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Hi, this is Dave Olson. 
I'm the senior leader of 

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Heartland Church located in 
Ankeny, IA. 

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I hope the following message 
challenges and courages and 

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ultimately changes you. 
Thanks for joining us. 

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Let's get into the word this 
morning. 

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Last, not last week, but the 
week before, we started a series

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that we're going to continue on 
when we do communion. 

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We're not going to receive 
Communion this morning. 

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We're doing that once a month 
and we're going to receive, 

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we're going to continue on a 
series on the blood of Christ 

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and how the the different facets
of the blood and how we can 

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appreciate that. 
We talked about how why the 

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father appreciates the blood, 
how we can utilize it in our own

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life and then use it against the
enemy. 

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And we're going to look more at 
that and in the coming weeks. 

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But I want to reach back and 
reach into another series we 

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started. 
I love doing series. 

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The problem is, and I stumble 
into something else, I want to 

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preach on and so I want to reach
back into our spiritual warfare 

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one. 
And what I want to talk about 

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this morning is I want to give a
little bit of explanation, a 

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spiritual explanation for the 
predicament we find ourself in 

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as a nation. 
Anybody wonder if humanity is 

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losing its mind? 
Where my phone is talking to me,

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it said it's still on it. 
I don't know how that happened 

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but anyway I've you know, we 
when we even when we were in 

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London, we went through 
Kensington Palace and there was 

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a gala, something I was not 
interested in. 

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It was a fashion gala. 
So we went through there and 

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there's all these pictures of 
men in dresses and and their 

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bravery for being their their 
sincere self and it was just 

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heartbreaking. 
There's this. 

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There's been a legitimization of
troubled thinking. 

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And so we need to understand how
we got here now, probably 6-8 

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months ago, sometime the last 10
years. 

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We talked, we did a series 
called The Strange New World, 

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and it was. 
I shamelessly lifted the title 

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from a book by Carl Truman 
talking about the sociological 

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and psychological underpinnings 
of the crisis we're in, the 

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moral crisis we're in. 
How did we get here this 

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morning? 
I don't want to deal so much 

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with the sociological and 
psychological underpinnings or 

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the tracks that we let. 
Let us here. 

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I want to look at the spiritual 
tracks because we're dealing 

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with a level of darkness and a 
level of confusion that we have 

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not known as a nation. 
It's unprecedented in the 

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history of our nation. 
It's not unprecedented in human 

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history because there have been 
many nations that have reached 

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this point. 
And the sad fact is it was the 

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twilight of their existence. 
And I I'm still holding on. 

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I'm still praying. 
I'm asking God to deliver this 

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nation, and I'm believing God 
for that. 

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But in order for us to contend 
for the survival of this nation,

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we've got to understand that the
situation that we're in, we've 

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got to really have a grasp of 
what we're dealing with. 

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And so I want to talk about the 
spiritual backdrop. 

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And so in order to do so, I'm 
going to reach back into 

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something we talked about. 
Matter of fact, I looked it up 

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on my phone during worship. 
I know I peaked wasn't on 

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Facebook. 
I looked at our podcast in April

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16th. 
We talked about this. 

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We talked about the three 
entrances of evil into human 

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history. 
And so I'm going to just do a 

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little bit of review. 
If you really want to get into 

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this, you can go back to that 
podcast, the one we didn't deal 

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with so much as the one we're 
going to deal with this morning.

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But we talked about the three 
entrances of evil into human 

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history. 
The fact is that Second Temple 

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Judaism, which was around the 
time of the Inner Testamental 

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period and on 2nd Temple 
Judaism, had a theology of three

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entrances of evil into human 
history. 

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The reason that's relevant to 
you and I is not because we're 

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we're, you know, we buy off on 
everything that was taught in 

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Second Temple Judaism. 
We need to, it needs to shore up

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with the word of God. 
But the reason it's relevant is 

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it was the world view of the 
biblical authors of it today. 

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It was the backdrop. 
It was the the, the, the 

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theological backdrop that they 
were writing from. 

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And there's things in Scripture 
we simply will not understand 

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unless we understand where they 
were coming from, because they 

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were speaking into a world that 
viewed 3 entrances of evil. 

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What I mean by that is this 
they, you know, common to 

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evangelicalism. 
Of course they recognized the 

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fall of man in Genesis chapter 
3. 

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And so that was the first 
entrance of evil, the fall of 

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man. 
Man fell into sin, and that 

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introduced the human nature to 
sin. 

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That opened man's heart to sin. 
That was internal evil. 

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That was that obscured man's 
understanding. 

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Man became fallen. 
That was the first entrance. 

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But they also viewed Genesis 
Chapter 6 as another entrance of

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evil, and some Jewish authors 
even considered that a greater 

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travesty than the first one. 
We're not going to debate that 

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this morning, but we need to 
understand that they also viewed

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Genesis Chapter 6, where it says
that the sons of God entered the

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daughters of men, that the 
watchers entered the the the 

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daughters of men. 
They found them beautiful and 

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they they brought forth children
who were the giants of old, the 

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Nephilim. 
And we're not going to get into 

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all of that except to say this, 
that the early, the early church

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recognized that as where the 
demonic realm came from, these 

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hybrid beings. 
Now I was taught in Bible school

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that those sons of God were 
simply the sons of Seth and they

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went into the daughters of of, 
of Abel and and so of of yeah of

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Cain rather. 
And that they produce these 

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children. 
And that is not what the text is

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saying. 
We we, we want to kind of 

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wrestle with that because it 
seems so weird to us that we 

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want to kind of just massage it 
so it'll reduce the supernatural

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element to that story so that we
can be comfortable with it. 

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But the fact is it was talking 
about the Watchers, these 

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angelic creatures going into the
daughters of men. 

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Virtually all of ancient culture
had some form of this story. 

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Let me just pause there and 
point out something Don 

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Richardson, anybody ever read 
anything but Don Richardson? 

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He wrote the book Peace Child, 
Eternity in Their Hearts. 

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Don Richardson was a missionary,
phenomenally brilliant man, but 

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he was also also an 
anthropology. 

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She wrote a book called Eternity
in Their Hearts, and one of the 

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things he talked about is that 
the farther you get back into 

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human history, the more you will
see the threads of scripture 

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embedded into those cultures. 
And the whole book was based on 

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this. 
This was the idea. 

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The first half of the book was a
world prepared for the gospel, 

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and the second-half of the book 
was a gospel prepared for the 

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world. 
What he was talking about it. 

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And when he said a world 
prepared for the gospel, he was 

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talking about how there was 
already, there was already truth

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embedded there. 
There were remnants of the 

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biblical story. 
All these, all these cultures of

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the Fertile Crescent, you know 
where civilization started and 

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you know where where we read 
about these, these nations in 

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the Old Testament, All of them 
had a theology of a flood. 

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They all had a theology of the 
Watchers entering into the 

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daughters of men. 
And more and more of that 

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material has been discovered 
even in the last century. 

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And so there as you study, as 
you get back to the earlier 

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remnants of human culture, you 
begin to see the threads of 

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Genesis one through 12, because 
they were, there was oral 

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history that was still tying 
them to those situations. 

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So I say all that to simply say 
this. 

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The first entrance of evil was 
where man fell. 

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His nature fell, he became 
corrupt and he needed salvation.

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Okay the second entrance of evil
produced an external evil in the

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form of these evil entities that
entice men. 

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And so, and literally there 
there was, they defied nature. 

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Jude talks about this where they
left their assigned role and 

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went into the daughters of men. 
Some of the early church writers

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talked about how literally it it
corrupted all of nature because 

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they crossed those lines. 
And so that is where the early 

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church fathers, and you can see 
this in many of the writings, 

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men like origin and so forth. 
They wrote about how the the 

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demonic realm came from these 
hybrid beings. 

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And so they were the disembodied
spirits of these nephalum that 

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were released into the 
atmosphere through the flood. 

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And so they were looking. 
Matter of fact, the some of the 

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early church writings, they talk
about things like this, that 

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hungering they could not eat, 
thirsting they could not drink. 

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So they looked for a human body 
to possess to satiate their 

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desires and so they would 
experience it through occupying 

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a human human body. 
And so demonic possession is a 

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very real thing and we are 
living in a spiritual war. 

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Rather, you are comfortable with
that or not does not matter. 

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The fact is you are in a 
spiritual war and you're better 

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off realizing it than just 
avoiding it because it's an 

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uncomfortable reality. 
So we have the internal reality 

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or the internal fall of man in 
Genesis 3, the external entrance

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of evil. 
So now we're dealing with these 

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entities that are enticing us in
Genesis 6. 

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And then they also looked at a 
third entrance of evil. 

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Now Deuteronomy 32, the final 
song of Moses, where Moses is, 

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he's giving his final address. 
It's called the Song of Moses, 

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and he's giving his final 
address to the children of 

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Israel. 
He's going to retire. 

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He's going to heaven. 
He's turning it over to his, his

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spiritual son, Joshua. 
So he gives this final address 

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and he mentions this obscure 
little verse that is interesting

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but has often been overlooked. 
And he said that God divided the

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nations according to the number 
of the sons of God, but Israel 

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he kept for himself. 
Some translations will translate

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that according to the sons of 
Israel. 

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The problem is virtually all 
scholars agree that this was 

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Speaking of the Tower of Babel, 
that God was divorcing himself 

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from the nations at the Tower of
Babel and it says, but Israeli 

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kept for himself. 
What did he do? 

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The very next chapter after 
Genesis 11 at Babel where man 

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rebelled and God told him to go 
and have it the earth. 

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They didn't. 
So what does God do? 

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He raises up the very next 
chapter, Genesis 12, Abram, and 

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he says I'm going to bless you 
so that you can be a blessing to

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all the nations of the earth. 
I will be your God, and through 

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that you'll be an example to the
rest of humanity. 

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We'll win back the nations. 
There's been a lot of writing on

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this in theological circles and 
there's been discovery of 

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ancient texts and stuff, and but
I have, I've been living for 

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Jesus for 40 years. 
This year I was two when I got 

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saved. 
No, just kidding. 

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I've been. 
I'm 58 now. 

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I got saved. 
I I came back to the Lord when I

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was 18 years old. 
I was a homeless alcoholic, got 

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radically saved, had a radical 
encounter with Jesus. 

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And I've been pursuing the Lord,
and I've been a man of the book 

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for 40 years, and I've been 
asking the Lord a lot of 

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questions about some of these 
things, because there's a very 

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practical reason I want to know.
I believe much of spiritual 

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hunger is simply curiosity. 
There's this, there's this 

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desire to understand that God 
has placed within us, and if 

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we'll come to him and cry out, 
God will give us understanding. 

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But there are levels of 
knowledge. 

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There's there's ask, seek, 
knock, you ask. 

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There's James, Chapter one, 
level wisdom. 

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Ask and you shall receive. 
If any man lacks wisdom, let him

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ask and the Lord will give 
liberty and the upbraid. 

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If not, that's that's the that 
low level you just all you got 

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to do is ask. 
It's yours for the take and it's

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in reserve. 
If you ask, God will give it to 

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you. 
But then there is Seek and you 

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shall find. 
That's Proverbs Chapter 2, Level

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Wisdom. 
There is wisdom that is hidden. 

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It says seek for wisdom. 
Search for it as hidden 

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treasure, and if you seek for it
then you will find it. 

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You will find the knowledge of 
God. 

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So there is some wisdom that is 
not just for the asking. 

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There's a seeking. 
It's a process rather than an 

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event, and it's hidden precisely
because of its value. 

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You following me? 
So there are certain things that

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God will withhold from you until
you're ready for it. 

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And it's actually the seeking. 
The process of seeking is what 

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qualifies you, or matures you or
grows you up so that you can 

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qualify the steward that wisdom.
Once you have it, God is a good 

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Father. 
He will never give you wisdom 

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you cannot handle, so he'll 
withhold it from you. 

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Just like if you're a good 
parent, there are certain things

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you don't talk about with your 4
year old that you'll talk with 

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your 14 year old, and certain 
things you won't talk to your 14

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year old that you'll discuss 
with your 24 year old. 

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Because we have to mature in 
order to handle some of that 

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understanding. 
One of the travesties of this 

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generation is having to go 
through is there being exposed 

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to explicit material that they 
are not able to process And it 

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it bends them, it corrupts them.
I remember as a six year old 

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little boy finding pornography 
out in the woods and I still 

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remember that feeling. 
I felt this. 

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I just felt shame come over me. 
There was there was a 

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fascination. 
I knew it was forbidden, and I 

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felt the shame. 
And I remember walking in the 

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door to my house and seeing my 
mom and not wanting to catch 

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your eye because I felt like 
there's something defiled about 

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me. 
I was exposed to things I wasn't

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00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,800
ready to process yet. 
So God's a good father. 

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He will always withhold from us 
wisdom and understanding until 

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we're qualified to steward that 
we've reached a level of 

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maturity. 
The enemy is exactly the 

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opposite. 
He loves to give you forbidden 

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00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,360
knowledge. 
That's what literally the cult 

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00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,240
is. 
It's forbidden knowledge. 

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Matter of fact, the early church
fathers wrote about that. 

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These watchers that went into 
the daughters of men, the other 

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00:14:33,810 --> 00:14:37,890
thing they did is they brought 
forbidden knowledge to man about

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00:14:37,890 --> 00:14:41,930
war, sensuality, and and and so 
forth. 

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00:14:41,930 --> 00:14:44,610
And so it was to corrupt 
mankind. 

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00:14:44,850 --> 00:14:49,210
And so we're not only dealing 
with our own fallen nature as 

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human beings, we're dealing with
this external enticement. 

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So God places these. 
So let me deal with that. 

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The last one, the last type of 
wisdom. 

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So keep on this little track. 
The last type of wisdom is knock

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and the door shall be opened to 
you. 

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00:15:05,820 --> 00:15:09,420
Ephesians chapter two and three 
talks about this, the hidden 

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wisdom of God, and it talks 
about how it's hidden. 

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00:15:13,140 --> 00:15:16,060
I love this phrase within God 
himself. 

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00:15:19,420 --> 00:15:27,460
The vault in which this 
treasured wisdom is hidden is 

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00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:30,660
the heart of God. 
The occult cannot touch that 

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00:15:31,620 --> 00:15:35,980
matter of fact. 
It says it's unsearchable wisdom

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00:15:36,260 --> 00:15:39,380
hidden within God Himself. 
The word unsearchable literally 

275
00:15:39,380 --> 00:15:41,900
means no tracks. 
You can look at it and you don't

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00:15:41,900 --> 00:15:46,060
see it. 
You can't trace it until God 

277
00:15:46,060 --> 00:15:49,670
gives you Revelation. 
And so one of the ways in which 

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00:15:49,670 --> 00:15:53,510
God stewards his Kingdom is 
revealing and concealing, 

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00:15:53,510 --> 00:15:59,910
revealing and concealing 
mysteries and revelation is just

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00:15:59,910 --> 00:16:03,670
another way of saying it. 
Revelation is a present day 

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00:16:03,670 --> 00:16:06,310
reality. 
I'm not talking about seeing 

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00:16:06,310 --> 00:16:09,810
things that are not in the word.
God can show you things. 

283
00:16:09,970 --> 00:16:13,210
Revelation is starting with a 
conclusion and then backfilling 

284
00:16:13,210 --> 00:16:15,890
it with the word. 
God can speak to you things you 

285
00:16:15,890 --> 00:16:18,610
don't know but he will back it 
with his word. 

286
00:16:18,770 --> 00:16:22,250
Or he can show you in his word 
and leads you to a conclusion. 

287
00:16:22,410 --> 00:16:26,370
Study is you. 
You reason until you come to a 

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00:16:26,370 --> 00:16:28,810
conclusion. 
Scripture revelation is you get 

289
00:16:28,810 --> 00:16:32,250
an insight and then you backfill
it with scripture but you better

290
00:16:32,250 --> 00:16:37,090
wed it to scripture. 
So when when non charismatics 

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00:16:37,570 --> 00:16:40,690
criticize the charismatic 
movement, we use language like 

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00:16:40,690 --> 00:16:43,850
revelation that Paul himself 
used matter of fact, he's 

293
00:16:44,530 --> 00:16:47,330
referred to the Spirit of God as
the spirit of wisdom and 

294
00:16:47,330 --> 00:16:50,770
revelation. 
We're to pray for those things. 

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00:16:50,930 --> 00:16:54,210
We're not talking about extra 
biblical revelation. 

296
00:16:54,730 --> 00:16:58,210
We're talking about God showing 
us things in His Word we would 

297
00:16:58,210 --> 00:17:00,210
have never seen without His 
help. 

298
00:17:02,210 --> 00:17:05,290
And I would propose to you, 
there are things that Paul wrote

299
00:17:05,290 --> 00:17:09,339
he didn't understand. 
He got a flash of revelation, 

300
00:17:09,339 --> 00:17:12,020
saw one facet, wrote it down. 
He's like, wow, that was 

301
00:17:12,020 --> 00:17:14,619
amazing. 
But there are other facets to 

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00:17:14,619 --> 00:17:16,660
that thing Paul himself didn't 
understand. 

303
00:17:18,260 --> 00:17:21,940
And so the spirit of wisdom and 
revelation will lead us along, 

304
00:17:21,940 --> 00:17:27,020
to grow us up in God. 
Knowledge has a purpose. 

305
00:17:27,780 --> 00:17:30,140
Knowledge, wisdom, and 
revelation isn't just so that we

306
00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:34,540
can feel smart, sit around and 
talk theology, talk theory. 

307
00:17:35,150 --> 00:17:39,190
Knowledge is actually the way 
that God grows you up first. 

308
00:17:39,190 --> 00:17:44,950
Peter says Grace and peace be 
unto you through your knowledge 

309
00:17:44,950 --> 00:17:50,030
of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
So the conduit or the avenue 

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00:17:50,030 --> 00:17:52,950
through which grace comes to 
you. 

311
00:17:52,950 --> 00:17:55,630
And grace is the substance of 
the Christian life. 

312
00:17:56,550 --> 00:18:01,300
You're saved by grace. 
You walk, but you never outgrow 

313
00:18:01,300 --> 00:18:04,660
your need for grace. 
The substance of the apostle 

314
00:18:04,660 --> 00:18:07,900
Paul's calling, he said. 
Surely you have heard of the 

315
00:18:07,900 --> 00:18:11,140
grace of God upon me that made 
me an apostle. 

316
00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:16,300
The substance what God slapped 
on him to make him an apostle 

317
00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:19,500
was grace. 
But the avenue through which 

318
00:18:19,500 --> 00:18:22,740
grace makes it to us and impacts
our heart is knowledge. 

319
00:18:23,550 --> 00:18:26,110
So you can't grow without 
knowledge. 

320
00:18:26,110 --> 00:18:28,710
If you're not growing in your 
understanding, you ain't 

321
00:18:28,710 --> 00:18:30,590
growing. 
That's bad grammar, but good 

322
00:18:30,590 --> 00:18:34,190
preaching. 
Okay, If you are not growing in 

323
00:18:34,190 --> 00:18:36,950
your knowledge, you aren't 
growing. 

324
00:18:36,950 --> 00:18:39,590
Period. 
Now that's a safeguard. 

325
00:18:39,710 --> 00:18:42,870
You can grow in your knowledge 
and not grow spiritually. 

326
00:18:45,190 --> 00:18:48,470
There are a lot of very well 
informed infants in the church 

327
00:18:48,470 --> 00:18:51,350
today. 
They talk theory, but they're 

328
00:18:51,350 --> 00:18:58,570
not walking it out. 
But you cannot grow spiritually 

329
00:18:58,570 --> 00:19:00,210
without growing in your 
knowledge. 

330
00:19:01,290 --> 00:19:04,850
And So what the Lord will do is 
He will birth questions in your 

331
00:19:04,850 --> 00:19:08,370
heart to entice you and to keep 
bringing you along. 

332
00:19:08,530 --> 00:19:11,850
And your hunger will actually 
lead you into breakthrough and 

333
00:19:11,850 --> 00:19:15,770
revelation in the things of God.
But it's always going to tie 

334
00:19:15,770 --> 00:19:20,780
back into the book, and so God 
wants to give us understanding. 

335
00:19:20,780 --> 00:19:23,340
I say all that to say. 
I've been asking the Lord about 

336
00:19:23,340 --> 00:19:30,020
some of this for 40 years now, 
and I am convinced that some of 

337
00:19:30,020 --> 00:19:33,380
what we're talking about this 
morning is essential for the 

338
00:19:33,380 --> 00:19:35,780
Church of Jesus Christ to 
understand in this hour. 

339
00:19:35,780 --> 00:19:38,100
Why? 
Because there were three 

340
00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:43,740
separate episodes that created 
three separate problems and that

341
00:19:43,740 --> 00:19:47,550
have three separate solutions. 
In one sense, of course, the 

342
00:19:47,550 --> 00:19:49,190
cross of Christ dealt with all 
of it. 

343
00:19:50,910 --> 00:19:55,390
But the way in which we apply 
the cross is different for the 

344
00:19:55,390 --> 00:19:57,950
internal fallenness of the human
nature. 

345
00:19:58,190 --> 00:20:05,510
I don't cast that out. 
I've got to discipline myself. 

346
00:20:05,630 --> 00:20:09,910
I have the new birth. 
My nature is now born again. 

347
00:20:10,070 --> 00:20:12,030
But that old nature wants to 
rear head. 

348
00:20:12,030 --> 00:20:14,230
So what do I do? 
I've got to renew my mind. 

349
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:16,680
I've got to get healed in my 
emotions. 

350
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,360
Some of you struggle with the 
old man, not because your heart 

351
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:25,800
is longing for those things, but
because of your own woundedness.

352
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,600
You have a vulnerability for the
enemy to push on those things. 

353
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,480
That creates A longing for the 
old anesthesia of that 

354
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:37,560
dysfunctional, sinful behavior. 
And so until you get healed, you

355
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,040
live on the precipice of 
temptation. 

356
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,320
I felt that. 
Let's let's just camp out there 

357
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,760
for a minute first. 
Peter, Chapter 4. 

358
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:51,880
Peter says as he says Christ 
suffered in his body, arm 

359
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,120
yourself also with the same 
attitude because he who suffered

360
00:20:56,120 --> 00:21:00,040
in his body is done with sin. 
Everybody say this. 

361
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:05,880
That is a huge statement. 
He's saying that if you suffer 

362
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,280
in your body, you are done with 
sin. 

363
00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:12,760
That's that is an astounding 
proposition. 

364
00:21:14,130 --> 00:21:16,690
So let's unpack that. 
He says Christ suffered in his 

365
00:21:16,690 --> 00:21:18,970
body. 
Arm yourself also with the same 

366
00:21:18,970 --> 00:21:24,810
attitude Jesus had an attitude, 
a mindset, an approach to sin. 

367
00:21:26,370 --> 00:21:31,930
That is, if we adopt it, it will
be an armor of defense against 

368
00:21:31,930 --> 00:21:34,610
temptation. 
It will actually defend you, he 

369
00:21:34,610 --> 00:21:36,770
said. 
Arm yourself with the same 

370
00:21:36,770 --> 00:21:38,850
attitude. 
It will become an armor, a 

371
00:21:38,850 --> 00:21:41,170
shield against the temptation of
the enemy. 

372
00:21:41,970 --> 00:21:44,210
Jesus had a mindset against 
evil. 

373
00:21:44,370 --> 00:21:46,370
Then he goes on to say that 
astounding thing. 

374
00:21:46,450 --> 00:21:48,570
He who suffers and his body is 
done with sin. 

375
00:21:48,610 --> 00:21:55,490
What he's saying is this. 
All sin is flight from pain in 

376
00:21:55,490 --> 00:21:57,970
one form or another. 
You either have something you 

377
00:21:57,970 --> 00:22:00,370
don't want, you're willing to 
step outside of the will of God 

378
00:22:00,370 --> 00:22:03,450
to get it, or you do have 
something you don't want and 

379
00:22:03,450 --> 00:22:05,490
you're willing to step out of 
the side of the will of God to 

380
00:22:05,490 --> 00:22:09,880
get rid of it. 
But if we adopt the mindset of 

381
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:14,320
Christ and we embrace pain, it 
is actually the pathway to 

382
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,360
deliverance. 
And so often we're saying, God, 

383
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:19,920
if you would just deliver me, I 
wouldn't. 

384
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,640
I wouldn't feel this pain and I 
wouldn't be so tempted. 

385
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,120
No, it's doesn't work like that.
You embrace the pain and say if 

386
00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:29,760
I've got to live this way the 
rest of my life, I'm going to 

387
00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,280
maintain my fidelity to Jesus. 
And I'm telling you, that is the

388
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,200
first step in your deliverance 
because you will learn to 

389
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:42,210
overcome those things. 
And so a lot of people, it's not

390
00:22:42,210 --> 00:22:44,690
just present pain, it's pain 
from their past. 

391
00:22:44,690 --> 00:22:47,810
The enemy will push on to entice
them into evil. 

392
00:22:48,330 --> 00:22:50,130
And so we've got to be so 
careful. 

393
00:22:50,330 --> 00:22:53,010
So that's how we deal with that 
first fall, okay. 

394
00:22:53,130 --> 00:22:54,770
We deal with the pain from our 
past. 

395
00:22:54,770 --> 00:22:57,250
We renew our mind. 
We discipline ourself. 

396
00:22:57,370 --> 00:23:00,930
You don't cast that out. 
If it was, I'd be signing up for

397
00:23:00,930 --> 00:23:02,930
a Deliverance session this 
afternoon. 

398
00:23:03,090 --> 00:23:06,430
Hallelujah. 
It's it's not an event. 

399
00:23:06,430 --> 00:23:08,350
It's a process to deal with 
that. 

400
00:23:09,630 --> 00:23:12,550
For the demonic. 
You don't discipline a demon. 

401
00:23:14,510 --> 00:23:15,670
I've got. 
I'm being afflicted. 

402
00:23:15,670 --> 00:23:18,150
I'm being oppressed. 
I'm being driven by a spirit. 

403
00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:20,230
I'm going to discipline my No, 
that's not the answer. 

404
00:23:20,230 --> 00:23:23,870
You cast that thing out and let 
me just let me just camp out 

405
00:23:23,870 --> 00:23:28,110
here for a second. 
The the whole concept of demon 

406
00:23:28,110 --> 00:23:33,210
possession in the body of Christ
it we have unfortunate 

407
00:23:33,210 --> 00:23:36,490
misunderstandings because of our
English translations. 

408
00:23:37,010 --> 00:23:40,370
The Greek does not say demon 
possessed. 

409
00:23:41,130 --> 00:23:43,850
A better translation would 
simply be demonized. 

410
00:23:43,850 --> 00:23:48,090
In other words, influenced by a 
demon We want to split hairs and

411
00:23:48,090 --> 00:23:49,650
kind of because we're 
uncomfortable. 

412
00:23:49,730 --> 00:23:51,810
Demon possessed no demon. 
Oppressed, compressed, 

413
00:23:51,810 --> 00:23:54,790
suppressed, impressed. 
Oh, you know, we we want to have

414
00:23:54,790 --> 00:23:56,990
all these terms. 
The Bible doesn't use any of 

415
00:23:56,990 --> 00:23:58,870
that. 
It simply means that you are 

416
00:23:58,870 --> 00:24:03,870
influenced at some level by a 
demonic entity and you can close

417
00:24:03,870 --> 00:24:07,870
that door so they don't have any
ground to push on. 

418
00:24:08,110 --> 00:24:11,590
And one of those things is that 
woundedness that the enemy, 

419
00:24:11,910 --> 00:24:14,630
inner healing and deliverance 
often go hand in hand. 

420
00:24:15,350 --> 00:24:17,950
And those of you that have 
experienced new levels of 

421
00:24:17,950 --> 00:24:21,150
freedom in the last couple 
months know that to be the case,

422
00:24:21,590 --> 00:24:24,470
that the enemy will push on that
old woundedness and he'll green 

423
00:24:24,470 --> 00:24:26,870
a foothold. 
And we've got to be willing to 

424
00:24:26,870 --> 00:24:29,350
deal with the pain. 
And as we get inner healing, 

425
00:24:29,350 --> 00:24:31,710
often we find the deliverance 
soon after that. 

426
00:24:33,190 --> 00:24:41,870
But there is another level of 
evil and it is not internal. 

427
00:24:43,030 --> 00:24:46,190
It's not some external entity 
that we're dealing with. 

428
00:24:46,550 --> 00:24:49,100
And there are times where 
there's there, there's those 

429
00:24:49,100 --> 00:24:52,940
thoughts, those that battle and 
and let me just go back here for

430
00:24:52,940 --> 00:24:56,340
a second, this thing. 
A lot of times what believers do

431
00:24:56,340 --> 00:24:59,540
is they own the thoughts of the 
enemy. 

432
00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:02,620
The enemy will talk to you in 
your own voice. 

433
00:25:03,020 --> 00:25:06,380
And if you don't discern, if you
don't understand from the word 

434
00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:08,980
that you are born again, your 
nature is different. 

435
00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:12,620
You will actually step off the 
place of victory and try to 

436
00:25:12,620 --> 00:25:14,620
fight for victory rather than 
from it. 

437
00:25:14,780 --> 00:25:16,580
And that is a whole different 
deal. 

438
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,440
And so you've got to learn to 
discern and you've got to know 

439
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,160
who you are. 
Your identity being established 

440
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:28,080
in your identity is one of the 
primary acts of war that will 

441
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,400
give you victory. 
It this, this is a spiritual 

442
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,600
weapon when you know who you are
and the enemy begins to entice 

443
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,160
you. 
There are times where I I've 

444
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,480
been in a situation where all of
a sudden I've had some crazy 

445
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,120
thought and I've got check my 
heart and say, okay, what's 

446
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:45,680
going on in the room because 
that is not who I am. 

447
00:25:46,540 --> 00:25:49,940
And often your discernment is 
discerning what's in the room. 

448
00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:52,980
And if you don't understand it, 
you own it and you're you're 

449
00:25:52,980 --> 00:25:55,980
over there repenting and 
fighting for victory that you 

450
00:25:55,980 --> 00:25:59,060
already had. 
And the enemy has has stripped 

451
00:25:59,060 --> 00:26:01,860
you of your authority, and 
rather than being able to deal 

452
00:26:01,860 --> 00:26:03,820
with what's in the room, you're 
over here trying to deal with 

453
00:26:03,820 --> 00:26:05,300
something that's not even in 
your heart. 

454
00:26:06,660 --> 00:26:09,860
And so as we understand who we 
are in Christ, we know our 

455
00:26:09,860 --> 00:26:11,840
identity. 
Then we can begin to realize, 

456
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,120
oh, that's my Spidey sense. 
Well, okay, we'll call it that. 

457
00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:17,400
But that's that's discernment. 
There's something going on in 

458
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,880
the room and we can deal with 
this. 

459
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:25,560
So we have that. 
This third one, Genesis 32, Paul

460
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:31,480
Moses says this Psalm 82. 
We talked about this a number of

461
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,400
months ago, but it is let's turn
there real quick because it 

462
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:42,060
gives us insight into what 
what's really going on in this 

463
00:26:42,060 --> 00:26:46,740
regard, this third entrance of 
evil that the early church 

464
00:26:46,740 --> 00:26:49,540
believed in and we need to 
believe in. 

465
00:26:51,420 --> 00:26:58,740
OK, Psalm 82. 
Listen to this Psalm 82, verse 

466
00:26:58,740 --> 00:27:02,460
one. 
God has taken his place in the 

467
00:27:02,460 --> 00:27:05,860
divine council in the midst of 
the gods. 

468
00:27:05,860 --> 00:27:10,950
He holds judgment. 
Anybody familiar with John 

469
00:27:10,950 --> 00:27:12,430
Piper? 
Anybody in here? 

470
00:27:12,430 --> 00:27:18,190
John Piper, conservative Baptist
theologian, phenomenal man of 

471
00:27:18,190 --> 00:27:23,710
God's phenomenal scholar. 
I, I, I want to let you know he 

472
00:27:24,430 --> 00:27:26,270
believes this says the same 
thing. 

473
00:27:26,270 --> 00:27:30,150
I don't believe in he, he this 
is not some, you know, 

474
00:27:30,310 --> 00:27:33,470
aberration some kind of weird 
fringe belief. 

475
00:27:33,670 --> 00:27:35,750
This is you can you can Google 
it. 

476
00:27:35,750 --> 00:27:38,830
And John Piper believes it means
the same thing. 

477
00:27:40,650 --> 00:27:44,210
So he he in the midst of the 
gods he holds judgment. 

478
00:27:44,210 --> 00:27:45,690
How long till now? 
This. 

479
00:27:45,890 --> 00:27:49,210
So it says see this is a Psalm 
of ASAP. 

480
00:27:49,330 --> 00:27:53,010
ASAP was a prophet that 
functioned under King David. 

481
00:27:53,010 --> 00:27:56,170
It says that he was a prophet. 
He was a song leader. 

482
00:27:56,170 --> 00:27:59,610
He was also the flag bearer and 
a gatekeeper. 

483
00:27:59,610 --> 00:28:01,810
Boy that'll preach won't have 
time to get into that. 

484
00:28:02,010 --> 00:28:03,650
But those things go hand in 
hand. 

485
00:28:03,970 --> 00:28:07,730
And he was a prophet that would 
also prophesy with instruments 

486
00:28:07,730 --> 00:28:10,860
of music. 
And that interesting, we touched

487
00:28:10,860 --> 00:28:13,780
that this morning, by the way, 
that last song. 

488
00:28:15,900 --> 00:28:18,580
And there are things that ASAP 
breaks into. 

489
00:28:18,580 --> 00:28:22,300
He has a revelation of things 
that he could not have known had

490
00:28:22,300 --> 00:28:25,660
God not downloaded this to him. 
God showed this to him. 

491
00:28:27,380 --> 00:28:30,100
So he says, God has taken his 
place in the divine counsel. 

492
00:28:30,100 --> 00:28:32,060
In the midst of the gods he 
holds judgment. 

493
00:28:33,010 --> 00:28:36,890
This is God speaking to these 
members of the divine council. 

494
00:28:37,050 --> 00:28:40,850
How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the 

495
00:28:40,850 --> 00:28:42,890
wicked? 
He's rebuking them. 

496
00:28:43,490 --> 00:28:46,050
Give justice to the weak and the
fatherless. 

497
00:28:46,050 --> 00:28:48,410
Maintain the right of the 
afflicted and the destitute. 

498
00:28:48,650 --> 00:28:51,650
Rescue the weak and the needy. 
Deliver them from the hand of 

499
00:28:51,650 --> 00:28:53,850
the wicked. 
They have neither knowledge nor 

500
00:28:53,850 --> 00:28:55,770
understanding. 
They walk about in darkness. 

501
00:28:55,770 --> 00:28:58,490
All the foundations of the earth
are shaken. 

502
00:28:58,930 --> 00:29:01,690
So God is addressing these 
entities. 

503
00:29:02,010 --> 00:29:05,690
Now listen to verse six. 
I said this is a I believe this 

504
00:29:05,690 --> 00:29:09,290
is a ASAP. 
Now speaking, I said you are 

505
00:29:09,290 --> 00:29:11,730
God's. 
No, that doesn't change the fact

506
00:29:11,730 --> 00:29:15,210
that this is God's word, this is
scripture. 

507
00:29:15,210 --> 00:29:17,250
This is authoritative 
revelation. 

508
00:29:17,610 --> 00:29:22,050
But I think it matters that this
is now from Asap's perspective, 

509
00:29:22,050 --> 00:29:25,090
he said. 
I said you are God's sons of the

510
00:29:25,090 --> 00:29:27,840
most High. 
All of you nevertheless, like 

511
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,520
men, you shall die and fall like
any Prince. 

512
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:33,400
Verse 8. 
Arise, oh God, judge the earth, 

513
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,160
for you shall inherit all the 
nations. 

514
00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:41,920
That last verse is a very, very 
important part of this passage. 

515
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:43,880
What does he say? 
You shall inherit all the 

516
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:47,840
nations we know. 
In Deuteronomy 32, God delegated

517
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:52,040
the nations, all the nations 
except Israel, to these sons of 

518
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,040
God. 
We see them show up in the book 

519
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:56,840
of Job. 
There's a number of passages, 

520
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:01,920
the book of Job, it says the 
sons of God convened before God 

521
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,120
and God looks at in in the 
Hebrew. 

522
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,720
It's thus Satan and said, where 
you been? 

523
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,760
What what you been up to? 
And he said, I've been going 

524
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,200
through all the earth and 
evaluating the the affairs of 

525
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:12,680
many said have you considered 
Job? 

526
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,600
And that kind of launches us out
from the book, but it's Speaking

527
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,890
of the same sons of God. 
Scholars all agree those are 

528
00:30:20,170 --> 00:30:23,650
angelic or even divine 
creatures, not divine in the 

529
00:30:23,650 --> 00:30:27,890
sense that they are uncreated. 
They are created beings living 

530
00:30:27,890 --> 00:30:32,810
in the spiritual realm There. 
It's a hierarchical structure in

531
00:30:32,810 --> 00:30:35,450
the spiritual realm. 
So we see these sons of God. 

532
00:30:35,450 --> 00:30:37,610
God delegates the nations to 
them. 

533
00:30:38,010 --> 00:30:40,930
And Deuteronomy 32, it reveals 
it to us. 

534
00:30:42,530 --> 00:30:47,480
But by Psalm 82, God's rebuking 
them and saying you have used 

535
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,280
your administration, your 
delegated authority, contrary to

536
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,040
what I intended, you are going 
to die like the sons of men. 

537
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,920
And then what does he say? 
ASAP says you will inherit the 

538
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:00,280
nation. 
Speaking to God. 

539
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:02,920
So God said, I'm going back 
after the nation's. 

540
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:09,040
The Great Commission going into 
all the nations is tied to this 

541
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:13,920
divine council worldview, and we
really cannot understand it 

542
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:18,150
correctly unless we understand 
that that God is going after the

543
00:31:18,150 --> 00:31:21,510
nations, he told Abraham. 
I'm going to bless you, make you

544
00:31:21,510 --> 00:31:24,590
into a great nation, and then 
you will bless the nations of 

545
00:31:24,590 --> 00:31:27,110
the earth. 
We see in Colossians. 

546
00:31:27,630 --> 00:31:34,910
God strips these beings, these 
sons of God, of their of their 

547
00:31:34,910 --> 00:31:39,310
authority, of their rulership. 
This is what the what the Old 

548
00:31:39,310 --> 00:31:43,110
Testament calls the divine 
counsel, the sons of God, these,

549
00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:48,180
these beings the New Testament 
refers to as principalities. 

550
00:31:52,180 --> 00:31:54,700
One of the reasons I'd asked the
Lord this for years. 

551
00:31:54,700 --> 00:31:57,700
I'd said, God, what's the deal 
with these principalities? 

552
00:31:58,100 --> 00:32:03,420
How did they access that level 
of authority in the earth? 

553
00:32:05,140 --> 00:32:09,610
Where could they step into that 
type of authority? 

554
00:32:09,610 --> 00:32:13,650
And my theology, what I had been
loosely taught, nice, surmised 

555
00:32:13,650 --> 00:32:15,690
and kind of tried to connect 
some dots at that. 

556
00:32:15,690 --> 00:32:18,650
Well, you know, the earth had 
been given to man, that's clear.

557
00:32:19,010 --> 00:32:21,090
And that. 
So then man, when he fell into 

558
00:32:21,090 --> 00:32:25,090
sin, delegated his authority to 
these spirits, and now they rule

559
00:32:25,330 --> 00:32:29,690
in the heavenly realms. 
But that's not the case. 

560
00:32:30,130 --> 00:32:33,090
Colossians listen to Colossians 
chapter one. 

561
00:32:33,930 --> 00:32:35,970
Listen to what it says. 
See if I I've got this written 

562
00:32:35,970 --> 00:32:41,280
down somewhere here. 
Colossians chapter one, It says 

563
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,720
Colossians one verse 16. 
For by him Speaking of Christ, 

564
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:55,040
all things were created in 
heaven and on earth, visible and

565
00:32:55,040 --> 00:33:00,840
invisible, whether Thrones or 
dominions or rulers or 

566
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,960
authorities. 
All things were created through 

567
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:11,880
him and for Him. 
So God created these positions, 

568
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:17,760
these Thrones, these The 
structure of the spiritual realm

569
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:22,840
was created by God to glorify 
Him and serve His purposes. 

570
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:30,360
But through the fall, these 
positions were corrupted, and 

571
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,480
what we now consider spiritual 
warfare is dealing with these 

572
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:39,520
entities. 
And we need to understand that 

573
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,440
what we're getting into is 
what's called a biblical 

574
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:49,160
cosmology. 
How does the cosmos work? 

575
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,360
How does God govern his 
creation? 

576
00:33:54,840 --> 00:34:02,000
The very idea of a Kingdom, the 
Kingdom of heaven is not a 

577
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,300
place. 
It's it's not a realm, it's 

578
00:34:06,460 --> 00:34:09,940
rule. 
The Spanish word that we 

579
00:34:09,940 --> 00:34:13,460
translate Kingdom is Reno, am I 
right? 

580
00:34:14,260 --> 00:34:16,900
Reno? 
It's it. 

581
00:34:16,940 --> 00:34:21,219
It gives us the idea of the 
English word to reign, and that 

582
00:34:21,219 --> 00:34:26,100
is the Kingdom of God is his 
authoritative right to rule. 

583
00:34:27,179 --> 00:34:30,219
There it is unarguable, 
unchallengeable. 

584
00:34:30,380 --> 00:34:33,510
No one voted in, him voted him 
in, and no one's going to vote 

585
00:34:33,510 --> 00:34:34,949
him out. 
He is. 

586
00:34:35,150 --> 00:34:36,510
He has all authority. 
Why? 

587
00:34:36,630 --> 00:34:42,030
Because he is the author. 
He created it, and then he 

588
00:34:42,030 --> 00:34:49,909
authorizes people with authority
to rule in layers of delegated 

589
00:34:49,909 --> 00:34:51,790
authority. 
There is a hierarchy to the 

590
00:34:51,790 --> 00:34:56,310
spiritual realm and if we don't 
understand this, see an 

591
00:34:56,310 --> 00:35:01,910
oversimplistic cosmology will 
cause you to run into problems 

592
00:35:01,910 --> 00:35:05,590
in your walk with Jesus. 
Especially when we begin to talk

593
00:35:05,590 --> 00:35:09,310
about the mission and extending 
the Kingdom of God. 

594
00:35:09,630 --> 00:35:12,270
When we want to go into regions,
we want to go into nations. 

595
00:35:12,270 --> 00:35:15,830
As I've learned this, When I get
into a nation, when I've come 

596
00:35:15,830 --> 00:35:18,190
there to minister, I go out on 
the balcony because there's a 

597
00:35:18,190 --> 00:35:20,670
balcony on the hotel. 
And I'll stand out there and I 

598
00:35:20,670 --> 00:35:24,530
will just begin to declare I'm 
here on assignment from King 

599
00:35:24,730 --> 00:35:27,450
Jesus. 
He's come to take this nation 

600
00:35:27,450 --> 00:35:31,490
back, and I come under his 
authority, under his protection,

601
00:35:31,650 --> 00:35:34,930
and I come here with the 
charigma, the authoritative 

602
00:35:34,930 --> 00:35:41,850
message from the Kingdom of God,
because that is our mission to 

603
00:35:41,850 --> 00:35:45,890
extend the Kingdom. 
But if we don't understand that,

604
00:35:46,090 --> 00:35:48,650
we think we're just kind of 
trying to talk people into 

605
00:35:48,650 --> 00:35:53,330
believing in Jesus. 
What I'm saying is this. 

606
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:59,920
There is an internal fallenness 
that man struggles with, but 

607
00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:04,800
there is an external darkness 
that man resides in, and we've 

608
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,840
got to contend with that and 
deal with that. 

609
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,480
So men's eyes can be open to 
their hearts are enlightened, 

610
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:15,920
and they can be saved. 
That's why prayer and evangelism

611
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:19,440
go hand in hand. 
Because if we don't win the 

612
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:23,940
battle in the Spirit, we don't 
win the battle for the souls of 

613
00:36:23,940 --> 00:36:27,420
men because they're left groping
around in darkness. 

614
00:36:27,580 --> 00:36:31,180
The gospel doesn't make sense. 
The the Bible uses this 

615
00:36:31,180 --> 00:36:33,820
terminology. 
They are darkened in their 

616
00:36:33,820 --> 00:36:42,540
understanding. 
In fact, Ephesians 4 and Romans 

617
00:36:42,540 --> 00:36:49,180
One both use this terminology. 
Romans One deals with with it on

618
00:36:49,180 --> 00:36:51,940
a corporate level and 
atmospheric level, which is what

619
00:36:51,940 --> 00:36:53,140
we're talking about this 
morning. 

620
00:36:53,420 --> 00:36:57,220
Ephesians 4 deals with it on an 
individual level. 

621
00:36:58,980 --> 00:37:03,700
Turn with me to Ephesians 4. 
Look at this. 

622
00:37:03,900 --> 00:37:07,260
This is this is a troubling 
passage but it's something we 

623
00:37:07,260 --> 00:37:14,100
need to understand and we can 
rescue men and women from this. 

624
00:37:14,100 --> 00:37:17,960
I I read this years ago as I 
began to understand this 

625
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:21,840
passage, I thought been there, 
done that. 

626
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:27,040
I remember walking away from 
Jesus and I walked right down 

627
00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,600
this pathway. 
What Paul is going to do if you 

628
00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:37,360
begin to look in verse, look at 
verse 17, Paul is going to, he's

629
00:37:37,360 --> 00:37:41,760
going to start at the end and 
he's going to reverse engineer. 

630
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:45,440
How did man end up in this 
terrible dilemma? 

631
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,520
And he's going to reverse 
engineer it and find out the 

632
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,960
root cause of this thing called 
the darkening of the 

633
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,200
understanding. 
I would propose to you that you 

634
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,280
could, you could put the title 
over this whole passage, the 

635
00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:01,840
process of the darkening of the 
understanding or the process of 

636
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,040
the hardening of the heart, 
because they're one and the 

637
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:06,080
same. 
Listen to what he says here, 

638
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:10,230
verse 17. 
Now this I say and testify in 

639
00:38:10,230 --> 00:38:15,590
the Lord that you must no longer
walk as the Gentiles do. 

640
00:38:15,790 --> 00:38:18,710
Now hold there for a second. 
Understand. 

641
00:38:18,830 --> 00:38:23,710
Paul would not warn us against 
this if it was not possible for 

642
00:38:23,710 --> 00:38:29,030
us as a believer to do so. 
He's not going to say, you know,

643
00:38:29,390 --> 00:38:32,430
don't don't go out and create 
your own universe because you 

644
00:38:32,430 --> 00:38:34,710
can't do that. 
He doesn't warn you. 

645
00:38:34,790 --> 00:38:38,740
He doesn't say Dave, be careful.
Don't be a movie star. 

646
00:38:38,900 --> 00:38:43,300
Ain't going to happen, Okay. 
He warns me about things that 

647
00:38:43,300 --> 00:38:45,540
are a danger for me, not an 
impossibility. 

648
00:38:45,740 --> 00:38:49,620
So yeah, enough said. 
Verse 17. 

649
00:38:49,620 --> 00:38:52,660
Now this I say in testifying the
Lord that you must no longer 

650
00:38:52,660 --> 00:38:56,340
walk as the Gentiles do. 
What does it say in the futility

651
00:38:56,340 --> 00:39:00,260
of their minds? 
Romans 1 uses that same language

652
00:39:00,260 --> 00:39:02,100
as the futility of their 
thinking. 

653
00:39:03,260 --> 00:39:07,140
There are three phrases in 
Romans 1 where he's talking 

654
00:39:07,140 --> 00:39:10,780
about how God gave them over to 
a depraved mind. 

655
00:39:11,220 --> 00:39:14,900
Remember that where they knew 
God but refused to worship him 

656
00:39:14,900 --> 00:39:19,260
as God, and so God gave them 
over to a depraved mind and they

657
00:39:19,260 --> 00:39:22,820
became inflamed with lust. 
The next stage is they became 

658
00:39:22,820 --> 00:39:25,500
inflamed. 
Men became inflamed with lust 

659
00:39:25,500 --> 00:39:28,580
for one another, and women would
lay with women, which was 

660
00:39:28,580 --> 00:39:34,140
unnatural, Paul says. 
So both of these passages talk 

661
00:39:34,140 --> 00:39:37,300
about the futility of the 
thinking, the darkening of the 

662
00:39:37,300 --> 00:39:40,460
understanding, and they being 
given over to sensuality. 

663
00:39:41,140 --> 00:39:47,340
That is what we are dealing with
as a culture, and it's not just 

664
00:39:47,340 --> 00:39:52,260
in the United States. 
This is a global thing that 

665
00:39:52,260 --> 00:39:56,060
we're dealing with, and God 
always answers fire with fire. 

666
00:39:56,900 --> 00:39:59,860
Worldwide revival has already 
begun. 

667
00:40:00,430 --> 00:40:03,190
But we need to fuel it with our 
intercession and with 

668
00:40:03,190 --> 00:40:09,030
understanding so we can engage. 
So what does Paul say? 

669
00:40:09,150 --> 00:40:15,470
He says they are darkened in 
their understanding and 

670
00:40:15,470 --> 00:40:19,910
alienated from the life of God. 
So that's the end result. 

671
00:40:20,190 --> 00:40:23,270
Darkened in their understanding 
and alienated from the life of 

672
00:40:23,270 --> 00:40:24,230
God. 
Listen to that. 

673
00:40:24,510 --> 00:40:28,950
Darkened in their understanding,
their mind is not enlightened. 

674
00:40:28,950 --> 00:40:33,510
Which is the the converse idea 
that Scripture talks about, That

675
00:40:33,510 --> 00:40:37,430
our minds would be enlightened, 
that the Spirit would give us 

676
00:40:37,430 --> 00:40:39,990
light. 
The 2nd Corinthians. 

677
00:40:40,190 --> 00:40:44,550
That the light of the knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face 

678
00:40:44,550 --> 00:40:47,590
of Christ Jesus would be shed 
abroad in their hearts, and all 

679
00:40:47,590 --> 00:40:50,270
of a sudden we'd see. 
We're not darkened. 

680
00:40:50,390 --> 00:40:53,710
We're not groping about in the 
dark, not understanding that we 

681
00:40:53,710 --> 00:40:56,590
we can't connect the dots. 
I don't understand cause and 

682
00:40:56,590 --> 00:40:58,710
effect. 
I'm doing these things and I'm. 

683
00:40:59,190 --> 00:41:02,350
I'm, I'm complaining about my 
sore back while I jump out 

684
00:41:02,350 --> 00:41:04,550
windows and break the law of 
gravity. 

685
00:41:04,670 --> 00:41:07,030
And I don't connect the two. 
Well, don't jump out. 

686
00:41:07,030 --> 00:41:09,230
A second story window and your 
back won't hurt. 

687
00:41:09,790 --> 00:41:13,470
But I don't understand that. 
I can't connect the dots between

688
00:41:13,470 --> 00:41:16,790
cause and effect. 
It's like that's the darkening 

689
00:41:16,790 --> 00:41:19,390
of the understanding. 
We we can't see. 

690
00:41:19,550 --> 00:41:21,830
We're imprisoned by our darkened
understanding. 

691
00:41:21,990 --> 00:41:26,070
That's the end result. 
But he says this because of or 

692
00:41:26,070 --> 00:41:30,310
the cause of, which is what? 
The ignorance that is in them. 

693
00:41:31,830 --> 00:41:35,110
So there's ignorance. 
There's things that they don't 

694
00:41:35,190 --> 00:41:36,470
know. 
Okay. 

695
00:41:36,630 --> 00:41:39,710
But then he says this. 
That is due to what? 

696
00:41:39,830 --> 00:41:43,390
The hardening of their heart. 
So he goes back to the root. 

697
00:41:43,510 --> 00:41:46,510
The root causes. 
This man hardens his heart. 

698
00:41:47,350 --> 00:41:51,630
The hardening of the heart is a 
very specific idea in scripture.

699
00:41:52,190 --> 00:41:58,280
Psalm or Proverbs 28, verse 14. 
It juxtaposes the hardening of 

700
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,120
the heart over against the fear 
of the Lord. 

701
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,680
It shows it that those are two 
opposite responses. 

702
00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:07,920
When you're confronted on 
something, when you see the 

703
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,920
truth and it's an uncomfortable 
truth, and it's going to demand 

704
00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:14,000
something of you, it's going to 
demand change, you have one of 

705
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,120
two choices. 
You're out of fork in the road. 

706
00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:20,920
You got to decide, Will I fear 
the Lord and enter into the 

707
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,000
wisdom and bend my neck and say,
God, you're smarter than me. 

708
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:28,280
I, I, I, I my mind says I don't 
want this, but I know you know 

709
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,320
what I really want. 
And I've learned by experience 

710
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,400
when I go after something that 
you tell me I don't want and I 

711
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,720
say, Oh yes, I do, that it isn't
very long. 

712
00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:39,400
I'm crying out saying, God, I 
don't want it, will you deliver 

713
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,480
me from it. 
So we walk in the fear of the 

714
00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,720
Lord, and that's the beginning 
of wisdom and wisdom. 

715
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:48,240
And Scripture is living for the 
long term. 

716
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:52,360
It's living according to the 
consequences, this living 

717
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,000
looking down the road aways and 
saying, oh, if I do this today, 

718
00:42:56,200 --> 00:43:00,040
this will happen tomorrow. 
And this is the thing I want to 

719
00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:01,400
happen. 
So I'm going to do this today, 

720
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,280
and this is the thing I don't 
want to have happen tomorrow. 

721
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,000
So I'm not going to do this 
today. 

722
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,400
That's the fear of the Lord. 
Foolishness is the opposite. 

723
00:43:10,060 --> 00:43:12,460
It's eat, drink, and be merry, 
for tomorrow we die. 

724
00:43:12,580 --> 00:43:15,460
I don't, I mean not even be 
alive tomorrow to suffer the bad

725
00:43:15,460 --> 00:43:19,900
consequences or enjoy the good 
consequences of good behavior. 

726
00:43:19,900 --> 00:43:23,900
So I'm just going to indulge in 
the moment, the fool says in his

727
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:28,140
heart, there is no God. 
He doesn't act according to a 

728
00:43:28,140 --> 00:43:32,700
God that's overseeing all of 
history and weighing and 

729
00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:35,260
balancing the scales of human 
behavior. 

730
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,400
So we just throw caution to the 
wind and we bring stuff. 

731
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:43,040
We bring tragedy on our own 
lives because we're fools. 

732
00:43:43,240 --> 00:43:44,960
Fools. 
Just look at the moment I want 

733
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:52,920
this. 
Now the flip side is the 

734
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:56,920
hardening of the heart. 
So if if we're going to be wise 

735
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,720
and walk in the fear of Lord, 
then we we begin to make 

736
00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:02,000
decisions based on the longterm 
consequences. 

737
00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:04,440
And I'll tell you that is the 
life of blessing. 

738
00:44:06,420 --> 00:44:10,380
You pay the price now for 
repeating benefits in the 

739
00:44:10,380 --> 00:44:13,500
future. 
You do the hard things now, 

740
00:44:13,820 --> 00:44:15,740
knowing that there's going to be
a snowball. 

741
00:44:15,740 --> 00:44:19,140
I'm telling you, I've walked 
with Jesus for many decades now,

742
00:44:19,340 --> 00:44:23,380
and I'm telling you God is good 
and if you will follow him, 

743
00:44:23,620 --> 00:44:27,380
blessing will chase you down. 
Doesn't mean that life's a 

744
00:44:27,380 --> 00:44:30,820
better roses. 
But I'm telling you what a bad 

745
00:44:30,820 --> 00:44:33,780
day in Jesus is better than the 
best day without him. 

746
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:38,560
And if you will go after, there 
is a snowball effect of blessing

747
00:44:38,720 --> 00:44:43,400
that will chase you down because
it's the blessed life, because 

748
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:47,680
his principles work, his reign 
is good. 

749
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:51,600
The alternative is you harden 
your heart. 

750
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:52,920
What does hardening of the heart
mean? 

751
00:44:53,240 --> 00:44:56,320
The hardening of the heart. 
See What does Paul say here in 

752
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:58,760
Ephesians 4? 
He says they harden their heart,

753
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:04,960
which results in ignorance, 
which then results in the 

754
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:08,240
darkening of the understanding. 
There's a progression, or rather

755
00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:12,240
a digression here. 
The hardening of the heart is I 

756
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:16,280
don't want this truth. 
This is an uncomfortable truth. 

757
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,680
I don't want to hear this. 
I know what I want. 

758
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:24,040
Don't give me counsel. 
To the contrary, I want this 

759
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:25,800
thing. 
And you can. 

760
00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:29,000
God will honor your decision, CS
Lewis said. 

761
00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:34,420
He said eternity will end with 
two types of people. 

762
00:45:34,580 --> 00:45:39,660
Those who said God your will be 
done, and those to whom God says

763
00:45:39,860 --> 00:45:45,860
your will be done. 
God will honor our decision and 

764
00:45:45,860 --> 00:45:49,980
those who do not fear him will 
make bad decisions. 

765
00:45:51,060 --> 00:45:54,340
So we walk in the fear of the 
Lord and we won't harden our 

766
00:45:54,340 --> 00:45:55,660
heart. 
But the hardening of the heart 

767
00:45:55,660 --> 00:45:57,060
is saying, I don't want that 
truth. 

768
00:45:57,100 --> 00:45:59,420
I don't want that principle. 
I don't want to hear it. 

769
00:45:59,940 --> 00:46:02,940
See, we think we can isolate our
disobedience. 

770
00:46:03,340 --> 00:46:04,820
I'm just going to. 
I'm going to isolate it. 

771
00:46:04,900 --> 00:46:06,820
I'm just going to say no to this
one thing. 

772
00:46:06,940 --> 00:46:09,140
I'm going to stay surrendered in
all other areas. 

773
00:46:09,300 --> 00:46:12,380
It doesn't work that way. 
You can't contain that 

774
00:46:12,380 --> 00:46:14,700
rebellion. 
It'll begin to leak into every 

775
00:46:14,700 --> 00:46:17,060
other place. 
When you resist him in one 

776
00:46:17,060 --> 00:46:19,820
truth. 
What happens in resisting the 

777
00:46:19,820 --> 00:46:22,220
truth? 
You began to lose truth. 

778
00:46:22,220 --> 00:46:26,140
With the lose the truth you once
had, Ignorance steps in 

779
00:46:26,470 --> 00:46:28,950
hardening of the heart is to 
ignore the rebuke. 

780
00:46:29,150 --> 00:46:33,030
Ignorance is a step beyond now. 
I no longer have truth. 

781
00:46:33,670 --> 00:46:37,710
I'm ignorant. 
I I I don't understand things. 

782
00:46:38,270 --> 00:46:41,910
I can't connect the dots. 
I remember when I walked away 

783
00:46:41,910 --> 00:46:45,190
from God and I I got, I went 
deep into sin. 

784
00:46:45,190 --> 00:46:49,590
I became a very demonized young 
man, and I remember people 

785
00:46:49,590 --> 00:46:52,720
coming up and witnessing to me, 
and I knew the truth. 

786
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:55,280
In fact, I would tell people 
about the gospel and they'd 

787
00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:56,440
laugh at me. 
Yeah, you're going to. 

788
00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:58,120
You're going to be a preacher 
someday. 

789
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:02,080
I would talk to them about the 
Gospels, real, But it was like I

790
00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:05,520
couldn't grasp it. 
I could tell you the data, the 

791
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,320
facts, but it had no impact on 
my heart. 

792
00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:10,920
It was like it would, if I tried
to grasp. 

793
00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:13,600
It was like smoke. 
It would just disappear. 

794
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,320
I was in bondage. 
My understanding was darkened. 

795
00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:21,790
I was ignorant, so harden your 
heart. 

796
00:47:22,150 --> 00:47:25,110
Ignore ignorance. 
Ignore Ignorance sets in. 

797
00:47:25,310 --> 00:47:27,550
And then the final phases. 
They're darkened under the 

798
00:47:27,550 --> 00:47:31,510
standing and separated from the 
life of God. the OR alienated is

799
00:47:31,510 --> 00:47:32,590
the way. 
The ESV says. 

800
00:47:32,870 --> 00:47:36,150
The darkening of the 
understanding is to lose the 

801
00:47:36,150 --> 00:47:39,790
moral faculty to receive any 
more revelation. 

802
00:47:40,510 --> 00:47:42,990
It's not that you just lost what
you once have. 

803
00:47:43,190 --> 00:47:46,570
You've lost the ability to gain 
it back because your 

804
00:47:46,570 --> 00:47:50,130
understanding is darkened and 
the only hope for that person is

805
00:47:50,130 --> 00:47:52,690
the mercy of God. 
And somebody praying that they 

806
00:47:52,690 --> 00:47:55,930
would come into that, the light 
of the knowledge of the glory of

807
00:47:55,930 --> 00:47:58,650
God in the face of Christ Jesus 
would be shed abroad in their 

808
00:47:58,650 --> 00:48:02,370
heart and they would the God. 
It's Paul says this in 2nd 

809
00:48:02,370 --> 00:48:04,010
Corinthians 4. 
It's a beautiful passage. 

810
00:48:04,250 --> 00:48:11,250
The God who says let there be 
light would say over them, let 

811
00:48:11,250 --> 00:48:15,740
there be light and the light of 
the knowledge of the glory of 

812
00:48:15,740 --> 00:48:19,620
God in the face of Christ. 
It's like the fog, the the, the,

813
00:48:19,700 --> 00:48:23,260
the, the smog over the life, the
moral clouds. 

814
00:48:23,420 --> 00:48:26,820
All of a sudden the sunburst 
comes through and it burns off 

815
00:48:26,820 --> 00:48:28,860
the clouds, and all of a sudden 
they're standing an open day and

816
00:48:28,860 --> 00:48:34,420
they see and they understand. 
I remember distinctly a season 

817
00:48:34,420 --> 00:48:37,420
in my life where all of a sudden
I began to understand the 

818
00:48:37,420 --> 00:48:39,020
gospel. 
I began to come under 

819
00:48:39,020 --> 00:48:41,300
conviction. 
I began to respond to the fear 

820
00:48:41,300 --> 00:48:43,980
of the Lord because I was so 
convinced God is real. 

821
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:47,120
I still don't want to serve him,
but I don't want to violate them

822
00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:50,640
at that level because I know he 
sees everything and I'm going to

823
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,360
get a spanking. 
That is not the thinking of a 

824
00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:55,800
Sinner. 
That is not the thinking of a 

825
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,720
person that's going to continue.
It was because there was a group

826
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:02,200
of ladies at First Church of the
Open Bible in Ottumwa, IA that 

827
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:06,120
were contending for my soul. 
Years later, I ran into a little

828
00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:08,920
lady in a mall and she she 
pulled me aside and she said, 

829
00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:12,540
Dave, I've never told you this. 
She and she told me the the 

830
00:49:12,540 --> 00:49:15,060
approximate date is when I was 
living on the street. 

831
00:49:15,060 --> 00:49:19,580
She said one night at at church.
We're having a just a time at 

832
00:49:19,580 --> 00:49:23,100
the altar and she said that had 
such a burden for you, she said.

833
00:49:23,100 --> 00:49:25,300
I just began to cry out to God 
for you. 

834
00:49:25,500 --> 00:49:28,300
I laid at the altar just weeping
for your soul. 

835
00:49:29,180 --> 00:49:34,300
That's the only reason I'm saved
today, because God had somebody 

836
00:49:34,300 --> 00:49:37,940
he could get to pray for me and 
lift that darkness. 

837
00:49:40,690 --> 00:49:45,610
So there is this darkness that 
comes on people that we bring on

838
00:49:45,610 --> 00:49:49,650
ourself. 
That's the individual darkness 

839
00:49:49,730 --> 00:49:53,370
of Ephesians 4. 
But there is a corporate 

840
00:49:53,370 --> 00:49:58,330
darkness that literally settles 
on a society, on a culture and 

841
00:49:58,330 --> 00:50:01,610
on nations. 
Turn with me to Ephesians 

842
00:50:01,610 --> 00:50:03,930
Chapter 6. 
Very quickly and we're going to 

843
00:50:03,930 --> 00:50:10,250
wrap this up. 
And this is important for us to 

844
00:50:10,250 --> 00:50:12,210
understand for a number of 
reasons. 

845
00:50:13,450 --> 00:50:16,410
But one of the reasons is if we 
are going to deal with the 

846
00:50:16,410 --> 00:50:21,490
darkness, this present darkness 
that is pervading our nation, 

847
00:50:21,490 --> 00:50:25,370
God needs a people that 
understand what they walk in, 

848
00:50:25,570 --> 00:50:28,810
and we begin to penetrate this 
darkness with intercession. 

849
00:50:29,730 --> 00:50:33,250
God wants to send a sunburst 
that the sun, the light of the 

850
00:50:33,250 --> 00:50:36,970
knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of his Son would burn 

851
00:50:36,970 --> 00:50:40,710
off the clouds, burn off the 
fog, and people would begin to 

852
00:50:40,710 --> 00:50:42,590
see. 
And there are times all 

853
00:50:42,590 --> 00:50:46,150
throughout human history where 
people talked about it was it 

854
00:50:46,150 --> 00:50:49,750
was not an internal thing. 
Like my testimony is where 

855
00:50:49,750 --> 00:50:52,470
people were praying for me as an
individual and I began to see 

856
00:50:52,630 --> 00:50:55,950
and it was an atmospheric thing 
that they walked in the the 

857
00:50:55,950 --> 00:50:58,790
first Great Awakening in the 
United States before we were a 

858
00:50:58,790 --> 00:51:01,510
nation. 
The most prominent figure leader

859
00:51:01,510 --> 00:51:05,070
of that that move was Jonathan 
Edwards, But they talked about 

860
00:51:05,070 --> 00:51:08,550
the God zone in the harbor of 
the Colonial America. 

861
00:51:08,750 --> 00:51:11,830
There was one ship. 
A famous story of ships would 

862
00:51:11,830 --> 00:51:14,830
come in from sea. 
Men out nine months at sea, 

863
00:51:15,110 --> 00:51:18,550
they're ready to get paid for 
nine months of Labor in one 

864
00:51:18,550 --> 00:51:21,070
paycheck. 
And they had just a few things 

865
00:51:21,070 --> 00:51:22,630
on their mind, and none of them 
were good. 

866
00:51:23,430 --> 00:51:26,140
They're going to go whine and 
women and they were going to go 

867
00:51:26,140 --> 00:51:29,020
blow their money and they would 
float into the harbor and there 

868
00:51:29,020 --> 00:51:31,420
was a place. 
They would cross the line into 

869
00:51:31,420 --> 00:51:33,700
the harbor and they would come 
under severe conviction and get 

870
00:51:33,700 --> 00:51:36,140
saved. 
There was one story of a ship 

871
00:51:36,140 --> 00:51:38,580
that was parked on what they 
called the God Zone. 

872
00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:41,740
There were men on one side of 
the ship that weren't over that 

873
00:51:41,740 --> 00:51:44,820
line, and they were cussing and 
fighting and punching it out. 

874
00:51:44,980 --> 00:51:47,780
And guys on the other side of 
the ship were literally on their

875
00:51:47,780 --> 00:51:50,860
knees wailing, crying out to God
for salvation. 

876
00:51:52,660 --> 00:51:57,360
There is such a thing as God 
coming down and crippling 

877
00:51:57,360 --> 00:52:01,240
darkness in a region, a 
geographical region, where the 

878
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:04,680
eyes of men are enlightened. 
And it's not that they they 

879
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,840
thought themselves into it. 
They stepped into it and all of 

880
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:10,560
a sudden the God they didn't 
believe in, didn't want to 

881
00:52:10,560 --> 00:52:14,800
serve, simply happens to them 
and they're converted. 

882
00:52:15,720 --> 00:52:17,280
And that's what we need to pray 
for. 

883
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:21,220
Listen to Ephesians chapter 6, 
verse 10. 

884
00:52:21,220 --> 00:52:23,940
Finally be strong in the Lord 
and in the strength of his 

885
00:52:23,940 --> 00:52:25,860
might. 
Put on the whole armor of God 

886
00:52:26,100 --> 00:52:29,020
that you may be able to stand 
against the schemes of the 

887
00:52:29,020 --> 00:52:30,740
devil. 
We don't have time to get into 

888
00:52:30,740 --> 00:52:35,220
it, but I'm telling you the 
devil has a schematic, a pattern

889
00:52:35,380 --> 00:52:37,820
by which he assaults the souls 
of men. 

890
00:52:38,380 --> 00:52:40,900
Paul said we are not ignorant of
the devil's devices. 

891
00:52:41,460 --> 00:52:44,340
Sad to say that cannot be said 
over everyone. 

892
00:52:45,540 --> 00:52:48,180
There are people who are 
ignorant of the schematics of 

893
00:52:48,180 --> 00:52:52,690
the enemy. 
The Great War book called What 

894
00:52:52,690 --> 00:52:55,250
is it? 
The Art of War. 

895
00:52:56,450 --> 00:52:59,930
One of the principles is know 
your enemy and his strategies. 

896
00:53:00,690 --> 00:53:03,490
Don't be ignorant of the 
schematic of the enemy, he he'll

897
00:53:03,490 --> 00:53:05,570
drop over your life and try to 
work verse 12. 

898
00:53:05,850 --> 00:53:08,650
For we do not wrestle against 
flesh and blood, but against. 

899
00:53:08,650 --> 00:53:13,690
Now listen when he says the 
rulers against the against the 

900
00:53:13,690 --> 00:53:18,410
rulers against the authorities 
against the cosmic powers over 

901
00:53:18,410 --> 00:53:22,800
this present darkness, against 
the spiritual forces of evil in 

902
00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:27,280
heavenly places. 
Now there's two views on this 

903
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:30,440
passage. 
I wouldn't armor, I sell anybody

904
00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:32,920
over it. 
But my loosely held view is this

905
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:37,280
is not Speaking of a 
hierarchical list of spiritual 

906
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:40,480
entities. 
Now, I believe there is a 

907
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:44,560
hierarchy of spiritual entities 
in the spiritual realm, and that

908
00:53:44,560 --> 00:53:50,140
first one rulers is RK ARCHE. 
It's where we get the word 

909
00:53:50,140 --> 00:53:52,940
Archangel. 
It's the one they put in front 

910
00:53:52,940 --> 00:53:57,460
of the Angel RK It it means 
first commander ruler. 

911
00:53:58,060 --> 00:54:00,300
It implies that there is a 
hierarchy. 

912
00:54:01,220 --> 00:54:04,140
But some people will read this 
as okay, There's these 

913
00:54:04,340 --> 00:54:07,580
principalities, these rulers, 
and then there's authorities and

914
00:54:07,580 --> 00:54:11,260
then there's cosmic powers. 
This is my loosely held opinion.

915
00:54:11,260 --> 00:54:13,020
Okay. 
I I don't believe that's what 

916
00:54:13,020 --> 00:54:16,590
that's talking about. 
Let me let me read it to you 

917
00:54:16,590 --> 00:54:17,950
because we're running out of 
time. 

918
00:54:18,270 --> 00:54:19,510
You guys are taking way too 
long. 

919
00:54:22,150 --> 00:54:24,870
I am not convinced this 
description is necessarily 

920
00:54:24,870 --> 00:54:29,430
describing different entities. 
My estimation is that it is most

921
00:54:29,430 --> 00:54:33,990
likely elaborating on the very 
various facets of these are 

922
00:54:34,070 --> 00:54:38,590
gays, principalities, #1, their 
legal standing authorities, 

923
00:54:38,790 --> 00:54:42,420
exucia. 
It means they're they're the 

924
00:54:42,420 --> 00:54:45,660
authority by which they 
function, their function power 

925
00:54:45,660 --> 00:54:49,060
over the they have power over 
this present darkness and their 

926
00:54:49,060 --> 00:54:52,420
nature of their evil, as well as
defining the realm of their 

927
00:54:52,420 --> 00:54:56,380
functioning. 
And So what I mean by that is 

928
00:54:56,380 --> 00:55:02,540
this, that they are the spirits 
that function with authority. 

929
00:55:02,540 --> 00:55:04,580
Why? 
Because God created an 

930
00:55:04,580 --> 00:55:08,220
authoritative structure. 
He assigned the nations to them 

931
00:55:08,630 --> 00:55:12,670
and now in Psalm 82 he said, I'm
going to strip you of your 

932
00:55:12,670 --> 00:55:15,950
authority. 
Colossians tells us God, Jesus 

933
00:55:15,950 --> 00:55:18,350
did that at the cross. 
He stripped them of their 

934
00:55:18,350 --> 00:55:20,550
authority. 
They no longer have authority, 

935
00:55:20,550 --> 00:55:22,710
but they still occupy those 
positions. 

936
00:55:22,870 --> 00:55:26,550
So what are you and I to do? 
We are to go in and we are to do

937
00:55:26,550 --> 00:55:29,670
war. 
And these rogue rulers that are 

938
00:55:29,870 --> 00:55:33,550
exerting, squatting rights, we 
displace them through 

939
00:55:33,550 --> 00:55:39,290
intercession, through travail so
that we can have victory over 

940
00:55:39,290 --> 00:55:42,210
this present darkness. 
We don't have time to get into 

941
00:55:42,210 --> 00:55:44,370
all these terms. 
Maybe we'll maybe we'll revisit 

942
00:55:44,370 --> 00:55:47,650
this next week. 
But let me just mention one 

943
00:55:47,650 --> 00:55:53,250
thing. 
This idea, this present. 

944
00:55:53,250 --> 00:55:56,850
Well, let me let me just Who'll 
give me 5 minutes? 

945
00:55:57,450 --> 00:56:01,820
510-5020 OK Rulers, Arcade, 
first K These are the meanings 

946
00:56:01,820 --> 00:56:03,180
of these words. 
I'm just going to read them real

947
00:56:03,180 --> 00:56:05,860
quick. 
Rulers, Arcade, first beginning.

948
00:56:05,860 --> 00:56:07,260
Chief ruler. 
This term is. 

949
00:56:07,420 --> 00:56:09,540
This is the term from which we 
derive. 

950
00:56:09,540 --> 00:56:13,740
Archangel seems to denote a 
position by design, a position 

951
00:56:13,740 --> 00:56:16,620
granted to rule authorities. 
Exusia, authority. 

952
00:56:16,620 --> 00:56:18,380
Freedom of choice, right 
permission. 

953
00:56:18,380 --> 00:56:22,010
The English term authority is an
accurate translation from which 

954
00:56:22,010 --> 00:56:25,170
we get the English 
authorization, which is a 

955
00:56:25,170 --> 00:56:27,330
related concept to this Greek 
term. 

956
00:56:27,530 --> 00:56:30,730
It denotes the created order 
which is now been corrupted by 

957
00:56:30,730 --> 00:56:32,970
sin. 
The beings which function within

958
00:56:32,970 --> 00:56:35,970
the parameters of this title 
leverage the created order for 

959
00:56:35,970 --> 00:56:40,050
their defiled ends. 
Cosmic powers is the next word. 

960
00:56:40,250 --> 00:56:42,970
Cosmo crater. 
That's really what it that's the

961
00:56:43,170 --> 00:56:46,810
word literally means world, 
ruler, cosmos, orderly 

962
00:56:46,810 --> 00:56:49,620
arrangement and by implication 
creation. 

963
00:56:49,620 --> 00:56:54,020
Criteo dominion might to seize 
or retain the exercise. 

964
00:56:54,020 --> 00:56:57,580
Dominion over the cosmos with 
the implication of arrangement. 

965
00:56:57,580 --> 00:57:00,900
According to Kittles. 
It's a that's a one of many 

966
00:57:00,900 --> 00:57:04,100
people think it's the premier 
Greek handbook. 

967
00:57:04,260 --> 00:57:08,260
This compound word weds both 
ideas together referring to both

968
00:57:08,460 --> 00:57:10,980
the force and comprehensiveness 
of their design. 

969
00:57:11,180 --> 00:57:13,820
Speaking of these rogue 
entities, now this is the one we

970
00:57:13,820 --> 00:57:16,580
really want to look at this 
present darkness. 

971
00:57:17,430 --> 00:57:23,510
The Greek word is scotos. 
Shadow obscurity denotes the 

972
00:57:23,550 --> 00:57:27,430
absence of light and in turn, 
the ignorance of God. 

973
00:57:27,470 --> 00:57:30,910
It's a moral darkness. 
It is a pervading darkness 

974
00:57:30,910 --> 00:57:34,710
which, if not completely so, 
contains a strong moral element.

975
00:57:35,110 --> 00:57:38,310
It obscures the ability to 
understand moral and even 

976
00:57:38,310 --> 00:57:43,110
psychological issues, veiling 
connections and cause of causes 

977
00:57:43,110 --> 00:57:45,190
and effects. 
It is the darkening of the 

978
00:57:45,190 --> 00:57:48,670
understanding on a corporate, 
societal and even atmospheric 

979
00:57:48,670 --> 00:57:51,310
level. 
The inclusion of this idea of 

980
00:57:51,310 --> 00:57:55,430
this present darkness denotes 
the immediacy, the murkiness 

981
00:57:55,430 --> 00:57:57,510
which we all contend with in 
this present age. 

982
00:57:57,710 --> 00:58:00,510
One of the common dynamics of 
revival, however, which has been

983
00:58:00,510 --> 00:58:03,670
pointed out by many throughout 
history, is the atmospheric 

984
00:58:03,670 --> 00:58:07,590
clarity and cleanliness people 
experienced during seasons of 

985
00:58:07,590 --> 00:58:10,500
outpouring. 
You ever been in revival? 

986
00:58:11,340 --> 00:58:13,460
You go in and it's like the air 
is clear. 

987
00:58:13,540 --> 00:58:16,900
It's like, oh man, you feel that
you open your Bible and it's 

988
00:58:16,900 --> 00:58:20,260
just alive because the darkness 
has lifted. 

989
00:58:20,700 --> 00:58:24,340
The dominion of God come in, has
come in and displaced this 

990
00:58:24,340 --> 00:58:27,300
present darkness. 
That's what we're contending 

991
00:58:27,300 --> 00:58:29,820
for. 
So it goes on, or I go on. 

992
00:58:33,480 --> 00:58:36,120
Many have pointed out throughout
history the atmospheric clarity 

993
00:58:36,120 --> 00:58:38,120
and cleanliness people 
experienced during seasons of 

994
00:58:38,160 --> 00:58:40,040
outpouring. 
It is this very darkness, this 

995
00:58:40,040 --> 00:58:44,160
scotos, that is penetrated by 
the Spirit of God coming as a 

996
00:58:44,160 --> 00:58:46,880
spirit of truth, a spirit of 
wisdom and revelation, which 

997
00:58:46,880 --> 00:58:51,340
dispels lies and removes human 
justifications, melting them 

998
00:58:51,340 --> 00:58:53,940
like wax before the presence of 
the Lord. 

999
00:58:54,100 --> 00:58:57,980
All our justifications and our 
arguments that we hold on to for

1000
00:58:57,980 --> 00:59:01,500
what we do melt away, and we're 
stripped bare before the Lord, 

1001
00:59:01,500 --> 00:59:04,020
and we know we have to deal with
Him. 

1002
00:59:04,260 --> 00:59:10,940
That's a good thing. 
If your armor of defense against

1003
00:59:10,940 --> 00:59:15,980
God still works, let me know. 
I'll be praying for you that God

1004
00:59:15,980 --> 00:59:21,420
will strip you naked revelation 
which dispels lies and removes 

1005
00:59:21,420 --> 00:59:24,700
human justification, melting 
like wax for the presence the 

1006
00:59:24,700 --> 00:59:26,500
Lord. 
This, the removal of this 

1007
00:59:26,500 --> 00:59:30,060
present darkness is what is 
behind the concept of an open 

1008
00:59:30,060 --> 00:59:31,860
heaven when applied 
geographically and 

1009
00:59:31,860 --> 00:59:34,740
atmospherically. 
Then it says spiritual forces 

1010
00:59:34,740 --> 00:59:37,940
and and heavenly places. 
I want to get into the Greek. 

1011
00:59:37,940 --> 00:59:42,340
The term traces the activity, 
the spiritual entities defining 

1012
00:59:42,340 --> 00:59:46,370
its source. 
It the the word evil defines the

1013
00:59:46,370 --> 00:59:48,810
moral nature and the motive 
behind this activity. 

1014
00:59:49,010 --> 00:59:51,570
It denotes wickedness, 
twistedness, all with the 

1015
00:59:51,570 --> 00:59:53,770
malicious intent defining the 
motive. 

1016
00:59:53,970 --> 00:59:55,690
And it happens in the spiritual 
realm. 

1017
00:59:55,690 --> 00:59:58,930
It defines the context or 
dimension out of which this evil

1018
00:59:58,930 --> 01:00:00,610
emanates and in which it 
operates. 

1019
01:00:01,490 --> 01:00:05,730
And that, my friend, is what 
we're dealing with as a nation. 

1020
01:00:07,570 --> 01:00:12,050
But we are the people of God, 
and the gospel contains the 

1021
01:00:12,050 --> 01:00:15,610
power. 
To lift this present darkness. 

1022
01:00:17,530 --> 01:00:21,570
And there is, Paul said, we 
wrestle not against flesh and 

1023
01:00:21,570 --> 01:00:24,970
blood, but we do wrestle with 
these principalities and powers.

1024
01:00:25,490 --> 01:00:28,970
We don't do it cavalierly and 
start rebuking them, but in 

1025
01:00:28,970 --> 01:00:31,730
prayer, in travail, we begin to 
press. 

1026
01:00:32,010 --> 01:00:33,370
Let me read you one more thing, 
Stan. 

1027
01:00:33,370 --> 01:00:36,210
So you know I'm going to quit. 
Let me, let me just read you 

1028
01:00:36,210 --> 01:00:37,250
this. 
One more thing. 

1029
01:00:46,350 --> 01:00:54,430
Come on, pray for my computer. 
Okay here it is. 

1030
01:00:56,990 --> 01:01:01,510
Our will in this realm of 
travail is essential. 

1031
01:01:01,510 --> 01:01:05,630
We are displacing the enemy 
through stubborn determination. 

1032
01:01:05,630 --> 01:01:08,230
We become like a bull that is 
pushing. 

1033
01:01:08,230 --> 01:01:12,070
Consistent, stubborn pressure is
brought against any opposition 

1034
01:01:12,070 --> 01:01:14,960
until this will is accomplished.
God's will is accomplished in 

1035
01:01:14,960 --> 01:01:17,000
this situation. 
That's what that idea of 

1036
01:01:17,000 --> 01:01:19,480
wrestling means. 
Those of you have wrestled, you 

1037
01:01:19,480 --> 01:01:22,840
understand wrestling is one of 
the most exhausting sports 

1038
01:01:23,040 --> 01:01:27,080
because the body itself is the 
weapon and you are using it to 

1039
01:01:27,080 --> 01:01:30,360
bear pressure upon them until 
they give in. 

1040
01:01:31,760 --> 01:01:34,960
And that's the idea that he has 
with us wrestling against these 

1041
01:01:34,960 --> 01:01:38,080
principalities and powers. 
It is this that Paul is talking 

1042
01:01:38,080 --> 01:01:40,520
about when he says we wrestle 
against principalities and 

1043
01:01:40,520 --> 01:01:42,790
powers in high places. 
There is a wrestling, a 

1044
01:01:42,790 --> 01:01:47,510
struggle, A showdown of wills. 
You've got to set your heart 

1045
01:01:47,510 --> 01:01:49,990
towards this thing. 
I so appreciated what Pastor 

1046
01:01:49,990 --> 01:01:54,710
Cara said this morning and I I 
turned to the young man standing

1047
01:01:54,710 --> 01:01:57,230
next to me and I he I asked him 
what he gave up and I said this 

1048
01:01:57,230 --> 01:01:58,830
is what I was laying down this 
morning. 

1049
01:01:59,070 --> 01:02:02,950
I feel like I have been 
distracted from by the cares of 

1050
01:02:02,950 --> 01:02:08,830
this life and I want to give 
myself to this thing. 

1051
01:02:09,510 --> 01:02:15,390
I want to give my whole heart. 
I received a call the other day.

1052
01:02:15,390 --> 01:02:17,070
I said would you get on the 
phone with Lou Engle. 

1053
01:02:17,070 --> 01:02:18,230
I said sure. 
I thought it was going to be 

1054
01:02:18,230 --> 01:02:22,430
like 50 pastors. 
It was Lou and his prophetic 

1055
01:02:22,430 --> 01:02:25,790
sidekick in this, a prayer 
leader from across the state and

1056
01:02:25,790 --> 01:02:29,270
he said, can you mobilize people
in Iowa for the elections? 

1057
01:02:32,310 --> 01:02:35,710
So do you think you can call 
Iowa to a 21 day fast for the 

1058
01:02:35,710 --> 01:02:43,710
elections? 
I believe God is calling us to 

1059
01:02:43,710 --> 01:02:48,910
this, this showdown of wills. 
There needs to be something 

1060
01:02:48,910 --> 01:02:53,550
within us that stands up and 
says not on my watch, not on my 

1061
01:02:53,550 --> 01:02:55,550
watch. 
We're seeing this nation go to 

1062
01:02:55,550 --> 01:02:58,870
hell in a handbasket and there 
needs to be something in us that

1063
01:02:58,870 --> 01:03:04,030
says not on my watch. 
This type of praying is a 

1064
01:03:04,030 --> 01:03:07,470
contact sport wherein we come 
into direct contact with the 

1065
01:03:07,470 --> 01:03:09,680
opposition. 
We feel his breath. 

1066
01:03:09,680 --> 01:03:12,800
But this level of prayer is 
functioned in only by those who 

1067
01:03:12,800 --> 01:03:15,240
have already achieved the 
internal surrender. 

1068
01:03:15,440 --> 01:03:19,720
They are in no danger. 
They can say with Jesus He has 

1069
01:03:19,720 --> 01:03:23,320
nothing in me. 
You've already laid it down. 

1070
01:03:26,440 --> 01:03:29,240
To the extent you have something
you're still holding on to is 

1071
01:03:29,240 --> 01:03:30,920
the thing the enemy will come 
against. 

1072
01:03:32,040 --> 01:03:34,000
If you're touchy, you will be 
touched. 

1073
01:03:37,310 --> 01:03:38,990
The enemy has nothing in them. 
They are already. 

1074
01:03:38,990 --> 01:03:41,070
They've already given their 
lives and surrender the threat 

1075
01:03:41,070 --> 01:03:43,190
of giving it and the battle 
doesn't move them. 

1076
01:03:43,190 --> 01:03:47,470
The enemy must acquiesce to this
type of St. and this is the 

1077
01:03:47,470 --> 01:03:50,230
great need of this hour. 
Praying Saints who love not 

1078
01:03:50,230 --> 01:03:58,150
their lives and to the death. 
Let's pray, Father, we're asking

1079
01:03:58,150 --> 01:04:01,110
God that you would light our 
souls on fire. 

1080
01:04:02,190 --> 01:04:05,830
Lord, we ask that you would take
an A coal off the altar of 

1081
01:04:05,830 --> 01:04:11,120
heaven and ignite our hearts. 
Lord, do what we cannot do for 

1082
01:04:11,120 --> 01:04:16,480
ourselves. 
I feel like the Lord is asking 

1083
01:04:16,520 --> 01:04:19,320
each of us this morning, 
individually and corporately. 

1084
01:04:20,440 --> 01:04:24,840
Do I have your yes. 
Our yes doesn't mean we have the

1085
01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:27,840
capacity to carry it out on our 
own. 

1086
01:04:28,600 --> 01:04:33,920
But we surrender our will and we
say, Jesus, make me willing, do 

1087
01:04:33,920 --> 01:04:38,100
whatever you have to do to get 
me where you need me to be. 

1088
01:04:40,580 --> 01:04:43,780
What Pastor Cara shared this 
morning is a word from the Lord.

1089
01:04:44,620 --> 01:04:50,540
He's looking for a deeper 
surrender and future generations

1090
01:04:50,540 --> 01:04:54,300
look back at this generation. 
God is looking for a company of 

1091
01:04:54,300 --> 01:04:59,340
people of whom it will be said, 
they laid their life down to 

1092
01:04:59,340 --> 01:05:04,060
save a nation. 
They laid their life down to 

1093
01:05:04,060 --> 01:05:06,940
shape history and to turn the 
corner. 

1094
01:05:09,100 --> 01:05:14,260
Lord, we're asking God. 
She would touch us, light our 

1095
01:05:14,260 --> 01:05:17,140
hearts on fire. 
And Father, we're asking that 

1096
01:05:17,140 --> 01:05:20,940
you would instruct us, give us 
understanding for the 

1097
01:05:20,940 --> 01:05:27,820
assignment, Teach us. 
We pray in Jesus name. 

1098
01:05:27,820 --> 01:05:31,580
Before I let you go, I do 
apologize for going along, but 

1099
01:05:31,580 --> 01:05:34,540
I'm sticking two weeks into one 
because Pastor Laura bumped me. 

1100
01:05:36,930 --> 01:05:41,050
If you're here this morning and 
you're not right with God, this 

1101
01:05:41,050 --> 01:05:44,850
is your opportunity. 
Jesus brought you here, and he's

1102
01:05:44,850 --> 01:05:48,050
here, standing before you. 
He's knocking on the door of 

1103
01:05:48,050 --> 01:05:49,690
your heart. 
He wants you. 

1104
01:05:50,250 --> 01:05:53,050
He's got a plan for your life, 
But it's going to take your 

1105
01:05:53,050 --> 01:05:55,810
surrender. 
If you're here this morning and 

1106
01:05:55,810 --> 01:05:57,450
you're saying I'm. 
I'm willing to step on the line.

1107
01:05:57,450 --> 01:06:00,490
I need Jesus. 
I need to surrender my life to 

1108
01:06:00,490 --> 01:06:01,930
him. 
Just raise your hand right now. 

1109
01:06:02,390 --> 01:06:04,750
You're saying I need to get 
right with God this morning. 

1110
01:06:05,310 --> 01:06:08,390
So raise your hand high. 
Make sure I acknowledge it 

1111
01:06:08,390 --> 01:06:13,070
before before you put it down. 
You need to get right with God 

1112
01:06:13,070 --> 01:06:16,270
this morning. 
You're not walking with him and 

1113
01:06:16,270 --> 01:06:18,390
you're saying I need that. 
I want that. 

1114
01:06:18,670 --> 01:06:20,270
I'm willing to surrender my 
life. 

1115
01:06:23,230 --> 01:06:25,350
Nobody can make that decision 
for you. 

1116
01:06:26,590 --> 01:06:31,540
Often I know when I would sit in
services and I felt that panic 

1117
01:06:31,540 --> 01:06:33,940
and that my heart would beat and
I just wanted to get out of 

1118
01:06:33,940 --> 01:06:36,060
there. 
Don't give in to that. 

1119
01:06:36,340 --> 01:06:38,420
Step over the line. 
If you need to get right with 

1120
01:06:38,420 --> 01:06:39,900
God, just raise your hand right 
now. 

1121
01:06:40,780 --> 01:06:49,970
We want to pray with you. 
All right, Father. 

1122
01:06:50,250 --> 01:06:54,090
Lord, we thank you for your word
and we thank you for what you're

1123
01:06:54,090 --> 01:06:57,810
doing in us. 
God, Lord, take us as your 

1124
01:06:57,810 --> 01:07:02,010
people take us deeper. 
Jesus, this church, this 

1125
01:07:02,010 --> 01:07:06,140
congregation. 
We as a corporate people are 

1126
01:07:06,140 --> 01:07:13,500
yours to do with as you please. 
Spend us, Lord, Spend us, Lord. 

1127
01:07:13,500 --> 01:07:18,060
Don't let us waste our life on 
silly temporal things. 

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Spend us well in Jesus name. 
Amen. 

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01:07:23,940 --> 01:07:25,780
Thanks for listening to our 
podcast. 

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01:07:25,780 --> 01:07:28,300
If you'd like to help more 
people hear this message, you 

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01:07:28,300 --> 01:07:30,900
can get the word out by 
subscribing and sharing it on 

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01:07:30,900 --> 01:07:33,240
social media. 
If you'd like to support the 

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01:07:33,240 --> 01:07:36,080
ministries of Heartland Church, 
you can do so at Heartland 

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01:07:36,080 --> 01:07:38,280
Church, online.com/give.