up after 762 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,720 this next one and we're going to look at this. 763 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:22,160 But we need to understand that the these, the principalities 764 00:47:22,160 --> 00:47:27,040 and powers, they operate in distinct geographic areas and 765 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,640 they have an administrative role in which they try to get their 766 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:33,760 people in power because they want to manifest their Kingdom 767 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:38,280 through them. And so we need to be engaged in 768 00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,160 prayer, but we also need to love and serve. 769 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:44,160 Well, Chris Vallaton has this great phrase. 770 00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,480 They've served the church that he's a part of his serve their 771 00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:51,120 city so well. One time there was, they became 772 00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:54,600 aware of a need in the city, they needed some type of police 773 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:56,080 equipment. I don't remember what it was 774 00:47:56,320 --> 00:48:01,520 they committed as a church to give $500,000 to that one need 775 00:48:01,720 --> 00:48:05,640 in the Police Department. And usually they didn't make 776 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:07,680 those things public, but they made it public because they 777 00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:09,400 wanted to challenge the rest of the city. 778 00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:14,680 Let's step up and help. They they used to tithe to the 779 00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:16,160 city. I don't know if they still do. 780 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:22,920 They were trying to honor well and Chris said this. 781 00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:28,840 He said the rights you gain by demanding your rights will be 782 00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,880 kept by continuing to argue for your rights. 783 00:48:32,810 --> 00:48:35,770 They'll be defended by you arguing form demanding. 784 00:48:36,650 --> 00:48:41,130 But the rights, the access that is gained through honor, will be 785 00:48:41,130 --> 00:48:45,410 guarded through favor. The people that you honored will 786 00:48:45,410 --> 00:48:49,810 actually keep the door open for you because you've you, you've 787 00:48:49,850 --> 00:48:52,650 gotten favor with them. And I'm not talking about being 788 00:48:52,650 --> 00:48:55,210 manipulative. I'm talking about being 789 00:48:55,210 --> 00:48:58,570 Christian. I'm talking about let's carry 790 00:48:58,570 --> 00:49:03,920 ourselves in such a way that we exemplify Jesus in the Kingdom 791 00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:06,400 that we love. Well, doesn't mean we need to 792 00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:09,120 agree with people. I don't even agree with 793 00:49:09,120 --> 00:49:12,240 everything I say. Okay, we don't need to agree 794 00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:15,040 with everything. But what we do need to do is we 795 00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:19,040 need to honor their person, the value of who they are, and their 796 00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:22,040 position. Because God created a structure 797 00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:26,800 and when people occupy those position, we honor the position 798 00:49:27,390 --> 00:49:30,390 and we want to cut them off from that spiritual influence through 799 00:49:30,390 --> 00:49:34,510 honor. So we'll pick up where we we 800 00:49:34,510 --> 00:49:37,390 left off in the future here we're going to, we're going to 801 00:49:37,390 --> 00:49:39,390 look more at this because it's very important for us to 802 00:49:39,390 --> 00:49:43,590 understand when we're talking about principalities and powers 803 00:49:43,590 --> 00:49:46,870 or this divine counsel world, the what what all this means. 804 00:49:47,030 --> 00:49:50,830 Let me just read a couple more things and then go ahead and 805 00:49:50,830 --> 00:49:51,870 stand. So, you know, I'm going to quit, 806 00:49:53,590 --> 00:49:56,690 OK? It grants us insight into how he 807 00:49:56,690 --> 00:50:01,050 rules. God delegates authority. 808 00:50:01,450 --> 00:50:03,490 Authority is foundational to his Kingdom. 809 00:50:04,050 --> 00:50:07,850 The the term, the biblical term Kingdom, or bassilia, is 810 00:50:07,850 --> 00:50:10,770 absolutely nonsensical. If there's no such thing as 811 00:50:10,770 --> 00:50:15,290 authority, that's what it is. It's God's right as the author. 812 00:50:15,730 --> 00:50:20,610 He has authority, and he authorizes others to exercise 813 00:50:20,610 --> 00:50:23,710 it, and when he does, it's a real thing. 814 00:50:23,710 --> 00:50:27,190 It's a real force that drops upon them, and it would do you 815 00:50:27,190 --> 00:50:30,390 well to honor what's on their life, even if you don't agree 816 00:50:30,390 --> 00:50:32,470 with their person. Honor their position. 817 00:50:33,830 --> 00:50:36,430 The cosmology. This cosmology protects us from 818 00:50:36,430 --> 00:50:41,430 faulty conclusions which result in a dangerous resignation that 819 00:50:41,430 --> 00:50:45,110 results in impotence on the one hand, and an arrogant Bravada 820 00:50:45,110 --> 00:50:48,270 which lays claim to victory not yet achieved on the other. #3 It 821 00:50:48,270 --> 00:50:51,160 explains evil. It lays the responsibility for 822 00:50:51,160 --> 00:50:53,520 evil where it belongs. Furthermore, it reveals the 823 00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:56,920 governmental administrative structure through which this 824 00:50:56,920 --> 00:50:59,840 level of evil functions. When we begin to understand what 825 00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:03,400 these principalities are, we begin to realize we we laid the 826 00:51:03,720 --> 00:51:07,200 the the blame for evil at the feet of where it where it 827 00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:14,960 belongs. God gets blamed for things that 828 00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:17,480 he didn't do. He's got big shoulders. 829 00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:23,510 He's very merciful, but it messes us up because we can 830 00:51:23,510 --> 00:51:29,510 actually give cover to the enemy by attributing to God what he is 831 00:51:29,510 --> 00:51:35,030 doing and if it's from the enemy we want to be at war against, it 832 00:51:36,990 --> 00:51:39,750 #3 It explains okay. It reveals the governmental 833 00:51:39,750 --> 00:51:41,950 administrative structure through which this level of evil 834 00:51:41,950 --> 00:51:44,150 functions. And #4 it defines the battle, 835 00:51:44,870 --> 00:51:47,790 understanding these ideas, it, and explaining the source of 836 00:51:47,790 --> 00:51:49,510 evil. It clarifies the nature of our 837 00:51:49,510 --> 00:51:52,190 struggle. It is not ultimately against 838 00:51:52,190 --> 00:51:54,990 flesh and blood, but it rather against these ruling spirits. 839 00:51:54,990 --> 00:52:00,470 So we'll talk next time about so how did they where, where, where 840 00:52:00,470 --> 00:52:03,510 do we get that? They how, how did they get 841 00:52:03,510 --> 00:52:07,670 assigned this position? And if they're assigned that 842 00:52:07,670 --> 00:52:09,950 position, why would we fight against them? 843 00:52:09,950 --> 00:52:12,270 So we'll look at that Okay. Father. 844 00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:15,320 Lord, I ask that you would please make sense of what I've 845 00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:19,840 talked about this morning, Lord, that you would continue to train 846 00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:22,480 us, teach us. Lord, I ask that you would 847 00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:25,840 instruct our hearts. I bless each one of these. 848 00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:27,960 This morning, Lord. I I just. 849 00:52:28,120 --> 00:52:32,040 Lord, we ask that you would help us to walk out with an awareness 850 00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:34,920 of your presence. That we, when we step out this 851 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:38,440 door, that we are representatives of the Most High 852 00:52:38,440 --> 00:52:42,790 God. Lord, help us to recognize it as 853 00:52:42,790 --> 00:52:46,230 much as the principalities do in Jesus name. 854 00:52:46,230 --> 00:52:48,430 Amen. Thanks for listening to our 855 00:52:48,430 --> 00:52:50,150 podcast. If you'd like to help more 856 00:52:50,150 --> 00:52:52,790 people hear this message, you can get the word out by 857 00:52:52,790 --> 00:52:55,070 subscribing and sharing it on social media. 858 00:52:55,590 --> 00:52:57,950 If you'd like to support the ministries of Heartland Church, 859 00:52:58,150 --> 00:53:01,710 you can do so at Heartland Church, online.com/give.