1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,160 We're going all the way back almost to the beginning, and not 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:05,520 long ago we were in Genesis 3, but we're going to be in there 3 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:09,480 again today while you're turning to Genesis 3. 4 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,600 I need to vent for a moment. I do. 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,160 How many of y'all are getting more scam calls than ever 6 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,560 before? It's ridiculous. 7 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,800 I feel like every week it's another text message or phone 8 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,240 call or another e-mail or another social and media account 9 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:29,240 trying to convince us that something is happening that just 10 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,840 really isn't true. So if you answer the phone and 11 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,680 you hear someone tell you that the IRS has issued a warrant for 12 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,640 your arrest, you know, unless you pay them immediately, it's 13 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:39,280 really convenient. You can pay them over text. 14 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,440 Another person will claim your Amazon account has been 15 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,120 compromised. Then there's someone who 16 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,440 pretends to be your bank saying that your account is frozen and 17 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,120 they just need you to verify your password. 18 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:52,680 All of a sudden, it's not your password anymore. 19 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,560 Every once in a while you get a phone call, even from maybe a 20 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,640 grandchild you never heard of from before that is in jail or 21 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,120 something and they need you to help them get out. 22 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,879 But some of these scams don't sound so ridiculous that you 23 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:08,400 can't help but laugh. But I want you to remember 24 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:10,280 something. If they didn't work on somebody, 25 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,480 then the scammers wouldn't keep making calls. 26 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:15,440 They don't need to fool everyone, they just need to fool 27 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,560 some. We've even had one that has 28 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,760 circulated for years and it is not unique to Liberty Church. 29 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,920 It's unique to churches. I have a pastor friend in 30 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:25,960 Pensacola that was telling me. He deals with it too. 31 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,160 But it does happen in a lot of different places where you'll 32 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,120 get an e-mail or something and they'll make an e-mail that 33 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,440 sounds very similar to the e-mail address for the pastor. 34 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,440 So this happened to Pastor Tom before me and it's happened to 35 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,160 me since. And it'll say, hey, this is 36 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,040 Pastor Blake. Now, if you go and look at the 37 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,720 e-mail address, it's normally like, I don't know, 38 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:50,160 redsquirrel13695@aol.com or something, but it says Pastor 39 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,320 Blake and it'll say, hey, I'm in a meeting or I'm in counseling 40 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:54,640 and I need you to help me with something. 41 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,640 Please be very discreet. Don't tell anybody. 42 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,440 And then when you start talking to them, they say, oh, well, you 43 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:02,840 know, I want to surprise people with gift cards. 44 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:04,560 I want to bless them. So if you could buy them, I'll 45 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,360 reimburse you. And, and the reality is these 46 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,560 things do work. I just want to tell you today, 47 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,520 if you ever get a message from me asking you to purchase gift 48 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,400 cards for me, you have my full permission to tell me no, all 49 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,320 right? Don't feel like you've got to 50 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:21,960 because it's not me. All right? 51 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,680 But listen, the amazing thing about every scam is they all 52 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,640 have one thing in common. They don't start by force. 53 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,720 They don't shake you down. The phone call isn't somebody 54 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:33,760 saying, hey, just so you know, I know where you live. 55 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,320 I'm going to come beat your face in unless you give me 10 bucks. 56 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,520 No, they try because they start with something that seems 57 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:41,440 plausible. There's like a kernel of truth 58 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,200 in it. I mean, if you aren't afraid 59 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,680 that like something could get scammed or broken into at some 60 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,960 point, I mean, you're just fooling yourself. 61 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:50,680 There's so many ways to do it now. 62 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,120 I mean, we just, we tap our card on things to pay for them. 63 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,480 We tap our phone on things. Soon they'll just scan your 64 00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:58,800 eyeball and you'll pay for stuff. 65 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:00,880 I'm just telling you like that is the way that things are 66 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:02,080 going. So there's a lot of 67 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,520 opportunities to get scammed, and it always starts with 68 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,720 something true before they hook you in with a lie. 69 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,280 I was thinking a lot about that this week, and I couldn't help 70 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,720 but realize that that is the same thing that Satan has been 71 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,760 doing since the beginning. He's been running a long scam. 72 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,800 And you know, his methods may have changed a little over the 73 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:22,800 centuries, but his strategy hasn't. 74 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,120 He's never needed to overpower humanity, not that he could. 75 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,120 More often than not, he just convinces us to believe 76 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,760 something that's not true. And he whispers lies about 77 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,720 ourselves, and he whispers lies to us about other people, and he 78 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,000 whispers lies to us about God. He twists it just enough so that 79 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,160 it's believable. And once you accept the lie, you 80 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,080 start living as if it was a reality. 81 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,600 It's not a scripture for today, but I'll give you one example 82 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,760 and then we'll, we'll touch on it a little bit more in a few 83 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,520 weeks. But how many of y'all are 84 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,440 familiar in the New Testament? There's there's, there's this 85 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,560 time where Jesus is preaching and he's preaching hardcore. 86 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,880 I mean, he is, he's wanting people to understand, look, the 87 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:58,960 Kingdom of God is here. This is going to happen to the 88 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,640 Son of Man. I'm going to get, I'm going to 89 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:01,880 get killed. I'm going to be raised up on the 90 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:03,360 third day. And Peter pulls him to the side 91 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:04,960 and he's like, hey, Jesus, people don't want to hear this 92 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,880 kind of sermon. Even back then they were 93 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:10,880 worried, oh, if you preach something mean, then, you know, 94 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,200 the tithes and offerings will dry up. 95 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,640 But essentially he says, Jesus, they don't like this kind of 96 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,160 message. And Jesus looked at him and he 97 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,480 said, get behind me, Satan. And for a long time that was a 98 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,400 very harsh statement to me because I just thought like, 99 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:25,840 that's your number one guy. I mean, you sure correct them, 100 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:29,040 but it's a little harsh. You know, could you imagine that 101 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,840 you get something wrong at home? Your wife's like, oh, you're the 102 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,800 devil. And some of you are like, she 103 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:36,400 told you about that conversation. 104 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:41,800 Jesus wasn't addressing Peter as Satan. 105 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:43,400 He was addressing the author of the thought. 106 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,640 Here's the problem, Peter being made in the image of the Lord, 107 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,000 being made in the image of God, just like you and I are, 108 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,680 accepted a lie as the truth and started speaking it like it was 109 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,200 real. So the enemy, the author, had to 110 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,560 be rebuked because Peter didn't know he had been deceived. 111 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:02,040 This happens to us all the time in Genesis chapter 3, just 112 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,880 starting right there in in the first verse. 113 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,600 It's called the fall in most people's Bible and it says this. 114 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,080 It says the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild 115 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,960 animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, did 116 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,960 God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees 117 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,600 in the garden? Now already this is misleading, 118 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:23,320 right? Because what, what did the Lord 119 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:24,880 say? He said, do not eat from these 120 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,120 two trees. But now he's like, is it really 121 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:28,280 true you can't eat from any of them? 122 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,160 And she said, well, of course we may eat from the the trees in 123 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,160 the garden. It's only the fruit from the 124 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,640 tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. 125 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:38,960 God said, you must not eat it or even touch it. 126 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,960 If you do, you'll die. By the way, no scripture does it 127 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:43,960 tell you that God said you can't touch it. 128 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,680 So all of a sudden we start putting these other things 129 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,880 there, right? It's this is something we do in 130 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,000 church today. We're like, well, if I put these 131 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,040 13 rules in place, then I'll never get in trouble. 132 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,280 So what you have here is like, well, if I don't even touch it, 133 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,240 then I won't, I won't sin. Well, it didn't work. 134 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:08,440 Verse 4, the devil says you won't die, God knows that your 135 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,880 eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it and you will be like 136 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,280 God knowing both good and evil. And the woman was convinced. 137 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:19,200 She saw that the tree was beautiful and it's fruit looked 138 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,480 delicious and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. 139 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,600 So she took some of the fruit and ate it and then she gave 140 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,840 some to her husband who was with her and he ate it too. 141 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,200 I've heard a lot of people get mad at him there by the way, 142 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:31,920 they're like he was there, he should have stepped up. 143 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:33,800 Let's be honest, he probably wasn't paying attention. 144 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:38,080 He probably zoned out. Honey, you want a bite of this? 145 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,200 Sure. I'm just, I'm just kidding. 146 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,880 Probably verse 7. At that moment their eyes were 147 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,440 opened and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness, so 148 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,400 they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 149 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:56,880 They essentially started to feel shame over something they 150 00:06:56,880 --> 00:06:58,360 weren't supposed to feel shame over. 151 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,160 Bible never tells you you're supposed to feel shame. 152 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,360 But ultimately they now felt vulnerable. 153 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,400 Because they felt vulnerable, they felt exposed. 154 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,320 The second they felt exposed, they didn't feel safe and they 155 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,920 felt shame. We are battling the same thing 156 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,840 today. Every time I read this story I 157 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,400 know where people's minds go because my mind has gone there 158 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,840 many times too. Like was this really a snake? 159 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:19,880 Why doesn't it just call him Satan there? 160 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,080 Why in the world wasn't Eve terrified when it started 161 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:25,080 talking? I've heard preachers say this 162 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:26,840 before, too. You know, if a snake came up to 163 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,000 me and started talking, I'd be a little freaked out. 164 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,840 I don't know that I would take it as a solid source of advice. 165 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,800 Here's where we start to get a little deeper and a little weird 166 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,520 here. Let's get weird, OK? 167 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:41,360 In the original creation, before there was sin on the earth, the 168 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,880 garden was housed not just by the sons of God like Adam and 169 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,120 Eve, human beings, but it also housed the sons of God, which 170 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:49,880 are all these other spiritual beings. 171 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,520 We have no idea what it was like because there wasn't such a wide 172 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,040 chasm between the spiritual and the natural realm. 173 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,200 So to have this, this being walk up to them and speak wouldn't 174 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,000 have been weird. I guarantee you Adam and Eve had 175 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,960 conversations with them all the time. 176 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,400 We'll talk about this a lot more next week when we talk about the 177 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,960 unseen hosts. Because there are so many other 178 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,000 beings that God has created, and at one point they were all 179 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,880 together. So to have some sort of angelic 180 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:18,040 being, we don't know if it was actually a serpent, if it was a 181 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,240 snake, if it was some sort of heavenly being with reptilian 182 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:22,800 features or something, We don't know. 183 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,280 All we know is it would not have been weird for her to talk to 184 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,440 something that God had made. She was not expecting to be 185 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,120 deceived. She had never been deceived 186 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:36,240 before, neither had Adam. Now, these are good questions. 187 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,480 I don't think we should completely ignore them, but I 188 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,640 also don't think they're the main point of the story. 189 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:43,919 The scripture says the serpent was the craftiest of all the 190 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:45,640 wild animals that the Lord God had made. 191 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,880 But as you continue reading the rest of scripture of like from 192 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,120 beginning to end, Genesis to Revelation, it becomes very 193 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,440 evident because there's other scriptures that talk about this 194 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:55,440 ancient serpent who caused us to sin. 195 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,520 And next week we'll talk about a lot more of them. 196 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:00,960 But I want you to know that what's important here is that 197 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,040 Adam and Eve talked to God face to face. 198 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:07,880 There was no sin, no death, no curse, no separation between 199 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:09,840 heaven and earth. The way that we experience that 200 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,120 today. The garden was not just 201 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,480 beautiful, it was holy. It was holy and human beings 202 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,560 were able to walk it. How amazing is this? 203 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,680 Personally, I think Adam and Eve would have been far more 204 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,520 familiar with the spiritual world than we are today because 205 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:27,560 they were able to walk in God's full presence. 206 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,360 So of course they could walk with all of His creations. 207 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,600 I don't think God wants us staring at the serpent, though. 208 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:36,200 I think He wants us listening to the conversation because that's 209 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,640 where everything changed. Just like those scam callers, 210 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,760 the enemy does not come charging into your home swinging a sword. 211 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,920 He didn't threaten Eve and he doesn't normally threaten you. 212 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,160 He doesn't force her to do anything. 213 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,520 He just starts talking. More specifically, he asks a 214 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,840 question that starts with this. Did God really say, I mean, 215 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,800 whole churches divide over this, don't they think about it? 216 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:01,440 Do God really say women can be pastors? 217 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,160 Do God really say that you could be baptized by having a bucket 218 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:07,960 of water dumped on you? Weren't you supposed to be fully 219 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:09,840 immersed? These are did God really say 220 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,120 that your predestined? I mean, a lot of you are like, I 221 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:14,440 don't even know these things you're talking about. 222 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,400 Good. But some of us, we have dug in 223 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,120 the trenches and instead of fighting the Kingdom of 224 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,720 darkness, we've been fighting other churches over things that 225 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,000 really aren't even our business. We make a big deal out of things 226 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:26,840 that the Bible barely whispers about. 227 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:30,360 And all it takes is for the enemy to come in and be like, 228 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,720 did God really say that? They're probably not a genuine 229 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:34,120 believer, you know, because they do. 230 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:35,440 I don't know, I'm a fill in the blank. 231 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,960 And don't get me wrong, there's a place for solid theology. 232 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,120 It just can't be at the expense of your relationship with the 233 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,240 Lord. Otherwise you'll actually 234 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,440 worship your theology. And a lot of Christians do that. 235 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,800 So the enemy still to this day doesn't begin with an obvious 236 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:52,320 lie. Could you imagine that? 237 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,240 I don't know. If you wake up one day and the 238 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,040 enemy whispered to you and said, just so you know, your husband 239 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,160 is actually a serpent wearing human skin. 240 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,320 Why did you look at Cody when I said that? 241 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:16,280 No, that's interesting. Let's set up an appointment. 242 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,720 Let's talk about that later, OK? If you were to wake up and he 243 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,480 gave you something that was absolutely ridiculous, you would 244 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,720 be like, that's a weird thought, throw it away. 245 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,240 But if you wake up and then the enemy goes, I wonder if the 246 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,240 devil's got him, can you trust him? 247 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,520 Remember that one time that he gave you a little white line? 248 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,400 Well, that one then starts, gets your mind thinking, and the more 249 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,360 confused you get, the more susceptible you are. 250 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:44,760 So I don't want you unaware of the devil's schemes today. 251 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:48,000 A lot has changed since Genesis 3. 252 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,480 Culture has obviously changed a lot. 253 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,920 The language has changed, but the playbook hasn't changed. 254 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:54,520 So what happened to Adam and Eve is what happens to us. 255 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:57,120 They reached for the fruit because for just a moment, I 256 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,840 want you to grab this. For just a moment, they trusted 257 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,120 the voice of the serpent more than the voice of the Creator. 258 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,600 And that's all it takes. So if we're honest, that's still 259 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:08,160 where every temptation begins. It begins with a voice asking us 260 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,200 to question something that God has already told us. 261 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,800 So the first thing you need to do today is to know your enemy. 262 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:17,440 You need to know your enemy. If you don't know who your enemy 263 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,040 is, I mean, you're going to fight everybody. 264 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,600 One of the reasons there's so much confusion about Satan is 265 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,520 that throughout the years we filled in a lot of the blanks 266 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:26,120 that the Bible never actually fills in. 267 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:29,720 So here we go. How many of y'all grew up 268 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:31,880 hearing that Satan was a worship leader in heaven? 269 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:37,800 He he wasn't, not that we know of. 270 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,120 I've preached it, but there's no scripture that says it. 271 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,360 You know why I preached it? Because I heard other preachers 272 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:45,640 say it and I thought, oh, I bet you they've done their research. 273 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:48,480 So I'm just telling you today, if you're like, well, I don't 274 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,200 know about that, Go do your own research. 275 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,040 You won't hurt my feelings. Teach me something. 276 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,320 So the Bible never says that he was a worship leader. 277 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,080 There are two chapters that sometimes people will pull from 278 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,560 and say that he's referring to the enemy. 279 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,760 But really those chapters I believe, are talking about human 280 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,000 kings and specific situations, and there's just some area of 281 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:09,720 overlap that it seems like he could be. 282 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,720 But I will tell you that Satan does have a job. 283 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,200 The idea primarily comes from, by the way, if you want to look 284 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,120 them up for yourself, the chapters are Isaiah 14 and 285 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,160 Ezekiel 28 if you want to read those. 286 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,240 But they are talking about the kings of Babylon and Tyre. 287 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,680 And if you read it through that lens of talking about earthly 288 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,320 kings, it'll make a lot more sense. 289 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:31,480 A lot of Christians throughout church history have seen a 290 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,880 secondary application. I just don't ascribe to that 291 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,160 anymore. But one of the people who really 292 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,560 helped me think through this was an author who's gone home to be 293 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,320 with the Lord now. His name was Michael Heiser. 294 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,000 And he points out that when we first encounter Satan in the Old 295 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,440 Testament, Satan's really not a personal name at all. 296 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,120 Some of you knew that, but how many of you didn't know that 297 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,800 Satan was not his name, is it? Come on. 298 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,600 All right, so Satan's not his name In the Hebrew, it's 299 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,640 Hasatan, which literally means the adversary or the accuser. 300 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,400 So in other words, the emphasis isn't on introducing us to 301 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,800 someone's name as much as it is like somebody's role. 302 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:08,880 There's like a difference between saying that's Blake up 303 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:10,240 there and saying that's the preacher. 304 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,000 One of them is my name, the other one is what I do. 305 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,680 So when we call him Satan, we are calling him the accuser. 306 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:17,880 But that changes the way that you read some of the most 307 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,760 important parts of the Old Testament because the reality is 308 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,640 that as you read through all of the Bible, it is a huge legal 309 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,480 drama. It's a huge legal drama. 310 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,200 You need to understand this. So what is the accuser in a 311 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,000 court system? It's the prosecution. 312 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:33,880 They're the ones that level the charges. 313 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,320 They're the ones that come and say this person is guilty of 314 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:40,000 fill in the blank. So his job is to be the accuser. 315 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,520 Now we're going to be in Job chapter 1 and Job chapter 2 in 316 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,080 just a moment if you want to read along. 317 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,280 But this will make a lot more sense to you as well because if 318 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:49,960 you've ever read through the beginning of Job and you're 319 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,400 like, what is the devil doing in God's courtroom? 320 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,720 Well, he has a Job. Listen to this. 321 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,800 In Job chapter 1, starting in verse 6, it says one day the 322 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,520 members of the heavenly court, we'll talk about a lot of those 323 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,040 members of the heavenly court next week, came to present 324 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:09,240 themselves before the Lord and the accuser, Satan came with 325 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,840 them. Where have you come from? 326 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,960 The Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord. 327 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,280 I've been patrolling the earth, watching everything that's going 328 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,720 on. And then the Lord asked Satan, 329 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,760 have you noticed my certain servant Job, which I wonder what 330 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:24,840 Job thought when he got to heaven. 331 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:26,360 He's like, Lord, you brought my name up. 332 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:28,800 He wasn't even looking at me anyway. 333 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,160 OK, sorry. It's just where my mind goes. 334 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,000 You just got to go with me. He said, have you noticed my 335 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:38,920 servant Job? He's the finest man in all the 336 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:40,040 earth. He's blameless, a man of 337 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,560 complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from 338 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,720 evil. And Satan replied to the Lord, 339 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,680 Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 340 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,080 You've always put a wall of protection around him and his 341 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,520 home and his property. You've made him prosper in 342 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,360 everything he does. Look how rich he is, but reach 343 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,160 out and take everything away, and he'll surely curse you to 344 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,200 your face. All right, you may test him. 345 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,400 The Lord said to Satan, do whatever you want with 346 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:05,600 everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically. 347 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:07,840 So Satan left the Lord's presence. 348 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,280 OK, let's go to chapter 2, first verse. 349 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,400 One day the members of the heavenly court came in again to 350 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,400 present themselves before the Lord and the accuser. 351 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,160 Satan came with them. Where have you come from? 352 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,640 The Lord asked Satan, same thing, patrolling the earth, 353 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:24,040 watching everything that's going on. 354 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,160 And once again the Lord brings us up. 355 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,320 He says to Satan, have you noticed my servant Job? 356 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:30,200 He's the finest man in all the earth. 357 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,280 He's blameless, a man of complete integrity. 358 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:34,360 He gives the same set of compliments. 359 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,400 And Satan replied to the Lord, skin for skin. 360 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,160 In other words, he knows that what he's allowed to do isn't 361 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:42,360 going to change what Job's doing. 362 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,600 But he says a man will give up everything he has to save his 363 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,840 own life, but reach out and take away his health and he'll surely 364 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:54,760 curse you to his face. All right, deal with him as you 365 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:56,200 please. The Lord said to Satan, but 366 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,360 spare his life. You know what that tells me? 367 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:02,800 Devil could have taken him out except the Lord said no. 368 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:05,680 See how powerful the Lord is even back here? 369 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,720 This is before Jesus. So Satan left the Lord's 370 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,640 presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to 371 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,079 foot, incredibly painful skin condition. 372 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:16,800 And honestly, when most of us think about Job, if you've read 373 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,839 through the book of Job, we think about what we think about 374 00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:21,720 suffering. We think about endurance. 375 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:23,920 When somebody's going through a hard season, we say they've got 376 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:28,280 the patience of Job. But before any of those things 377 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:32,040 happen, something is taking place in the heavenly realm that 378 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:34,400 Job is not Privy to. But you and I get to have a peek 379 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,040 behind the curtain about it. And that's a really big deal 380 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,160 because there's a heavenly courtroom. 381 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,000 They're sons of God. They're presenting themselves 382 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,080 before the Lord. And standing amongst them is the 383 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,720 Satan, the accuser, the prosecution. 384 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:47,720 And he's not there to worship God. 385 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:49,880 He's in there to celebrate what God is doing. 386 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,640 He's arguing with God because he has an accusation to make. 387 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,080 And I hope you listen carefully to what he said, because he 388 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,240 doesn't argue that Job isn't righteous and he doesn't argue 389 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,400 that Job's righteousness isn't genuine. 390 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,880 He just says, of course he follows you, you've blessed him. 391 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:07,480 He's questioning motives. He's saying if you were to take 392 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,200 away your blessings, then he wouldn't love you and he would 393 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,640 curse you. And that's why his title fits 394 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,080 him so well because he's functioning like a prosecutor in 395 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,920 a courtroom trying to build a case against one of God's 396 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:18,960 people. Now, one more scripture. 397 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:20,440 There's a lot of scripture in this because I'm trying to 398 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:21,960 really like set the tone for you. 399 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,240 It's in Zechariah chapter 3. You don't have to turn there, 400 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,080 but you can write this down if you want to listen to this. 401 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,760 Completely different era, completely different humans 402 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,800 involved. It says the Angel showed me 403 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:35,880 Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, 404 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,040 the accuser. Satan was there at the angel's 405 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,720 right hand making accusations against Joshua. 406 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,520 That's interesting. So you've got the Angel of the 407 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,080 Lord and then you've got the accuser at the angel's right 408 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,880 hand. This will mess up some of your 409 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,880 theology. And the Lord said to Satan, I, 410 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,520 the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. 411 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,760 Yes, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you. 412 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,840 This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the 413 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,840 fire. In other words, you almost got 414 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,560 him. He's mine. 415 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,520 Joshua's clothing was filthy as he stood there before the Angel. 416 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,520 So the Angel said to the other standing there, take off his 417 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,480 filthy clothes and turn to Joshua. 418 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,400 And he said, see, I've taken away your sins, and now I'm 419 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,800 giving you these fine new clothes. 420 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:27,760 And then I said, they should also place a clean turban on his 421 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:29,040 head. And they put a clean priestly 422 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,680 turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the 423 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,440 Angel of the Lord stood by. Guys, this is Old Testament. 424 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,280 This is before Jesus took the form of a man and walked the 425 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,960 earth. And you can already see the Lord 426 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,480 stepping between the accuser and his creation, the only part of 427 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,200 creation made in his image and providing a way. 428 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,440 This time you've got Jeshua the high priest standing before the 429 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,120 Lord wearing filthy garments. And once Satan is there, he's 430 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,080 doing exactly what we already saw him do. 431 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,280 He's accusing. He wants Jeshua's sin to define 432 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,240 him, and he wants guilt to have the final word. 433 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,400 You notice that something that the Lord doesn't say, the Lord 434 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,120 doesn't say, Oh, he's not guilty. 435 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,080 He just says, I reject your accusations. 436 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,240 The judge has the right to overrule whatever's happening. 437 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,840 But he's honest and he's pure and he's a good judge, so he's 438 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,440 never going to be. He's never going to be somebody 439 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:23,680 who rejects justice. He chooses instead to ignore the 440 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:25,640 accusations. And we'll touch on why in just a 441 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,880 little bit. When you put these two stories 442 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,320 together, Job and Jeshua, you can see a pattern emerge. 443 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:34,560 The Bible is not primarily introducing us to an enemy whose 444 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:37,800 greatest weapon is raw power. It is not yin and Yang, this 445 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,160 eternal struggle between good and evil and oh man, we're just 446 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,160 here on the sidelines and I wonder who's going to win. 447 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,640 It's nothing like that. If you were to put Satan in an 448 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,320 arm wrestling conversation with the Lord, he'd probably get his 449 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,800 arm ripped off just to be honest with you, and he knows it. 450 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,920 It's not a power struggle. You know who has more power than 451 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,320 him? Those made in the image of God. 452 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:01,840 So if he can. Co opt you. 453 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,680 If he can try to get you to use your power in a way that the 454 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,040 Lord wouldn't, that's his best tactic. 455 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,360 I don't. Know if anybody else shares this 456 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,000 opinion? But I don't care if you disagree 457 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:15,480 with me. This is a church. 458 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,560 You have the right to be wrong. The best Jim Carrey movie ever 459 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,720 made is Liar Liar. It's very funny. 460 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:25,080 And you can you can have a different opinion. 461 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:26,720 It's OK. I heard this week that somebody 462 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,120 thought Supergirl was a better movie than Spider Man They're 463 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:35,280 wrong. So I got a lot of opinions today 464 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,680 in Liar Liar if you're not familiar with this. 465 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,560 Jim Carrey in. His prime plays a lawyer and he 466 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,040 lies. You probably assume that much. 467 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:46,960 It's it's just second nature to him. 468 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:48,400 He lies about things he doesn't need to. 469 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,240 And his whole career has been built on twisting the truth. 470 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,800 And he lies to Co workers, to judges, to everybody. 471 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,320 And eventually his son gets so fed up that he makes a birthday 472 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,600 wish, blows out the candy, says I wish my dad couldn't lie. 473 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:02,640 And all of a sudden he can't lie anymore. 474 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,920 And it really throws a wrench in his in his plans. 475 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,600 One of probably one of the most famous scenes is he's trying to 476 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,680 just do a small lie and he's trying to say that this pen 477 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,480 that's blue is red. And he's like the pen is. 478 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:17,120 Royal. Blue, right? 479 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,760 He can't get the lie out. If you saw the movie, you know, 480 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,800 later on, he's, you know, they asked him, what are you doing? 481 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:28,720 And he's like, I'm, I'm kicking my own now I know who's seen it 482 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:34,320 and who hasn't. As funny as the movie is, I want 483 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,560 it to remind you of something. The words that you use do shape 484 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,240 the way that you see your reality. 485 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,400 A believed lie eventually becomes a life lived. 486 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,160 And the second. You believe a lie, you live it 487 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,240 out like it's fine. He was so used to lying that he 488 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:55,280 was OK with it, and it permeated every part of his life even as 489 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,000 he was watching his lies wreck the lives of the people he cares 490 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,880 about around him. Now, that being said, what lie 491 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,840 have you believed? Because you have a lot more 492 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,640 authority than Satan does. And if you're believing a lie 493 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,000 today, you're walking it out like it's real. 494 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,080 And it can have real consequences too. 495 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,680 That's exactly what happened in the garden, and that's what 496 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,840 makes the enemy so dangerous. Let's jump over to Luke. 497 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,320 Chapter 10 in the Gospels. And while you're going? 498 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,040 To Luke 10, let me just tell you guys, every temptation you've 499 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,400 ever faced, every accusation that you've ever believed, every 500 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,520 moment that you have ever questioned whether God really 501 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,800 loves you or whether you'll ever change has almost certainly 502 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,640 started the exact same way it began in Genesis 3, which is 503 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,600 with a lie. What you've got here in Luke 10 504 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,840 is you've got a really cool moment because Jesus is starting 505 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:43,440 to ramp up the training of his disciples. 506 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,840 He started to send them out. He's, he's sending them out not 507 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,040 alone, but they're going together so they can spread the 508 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,200 gospel and they can minister. And it's a really powerful 509 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:52,520 moment. And they come back and they're 510 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,120 amazed at what they have been able to do things they've never 511 00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:58,600 been able to do before. Listen to this starting in verse 512 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:04,200 17, So Luke 1017. When the. 72 disciples returned. 513 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:07,400 They joyfully reported to them, Lord, even the demons obey us 514 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,280 when we use your name. You notice something, They 515 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:14,040 didn't come back and say, Lord, people are getting saved. 516 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:18,760 They didn't come back and say, God, we saw people healed. 517 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:21,440 They didn't come back and say, God, we saw your peace manifest. 518 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,840 They came back there like man. Those demons got to do what we 519 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:29,160 tell them. So verse 18, he he says, yes, 520 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:32,440 this emphasis is mine, but I just imagined that it was a very 521 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,480 patient yes, because he says I saw Satan fall from heaven like 522 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,840 lightning. Look. 523 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,920 I've given you authority over all the power of the enemy. 524 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,080 Like you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. 525 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,520 Nothing will injure you. But don't rejoice because evil 526 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,280 spirits obey you. Rejoice because your names are 527 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,280 registered in heaven. Do you hear the legal 528 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,040 terminology? Now they've got a registration. 529 00:24:58,160 --> 00:24:59,680 Their names are registered in heaven. 530 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,200 But you know what's interesting? A lot of times I've also heard 531 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,920 this verse talking about originally when the devil was 532 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,000 cast out of heaven. I also don't think that's what 533 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:09,840 it's referring to. Just read the context. 534 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,680 Jesus already knew that the demons were obeying his 535 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:13,640 disciples. Now why? 536 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,880 Because he saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 537 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,320 So here's what this. Means he's not talking about 538 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,680 something that happened to eons or thousands of years ago. 539 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,120 He was saying, oh, I could tell that you had authority over the 540 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:27,120 demons because the prosecutor was kicked out of the courtroom. 541 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,240 He no longer has a job against those who belong to the Lord. 542 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,000 This is what Jesus was referring to. 543 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:39,200 And when he says he felt like lightning, I'm just telling you 544 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:39,880 all. It was quick. 545 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,640 Fast like that was a fast throw from heaven. 546 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:46,320 So how does the? Accuser go from being somebody 547 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,080 who presents himself in in the Lord's courtroom amongst the 548 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,480 other sons of God in this heavenly council, and now he's 549 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,360 cast out because Jesus's work was now advancing. 550 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,600 The Kingdom of darkness was slowing down. 551 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,320 The Kingdom of darkness didn't have the power that we had given 552 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,440 it for so long because now the Kingdom of heaven was now at 553 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,120 hand. This is something He spoke on a 554 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,080 lot. We're going to be all the way 555 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:08,720 back in Revelation in just a moment. 556 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,760 OK, but do you notice that immediately he redirected his 557 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,080 disciples attention? So as you start to see this, and 558 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:17,920 I believe that while you're going to have extreme lows, 559 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:19,880 you're also going to have extreme highs in the spiritual 560 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,200 warfare, don't you give up. You lean on other believers, You 561 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:25,840 keep praying, you keep pressing in, you keep asking other people 562 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,160 to help you because otherwise he's going to cream you. 563 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,600 OK, But you are going to see a victory on the other side of 564 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:33,400 this. And when you do, don't rejoice 565 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,480 because you overcame the enemy, because you didn't do anything. 566 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:40,480 The authority that these disciples carried was what made 567 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,000 the demons obey them. He redirected them. 568 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:46,680 The greatest miracle for you as well is that your name is 569 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:48,920 written in heaven. In other words, I would just 570 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,280 tell you, don't become so fascinated with what the enemy 571 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,680 is doing, or even what you're doing that you lose sight of 572 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,800 what God is doing. We're going to spend a. 573 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,480 Lot of time talking about spiritual warfare. 574 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,560 I just never want to become a church that talks more about 575 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,800 Satan than we do about Jesus. I'm just trying to give you all 576 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,520 a good baseline today. OK? 577 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,520 The Kingdom of Darkness is no longer advancing unchecked 578 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,800 because the King has arrived. In the book of. 579 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,280 Revelation. Much of Revelation is future 580 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,000 focused. Listen to this in chapter 12 581 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,920 verse seven. Since then there was a war in 582 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,280 heaven, and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon 583 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,240 and his angels, and the dragon lost the battle and he and his 584 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:26,680 angels were forced out of heaven. 585 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,920 This great dragon, the ancient serpent called the devil or 586 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,520 Satan, the one deceiving the whole world, was thrown down to 587 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:39,840 the earth with all his angels. John, who writes the Book of 588 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,560 Revelation, tells us that Satan has been thrown down and filled 589 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,640 with fury because he knows that his time is short. 590 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,720 I think that's one of the most important verses in the Bible to 591 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,400 understand when it comes to spiritual warfare because it 592 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,120 reminds us we're not fighting for victory. 593 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:54,840 And you've probably heard this before, but we are fighting from 594 00:27:54,880 --> 00:28:00,640 VV doesn't belong to us, it belongs to the Lord, but we also 595 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,320 belong to the Lord, so his victory is ours. 596 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:04,880 And we'll talk about that in two weeks. 597 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:07,160 So what does that mean for us tomorrow morning? 598 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:08,560 Because right now maybe you feel pumped up. 599 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,680 Maybe you feel like you could take on whatever the Lord's got 600 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:11,640 for you. But you're going to wake up 601 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,000 tomorrow and you're going to have whispers. 602 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:14,960 What's that mean for you tomorrow morning? 603 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:16,880 I'm going to give you some tips here. 604 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,680 The first thing that you need to do is stop giving every accusing 605 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:24,000 thought equal authority. Not every thought deserves to be 606 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,120 believed just because it entered your mind. 607 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,640 I, I'm sorry, but you and I, we are just not that smart. 608 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,400 So every time that you have one of these thoughts, don't be mad 609 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,320 at yourself, don't condemn yourself. 610 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,080 Just ask yourself where it came from. 611 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,520 When you hear something like God is finished with you, or you 612 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,600 won't recover from this, or you won't find someone new, or you 613 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,600 won't find something new, or whatever, ask yourself if it 614 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:49,800 sounds like the voice of your shepherd or the voice of your 615 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,520 accuser. When you. 616 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,720 Hear that you'll never change, or that person will never 617 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:56,760 change. Ask yourself whether that agrees 618 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:01,400 with what God says about you. Because. 619 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:02,840 We've got to grow up and we got to wake up. 620 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:04,280 That's what we talked about last week, right? 621 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,240 Mature Christians don't just think every thought that enters 622 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,920 their mind. They learn to test every thought 623 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,800 against God's truth. So we have to be. 624 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,360 Mature enough to test every thought. 625 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,280 I'm mature enough to know that a lot of the thoughts I have just 626 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,960 about everyday are garbage. And I'm sorry to tell you all 627 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,520 that, but they are. I go away from a bad 628 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,120 conversation and my first thoughts are normally garbage. 629 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:29,080 That's why I asked the Lord into my conversations. 630 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,920 Now I'm just like, God. You could just interrupt my 631 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:32,360 train of thought. You can talk to me through this 632 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,280 whole chat if you want. Second thing I would tell you is 633 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:38,160 this, stop living as though the enemy's winning. 634 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,240 And you may say like, why I never said that? 635 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:43,960 No, you didn't say it, but you act like it. 636 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,440 A lot of Christians act like it. They're just heavily oppressed. 637 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:48,680 They know the enemy's coming for them. 638 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:50,960 They know that they've got a lot of reason to hang their head. 639 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,480 They're scared about the future and so they're just acting like 640 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,800 I'm going to need a miracle. First of all. 641 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,720 You are. Second of all, they're not as 642 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:06,640 hard to come by as you think. You know, Chris, you're right. 643 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,760 Found a way. This past Friday, I went on a 644 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:12,640 charter fishing boat for the first time. 645 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,280 I would tell you that I went fishing, but I didn't. 646 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:17,760 I just went on the charter fishing boat. 647 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,560 And. As we're fishing, I'm like, man, 648 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,160 this is so beautiful. I'm taking some videos, throw it 649 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,320 up on my story. I've never done this before. 650 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:36,160 And then I'm like, Tommy's a little upset, just a little 651 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:37,080 though. So I said I'm just going to go 652 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,120 inside, get a little cold air. So I went in the cabin and got a 653 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,680 little cold air, but then that air wasn't cold enough. 654 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,840 So I went into the little bathroom where they've got like 655 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,160 this whole blowing cold air. I don't care where that air is 656 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:48,760 coming from. It's cold, right? 657 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:52,000 People are checking on me. I'm like, I'm OK. 658 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,400 I think I'm just going to hang out in here. 659 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,040 Eventually. All I could think about was the 660 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,360 two sausage burritos I had from McDonald's that morning. 661 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,440 Now listen to me. This is, this is ridiculous, but 662 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:08,320 I'm giving you a real story. This is a real thing. 663 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,400 I I got up and I went up to that main cabin and I just laid down 664 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,160 with my eyes closed. It was easier to just feel the 665 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,200 rocking and then to see things. I'd taken some Dramamine at this 666 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:18,320 point. I didn't want to throw up 667 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,320 because I want to throw up my medicine to make it worse. 668 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,080 And I laid there and I talked to the Lord and I said, God, I need 669 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,240 a miracle. I mean, we're laughing, but that 670 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,760 is what I said to him. I said, God, I need a miracle. 671 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:32,240 I feel like I'm going to throw up. 672 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:34,760 Biologically, I probably should throw up. 673 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:36,640 I don't want to throw up this medicine. 674 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,680 I don't want to throw up the nutrition I've already had. 675 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:44,440 I didn't just eat McDonald's. So like I said, God, this seems 676 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,960 small in the grand scheme of history, but you can do 677 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,080 anything. And I need a miracle. 678 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:54,320 And by the end of the boat trip, I was out on the front hanging 679 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:55,680 out with everybody. Fishing was done. 680 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,280 But I did see a Stingray jump out of the water. 681 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:02,920 I didn't even know they jumped out of the water. 682 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:04,760 I felt like I'm Moana. It was so cool. 683 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,320 Listen, you won't convince me that God didn't give me a 684 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,920 miracle. I should have thrown up. 685 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,840 I heard stories from people that have been nauseated. 686 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:17,280 They threw up. And then once that happened, it 687 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:18,920 was off to the races. They were just sick the rest of 688 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:20,680 the day. The rest of the day, I went 689 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,160 home, I took a little bit of like a 30 minute power nap. 690 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:24,960 I got up, I walked on a treadmill. 691 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:26,880 We made dinner like I had a good day. 692 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:29,440 I asked him for a miracle and he came through. 693 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:30,960 Don't tell me that he can't come through. 694 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:34,280 You need a miracle and maybe it's bigger than him holding 695 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:38,360 back your nausea. But hear me on this. 696 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,160 It's not bigger to him. It doesn't require more effort 697 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,600 for him. He can handle. 698 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:48,720 Any miracle in any scenario in any place, effortlessly. 699 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:52,160 Now for us, we feel like if we had all the power of God, if we 700 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,840 were Bruce Almighty, it would take more of our power to do 701 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,400 this miracle rather than this one. 702 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,600 Not so would the Lord. He can do anything. 703 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,960 How many of the stories in here have the devil coming at the 704 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:09,680 Lord face first? There's a reason the enemy is 705 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,440 not stupid. So this week I. 706 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:14,800 Want you to stop acting like the enemy's winning because he's 707 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,280 not. But if you believe he's winning, 708 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,720 if you buy into that lie, you'll start living like it's true. 709 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:27,400 And then what's the difference? You got to know the enemy, but 710 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:28,800 you also need to know his strategy. 711 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,080 We'll be in John chapter 8 in just a moment. 712 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:34,600 Same strategy, like I said, has not changed very much. 713 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,880 We could imagine that maybe it has because thousands of years 714 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:39,520 have passed and we've got new technology. 715 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:41,960 But when you read the Bible from the beginning to the end, you 716 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,440 can see that it doesn't change. Why does he not have a new 717 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:47,320 strategy today? First of all, he doesn't need 718 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:48,800 one. It still works, it's highly 719 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,160 effective #2 He's really not a creative. 720 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:53,200 He's just not a creator in any sense of it. 721 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,600 We already have one of those, and God is pretty good at it. 722 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,280 So what He does is He comes and He tempts you. 723 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,840 This is the main attack he has against every Christian, right? 724 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,400 He'll tempt you into something. He's the one that lures you into 725 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:08,639 it. And then once you do it, then he 726 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:12,360 accuses you, right? Isn't that dirty? 727 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,000 He's like, man, you should probably just steal a little 728 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,440 from the cash register. This company makes so much 729 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:19,199 money. It'd be all right. 730 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:22,040 And then as soon as you take the money, then he's like, I can't 731 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,120 believe you did that. That is what he does. 732 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:29,040 But here's the problem. We don't recognize him. 733 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,360 It's an unseen accuser. We don't see him. 734 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,239 By the way, Lord, I'm kind of good with that. 735 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,400 I don't really want to see him walking around. 736 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,280 But he convinced Adam and Eve that God was holding something 737 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,040 back from them. He persuaded them that 738 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,320 disobedience would somehow lead to freedom. 739 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:46,800 And he does the same thing for us. 740 00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:50,880 Jesus. Explains this better than anyone 741 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,199 ever could about how these temptations they over promise 742 00:34:54,199 --> 00:34:56,639 and under deliver. Listen to this just one verse. 743 00:34:56,639 --> 00:34:59,960 John 844 He says you are the children. 744 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:01,200 He's talking to the Pharisees here. 745 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:04,880 He said you are the children of your father, the devil, and you 746 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:06,800 love to do the evil things he does. 747 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:09,440 He was a murderer from the beginning. 748 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,680 He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in 749 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,840 him. And when he lies, it is 750 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,960 consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father 751 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:19,880 of lies. Lots of lies. 752 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,400 Those of you who have read an older translation of that, what 753 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:28,960 does it say about him that when he lies he speaks his native 754 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,480 tongue? Isn't that crazy? 755 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:33,320 You notice what Jesus doesn't say here? 756 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,720 He doesn't say that Satan sometimes tells lies. 757 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:37,320 He says lying is his native language. 758 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,320 It is natural to him. Deception isn't something that 759 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,760 he does occasionally. It is the atmosphere that he 760 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,360 lives in. So every temptation and every 761 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,120 accusation and every distortion of God's character you've ever 762 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:51,360 had to deal with has been designed to divide God's people 763 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:55,040 and to make every one of us question God's goodness. 764 00:35:55,480 --> 00:35:57,120 And they all have the same source, which is lies. 765 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,520 One of the things that I've learned over the years of of 766 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,000 ministry is that the enemy doesn't walk into our lives and 767 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,080 say hi. I'm Satan and I'm here to tempt 768 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:09,160 you today. If anybody ever does walk up to 769 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,320 you and say that though, it's probably not your new friend if 770 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:14,280 you're just looking for official advice. 771 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:17,960 Clayton. Where are you, Clayton? 772 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,760 Can I've got somebody who has been waiting in the other room 773 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,480 to come out who's going to help me illustrate this? 774 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,440 And I'm very excited about this. I've been, I've, I've worked at 775 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,280 great lengths to make sure that most people haven't met him yet. 776 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:36,280 The staff has met him. He may join staff, to be honest 777 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,120 with you, but he has been somebody named Ronan. 778 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:44,800 Ronan, you're going to get to know him over the next several 779 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:46,560 months because he's going to help us understand a lot of 780 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:56,320 things about spiritual warfare. I just want to make Clayton feel 781 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:57,680 uncomfortable when he comes. Oh, here he is. 782 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:08,480 Thank you. Thank you. 783 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:12,240 This is Ronan. You guys going to be rude or you 784 00:37:12,240 --> 00:37:15,880 going to tell him hi? How many of y'all felt weird 785 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:17,200 doing that? Good. 786 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:19,680 Good. This is Ronan. 787 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,800 And I know when you look at him, you think that's a mannequin, 788 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:28,120 but it's not. Here's the deal. 789 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:34,200 This is my wife. Hear me out. 790 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:39,240 This is my best friend. This is my other best friend. 791 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:43,400 This is my family member. This is a church member. 792 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:46,840 OK. And every time that I get into a 793 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,000 problem or a dispute with one of them, what I failed to realize, 794 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:54,040 because he's unseen, is that behind him or her is somebody 795 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,080 who's right here messing with them the same way that he's 796 00:37:56,080 --> 00:38:01,680 messing with me. Ronan is going to represent a 797 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:05,240 lot of problems that we deal with, and the origination of 798 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:08,680 them comes from the enemy. One of the greatest lessons that 799 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:12,760 God ever taught me, and I will use this term until the day that 800 00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:14,880 I die. When the enemy attacks you, he 801 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:16,560 always does it behind a human shield. 802 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:19,880 Why? Because he's got something that 803 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,160 he knows is going to set you off. 804 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,160 But if he comes right here and he says it, then when you lash 805 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:28,240 back, is he the one that gets it or is it your husband or is it 806 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:30,760 your wife or is it your friend? And this is the way that it 807 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:32,400 goes. To be honest with you, I think 808 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,680 about something I've done with the kids many times. 809 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:37,120 Got one son, one daughter that live at home. 810 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,320 And so I'll go out behind one of them and I'll flick them right 811 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,680 behind the neck like a good dad. And, and when they turn around, 812 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,840 I'll be like, that was your, that was your sister right 813 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,160 before you say, how could you do that? 814 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:54,400 They don't believe me, but I messed with them and I'm just 815 00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:55,720 like, that wasn't me, that was them. 816 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:05,680 For those of you over. Here, my daughter just said. 817 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:10,720 It's obviously you. You're grounded. 818 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:14,320 I'm just kidding. No, you're not. 819 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,160 So this is what happens. This is what happens. 820 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:24,800 I have watched marriages fall apart because two people who 821 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,840 loved each other became convinced that the other person 822 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,960 was the enemy. I have watched lifelong 823 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,600 friendships disappear because neither person recognized that 824 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:35,360 there was someone else fueling the division. 825 00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,640 And I have watched churches split because believers who are 826 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,880 supposed to be standing shoulder to shoulder and proving that 827 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,000 they belong to the Lord by the way they love one another. 828 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:45,800 I've watched them aim at each other instead. 829 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:50,200 And I want you to know that the enemy loves that because while 830 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,440 we're busy attacking people that Christ died to save, He slips 831 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,600 back into the shadows where nobody notices him anymore and 832 00:39:56,600 --> 00:40:00,800 just watches what we do. He put the weapon in your hands 833 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:04,320 and you used it for Him. I want you to remember this face 834 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:09,840 or whatever this is every time that you see the enemy over the 835 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,560 next few weeks when you get attacked, I want you to remember 836 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:15,280 this. This face could be anybody. 837 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:25,160 There, see, he can be young too. This guy represents whoever 838 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,720 matters to you in your life, probably more than that. 839 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,800 This guy represents even people you don't know well, because you 840 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:33,640 don't know how the enemy has been attacking them that 841 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,200 morning, that afternoon, and that moment. 842 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:36,880 You don't know what's spiraling in those thoughts. 843 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:39,960 I know a lot of the issues that several of you have been dealing 844 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:41,720 with over the next couple weeks, and I'm praying and I'm 845 00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:43,920 interceding with you because I understand the season of 846 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,400 warfare. But just ask for a show of 847 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:47,880 honesty here. How many of you all have had 848 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,320 some sort of battle with your thought life over the last week 849 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:53,680 in some form? Look at this, look at this. 850 00:40:54,720 --> 00:40:55,920 You think we don't need each other. 851 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,160 So the enemy gets in there and he starts whispering. 852 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:01,920 And the more that he whispers and that we adopt it as a 853 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,800 belief, we live it out and we walk it out like it's real. 854 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:07,960 And the more that you live it out like it's real, the more 855 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:09,680 it's real to you. The next day, and then the next 856 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,440 day, and then the next day. And what you're doing is you're 857 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:16,720 actually building what is called biblically A stronghold, which 858 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:19,720 we'll get to in the next couple of weeks. 859 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:23,120 But strongholds are built 1 brick at a time, one thought at 860 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,680 a time. Second Corinthians 11/3 says 861 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,360 this. Paul says, I fear that somehow 862 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:32,600 your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, 863 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,160 just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 864 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,080 Isn't it interesting? Paul there doesn't say watch out 865 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:42,840 because Satan has come up with a new plan. 866 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,080 He says don't let what happened to Eve happened to you because 867 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:49,000 he knows that it is the same tactic. 868 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:51,760 Thousands of years have passed, but it's the same thing. 869 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:55,480 So we have to learn to recognize a lie before it becomes a 870 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:57,680 belief. The second it becomes a belief. 871 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,520 I'm not telling you there's not a way out of it, but undoing a 872 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,080 belief is harder than undoing a lie. 873 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:07,440 So. We begin by believing that our 874 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,200 identity is determined by our worst failure instead of God's 875 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:12,440 greatest grace. And then the devil has us. 876 00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,960 If the enemy fights with lies, the greatest defence God has 877 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,920 given us is truth. I'm surprised actually, as I was 878 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:20,880 talking to some people this week. 879 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,840 A lot of people knew this. But when it comes to counterfeit 880 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:27,760 currency? Do you know? 881 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,720 How they they study and train to deal with counterfeit currency. 882 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,680 I mean, for a lot of my life, I thought that what it was was you 883 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:36,080 had to study counterfeit currency. 884 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:37,560 That's how you're going to learn what's fake. 885 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,640 They study the real stuff. So when they're being trained, 886 00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:45,600 they study real, genuine United States currency. 887 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:47,120 Why? Because the second that they 888 00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,640 hold a fake bill in their hand, they can tell something's off. 889 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:51,560 And they may not know what it is At first. 890 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:54,760 They maybe it's just the feel of the texture or it's just one of 891 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,240 these moments, but all of a sudden they can tell something's 892 00:42:57,240 --> 00:42:59,120 off. Ladies and gentlemen, I would 893 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:01,520 tell you in the Kingdom of God, that is what we call 894 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:03,960 discernment. Discernment isn't having every 895 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,840 answer, every motive, every why. Sometimes God gives you answers 896 00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:08,400 and that's a real blessing when He does it. 897 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,160 Sometimes He gives you just enough so that when you go into 898 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:15,480 this, you go, something's off. I don't know what's off, but 899 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:17,160 something's off. You know what that means? 900 00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:20,560 Invite the Holy Spirit into that conversation if that's what they 901 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:22,520 do for something that you can touch with your hands. 902 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:26,280 Imagine so much more that you can accomplish because that same 903 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,360 God who created you lives now inside of you as a born again 904 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:31,800 believer. I think it's one of the best 905 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:33,760 pictures of spiritual maturity I've ever heard. 906 00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,800 So how do you fight against the lies of the enemy and not let 907 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,200 them become beliefs? I think you and I need to become 908 00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:43,720 experts on Jesus. The more familiar that you 909 00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:46,160 become with His voice, the easier it will be to recognize 910 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,680 every other voice. Lot of times I'll have people 911 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:50,440 come to me and they'll say, well, I'm having these thoughts 912 00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:53,760 and I can't tell if it's the enemy or if it's myself, but it 913 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:55,720 sure isn't God, you know, I don't know like where this is 914 00:43:55,720 --> 00:43:58,120 coming from or whatever. And I, I just tell people, 915 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,680 you've got to know him, you've got to know him, you've got to 916 00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:02,960 know him. If you know him, you'll know if 917 00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:05,240 it's not him. And the enemy won't be able to 918 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:06,960 deceive you. And he's going to try to y'all 919 00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:09,480 remember what the scripture says, that the devil himself 920 00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:12,440 masquerades as an Angel of light. 921 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:14,800 One of the worst stories I've ever heard. 922 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:17,560 It was the story of. And those of you who have known 923 00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:19,440 me for a while, you've heard it just act like it's brand new. 924 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:22,720 I'd appreciate it. I know this story about somebody 925 00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:25,400 who went to their pastor different church and said, hey, 926 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:27,680 I don't need to come to you for any counsel anymore or come to 927 00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:30,560 Sundays because I have a relationship with Jesus. 928 00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:32,320 Anything. And that's kind of interesting 929 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:35,000 because Jesus kind of tells us to be in community, right? 930 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:39,880 And she says, yeah, but he comes in, he meets with me and he 931 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,360 tells me things to do and he tells me things I should know. 932 00:44:43,240 --> 00:44:48,240 And he said, OK, well, the next time that this Jesus comes, why 933 00:44:48,240 --> 00:44:52,160 don't you ask him, are you Jesus born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus 934 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:53,640 of Nazareth, born of the Virgin Mary? 935 00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:55,680 And she said, OK, she came back about 3 weeks later. 936 00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:57,960 And she said, he said, he's not that Jesus. 937 00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:04,040 How's that set with you? Yeah. 938 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:07,920 You know that Jesus of Nazareth is not even the only person 939 00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:10,960 named Jesus in the Bible, right? We got to read it. 940 00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:14,160 We've got to read it, but I need you to understand that just 941 00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,480 reading the Bible isn't going to get you into that relationship 942 00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:19,160 with you, but it is going to help because to know His Word is 943 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:21,520 to know His ways. So listen to me. 944 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,720 The more time that you spend in His word, the more time that you 945 00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:27,440 spend talking to Him in prayer, the more time that you spend 946 00:45:27,440 --> 00:45:30,640 worshipping Him, serving Him, walking with other believers, 947 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:32,760 the more familiar His voice will become. 948 00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:35,440 That's what spiritual maturity looks like. 949 00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,560 In Romans chapter 8, the very first verse says this. 950 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,360 There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ 951 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:43,400 Jesus. Why do I share that now? 952 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:45,680 Because the next time that you hear some sort of spiritual 953 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:48,880 whisper inside the inner man or the inner woman, here's what I 954 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,560 would tell you to ask, did that come from somebody trying to 955 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:55,320 condemn me or did that come from somebody trying to convict me? 956 00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:57,600 Conviction is one of the greatest gifts that God will 957 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,200 ever give you. When you do something and the 958 00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:02,240 Lord comes in and says you better tell her you're sorry 959 00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:05,160 right now, or you better go make that right, or you better go 960 00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:07,640 bless that person, or you better repent for having that thought. 961 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,280 That is one of the greatest and kindest gifts that the Lord 962 00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:13,640 could ever give you, and He doesn't hold it over your head. 963 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:16,840 Spouses. Have you ever had that moment 964 00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:19,560 where you're talking to somebody and they're like, well, six 965 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:21,480 months ago you said blah, blah, blah, and you're like, I don't 966 00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:23,520 even remember that conversation, but I'm sure I did. 967 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:28,600 God never does that to you. So when you go to him and you 968 00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:30,640 repent and you're like, I failed again. 969 00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:32,480 He's not going to be like, I know, and this is your 34th 970 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:36,360 time, but why do I say it like that? 971 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:38,000 Because sometimes that's the voice we hear. 972 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,880 Of course you failed again. You're going to fail again. 973 00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:43,920 You're always going to fail. Whose voice do you think that 974 00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:44,240 is? I. 975 00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:47,880 Don't know if you can tell but. Ronan's been going to the gym. 976 00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:49,120 His arms are a little toned, right? 977 00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:53,440 He's a he's a, he's a bro. But could you imagine? 978 00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:56,800 And it starts in small ways. I want you to hear me on this 979 00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:58,760 because this is incredibly, painfully realistic. 980 00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:02,040 I mean, seriously, like, do his arms look toned? 981 00:47:03,240 --> 00:47:03,800 Yes. Good. 982 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,760 Thank you for agreeing with me. OK, so then he looks in the 983 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:10,640 mirror and he's like my arms aren't toned, what I'm doing 984 00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:14,280 isn't making a difference. So now he either goes harder, 985 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:16,280 pushes himself, or he just quits. 986 00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:20,840 Both extremes are wrong. Or he starts comparing himself 987 00:47:20,840 --> 00:47:23,200 to somebody else and how they look or how they dress or how 988 00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:25,720 they speak or how they handle themselves or their spiritual 989 00:47:25,720 --> 00:47:27,760 life. Many Christians have not even 990 00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:29,640 tried to become more spiritual because they assume they'll 991 00:47:29,640 --> 00:47:32,840 never be as spiritual as fill in the blank and you don't even 992 00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:34,400 know how spiritual anybody is at home. 993 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:38,400 The statistics of pastors that don't even spend a lot of time 994 00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:43,400 in prayer at home is ridiculous. It's ridiculous. 995 00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:47,880 I spend a lot of time in prayer. Just want you to know that. 996 00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:53,280 Too scared not to. Conviction is one of God's 997 00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:56,800 greatest gifts, but condemnation is one of the enemy's greatest 998 00:47:56,800 --> 00:47:59,000 weapons. Conviction will tell you 999 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:01,720 something's wrong so you can make it right and move on. 1000 00:48:02,040 --> 00:48:04,160 Why would God want to talk to you about that one thing you did 1001 00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:06,200 when you were 17 for the rest of your life? 1002 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,000 That's not what God does. But you know who does want to do 1003 00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:11,840 that? The enemy. 1004 00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:14,520 He wants to keep you there so that you're not forward focused. 1005 00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:17,080 But in the Kingdom of God, it's always forward. 1006 00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:21,040 So condemnation is one of the enemy's greatest weapons because 1007 00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:22,800 He'll stop you from even moving forward. 1008 00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:25,480 You and I have to learn the difference. 1009 00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:31,520 We can't afford not to. As I close this morning, I just 1010 00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:33,040 want to make sure that we're leaving here with the right 1011 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,040 perspective. Because if all we've done today 1012 00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:37,720 is convince ourselves that Satan is powerful, you've missed the 1013 00:48:37,720 --> 00:48:40,400 point entirely. The whole purpose of the message 1014 00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:43,680 is not to make you fear the enemy, but to help you recognize 1015 00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:47,520 him because he's there. There's a tremendous amount of 1016 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:49,840 difference between those two things, and you don't have to 1017 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,080 fear someone whose schemes have already been exposed. 1018 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:54,520 In fact, one of the greatest ways to defeat a scammer is 1019 00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:57,480 simply to recognize that it's a scam and not answer the phone. 1020 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:02,520 I want to read you one more scripture from Revelation 1021 00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:07,120 chapter 20 verse 10. It's really fun. 1022 00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:10,920 I've never heard it on K love, but I'm waiting. 1023 00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:13,720 Since then, the devil who had deceived them was thrown into 1024 00:49:13,720 --> 00:49:16,960 the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and 1025 00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:20,000 the false prophet. There they will be tormented day 1026 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:25,360 and night, forever and ever. Why am I ending with that? 1027 00:49:25,360 --> 00:49:28,360 I think it's important that every believer knows how the 1028 00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:31,120 story ends. This is the way that it ends. 1029 00:49:31,120 --> 00:49:32,720 There's not a choose your own adventure. 1030 00:49:32,720 --> 00:49:34,040 There's not an alternative ending. 1031 00:49:34,040 --> 00:49:37,840 There's no deleted scene. Satan's future isn't uncertain. 1032 00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:40,240 There isn't one final battle where we're all holding our 1033 00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:41,600 breath, wondering who's going to win. 1034 00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,160 And I want to address another question that I had for most of 1035 00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:45,920 my life, because maybe some of you do too. 1036 00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:49,480 It raises a very natural question for me that people ask, 1037 00:49:49,480 --> 00:49:51,560 which is this? If Satan already knows that he 1038 00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:53,440 loses, why does he even keep fighting? 1039 00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:58,320 I got an answer for you. I don't think it's because he 1040 00:49:58,320 --> 00:49:59,680 still thinks he can overthrow God. 1041 00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:02,160 I think it's just that hatred doesn't need hope. 1042 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:06,680 Hatred only needs something to destroy. 1043 00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:10,360 It just needs an object that it can focus all of its hatred on. 1044 00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:13,640 And if he can convince one more person that God doesn't love 1045 00:50:13,640 --> 00:50:16,440 them, he'll do it. If he can destroy one more 1046 00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:20,200 marriage, he'll do it. If he can divide 1 more church, 1047 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:21,880 he'll do it. If he can discourage one more 1048 00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:23,320 believer into giving up, he'll do it. 1049 00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:26,840 But he can't defeat Christ, so he settles for attacking the 1050 00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:30,040 people that Christ loves. Every believer who has ever 1051 00:50:30,040 --> 00:50:32,920 followed Jesus has had to learn how to recognize the enemy's 1052 00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:36,440 lies and how to continue trusting the truth of God. 1053 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:39,480 I want you to know something. This is not a condemnation 1054 00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:41,440 statement. You are not the first person who 1055 00:50:41,440 --> 00:50:43,440 has ever had to deal with the lies of the enemy. 1056 00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:47,960 You're not the first person to battle discouragement, and 1057 00:50:47,960 --> 00:50:50,240 you're not the first person to hear the voice of the accuser. 1058 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:53,360 But you also aren't the first person to discover that the 1059 00:50:53,360 --> 00:50:55,440 voice of Jesus is stronger than the enemies. 1060 00:50:56,160 --> 00:50:57,960 So this is my challenge for you this week. 1061 00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:01,160 Every single time an accusing thought comes into your mind, 1062 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:04,560 don't immediately believe it. Stop for at. 1063 00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:07,600 Least just a moment and ask yourself, does this sound like 1064 00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:10,560 my shepherd? Let him lead you. 1065 00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:13,400 If the thought tells you to hide from God, it's not your 1066 00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:16,120 shepherd. If the thought tells you that 1067 00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:17,680 you're beyond grace, it's not His voice. 1068 00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:20,080 If the thought tells you that your identity is found in your 1069 00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:22,600 worst mistake instead of the finished work on the cross, 1070 00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:26,040 that's not His voice. I want you to learn to recognize 1071 00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:28,840 the counterfeit by becoming so familiar with the genuine 1072 00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:30,640 article. And while you're at it, keep 1073 00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:33,280 praying for one another. The enemy loves isolated 1074 00:51:33,280 --> 00:51:34,280 believers. You know why? 1075 00:51:34,520 --> 00:51:36,680 Because isolated believers are easier to deceive. 1076 00:51:37,520 --> 00:51:39,560 If you're sitting in a group of people that love you and you say 1077 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:42,720 something you feel like you heard and it's a deception, 1078 00:51:43,360 --> 00:51:45,480 those people around you can be like, that's not true. 1079 00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:47,640 And they're not going to rub it in your face. 1080 00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:49,920 Hopefully what they're going to do is they're going to tell you 1081 00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,240 that's not true. And here's what God has for you. 1082 00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:53,920 And we're going to pray protection over you. 1083 00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:57,360 I'm telling you there's a reason why he builds us in communities. 1084 00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:00,760 Next Sunday, we're going to continue this journey with the 1085 00:52:00,760 --> 00:52:02,320 unseen hosts. And I'm going to let you know 1086 00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:03,960 that we're going to talk about some of the questions a lot of 1087 00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:05,200 people have wondered about for years. 1088 00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:07,320 So who are the angels? What are demons? 1089 00:52:07,640 --> 00:52:09,680 Who are the sons of God? What is the Nephilim? 1090 00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:11,560 We're going to get real weird next week. 1091 00:52:11,560 --> 00:52:15,280 So I'll see you then. But guys, I just want you to 1092 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:19,680 know this as you leave this building today, you don't walk 1093 00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:21,800 out there and be afraid of the enemy and what he's got for you. 1094 00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:23,720 I want you walking out of here empowered. 1095 00:52:24,080 --> 00:52:25,960 I want you walking out of here armored up. 1096 00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:28,600 I want you walking out of here knowing that we all have each 1097 00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:30,560 other's backs. They'll say this at the end, but 1098 00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:32,560 if you need personal prayer, there's a spot over there. 1099 00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:35,040 I'll be back there to meet some visitors today. 1100 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:37,960 But to be honest with you, if you know even one person here, 1101 00:52:38,240 --> 00:52:41,080 go to them and say, will you pray for me and let's see if we 1102 00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:42,840 can tackle this enemy together? Amen.