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I'm going to jump into this. 
I don't really have a lot of 

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personal stories in today's 
sermon. 

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I really don't have any humor 
written into it, even though I 

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do like to crack a joke. 
If I say anything, it'll be just

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off the cuff because the Lord 
gave me freedom to do it. 

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We are covering a lot today. 
All right, So if today feels a 

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little thicker than normal, it's
because it is. 

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When you guys leave today, if 
you decide you'd like to grab 

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one, we're going to have a 
handout for you that is going to

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go through a lot of the 
scriptures that we will touch on

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today. 
Unless you are like a lightning 

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fast Bible nerd, you don't have 
to try to like turn to every 

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single scripture. 
I'm going to reference today 

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because it may feel a little 
overwhelming. 

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You will have about A7 page 
handout that you can grab on 

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your way out the door today. 
OK, just because we've got a lot

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that we're covering, we're 
setting the tone for much of the

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rest of this year. 
Today is called the Unseen 

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Hosts. 
So we started by just talking 

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about unseen things in general. 
There is a war that is 

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happening. 
There is a war that is 

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happening, and that was just two
weeks ago that we were unveiling

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this and unlocking this for a 
lot of people. 

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Last week we talked about the 
primary adversary that we see, 

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the accuser known as Satan. 
Well, Satan is a prosecutor and 

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Satan is the one that comes and 
accuses us. 

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And by the way, a lot of times 
those accusations, they are 

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rooted in something that is 
true. 

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So when you fail and he comes 
up, he's like, man, Can you 

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believe you did that? 
You failed again? 

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Well, a lot of times when he 
accuses me and it's something 

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like that, I've just learned to 
say, yeah, I did, but I don't 

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need to talk to you about it. 
And then I go to the Lord and I 

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repent to the Lord because he's 
not interested in helping me. 

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He's interested in tempting me 
and then launching the accuser 

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because I fell into what he 
tempted me to do. 

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It's pretty dirty. 
Today we're talking about the 

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unseen hosts. 
There are a lot of things out 

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there, and I'm going to be 
honest with you, I could go way 

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deep down this. 
I could probably spend a couple 

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months on this, but I am a firm 
believer that anybody who shares

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a word from the pulpit, there 
needs to be a practical 

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application to your life for the
spiritual. 

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OK. 
If you have questions about this

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man, I'll chop it up with you to
the best of my ability. 

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We'll message, we'll dialogue. 
I got a lot to say. 

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It doesn't all impact exactly 
where you Live Today. 

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Today is what we're going to try
to talk about. 

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The first scripture that we're 
going to cover is going to be 

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Daniel chapter 10. 
To be honest, this is probably 

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the message I've been looking 
forward to the most because 

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we're going to explore some of 
the strangest passages or 

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scriptures in the entire Bible. 
And a lot of what we're going to

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talk about are things that just 
don't really get preached on. 

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Doesn't make me better than 
other preachers. 

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I know a lot of preachers that 
are way better than me. 

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I just feel like I'm supposed to
talk about it. 

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So here we go. 
But it's going to get a little 

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weird and I just want you to 
know. 

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So let's get weird. 
I want you to know that there 

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are a lot of really weird 
scriptures that people tend to 

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just skip over, and they do it 
because they don't understand 

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it. 
But in the words of the late 

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Michael Heiser, if it gets 
weird, it's important. 

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So today we're going to talk 
about the Nephilim, we're going 

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to talk about demons, we're 
going to talk about different 

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spiritual principalities, and 
we're going to talk about a lot 

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of the things that we struggle 
with and don't even know the 

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names of because if we don't 
talk about it, they run rampant 

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on us. 
Daniel 10 gives you a really 

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great clue into how the 
spiritual realm works. 

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Here's the interesting thing. 
If you look at this, instead of 

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just telling the the biblical 
account and everything of of 

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Noah, I want to talk about a 
version that a lot of people are

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a little more familiar with. 
How many of you watched the Noah

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movie with Russell Crowe, right?
Highly biblically accurate. 

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I mean, there was a lot of 
water. 

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There was a flood. 
It's really interesting. 

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So if you haven't seen it, first
of all, it's old now, so this is

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on you. 
It's your fault. 

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Second of all, it's not really 
accurate, so I don't feel bad 

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about exposing it. 
But he starred in a movie that 

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was called Noah. 
And instead of just telling the 

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biblical account, which is crazy
enough on its own, they decided 

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to spice it up for Hollywood 
just a little bit. 

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And so they introduced these 
giant rock monsters that they 

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were. 
They were called the Watchers in

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the movie. 
And they helped Noah build the 

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ark and they helped him fight 
off invading armies. 

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And then they ascended into 
heaven after they died. 

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This is not what the Watchers 
are. 

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If you never read Genesis, you'd
probably walk away believing 

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that the Bible was filled with 
those magical creatures that 

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never actually appear in the 
text. 

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It is filled with creatures that
you would describe that way, but

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that ain't it. 
The Bible is actually more 

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bizarre than what Hollywood 
made-up. 

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And here's the interesting thing
about it. 

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Hollywood didn't invent the idea
that there are strange spiritual

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beings connected to the days of 
Noah. 

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They just told the wrong story. 
The Bible is stranger than most 

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Christians realize, but it's 
strange for different reasons 

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than Hollywood tries to imagine.
There really are mysterious 

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stories about things called the 
sons of God. 

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There really are passages and 
scriptures and stories about 

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heavenly beings who rebelled, 
and there really are references 

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to giants and angels and 
spiritual rulers that are over 

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nations. 
The problem isn't that these 

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stories don't exist. 
The the problem is that most of 

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us have never been taught how 
they fit into the larger story 

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of faith and how it affects us 
today. 

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Before we go back to Genesis, 
though, I want to start 

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somewhere else because I really 
think it gives us a clear window

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into what's happening where 
Daniel is in his life now. 

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Daniel is not the young man that
was carried away into Babylon 

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anymore. 
Decades have passed since he has

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been enslaved and captured and 
taken to Babylon. 

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He's now an elderly man who has 
faithfully served God through 

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multiple Pagan kingdoms. 
You know, Daniel and the lion's 

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den. 
You've got his friends Shadrach,

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Meshach, and Abednego. 
Just heard about that on 

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Wednesday. 
Great job from Autumn Nichols 

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for those that were here, right?
So he's watched Babylon rise to 

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power. 
He's still under the thumb of 

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Babylon, and he's watched 
Babylon fall to the Medes and 

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the Persians. 
And he has had these crazy 

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stories where he has interpreted
dreams, survived the lion's den,

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and remain faithful through all 
of it. 

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But God's people are still 
hurting. 

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Some of the Exiles have been 
allowed to return to Jerusalem, 

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but the reports coming back from
Jerusalem are not good. 

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The temple's not been rebuilt. 
There's opposition there. 

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Nobody's really invested in 
trying to rebuild what God holds

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so precious. 
So chapter 10 begins the way 

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that it does because Daniel is 
not in a good mood. 

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He is not celebrating, he is 
mourning. 

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And he spends 3 weeks fasting 
and praying because he 

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desperately wants to understand 
what God is doing. 

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How many of y'all have done the 
Daniel fast before? 

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Daniel fast? 
It's like just like vegetables, 

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right? 
Yeah. 

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I bet you Daniel's real mad that
that got named after him. 

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It's like, is that really my 
legacy? 

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Listen to this. 
Why did it take three weeks for 

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his prayer to get answered? 
You ever pray for something? 

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You're like God, where are you? 
I mean, be honest about that. 

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I mean, you pray and you're like
God, Do you even hear me? 

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You can at least give me a no if
you're not going to do it. 

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Don't make me keep running this 
cycle if you're not going to 

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answer in the 1st place. 
A lot of us feel that way. 

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We're just afraid to say it 
because you know it's God and 

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you don't want to be smited. 
Just because you can't see God 

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at work doesn't mean God isn't 
working. 

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Chapter 10 starts this way. 
In the third year of the reign 

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of King Cyrus of Persia, Daniel 
had another vision, and he 

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understood that the vision 
concerned events certain to 

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happen in the future, times of 
war and great hardship. 

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When this vision came to me, I, 
Daniel, had been in mourning for

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three whole weeks. 
All that time I had eaten no 

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rich food, no meat or wine had 
crossed my lips, and I used no 

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fragrant lotions until those 
three weeks had passed. 

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Now this is the new Living 
Translation. 

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They try to line it up with our 
timeline a little bit. 

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So on April 23rd, as I was 
standing on the Bank of the 

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Great Tigris River, I looked up 
and I saw a man dressed in linen

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clothing with a belt of pure 
gold around his waist. 

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His body looked like a precious 
gem. 

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His face flashed like lightning 
and his eyes flamed like 

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torches. 
His arms and feet shone like 

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polished bronze and his voice 
roared like a vast multitude of 

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people. 
Just put yourself in the story. 

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What do you do? 
Right now? 

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This being appears in front of 
you. 

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His voice sounds like a 
multitudes of people. 

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He looks like he's made of like 
a precious stone the the belt of

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gold. 
He's brilliant. 

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He's blazing. 
Are you scared? 

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Probably only I, Daniel, saw 
this vision. 

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The men with me saw nothing, but
they were suddenly terrified and

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ran away to hide. 
And I get this. 

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I have been close to an angelic 
encounter before, and I could 

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tell that something holy was 
coming and instead of waiting 

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for it, I ran. 
I hate it, but I did. 

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It's a long time ago, he said. 
So I was left there all alone to

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see this amazing vision. 
My strength left me, and my face

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grew deathly pale, and I felt 
very weak. 

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Then I heard the man speak, and 
when I heard the sound of his 

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voice, I fainted and lay there 
with my face to the ground. 

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Just then a hand touched me and 
lifted me, still trembling, to 

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my hands and knees. 
And the man said to me, Daniel, 

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listen to this. 
He says, Daniel, you are very 

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precious to God, so listen 
carefully to what I have to say 

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to you. 
Stand up, for I've been sent to 

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you. 
When he said this to me, I stood

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up, still trembling. 
And then he said, don't be 

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afraid, Daniel. 
Since the first day you began to

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pray for understanding and to 
humble yourself before your God,

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your request has been heard in 
heaven. 

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I've come to answer your prayer.
But for 21 days, the spirit 

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Prince of the Kingdom of Persia 
blocked my way. 

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Then Michael, one of the 
archangels came to help me and I

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left him there with the spirit 
Prince of the Kingdom of Persia.

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Now I'm here to explain what 
will happen to you and your 

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people in the future. 
For this version of vision 

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concerns a time yet to come. 
Man, the way they describe it, 

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you would think they're about to
encounter Jesus, you know, a pre

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Incarnate, you know, Messiah or 
something. 

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This is just one of the angels, 
and this Angel was on his way to

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help Daniel and got delayed by a
spirit power over Persia. 

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Older translations, we'll call 
it Prince of Persia. 

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And if you ever played those 
video games, now you know where 

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it got its name from. 
How is it that an angelic being 

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could be delayed 3 weeks, 21 
days to come and answer a 

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prayer? 
And I don't really have an 

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answer for that other than 
warfare is real. 

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Maybe, maybe they know they 
can't stop the Lord from sending

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His messengers to answer your 
prayers or to strengthen you, 

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but they can delay them long 
enough for you to stop praying 

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for you to disengage from the 
Lord. 

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Maybe that's part of it. 
Daniel had every opportunity to 

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feel discouraged. 
He had already been praying. 

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He had already been through 
these trials, and he had 

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overcome them. 
And the more that we overcome 

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trials, here's the sick part of 
being a Christian. 

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We feel entitled. 
Do you not think that there are 

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00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,760
times that Daniel thought I 
stood firm during the lion's 

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den? 
I wasn't scared. 

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Then my friends went through the
fire. 

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I've endured this and all of a 
sudden, before you know it, it 

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00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:31,440
becomes God. 
After everything I've done for 

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you. 
Not a good place to be, but we 

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all get there at some time. 
We all get there. 

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God, I gave my marriage to you. 
I sacrifice my time for your 

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00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,800
purposes. 
Why am I feeling this way? 

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Why is this happening to me? 
There's a war going on, and just

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00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,960
because you can't see it doesn't
mean that it's not real. 

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00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:53,640
I don't know about you, but I 
find it encouraging. 

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This story might have been 
discouraging to some people. 

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00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,480
I find it encouraging. 
Sometimes help is on the way. 

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00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,200
I just don't know it. 
So I have to keep praying when 

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00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,520
the Lord comes to me. 
Like he spoke to Paul at one 

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00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,520
point and he said, hey, my grace
is sufficient for you. 

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00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:11,760
You don't need to pray for this 
anymore. 

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00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,520
Well then I'll stop praying. 
Until then, I'm going to keep 

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00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,840
pressing in and I'm going to 
keep seeking him because he has 

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00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,520
all of the answers. 
He is the source of life. 

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00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,680
It's encouraging because if 
you've ever prayed and wondered 

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00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,640
if your prayers were just 
bouncing off the ceiling or 

249
00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,120
cried out to God for your family
or your health or your marriage 

250
00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,800
or your children or your future,
or you feel like heaven has gone

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00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,080
silent, Daniel should always 
remind you that silence does not

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00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,680
mean inactivity. 
Daniel also raises another 

253
00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:42,520
question. 
Who is this Prince of Persia? 

254
00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,720
Who is this spirit that's over 
this area in Persia? 

255
00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,640
Well, nowadays we would call 
that a principality, but I want 

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00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:53,640
you to know that back in those 
days, you may have just 

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00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:57,120
considered them a fallen Angel, 
and we'll get to that shortly. 

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00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,560
To answer Daniel's questions, we
actually have to go back to the 

259
00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:04,520
book of Genesis again, and we 
have to look beyond the things 

260
00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:06,840
that we understand. 
We'll be in Genesis chapter 6 

261
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:09,280
and we've got to like all the 
scriptures are going to be in a 

262
00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,160
line right here for you or most 
of them. 

263
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,440
So you'll be able to write them 
down. 

264
00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:13,760
They should also be in your 
bulletin notes. 

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00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,200
And like I said, if you want it,
you've got plenty of reading 

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00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:17,640
material when you leave here 
today. 

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00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:20,520
But Daniel is not the first 
scripture to pull back the 

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00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,640
curtain and discover that 
there's more happening than what

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00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:24,280
could be seen. 
In fact, by the time we get to 

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00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,160
Daniel chapter 10, the Bible's 
already been telling this story 

271
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,320
for thousands of years. 
What Daniel experiences is not 

272
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,840
something new. 
It's just another chapter and a 

273
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,520
larger story. 
When most of us think about the 

274
00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:37,240
story of the Bible, we usually 
think about 1 great rebellion, 

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00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,120
don't we? 
And we talked about it last 

276
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,760
week. 
What was this great rebellion 

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00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,400
that we talked about last week? 
It's kids church today, right? 

278
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:44,760
What were we talking about last 
week? 

279
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:51,000
Jesus, you get a Jolly Rancher? 
Just kidding. 

280
00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,920
We don't have any. 
But we were talking about Adam 

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00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,640
and Eve in the garden, and we 
were talking about the original 

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00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,200
rebellion, right? 
So, so the enemy of our souls, 

283
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,440
he comes to Adam and Eve. 
He's like, did God really say 

284
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,160
this is the original fall? 
We've got this prosecutor, we've

285
00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,360
got this important angelic 
being. 

286
00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:13,440
This Son of God is there and he 
is fallen and he is using his 

287
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,480
ability to deceive. 
And it's so dirty. 

288
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:18,280
If you think about it. 
You and I, we understand 

289
00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:19,960
deception. 
We've all been deceived before, 

290
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:21,560
but Adam and Eve had never been 
deceived. 

291
00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,440
So they didn't even have a 
concept that somebody might lie 

292
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:25,440
to them. 
They're just walking around the 

293
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,880
garden with spiritual beings 
and, and they're tending to the 

294
00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,600
garden and they're naming 
animals and all of a sudden 

295
00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,840
you've got the accuser there. 
Well, if you're like me, then I 

296
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,680
just grew up hearing this 
generic general story that is 

297
00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,440
actually not really laid out in 
the Scripture that at one point 

298
00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,920
the devil Satan rebelled against
God and that he, he rebelled 

299
00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,360
using a third of the angelic 
host. 

300
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,800
And when he did that, he and 1/3
of that angelic host were cast 

301
00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,680
host were cast down to the earth
and that with original sin for 

302
00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:59,360
the spiritual beings. 
That's what happened. 

303
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:02,480
There is no story in the 
Scripture that says that. 

304
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,600
Like we discussed last week, 
Jesus says he saw Satan fall 

305
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,480
like lightning from the heavens 
immediately after his disciples 

306
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,120
returned and said the demons are
listening to us, Jesus. 

307
00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,160
And he goes, oh, I know I saw 
Satan cast out like lightning. 

308
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,520
He fell to the earth. 
In other words, the prosecutor 

309
00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,280
is out courts not in session 
anymore. 

310
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,440
He doesn't have a job. 
That's a real time thing that 

311
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,720
was being discussed. 
What if I told you there were 

312
00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:27,440
three great rebellions of the 
spiritual beings, and they're 

313
00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,320
all laid out clear as day in the
Scripture? 

314
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,040
The first one is what we talked 
about last week. 

315
00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,160
Satan, that ancient serpent in 
the garden, deceives humanity 

316
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,600
into distrusting God, and so 
sinners the world. 

317
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,040
Death follows, and the 
relationship between God and 

318
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,320
mankind gets fractured. 
We're familiar with this. 

319
00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,080
The second rebellion is one that
has confused Bible readers for 

320
00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,240
centuries. 
Let's read 4 verses at the 

321
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,640
beginning of Genesis 6. 
Then the people began to 

322
00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,600
multiply on the earth, and 
daughters were born to them, the

323
00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,200
sons of God. 
Remember we talked about this 

324
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:00,840
term. 
These, these are angelic beings.

325
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:04,160
The sons of God saw the 
beautiful women and took any 

326
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,160
they wanted as their wives. 
And then the Lord said, my 

327
00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,880
spirit will not put up with 
humans for such a long time, for

328
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,720
they are only mortal flesh. 
In the future, their normal 

329
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,240
lifespan will be no more than 
120 years. 

330
00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,960
Listen to verse 4 in those days 
and for some time after. 

331
00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,280
Maybe your translation says in 
the days of the flood and after 

332
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:31,200
it giant Nephilites or the 
Nephilim lived on the earth. 

333
00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,840
For whenever the sons of God had
intercourse that sexual 

334
00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,240
relations with women, they gave 
birth to children who became 

335
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,640
heroes and famous warriors of 
ancient times. 

336
00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,040
I'll be honest with you, those 4
verses have probably generated 

337
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,640
more debate than almost any 
other passage in the Old 

338
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,440
Testament. 
Good Christians have disagreed 

339
00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,240
about them for a long time. 
I've heard some people say that 

340
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,560
the sons of God there are simply
the godly descendants of Seth 

341
00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,720
marrying the ungodly descendants
of Cain. 

342
00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,000
Others, including a lot of 
Jewish interpreters before the 

343
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,000
time of Jesus, believed that 
these sons of God are rebellious

344
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,520
heavenly beings who crossed a 
boundary that God never intended

345
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,160
them to cross. 
And what they did was they took 

346
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,720
these spiritual beings and they 
took the form of flesh. 

347
00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,400
Don't tell me that it can't 
happen because it says that the 

348
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,319
devil himself masquerades as an 
Angel of light. 

349
00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:21,640
They can change to look however 
they'd like. 

350
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,520
As far as we know, they came 
down here and mated with human 

351
00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,640
women to create these different 
creatures. 

352
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:30,600
Now, how does this apply to you 
and I today? 

353
00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:31,800
I'm glad you asked to stick 
around. 

354
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:36,800
There's a lot more to come. 
After studying that evidence, I 

355
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,680
find that view that these hybrid
beings were created much more 

356
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,800
convincing. 
Throughout the Old Testament, 

357
00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,800
the Sons of God consistently 
refers to heavenly beings 

358
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:48,880
instead of human beings, and 
that is certainly how Job used 

359
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,800
the phrase. 
We talked about Job last week. 

360
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,160
It's how the earliest Jewish 
readers understood it. 

361
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,360
Both Peter and Jude in the 
scripture seem to connect a 

362
00:17:56,360 --> 00:18:00,400
specific group of angels who 
sinned with this event, and the 

363
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,280
ancient Jewish world referred to
those rebellious heavenly beings

364
00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,400
as the watchers. 
So this is where that term comes

365
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,720
in, and if you've never heard 
that term before, don't let it 

366
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:11,320
throw you. 
The name watchers doesn't show 

367
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:13,680
up in Genesis at all. 
So if you've not made it past 

368
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,240
Genesis before, it comes from 
Daniel and also later Jewish 

369
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,280
writings like First Enoch, which
is not in the Bible, but it's 

370
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,920
still interesting to read. 
I'm not asking you to accept 

371
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:25,640
writings that aren't in the 
Bible as scripture. 

372
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:27,960
I'm just pointing out that they 
help explain how the Jewish 

373
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,040
people of the days of Jesus 
understood these verses. 

374
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,600
They believed that these 
rebellious heavenly beings, 

375
00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,320
we're being judged by God and 
imprisoned until the final 

376
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,520
judgement. 
What they understood was that 

377
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:42,080
several, maybe about 10 or so 
angels had come down in specific

378
00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,240
and taught us things we weren't 
supposed to know, forbidden 

379
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,080
knowledge ahead of our time. 
In the same way that the 

380
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,600
prosecutor, the accuser, the 
devil showed up in the garden 

381
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,800
and started to teach us about 
good and evil way before God had

382
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,360
a chance to allow us to mature 
and guide us into it. 

383
00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:58,640
The whole concept is that we 
were taught things like how to 

384
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,560
make better weapons of warfare 
or how to how to empower our 

385
00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,040
bodies and find our identity 
through make up and things like 

386
00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:06,400
that. 
Or how to read the stars in 

387
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,080
astrology and mess with things 
that we're not supposed to mess 

388
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,080
with. 
There are spiritual things out 

389
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,840
there that work that aren't 
connected to Christianity and 

390
00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,680
anybody who tells you that they 
don't work is wrong and they've 

391
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:18,880
never read. 
When Moses goes to Pharaoh and 

392
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,680
Pharaoh has his sorcerer's 
replicate miracles, it's just 

393
00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,800
that you are forbidden to try to
access the spiritual realm on 

394
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,440
your own terms and that's really
going to matter in a moment. 

395
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,360
So follow me as we're going 
through this. 

396
00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:33,320
So you have these angels that 
came down, rebelled against God,

397
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,640
started to create their own 
things that are happening. 

398
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,960
And one of the reasons a lot of 
scholars believe this, by the 

399
00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,600
way, with Peter and Jude are 
referring back to Genesis 6. 

400
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,080
It's because they speak of 
angels who sinned and are now 

401
00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,320
being kept in chains, awaiting 
judgement. 

402
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,240
You and I, by the way, when we 
step into glory one day and 

403
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,520
everything's made new, part of 
our job is to judge these 

404
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:53,280
angels. 
Isn't that wild? 

405
00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,200
So if you think you're going to 
be just sitting on a cloud and 

406
00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:57,960
playing a harp for God or 
something, it ain't going to 

407
00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:59,480
happen. 
You got work to do. 

408
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,280
OK? 
Now, I do want to be clear about

409
00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:04,160
this. 
I'm only pointing this out 

410
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,280
because that worldview that the 
Jewish people had is much closer

411
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,600
to what we would understand as 
Americans in 2026. 

412
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,120
The important thing this morning
is not answering every question 

413
00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:18,000
about the Nephilim or satisfying
every curiosity we have about 

414
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,240
the Watchers. 
It's important that we 

415
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,880
understand this rebellion wasn't
limited to humanity. 

416
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,040
There are also sons of God that 
were in rebellion against him in

417
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,560
a spiritual realm as well. 
And the story doesn't stop there

418
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,080
either. 
We'll talk a little bit more 

419
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,120
about the Nephilim, but I do 
want to make this clear. 

420
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:35,120
Before I get to the third 
rebellion, I want you to 

421
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:39,080
understand that these ancient 
heroes that are being discussed 

422
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:43,240
in Genesis probably refer to a 
lot more than you think, and 

423
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:44,640
you've probably heard some of 
their names. 

424
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,960
Get to it in a minute. 
But the book of Genesis, most 

425
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,160
people believe, And while it is 
historically attributed to 

426
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,800
Moses, most people do believe 
that it was written around the 

427
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,840
time of Daniel, around the time 
that the Jewish people were in 

428
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,320
exile under Babylon. 
And they were writing down their

429
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:00,400
story to make sure that it 
wasn't forgotten because they 

430
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,320
were becoming inundated with a 
Pagan culture that was telling 

431
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,720
them to change and to adopt 
their gods and adopt their 

432
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:07,680
practices. 
So they wrote it down so they 

433
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,040
wouldn't forget it. 
They chose to reference these 

434
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,640
ancient heroes because these 
ancient heroes exist in every 

435
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:14,560
culture. 
All right. 

436
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,120
The third rebellion takes place 
at the Tower of Babel. 

437
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,800
Instead of spreading through the
earth under God's authority like

438
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:26,760
He commanded humanity to do. 
Remember, be fruitful and 

439
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:31,000
multiply, subdue the earth, make
it bend its knee to the Lord. 

440
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,400
What you see is humanity once 
again unites in a proud 

441
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:36,640
rebellion against Him. 
They're not trying to glorify 

442
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,920
God when they create the Tower 
of Babel, and I don't have that 

443
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,680
in your scriptures up here, but 
they're trying to make a name 

444
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,200
for themselves. 
They're trying to build a tower 

445
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,160
that symbolizes their 
independence and their 

446
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,720
greatness, believing they can 
establish their own Kingdom 

447
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,480
without a creator. 
Now, a lot of scholars believe 

448
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,920
that the Tower of Babel was 
probably what is called a 

449
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:55,240
ziggurat. 
I don't know if you ever heard 

450
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:56,320
that word. 
It's a fun word. 

451
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:57,720
Don't try to spell it. 
You don't need to. 

452
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,120
There's no test. 
But it's a really tall tower. 

453
00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,120
And essentially it was meant to 
be a man made mountain because 

454
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,320
in the ancient world the 
mountaintop was considered to be

455
00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,720
a place where earth would meet 
the heavenly. 

456
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,480
That the gods were too good, 
depending on your culture, too 

457
00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,400
good to come down here and dwell
amongst people. 

458
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,800
Another reason why Jesus is the 
bomb, right? 

459
00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:20,000
But they believe that their gods
would just live up on this 

460
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,800
mountaintop and literally and 
figuratively look down on 

461
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:26,080
humanity and what we're doing. 
So they said we'll make our own 

462
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,680
mountain and we'll go back and 
we'll try to recreate what we 

463
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,720
got from these angelic beings. 
We're going to go there and try 

464
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,400
to recreate what happened there.
Now, some people suggested that 

465
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,760
they were trying to to to 
connect with them, and that's 

466
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,320
why God took it so seriously and
said, no, this isn't happening. 

467
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:44,840
So what does God do? 
If you're familiar with the 

468
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,080
Tower of Babel, he smashes it 
into pieces and spreads them 

469
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:49,800
into different nations across 
the earth. 

470
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,800
So now it's not a centralized 
area. 

471
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:54,600
Now you've got people all across
the earth. 

472
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,680
So what's God going to do now? 
Because think about this. 

473
00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,920
Originally you had Adam and Eve 
in a garden and he's walking 

474
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:00,920
with them and he's teaching 
them. 

475
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:05,040
Right now you've got people that
are expanding and they're 

476
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,760
starting to embrace the 
teachings of these other angelic

477
00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:09,200
beings that are leading them 
astray. 

478
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,160
And he's now scattered them 
across the earth. 

479
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,160
So what does God do? 
Deuteronomy chapter 32. 

480
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,920
Everybody loves Deuteronomy and 
Leviticus, right? 

481
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,240
Well, because we avoid it, we 
miss a lot of important things. 

482
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,240
Listen to this in in chapter 32 
verses 8:00 and 9:00 when the 

483
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,240
most high assigned lands to the 
nations, when he divided up the 

484
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,080
human race, he established the 
boundaries of the peoples 

485
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:35,280
according to the number in his 
heavenly court. 

486
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,360
Perhaps your translation says 
that he divided up the earth 

487
00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:43,040
according to the sons of God, 
same thing. 

488
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,200
So he looks at the earth and he 
divides it up according to these

489
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,400
spiritual beings that are his 
angels. 

490
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,240
And it says for the people of 
Israel belong to the Lord Jacob 

491
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,360
is his special possession. 
So here's what happens. 

492
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,120
He takes these beings that are 
created, that are messengers 

493
00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,080
that serve him. 
And we'll talk about angels in a

494
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,280
in a moment. 
And they are across the earth 

495
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:08,240
overseeing things for him. 
And right here he says, though 

496
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,160
the people of Israel belong to 
the Lord, Jacob is his special 

497
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,480
possession. 
So he says, you guys oversee 

498
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,840
this for me, and I will oversee 
and start this journey of a 

499
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,680
covenant with my chosen people 
right here in Israel. 

500
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,000
This is one of those verses that
most of us have probably read 

501
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:27,640
without realizing how important 
it is. 

502
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,400
Moses tells us that when God 
divided the nations, he assigned

503
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,880
them according to the number of 
the sons of God while Israel 

504
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,840
remained his treasured 
inheritance. 

505
00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:40,080
And his goal was that eventually
he would set things right there 

506
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,200
and Israel would spread that 
light to the world. 

507
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:48,280
Centuries later, we find the 
consequences of what happens in 

508
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:52,000
Psalm 82. 
Just like humanity, a lot of 

509
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,520
these spiritual rulers rebelled 
against God's purposes. 

510
00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:56,000
We're going to read the whole 
Psalm. 

511
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,200
It's a very short one, but I 
want you to listen to it very 

512
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:00,400
closely because this is a lot to
take in. 

513
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,360
God presides over heaven's 
court. 

514
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,360
He pronounces judgement on the 
heavenly beings or the sons of 

515
00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:11,880
God. 
He says, how long will you hand 

516
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,200
down unjust decisions by 
favoring the wicked, give 

517
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,040
justice to the poor and the 
orphan, uphold the rights of the

518
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,320
oppressed and the destitute, 
rescue the poor and helpless, 

519
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,000
deliver them from the grasp of 
evil people. 

520
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,040
But these oppressors know 
nothing. 

521
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,240
They're so ignorant they wander 
about in darkness while the 

522
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:30,960
whole world is shaken to the 
core. 

523
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,480
Out of all the times you've seen
the the Lord come down on us in 

524
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:36,600
the Scripture and say you are 
oppressing the innocent. 

525
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,160
You're not handling justice. 
You're not taking care of the 

526
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,200
orphan. 
He's saying this to these 

527
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,560
heavenly beings. 
Listen to this verse 6. 

528
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:48,960
I say you are gods, you are all 
children of the most High, but 

529
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,840
you will die like mere mortals 
and fall like every other ruler.

530
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,520
This is rise up O God, and judge
the earth, for all the nations 

531
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,520
belong to you. 
This is re establishing. 

532
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,080
No, this whole earth belongs to 
him. 

533
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,280
Now if you look back at the 
original context here, you've 

534
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,440
got a really fun word which is 
called Elohim. 

535
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:07,480
We actually sing a song called 
Elohim. 

536
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,560
How many of you have heard that 
word before Elohim? 

537
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:14,960
OK, anybody know what it means? 
It's multiples. 

538
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,440
It's plural, right? 
So it can be, but it doesn't 

539
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:18,800
have to be. 
It's sort of like the word 

540
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:20,360
sheep. 
You can have a sheep, but you 

541
00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:24,480
can also have sheep, right? 
To quote Evan Baxter from Evan 

542
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,600
Almighty, right? 
So it can mean both. 

543
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,840
And this is where ancient 
grammar mixes up with modern 

544
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,200
grammar. 
So he's saying when he says I 

545
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,520
say you are gods, he's not 
saying that they're on an equal 

546
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,760
playing field with him. 
He's saying you are spiritual 

547
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,640
beings. 
You are these spiritual rulers, 

548
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:43,160
but you're going to die like 
mere men. 

549
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:45,840
There's a cost to what you're 
doing because you have oppressed

550
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,480
the innocent. 
Psalm 82 will really mess with 

551
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,000
your understanding and your 
theology. 

552
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,080
This is what it's saying though.
In the Old Testament you can see

553
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,040
that the the words L and Elohim 
get used interchangeably in a 

554
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,000
lot of different places. 1 is 
just referring to one God. 1 can

555
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,640
be used plurally, one of the 
number one places. 

556
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,840
Again, we're going to mess up 
something you've heard before 

557
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,960
When you look at Genesis and God
says, let's make man in our 

558
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,040
image. 
I've heard it taught and taught 

559
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:13,880
it that that's a reference to 
the Trinity. 

560
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,920
There's really no evidence that 
that's a a reference to the 

561
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,480
Trinity. 
It's comfortable for us, but 

562
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,920
it's not it's not possible in my
view, and I'll tell you why. 

563
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,160
Could you imagine? 
Could you imagine God looking at

564
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:33,960
the sun and saying, I have an 
idea, let's make man in our 

565
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:36,000
image. 
That is what we're saying when 

566
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,080
we say that's the Trinity. 
Here's the problem. 

567
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,760
We understand that in this great
mystery of the Father, the Son 

568
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,800
and the Holy Spirit, that they 
are one God. 

569
00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:46,960
It's a triune God, that while we
don't understand the whole 

570
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,720
mystery of the Trinity, there's 
really not something that the 

571
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,600
Father could say that Jesus 
would say. 

572
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,240
Oh, what a great idea. 
I didn't know you were thinking 

573
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:55,040
about that. 
Dad. 

574
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,440
It, it doesn't make sense. 
And in the ancient context, what

575
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,480
you're seeing here is he's 
speaking to the rest of the 

576
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:02,960
Elohim. 
He's speaking to the rest of the

577
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,000
heavenly court. 
Now I was talking to somebody 

578
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,600
about this one time and they 
said, so you're saying when he 

579
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,800
he said to the angels, let's 
make man, like they helped make 

580
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:11,920
us. 
And I said, I don't know, I 

581
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:17,920
helped make my kids, but also I 
know that God is their creator. 

582
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,800
But if we're going to be more 
specific, it's just a grammar 

583
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:21,840
thing. 
To be honest with you. 

584
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:23,920
I mean, I'm glad I found one 
thing to make you laugh because 

585
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:25,360
I don't have a lot of jokes 
written into this. 

586
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,560
But when he says, let's make man
in our image, I'm going to just 

587
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,040
picture like after this, we're 
hanging out and I say, let's get

588
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,640
pizza, Jerry. 
Let's you and me get pizza, 

589
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,680
right? 
And then I go and I buy pizza. 

590
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:37,800
Well, you didn't get pizza. 
I did. 

591
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,680
But I said, let's do it. 
And he looks at the rest of his 

592
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:43,680
heavenly host, and he says, 
let's make man in our image. 

593
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:48,240
Let's give this piece of earth, 
let's get this piece of flesh, 

594
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,600
this mound of dirt. 
Let's give it the divine spark 

595
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,320
that we have. 
That is a beautiful story. 

596
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,760
And that's the story of us in 
our creation. 

597
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,280
Psalm 82 says that as he took 
Israel and Judah as his own 

598
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:07,280
special possession, that he 
trusted these areas to different

599
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,840
angelic rulers, and they fell, 
or a great many of them did. 

600
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,360
Genesis 6, what we were talking 
about, talks about these 

601
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,400
children that came from that 
union, the Nephilim, right? 

602
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,320
It tells us that they became the
heroes and famous warriors of 

603
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,480
ancient times or mighty men of 
old, depending on your 

604
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:28,760
translation, the men of renown. 
I want you to know that almost 

605
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,720
every ancient civilization has 
stories about extraordinary 

606
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,160
heroes that were larger than 
life. 

607
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,480
How many of you have heard the 
story of Gilgamesh before? 

608
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,360
You're probably forced to read 
it in college or high school. 

609
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,320
But Gilgamesh? 
Anybody OK? 

610
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,160
All right. 
How about how about Beowulf 

611
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,680
fighting Grendel? 
Anybody remember that story? 

612
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:50,160
OK, how about Hercules? 
Greek mythology, Right? 

613
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,640
How about Perseus or Achilles or
other heroes? 

614
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:55,760
Guess what they all have in 
common? 

615
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,600
They were all said to have one 
divine parent and one human 

616
00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:03,320
parent. 
OK, so is your pastor standing 

617
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:05,200
up here and telling you that 
Hercules was real? 

618
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,880
I'm going to give you a solid 
maybe. 

619
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,160
I don't know. 
Here's the thing. 

620
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,600
These legends that go throughout
time, they all expand. 

621
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:17,000
They're all ancient fish 
stories. 

622
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:18,840
Fish was this big by the time 
you get done. 

623
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,920
But what I'm telling you is 
there is a common thread that 

624
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,720
there are these ancient heroes 
that could do things that are 

625
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,440
incredible because they were 
some sort of hybrid. 

626
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,400
Where does this come from? 
Because if even one person is 

627
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,960
right about the story and their 
culture, it messes up your 

628
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,680
theology. 
So we'll come back to hunting 

629
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,520
down the the Nephilim and their 
ancestors a little bit later 

630
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,480
towards the end. 
But I want you to understand 

631
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:44,240
that it's almost as though 
humanity remembered that 

632
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,400
something extraordinary had 
happened long ago. 

633
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:48,560
But over generations, the 
memories became wrapped up in 

634
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,840
mythology, exaggerated by 
storytellers and eventually 

635
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:55,360
turned into legends and myths. 
They still dominate the box 

636
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:59,200
office, by the way. 
The Odyssey made a ton of money.

637
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:00,640
Really well made film. 
Really. 

638
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,160
Not the story of the Odyssey 
either, though. 

639
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,600
My wife said it should just be 
called Odysseus, and she's 

640
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,120
probably right. 
But this story is not new. 

641
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,480
Think about everything that does
make that kind of money there. 

642
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,160
Superman, Thor. 
Wonder Woman, Captain America. 

643
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:17,360
Yeah, I'm going to say it in 
church. 

644
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,400
Harry Potter. 
Luke Skywalker, right? 

645
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,560
So any of these, any of these, 
they all have some sort of story

646
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,280
about somebody who's been chosen
to bring something good in the 

647
00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,560
midst of darkness. 
And we love to see the good 

648
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:31,920
overcome the darkness. 
And let's be honest, we also 

649
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:33,400
want the darkness to look really
cool. 

650
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,200
So even though Luke Skywalker's 
the hero, how many of y'all? 

651
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,760
I mean, most of you were 
probably Darth Vader over being 

652
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:43,200
Luke Skywalker, right? 
Anyway, why? 

653
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:45,600
There's something in us that 
remembers this. 

654
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,120
Now, if all of this feels like a
lot this morning, that's OK. 

655
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:50,960
It should. 
I'm not expecting you to walk 

656
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,400
out if you're remembering where 
every spiritual being fit on 

657
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,000
some heavenly organizational 
chart. 

658
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:57,880
I'm not. 
I'm not even sure that scripture

659
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:00,280
gives us enough information for 
me to make you one. 

660
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,920
But what I do hope that happens 
instead is that as you leave 

661
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,200
here, I hope you realize that 
your world just got a lot bigger

662
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,840
than you thought it was. 
I think a lot of us have been 

663
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,720
living with a very small version
of our faith, a small version of

664
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,040
Christianity, where we feel like
there's God and then there's 

665
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,160
Satan, and then there's angels 
somewhere here, and there's 

666
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,040
demons somewhere here. 
And we're right in the middle. 

667
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,000
And it's so much more diverse 
and so much bigger than this 

668
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,760
scripture talks about, a 
creation filled with spiritual 

669
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,440
beings, heavenly authorities, 
rebellious powers. 

670
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,960
And once you see this, I think 
some things will begin to 

671
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:32,280
change. 
Let's talk about what you should

672
00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,600
take as you walk out of here and
your world becomes bigger. 

673
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,840
First of all, please stop 
treating your Bible like the 

674
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,280
supernatural parts or 
embarrassing leftovers from an 

675
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:42,720
ancient civilization that didn't
understand enough. 

676
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,560
When Scripture talks about 
angels, take it seriously. 

677
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,480
When Daniel talks about the 
Prince of Persia, I want you to 

678
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,200
take it seriously. 
Can we move to the next slide? 

679
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,400
I don't want you to immediately 
turn him into a metaphor. 

680
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,720
When Paul talks about rulers and
authorities in the heavenly 

681
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,160
realms, I don't want you to skim
past it because you don't 

682
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:05,280
understand what it means. 
When Genesis gives you 4 

683
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,720
incredibly strange verses about 
the sons of God and the 

684
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,040
Nephilim, don't pretend that 
they're not there. 

685
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:12,640
We are still after the flood, 
right? 

686
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,840
Like so it's said that these 
things existed before the flood 

687
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,520
and in the days after. 
You don't have to understand 

688
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,160
everything that you read, but I 
will tell you this. 

689
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,320
A mature Christian should be 
willing to let scripture, 

690
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,760
scripture challenge their 
worldview instead of forcing 

691
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,960
scripture to fit the worldview 
that you already have. 

692
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,080
Here's a challenge I want to 
give you today. 

693
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,280
Look for how often unseen 
language is mentioned in the 

694
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,360
Word as you continue with your 
Bible reading. 

695
00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:39,680
I know we're all up to date on 
our Bible readings and we're all

696
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:40,720
in the middle of Jeremiah right 
now. 

697
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:46,160
So as you continue through that 
or start, I want you to notice 

698
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,040
how often there is something 
mentioned about spirits, sons of

699
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:52,800
God, ancient things. 
It is all over the place. 

700
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:55,360
All right, Don't just skim past 
it. 

701
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,040
I also want this to let you 
change the way that you 

702
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,280
understand worship. 
Worship was powerful today. 

703
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,440
Sarah, that was a great new song
you brought to the team today. 

704
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:05,800
That was powerful. 
How many you like that new song?

705
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,159
How many of you hated it? 
Look at that. 

706
00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,560
Oh, just you. 
No, I mean, it's so powerful. 

707
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,239
I went over to Cassie. 
I'm like, Sarah picked that one 

708
00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:16,400
out. 
She went, yeah, I went Dang, me.

709
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:17,639
And I was like, they're 
worshiping. 

710
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,520
We need that and it. 
And it really fit well with 

711
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,320
everything else. 
But I want you to understand 

712
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,159
that worship is something you 
can do on your own. 

713
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,360
But when we gather in this room 
and we begin singing, we are not

714
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,679
trying to convince God to come 
down from that mountain right 

715
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:33,280
from somewhere far away. 
For a few songs, Scripture gives

716
00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,880
us a picture of the heavenly 
realm already full of worship. 

717
00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:40,159
The angels worship him, the 
heavenly beings worship Him. 

718
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,920
All creation declares His glory.
And one day, even those that 

719
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:44,520
don't want to worship Him, we're
going to have to bend their 

720
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:47,520
knee. 
I want this to let it change the

721
00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:49,960
way that you pray too. 
Because Daniel prayed for 21 

722
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:51,800
days without knowing if anything
was happening. 

723
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,840
Most of us stopped praying after
two or three. 

724
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,240
And I want you to think about 
how differently you might live 

725
00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,680
if you actually believe this was
happening to you in real time. 

726
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:03,680
If you believe this war was 
happening in real time around 

727
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:05,920
you and you understood that 
things were happening. 

728
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:08,560
If you understood that the enemy
was coming up and planting 

729
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,120
thoughts in your head. 
And it may be as simple as look 

730
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,880
at that person, they look good. 
It may be something as simple as

731
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,080
you disappointed them again. 
It may be as simple as you're 

732
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,080
not going to change. 
I know you want to. 

733
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,920
It might be as simple as him 
just coming up and whispering. 

734
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:24,680
I know God can, but He probably 
won't. 

735
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,680
If you believe that these are 
actually war tactics, you would 

736
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:31,960
treat every one of these 
thoughts differently because you

737
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,280
would understand that so many of
them don't even originate with 

738
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:37,080
you, but you adopt them like 
they do. 

739
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:40,400
And once you do, guess what you 
just gave power to? 

740
00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,960
We pray because this war is 
real, and we worship because 

741
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,880
this war is real, and we obey 
when obedience is difficult 

742
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,720
because it's real and our souls 
count on it. 

743
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,120
So when this happens and you 
start to feel overwhelmed about 

744
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:58,200
the war and everything that's 
happening, I want you to also 

745
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,120
look above. 
So you've got to look beyond 

746
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,360
what you know, but you also need
to go ahead and look above 

747
00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,160
because you don't have it within
you to take care of these 

748
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,000
spiritual attacks on your own. 
Can we go to the next slide? 

749
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:14,440
If I've done my job this 
morning, then there's a 

750
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,080
possibility that some of you are
sitting there thinking I was a 

751
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:18,800
lot more comfortable when I 
didn't know any of this. 

752
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:22,880
But once you start looking 
beyond the physical world, the 

753
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,040
unseen world can feel enormous 
and overwhelming. 

754
00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:27,920
We just talked about the sons of
God and the Watchers and the 

755
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:29,920
Nephilim. 
It's a lot to put into one, and 

756
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,920
we will unpack a little bit more
of them probably about November 

757
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:34,840
as we continue to go through 
spiritual warfare. 

758
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:36,640
But I want you to understand 
this. 

759
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,240
If we're not careful, opening 
our eyes to the unseen world can

760
00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:42,400
produce the wrong response. 
Instead of becoming more 

761
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,040
confident in God, it's easy to 
become intimidated by everything

762
00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,280
else that's out there. 
And that's why the safest thing 

763
00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:50,760
for a mature believer to do is 
to lift your eyes higher than 

764
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,600
any of the spiritual warfare 
that's happening. 

765
00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,320
Before we talk about how to do 
this, I want to answer 2 

766
00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,720
questions that Christians have 
asked for centuries because 

767
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:00,920
we've been using these words 
throughout this morning and we 

768
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:02,560
need to understand them. 
So let's start with angels. 

769
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,600
What are angels? 
One of the problems is that we 

770
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,680
have inherited most of our 
mental picture of angels from 

771
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,240
paintings or if we're not that 
classy, Looney Tunes. 

772
00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:18,800
We have seen angels on Christmas
cards and in movies and in 

773
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:20,760
little figurines that people put
on shelves. 

774
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,800
How many of y'all remember 
watching Touched by an Angel? 

775
00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:26,240
Yeah, you know, it's crazy. 
There's no female angels 

776
00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:28,520
depicted in Scripture. 
None. 

777
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,720
And now you know why they were 
so fascinated when they saw 

778
00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:33,920
human women, those ones that 
fell. 

779
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:36,440
So if you like the show, that's 
fine. 

780
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:37,640
It's a nice little Hallmark 
moment. 

781
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,480
But what I'm telling you is the 
word Angel. 

782
00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,040
Some of you know this. 
It means what messenger, right? 

783
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:46,400
It means a messenger the same 
way we thought that his name was

784
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:48,920
Satan, but his job is a an 
accuser. 

785
00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:52,120
Well, they're messengers, so we 
just assume they all look very 

786
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:54,360
similar to one another. 
But they're so diverse and 

787
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:56,280
different, we just lump them all
into one thing. 

788
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,560
So Scripture gives us a whole 
variety of heavenly beings. 

789
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,960
Buckle up. 
We encounter the word cherubim. 

790
00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:09,120
We encounter seraphim, we 
encounter beings that are called

791
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:12,040
sons of God. 
You've got Michael, who Daniel 

792
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,520
describes as an Archangel. 
That's like a war Angel. 

793
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:16,480
We encountered the heavenly 
host. 

794
00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:20,320
And Scripture doesn't flatten 
all of these beings into one 

795
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,040
category with identical roles. 
They've all got different things

796
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,160
that they're doing. 
There is an order and 

797
00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:28,000
distinction and purpose within 
God's heavenly creation for the 

798
00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,480
angels. 
But it does tell us something 

799
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,520
really important about the 
angels who remain faithful to 

800
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,440
God. 
In Hebrews 114, you can look at 

801
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,000
all these beautiful scriptures 
laid out for you. 

802
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,360
It says, therefore angels are 
only servants, spirits sent to 

803
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,720
care for people who inherit 
salvation. 

804
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:47,560
So even though there's a lot of 
different kinds, they've got a 

805
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,240
specific job. 
You notice where that emphasis 

806
00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:51,400
falls. 
Angels are servants. 

807
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,840
They belong to God and they 
carry out His purposes 

808
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:56,680
throughout Scripture. 
They deliver messages and 

809
00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:00,120
protect God's people. 
They strengthen them, they fight

810
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,040
for them, and they worship God 
and they accomplish assignments 

811
00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,360
that God gave them. 
They're not out there doing 

812
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,960
their own thing. 
But here is something that you 

813
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,080
also need to keep straight 
because there are some 

814
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:12,920
references to guardian angels 
and them watching over you. 

815
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,720
Angels are not little gods, and 
I want to make that clear. 

816
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:22,120
We do not pray to dead Saints. 
We do not pray to angels, and we

817
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:26,680
sure don't pray to demons. 
Well, some people have. 

818
00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:29,840
We don't worship them, we don't 
pray to them, we don't even 

819
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,960
attempt to contact them, and we 
sure don't command them. 

820
00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:35,400
Our confidence is in an angel's 
protecting us. 

821
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,920
It's in the confidence that God 
is protecting us, and if he 

822
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,640
chooses to deploy an Angel, he 
does it. 

823
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:44,680
Some are described as just 
messengers and some of them are 

824
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,600
described differently. 
The cherubim are heavenly beings

825
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,440
that are associated with the 
presence and the throne of God. 

826
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:54,360
You can find them guarding Eden 
after the fall, represented over

827
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:57,520
the Ark of the Covenant. 
Isaiah talks about the Seraphim 

828
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,400
surrounding God's throne and 
continually declaring His 

829
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:01,920
Holiness. 
I would show you a picture of 

830
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:04,120
what people think they look like
but freak you out. 

831
00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:08,320
But you can find it easy. 
Actually, if you go to Etsy, 

832
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,800
they make some Christmas wreaths
that look like those angels. 

833
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:13,240
It's got a lot of eyeballs 
though, so you'll know it when 

834
00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:16,280
you find it. 
We don't know exactly how all 

835
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,120
the beings relate to one 
another, and the Bible doesn't 

836
00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,000
give us the chart, but what's 
important is to know that 

837
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:21,040
they're there. 
So those are angels. 

838
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:25,240
What are demons? 
Well, this is where I want to 

839
00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:27,520
distinguish what scripture 
clearly tells us from the 

840
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,120
ancient Jewish theology. 
OK. 

841
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,000
The Bible just teaches us that 
demons are real spiritual 

842
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:33,320
entities that are opposed to 
God. 

843
00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:36,440
They are not simply metaphors 
for mental illness. 

844
00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:38,960
I have heard people tell me 
before that those that were 

845
00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:41,200
afflicted with demons were the 
ones that were mentally ill. 

846
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:43,760
And if that's true, it was only 
the mentally ill that recognized

847
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:47,520
Jesus when he walked around 
Israel because as Israel, as he 

848
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,520
walked around Israel, it was the
ones that were afflicted with 

849
00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:51,280
demons that said I know who you 
are Son of God. 

850
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,480
So not the case. 
All we really know is that they 

851
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,880
are evil or unclean spirits. 
But if you go to the ancient 

852
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:01,200
Jewish theology in the world 
view of what they understood, 

853
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,280
and there is no scripture that 
gives you one verse that says 

854
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,600
here's where demons came from. 
Most of the Jewish thinking 

855
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:11,360
believed that they were the 
disembodied spirits of the 

856
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:14,160
Nephilim. 
Now I'm going to tell you why 

857
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:16,400
that matters. 
A lot of us thought that the 

858
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:18,560
demons afflicting us are these 
fallen angels. 

859
00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:21,080
No, no, no, a lot of them are 
still at work out there and 

860
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,440
we'll we'll get to them, I 
promise. 

861
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:25,560
I know it's a lot of 
information, but hold in there. 

862
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,880
OK, so the Nephilim, if you 
remember, they're the offspring 

863
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,160
of these heavenly beings and 
human beings. 

864
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:34,320
They were not part of God's 
original creation. 

865
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:35,640
It's part of why he said, you 
know what? 

866
00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:39,840
I'm limiting humans lifespan. 
And these these angels that 

867
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:42,200
perverted what was supposed to 
happen got thrown into prison. 

868
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:46,200
Now these disembodied spirits of
the Nephilim, what are they 

869
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:47,800
missing? 
They're not in heaven, they're 

870
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:49,160
not in hell. 
They're roaming the earth. 

871
00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:50,840
Just assume it's true for a 
minute. 

872
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:52,800
Follow me on this. 
What are they missing? 

873
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:55,400
A body? 
You ever wonder why you don't 

874
00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:57,680
see demonic possession so much 
in the Old Testament, but you 

875
00:41:57,680 --> 00:41:59,920
see it in the new? 
Because eventually they're 

876
00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:01,960
looking for something they don't
have any more. 

877
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:06,720
In the ancient worldview, all 
the believers in the days of 

878
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,760
Jesus, this is what they believe
demons to be. 

879
00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:12,000
They understood them as being 
the unnatural offspring of 

880
00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:13,600
spiritual beings and human 
women. 

881
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,960
So, yeah, I guess Hercules could
be afflicting you today if you 

882
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,400
think about it. 
But I want to be really careful,

883
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:21,600
you know, because if you find 
something in your Bible that 

884
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:24,240
says demons are the spirits of 
the dead Nephilim, you, you got 

885
00:42:24,240 --> 00:42:27,080
it from Timu, right? 
It's not, it's not a Bible to 

886
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:29,360
trust that Scripture is not in 
what we know to be true 

887
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,120
Scripture. 
But let me make a case for you. 

888
00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:33,360
All right, let's go to Matthew 
12. 

889
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:35,480
I've got it in order of how I'm 
going to hit these Scriptures. 

890
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:39,480
Matthew 12, let's look at the 
words of Jesus. 

891
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:44,240
He says when an evil spirit or 
demon leaves a person, it goes 

892
00:42:44,240 --> 00:42:46,520
into the desert seeking rest but
finding none. 

893
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:50,000
Then it says, I will return to 
the person I came from. 

894
00:42:50,720 --> 00:42:53,440
So it returns and finds its 
former home empty, swept in an 

895
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:55,760
order. 
Then the spirit finds seven 

896
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,080
other spirits more evil than 
itself, and they all enter the 

897
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,440
person and live there. 
And so that person is worse off 

898
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,120
than before. 
That will be the experience of 

899
00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:09,280
this evil generation. 
Where's Caleb on this one, Huh? 

900
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:11,840
These are the red letters of 
Jesus. 

901
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,680
I want that song. 
He talks about these spirits 

902
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:18,240
that go out into the wilderness,
but they can't find rest. 

903
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:20,320
So what are they craving? 
They look for a body and they 

904
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:22,240
come back. 
And if you allow them in or you 

905
00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:24,840
allow them on you, they will 
come and they will attack you, 

906
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:27,200
right? 
One of the reasons I talk about 

907
00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:30,080
unity in a church so much is not
just because I want us all to 

908
00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:32,920
buy the world of coke and 
everybody get along, right? 

909
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,240
Warfare is real and it is so 
much easier to fight it when you

910
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:40,040
have people that know your 
battles and they've got your six

911
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,440
and they're praying for you and 
they're interceding for you 

912
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:44,480
because you know what? 
They work together. 

913
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,200
Jesus just said he may go out 
into the wilderness and he may 

914
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:50,360
come back and just bring 7 more 
even worse than him. 

915
00:43:51,720 --> 00:43:53,640
Why would you not want to work 
together against that? 

916
00:43:54,440 --> 00:43:56,440
But just in case you think I 
took that out of context, we're 

917
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,240
going to read a nice little 
chunk here in Luke chapter 8 and

918
00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:01,640
we'll probably review the 
scripture again when we get to 

919
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:07,160
the to how to combat demonic 
forces after we've given proper 

920
00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:09,560
time to the Holy Spirit. 
Listen to this in Luke chapter 

921
00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:13,320
8, starting in verse 26. 
So as they arrived in the region

922
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,760
of the Garrison across the lake 
from Galilee, and as Jesus was 

923
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:21,120
climbing out of the boat, a man 
who was possessed by demons came

924
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,680
out to meet him. 
For a long time he had been 

925
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:27,080
homeless and naked, living in 
the tombs outside of town. 

926
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:32,320
As soon as he saw Jesus, he 
shrieked and fell down in front 

927
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,000
of him. 
And then he screamed. 

928
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,440
Why are you interfering with me?
Jesus, son of the Most High God,

929
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:40,040
please, I beg you, don't torture
me. 

930
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:42,680
This is important. 
Do you already see the authority

931
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,480
structure here? 
You don't see a demon go. 

932
00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:48,560
All right, Jesus, you're in for 
it now. 

933
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:52,920
What happens immediately 
immediately falls to the ground.

934
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:55,360
Please don't torture me. 
They know what's coming. 

935
00:44:57,160 --> 00:44:59,480
Verse 29 it says Jesus had 
already commanded the evil 

936
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:02,120
spirit to come out of him. 
This spirit had often taken 

937
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:05,040
control of the man even when he 
was placed under guard and put 

938
00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:07,720
in chains and shackles. 
He simply broke them and rushed 

939
00:45:07,720 --> 00:45:10,680
out into the wilderness, 
completely under the demons 

940
00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:13,760
power. 
So Jesus demanded, what's your 

941
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:17,640
name Legion? 
He replied, for he was filled 

942
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:21,040
with many demons. 
The demons kept begging Jesus 

943
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:23,160
not to send them into the 
bottomless pit. 

944
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:26,960
There's already some spiritual 
beings that are being locked 

945
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:29,480
away and they don't have a good 
ending coming. 

946
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:31,720
They know this. 
You may be familiar with the 

947
00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:33,240
story. 
So there happened to be a large 

948
00:45:33,240 --> 00:45:35,240
herd of pigs feeding on the 
hillside nearby. 

949
00:45:35,240 --> 00:45:37,200
That's very helpful for ancient 
Jewish culture. 

950
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,440
It's actually not. 
It's unclean animal. 

951
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,560
Why are they there? 
And the demons begged him to let

952
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:47,760
them enter into the pigs. 
So Jesus gave them permission. 

953
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:51,320
You know, I'm showing you just a
glimpse of what a genius Jesus 

954
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:53,200
is. 
See, he gets he's about to get 

955
00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:56,000
rid of all this unclean food, 
like in one swoop. 

956
00:45:56,640 --> 00:45:58,640
Why would they rather go into 
the body of a pig? 

957
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:01,480
You know why? 
It's a body. 

958
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:04,280
Don't make us go back into the 
wilderness. 

959
00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:05,720
Don't put us in the bottomless 
pit. 

960
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:07,720
Don't just cast us out into the 
air. 

961
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:12,160
Can we at least be in the pigs? 
But in the same way that one 

962
00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:14,720
night I was late here, I was 
vacuuming, and I could tell 

963
00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:17,280
there was an angelic presence 
and I freaked out and I ran out 

964
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:18,920
of here. 
I'm just telling you there is 

965
00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:21,520
something that happens sometimes
when the spiritual interacts 

966
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:24,400
with the natural, and we do tend
to freak out. 

967
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:27,440
Understand that as we continue 
this story. 

968
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:31,400
So Jesus gave them permission. 
Verse 33. 

969
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:34,520
Then the demons came out of the 
man and entered the pigs, and 

970
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:37,560
the entire herd plunged down the
steep hillside into the lake and

971
00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:40,120
drowned. 
You think it's something that 

972
00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:42,040
freaks out people? 
Imagine those poor pigs. 

973
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:46,600
When the herds been sought, they
fled into the nearby town and 

974
00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:48,960
the surrounding countryside, 
spreading the news as they ran. 

975
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:51,040
I bet it was something really 
freaky to see. 

976
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:53,440
People rushed out to see what 
had happened. 

977
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,760
A crowd soon gathered around 
Jesus and they saw the man who 

978
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:58,760
had been freed from the demons. 
He was sitting at Jesus's feet. 

979
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,800
By the way, that is the the 
posture of a student sitting 

980
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:05,080
there, learning from a rabbi, 
fully clothed and perfectly 

981
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:06,320
sane. 
And they were all afraid. 

982
00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:09,240
And then those who had seen what
happened told the others how the

983
00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:11,400
demon possessed man had been 
healed. 

984
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:14,680
And all the people in the region
of the Garrison begged Jesus to 

985
00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:18,320
go away and leave them alone. 
A great wave of fear swept over 

986
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:20,440
them. 
So Jesus returned to the boat 

987
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:23,200
and left, crossing back to the 
other side of the lake. 

988
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,760
The man who had been freed from 
the demons begged to go with 

989
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,440
him, but Jesus sent him home, 
saying go back to your family 

990
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:31,200
and tell them everything God has
done for you. 

991
00:47:32,600 --> 00:47:34,720
So he went through all the town 
proclaiming the great things 

992
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:37,360
that Jesus had done from A lot 
of people want to go with Jesus 

993
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:39,920
on that journey, but sometimes 
the mission was for you to go 

994
00:47:39,920 --> 00:47:42,960
and witness to your family and 
to your community and to your 

995
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:45,120
shop. 
There's a lot happening in this 

996
00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:47,280
story. 
We'll get back to it in a few 

997
00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:51,320
months, but first and foremost, 
I want you to understand the 

998
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:54,920
balance of good and evil here. 
Do you know what it is? 

999
00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,960
It's incredibly lopsided. 
The name Legion is supposed to 

1000
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,120
sound terrifying. 
When Jesus asked the demon his 

1001
00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:03,840
name, he says legion because 
many demons have entered the 

1002
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:06,560
man, and the Roman legion could 
contain thousands of soldiers. 

1003
00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:09,880
This demon is not trying to give
a literal number, but he is 

1004
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:12,200
trying to do something that 
would be intimidating. 

1005
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:14,160
And Jesus is just completely 
unfazed. 

1006
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:17,760
He's underwhelmed. 
So whatever's happening inside 

1007
00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:20,560
of this man has completely 
overwhelmed every human attempt 

1008
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:22,640
to help him. 
He's been driven away from home.

1009
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:25,600
He's living in a graveyard, and 
everyone around him has 

1010
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:27,040
apparently reached the same 
conclusion. 

1011
00:48:27,040 --> 00:48:29,800
There's nothing that can be done
to help this guy except for 

1012
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:32,400
Jesus. 
I wrote this in there. 

1013
00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:35,720
This is a story that I've had 
shared with me, and I want to 

1014
00:48:35,720 --> 00:48:36,920
share it with you because it's 
terrifying. 

1015
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:41,960
I know somebody who told me that
they willfully one time asked 

1016
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:45,360
for demonic help, prayed to to 
demons. 

1017
00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:47,640
This does happen. 
And they asked for help from 

1018
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:50,000
other spirits because they 
wanted to look a certain way, 

1019
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:52,560
because they wanted to drop 
weight and because they wanted 

1020
00:48:52,560 --> 00:48:54,200
to be able to make different 
friendships. 

1021
00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:56,800
And instantly these things 
happened. 

1022
00:48:56,840 --> 00:48:59,040
There was a friend circle. 
Their bodies started to look 

1023
00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:01,920
different over time and 
eventually they realized that 

1024
00:49:01,920 --> 00:49:03,120
they were telling them something
bad. 

1025
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,600
This is somebody I know by name,
so this is not something I saw 

1026
00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:09,840
on the Internet. 
As she started to lean on Jesus,

1027
00:49:10,040 --> 00:49:12,840
what she kept hearing was you're
dragging the people who love you

1028
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:14,080
down. 
You deserve to die. 

1029
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:16,480
This is what she would start to 
hear. 

1030
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:19,880
One time as she went to go and 
eat, she said she felt physical 

1031
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:22,720
presence of a hand on her throat
trying to stop her from 

1032
00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:27,080
swallowing her food. 
What I'm telling you is that 

1033
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:29,800
there are real things that 
happen out here that are 

1034
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:31,880
terrifying. 
Do they always manifest like 

1035
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:33,480
this? 
Thank God, no. 

1036
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:37,000
But you either believe that this
man was this crazy and lived 

1037
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:39,640
amongst the the graveyards and 
was this afflicted, or you think

1038
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:41,800
it's a metaphor. 
And if it could happen, then why

1039
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:45,440
could it not happen today? 
So we don't play with these 

1040
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:46,840
things. 
We don't look for them, we don't

1041
00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:53,560
hunt them. 
Were there thousands of demons 

1042
00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:55,080
in there? 
I don't know if there were 

1043
00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:57,360
literally thousands. 
I like to think there were. 

1044
00:49:58,240 --> 00:49:59,400
You know why? 
I like to think there were 

1045
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,200
thousands side of one person 
because that means thousands of 

1046
00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:04,960
them had to obey one sentence 
from the Son of God. 

1047
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:08,760
That's the actual balance of 
power and that's why we look 

1048
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:10,920
above. 
Let me read through this a 

1049
00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:13,800
little bit quickly. 
Colossians chapter 1 shows you 

1050
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:15,920
something that should bring you 
a lot of courage. 

1051
00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:19,720
We'll start in verse 15, just 5 
verses right here, 6 verses. 

1052
00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:22,800
Christ is the visible image of 
the invisible God. 

1053
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:27,120
He existed before anything was 
created and is supreme over all 

1054
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:29,880
creation. 
For though through Him God 

1055
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:33,080
created everything in the 
heavenly realms and on earth. 

1056
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:34,040
Do you hear that? 
Both. 

1057
00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:35,600
You hear that dichotomy, that 
comparison. 

1058
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:40,200
He made the things we can see 
and the things we can't see, and

1059
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:43,280
now he's going to list the 
things we can't see such as 

1060
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:47,160
Thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and 
authorities in the unseen world.

1061
00:50:47,760 --> 00:50:50,800
Everything was was created 
through Him and for Him. 

1062
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:54,440
He existed before anything else,
and He holds all creation 

1063
00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:55,960
together. 
And then it goes on to talk 

1064
00:50:55,960 --> 00:50:58,040
about how Christ is the head of 
the church and how we should 

1065
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:00,200
follow Him. 
After everything that we've 

1066
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:02,640
learned this morning, I want you
to hear that scripture 

1067
00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:04,680
differently. 
Everything that you could see 

1068
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:06,920
and everything that you can't 
see was all created for Him and 

1069
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:08,880
through Him, and it all bows its
knee to Him. 

1070
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:11,800
Jesus is the Creator. 
The creation will never have the

1071
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:16,000
upper hand against the Creator. 
I think Christians sometimes 

1072
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:19,200
accidentally imagine spiritual 
warfare, as though Christianity 

1073
00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:22,000
teaches some sort of cosmic 
version of good versus evil 

1074
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,960
where you've got 2 nearly equal 
powers that have been fighting 

1075
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:26,720
and one of them is going to get 
the upper hand one day. 

1076
00:51:26,720 --> 00:51:29,600
And that is just not the case. 
It's not a biblical picture at 

1077
00:51:29,600 --> 00:51:31,840
all. 
Satan has never been God's 

1078
00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:34,600
equal. 
Satan's not even God's opposite.

1079
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:38,480
The opposite of Satan isn't God 
because Satan doesn't belong 

1080
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:40,400
anywhere near God's category of 
existence. 

1081
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:44,920
There's nothing like Yahweh. 
And just in case there's any 

1082
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:47,040
question about whether that 
authority is limited to His 

1083
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:51,080
earthly ministry, in Matthew 
2818, Jesus himself said I have 

1084
00:51:51,080 --> 00:51:53,520
been given all authority in 
heaven and on earth. 

1085
00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:55,760
That doesn't just sound 
religious anymore, does it? 

1086
00:51:56,160 --> 00:51:58,960
Now you know, He's been given 
all authority in heaven and on 

1087
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:01,360
earth. 
Both realms are underneath him. 

1088
00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:05,000
OK, now when Jesus says all 
authority in heaven on earth has

1089
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:07,440
been given to him, I don't want 
us to hear that. 

1090
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:10,320
Another familiar Bible verse. 
I want us to read that and 

1091
00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:13,840
understand how powerful he is. 
And I want you to know what it 

1092
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:17,400
means when you take his name as 
Christian and you represent him,

1093
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:19,280
the power and the authority that
you carry. 

1094
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:22,120
You like to sing that God's your
champion. 

1095
00:52:22,120 --> 00:52:24,480
That's one of my favorite 
worship songs and we sing. 

1096
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:26,760
I have the authority that Jesus 
has given me. 

1097
00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:28,800
That's the power he shares with 
you. 

1098
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:32,040
That's why his disciples could 
come back and say, we the demons

1099
00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:34,080
are listening to us. 
He's like, I know it's crazy, 

1100
00:52:34,080 --> 00:52:37,320
isn't it? 
Just he said, don't rejoice that

1101
00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:39,360
they listen to you, just rejoice
that your name is written in 

1102
00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:42,360
heaven. 
The unseen world may be 

1103
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:45,280
complicated, but I want you to 
know that the throne is not 

1104
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:49,000
contested. 
So if learning about the unseen 

1105
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:51,320
world makes Jesus seem smaller, 
we've learned it wrong. 

1106
00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:55,560
He is so powerful and He is so 
loving and He is so willing for 

1107
00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:59,000
you to access Him. 
How many of you have ever been 

1108
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:02,840
near to see somebody have a 
demon or a fowl or unclean 

1109
00:53:02,840 --> 00:53:05,320
spirit cast off of them? 
Anybody here? 

1110
00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:08,120
OK, I mean, I just want you to 
know, like this happens. 

1111
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:10,320
I've seen it happen in America, 
I've seen it happen in 

1112
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:11,760
Guatemala. 
I've seen it happen with 

1113
00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:14,360
somebody on my on my team in 
Guatemala one time who was 

1114
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:16,400
trying to punch me. 
And thankfully there were three 

1115
00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:20,880
other people from this church 
holding their arms down because 

1116
00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:23,400
I talk a good talk, but I don't 
take a good punch, right. 

1117
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:28,360
So it happens. 
If you're looking for a 

1118
00:53:28,360 --> 00:53:30,640
fictional book that would unpack
this a little bit. 

1119
00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:34,080
I'm not talking about the this 
present darkness yet, although 

1120
00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:38,680
that is a very good book. 
Read the screw tape letters CS 

1121
00:53:38,680 --> 00:53:41,880
Lewis the screw tape letters. 
Every chapter is a different 

1122
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:43,520
letter and it's written from one
demon. 

1123
00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:46,720
His name is screw tape and he's 
writing to his I think it's a 

1124
00:53:46,720 --> 00:53:50,440
nephew to Wormwood and he's 
writing and trying to give him 

1125
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:53,240
tips on how to harass somebody. 
But what's really great again, 

1126
00:53:53,240 --> 00:53:55,120
spoiler, but you know, it's it's
old. 

1127
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:58,720
By the end of the book, you find
where the person who's been 

1128
00:53:58,720 --> 00:54:02,000
harassed by this demon, he 
passes away and in that process 

1129
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,800
of transferring himself from the
earthly life into the eternal 

1130
00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:08,200
existence, he starts to see 
heavenly beings, including 

1131
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:10,760
seeing Wormwood. 
And he is not impressed with him

1132
00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:14,000
either, in the same way that 
Jesus is not intimidated by the 

1133
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:16,440
demons. 
I'm telling you that as you 

1134
00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:19,760
crossover from this life to your
eternal life and you get a 

1135
00:54:19,760 --> 00:54:21,960
glimpse into these things, you 
are going to understand how 

1136
00:54:21,960 --> 00:54:24,760
small they are in comparison to 
the God that you serve. 

1137
00:54:26,560 --> 00:54:30,120
And he, he basically kind of 
rips a new one for, for Wormwood

1138
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:31,480
there. 
And he says, you know, you made 

1139
00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:33,920
a mockery of him and not only 
did he see you and he wasn't 

1140
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:36,600
scared, he saw Jesus. 
How dare he? 

1141
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:40,680
I want you to understand the 
same thing that they write about

1142
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:42,560
in that book is the same thing 
here for you. 

1143
00:54:42,880 --> 00:54:45,280
These demons, they can tempt 
you, but they cannot make you 

1144
00:54:45,280 --> 00:54:47,560
choose. 
The choice is still yours. 

1145
00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:51,360
The question now becomes, what 
do you do with all of this? 

1146
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:53,760
Because if your worldview is 
that big, then what do you do? 

1147
00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:55,040
And I'll just give you a couple 
things. 

1148
00:54:55,040 --> 00:54:58,080
And I, I want to, I promised I'd
come back to the Nephilim for 

1149
00:54:58,080 --> 00:54:59,760
one final thing. 
And I'll do that before we leave

1150
00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:02,240
today. 
The first thing that I want you 

1151
00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:05,760
to do today is make Jesus bigger
in your spiritual imagination 

1152
00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:08,080
than the enemy. 
Last week we talked about stop 

1153
00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:11,640
living like the enemy is winning
because he's not. 

1154
00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:13,840
But a lot of us act that way, 
like, Oh no, what are we going 

1155
00:55:13,840 --> 00:55:15,400
to do? 
There's so many people attacking

1156
00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:17,320
me. 
Make sure Jesus is bigger in 

1157
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:20,280
your mind than his enemies are. 
His enemies are your enemies. 

1158
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:23,960
Jesus is powerful, OK? 
He walked this earth to teach 

1159
00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:26,600
you how to walk it out until the
day that you step into glory 

1160
00:55:26,600 --> 00:55:28,960
with Him. 
The second thing that I want you

1161
00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:32,800
to know is this. 
Stop measuring spiritual 

1162
00:55:32,800 --> 00:55:34,720
authority by how scary something
is. 

1163
00:55:35,840 --> 00:55:38,200
A lot of times we are 
intimidated and we're scared and

1164
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:40,320
we assume that since we're 
really scared, they must be very

1165
00:55:40,320 --> 00:55:44,000
powerful. 
That is a lie from the pit, OK? 

1166
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:47,880
Just because something terrifies
you doesn't mean that it's 

1167
00:55:47,880 --> 00:55:51,040
really powerful. 
Man, When my kids were little, I

1168
00:55:51,040 --> 00:55:52,920
had a three-year old come around
the corner and I thought my 

1169
00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:55,120
heart was going to jump out of 
my chest, but I could still beat

1170
00:55:55,120 --> 00:55:56,840
them in an arm wrestling 
competition, you know what I 

1171
00:55:56,840 --> 00:55:59,400
mean? 
It's no, it's no way to 

1172
00:55:59,400 --> 00:56:00,920
understand how powerful they 
are. 

1173
00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:02,600
They're just good at 
intimidating you. 

1174
00:56:02,920 --> 00:56:05,400
One of the reasons I think they 
don't fully reveal themselves to

1175
00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:08,960
you is because, much like you 
read in CS Lewis's screw Tape 

1176
00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:10,520
letters, you would not be really
afraid. 

1177
00:56:10,520 --> 00:56:13,000
They'd probably look like those 
two little things in Hercules 

1178
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:15,680
the animated movie. 
Remember them? 

1179
00:56:15,800 --> 00:56:18,320
Were they in pain, in something?
Panic. 

1180
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:23,560
Thank you, I will not. 
All right #3 this is a good 

1181
00:56:23,560 --> 00:56:25,280
catch phrase today. 
Stay in your lane. 

1182
00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:28,480
Don't try to do what God hasn't 
called you to. 

1183
00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:31,320
Ignore that typo. 
These are not the words you're 

1184
00:56:31,320 --> 00:56:33,320
looking for. 
Stay in your lane. 

1185
00:56:34,360 --> 00:56:36,840
You know why? 
It is not your job to hunt them 

1186
00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:38,720
out. 
It is not your job to call them 

1187
00:56:38,720 --> 00:56:40,760
out. 
It is not your job to try to 

1188
00:56:40,760 --> 00:56:43,680
find their names or to try to 
write down the way that they are

1189
00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:45,760
laid out. 
It is your job to be obedient. 

1190
00:56:45,760 --> 00:56:48,080
When God says go pray for Him, 
you go pray for Him. 

1191
00:56:48,520 --> 00:56:50,120
You go lay hands. 
When God says I want you to 

1192
00:56:50,120 --> 00:56:52,000
release that to me, you say yes 
Sir. 

1193
00:56:52,240 --> 00:56:54,760
By the way, we are normally 
faster to go pray for him than 

1194
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:56,640
we are to let go of something he
tells us to. 

1195
00:56:57,560 --> 00:57:00,480
But we need to be equally quick 
with both hands on this. 

1196
00:57:01,760 --> 00:57:03,600
Stay in your lane. 
Don't try to be something you 

1197
00:57:03,600 --> 00:57:05,720
don't need to be some sort of 
spiritual power Ranger for 

1198
00:57:05,720 --> 00:57:07,560
Jesus, right? 
He's he's got enough power. 

1199
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:11,240
You need to know when to stand 
instead of run. 

1200
00:57:12,480 --> 00:57:15,800
Don't run from the spiritual. 
If there is a good manifestation

1201
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:18,640
of an Angel of the Lord coming, 
stay there for it. 

1202
00:57:19,600 --> 00:57:22,200
Take my words for it. 
If there's something evil 

1203
00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:25,480
coming, guess what? 
You have the authority to deal 

1204
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:27,920
with it. 
And the last thing I would just 

1205
00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:30,120
tell you is use all of these 
things you're learning to 

1206
00:57:30,120 --> 00:57:32,160
increase your confidence, not 
your anxiety. 

1207
00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:34,120
Is it bigger? 
Is there a whole lot more than 

1208
00:57:34,120 --> 00:57:34,880
you knew? 
Yeah. 

1209
00:57:35,600 --> 00:57:37,920
But you know what? 
There comes a time, Christians, 

1210
00:57:37,920 --> 00:57:41,040
where we have to grow up and we 
have to enter the war. 

1211
00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:43,920
I'm so glad that my kids don't 
have to pay taxes, and I wish I 

1212
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:45,240
could protect them from it 
forever. 

1213
00:57:46,280 --> 00:57:48,800
But one day they will. 
One day they'll join the 

1214
00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:50,880
workforce. 
One day they'll get older and 

1215
00:57:50,880 --> 00:57:53,560
they will encounter all of the 
things that I've encountered in 

1216
00:57:53,560 --> 00:57:55,920
one way or another, and they'll 
have to learn how to handle as a

1217
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:59,400
man and a woman. 
And for us, we're under the 

1218
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:01,200
protection. 
We were on milk and one day we 

1219
00:58:01,200 --> 00:58:05,000
have to move to meet, right? 
Don't stress over them. 

1220
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:06,560
Don't let this increase your 
anxiety. 

1221
00:58:06,640 --> 00:58:09,200
If you understand how powerful 
Jesus is and you're on his side,

1222
00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:11,160
you should walk out of here easy
breezy. 

1223
00:58:12,240 --> 00:58:14,480
Before we finish this morning, 
this morning, there are a few 

1224
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:16,840
questions still bouncing around,
and one of them might be this. 

1225
00:58:16,840 --> 00:58:18,200
Well, what happened to the 
Nephilim? 

1226
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:22,160
Well, that's part of why I 
wonder what's happened to the 

1227
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:24,760
Old Testament. 
I wish that we had some more 

1228
00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:26,320
depictions of the whole Old 
Testament. 

1229
00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:30,120
Those wars are all targeted. 
Genesis tells us they were on 

1230
00:58:30,120 --> 00:58:33,280
the earth before the flood, and 
interestingly, also afterward. 

1231
00:58:33,640 --> 00:58:35,960
When Israel enters the promised 
land, they encounter people that

1232
00:58:35,960 --> 00:58:38,120
are described in ways that sound
familiar. 

1233
00:58:38,360 --> 00:58:40,480
Scripture introduces us to these
words. 

1234
00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:42,920
Maybe you've read over them and 
they sound familiar. 

1235
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:47,360
The Anakim, the Raphaim, the 
Emem, and the Zam Zuman. 

1236
00:58:47,680 --> 00:58:48,680
These are all words in the 
Bible. 

1237
00:58:48,680 --> 00:58:51,600
I didn't make them up. 
These are people remembered for 

1238
00:58:51,600 --> 00:58:54,600
extraordinary size and strength.
The Book of Numbers actually 

1239
00:58:54,600 --> 00:58:56,440
connects the Anakim with the 
Nephilim. 

1240
00:58:57,240 --> 00:58:59,680
Later on you meet famous giant 
warriors. 

1241
00:58:59,680 --> 00:59:01,080
You ever heard of one that David
fought? 

1242
00:59:01,720 --> 00:59:04,720
It's a big story. 
Goliath right from Gath. 

1243
00:59:05,200 --> 00:59:07,320
And there's other enormous 
warriors that are associated 

1244
00:59:07,320 --> 00:59:09,440
with his family. 
Deuteronomy tells us that King 

1245
00:59:09,440 --> 00:59:12,920
Ogg of Bashan was one of the 
last survivors of the ref I am, 

1246
00:59:13,120 --> 00:59:15,680
and it goes out of its way to 
describe the enormous dimensions

1247
00:59:15,680 --> 00:59:18,280
of his bed. 
Your California king has nothing

1248
00:59:18,680 --> 00:59:21,760
on what King Ogg of Bashan had. 
Why? 

1249
00:59:22,120 --> 00:59:23,720
Because he was unnaturally 
large. 

1250
00:59:23,720 --> 00:59:27,960
He was part of the Nephilim. 
Now, exactly how the Nephilim 

1251
00:59:27,960 --> 00:59:30,240
appear after the flood is one of
those questions that Scripture 

1252
00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:32,240
doesn't completely answer. 
Everybody's got a different 

1253
00:59:32,240 --> 00:59:34,800
theory when they look into it. 
I've got my own theory on it 

1254
00:59:34,800 --> 00:59:37,760
too. 
But sometimes I do get asked 

1255
00:59:37,760 --> 00:59:39,600
this and I talk about it. 
Could there still be giants 

1256
00:59:39,600 --> 00:59:41,440
connected, all of this somewhere
in the world today? 

1257
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:44,600
Sure. 
That sounds really confident, 

1258
00:59:44,600 --> 00:59:47,120
doesn't it? 
I don't know specifically, and I

1259
00:59:47,120 --> 00:59:49,200
don't think Scripture gives you 
enough to wonder if there are 

1260
00:59:49,200 --> 00:59:52,000
giants walking around here. 
But also, I've just read enough 

1261
00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:53,800
and I've learned enough about 
the Scripture that I am not 

1262
00:59:53,800 --> 00:59:56,600
going to be so arrogant as to 
say there's not a chance that 

1263
00:59:56,600 --> 00:59:58,840
could ever be there. 
No, the Book of Revelation 

1264
00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:00,160
scares me. 
We'll talk about it a little bit

1265
01:00:00,160 --> 01:00:02,480
next week. 
I don't really know everything 

1266
01:00:02,480 --> 01:00:04,680
that's going to happen, so I'll 
just let God handle that. 

1267
01:00:04,840 --> 01:00:06,240
But could it happen? 
Yeah. 

1268
01:00:06,240 --> 01:00:08,800
I'm open for whatever God is 
allowed to happen and however it

1269
01:00:08,800 --> 01:00:13,400
unfolds according to to him. 
But this is what I want to take 

1270
01:00:13,400 --> 01:00:15,120
away today, and I hope this 
gives some peace. 

1271
01:00:15,120 --> 01:00:17,200
If you've ever read through the 
Bible and you found parts of it 

1272
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:19,520
distressing or uncomfortable, 
did you ever read through some 

1273
01:00:19,520 --> 01:00:21,760
of those old stories of war 
where they wipe out different 

1274
01:00:21,760 --> 01:00:23,200
cultures and you felt 
uncomfortable? 

1275
01:00:23,800 --> 01:00:25,200
I mean, I did. 
Anybody else? 

1276
01:00:25,720 --> 01:00:27,840
OK, the rest of you are 
heartless. 

1277
01:00:30,080 --> 01:00:31,640
Just kidding. 
Just kidding. 

1278
01:00:32,520 --> 01:00:34,320
Why is the language sometimes so
severe? 

1279
01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:36,160
And he says, wipe out every 
single one of them. 

1280
01:00:36,160 --> 01:00:38,240
Why does this territory matter 
so much? 

1281
01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:42,000
This is not a land grab for 
God's special little babies, OK?

1282
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:43,320
And I want you to understand 
this. 

1283
01:00:43,600 --> 01:00:46,960
These cultures that they were 
invading we're so deeply 

1284
01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:50,680
connected to idolatry and the 
occult practices and rebellious 

1285
01:00:50,680 --> 01:00:53,520
spiritual powers. 
And some of the people that 

1286
01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:56,320
Israel encountered were 
specifically assigned to these 

1287
01:00:56,320 --> 01:00:59,160
giant clans too. 
In the biblical account, not one

1288
01:00:59,160 --> 01:01:01,920
of those giant figures was ever 
presented as a champion fighting

1289
01:01:01,920 --> 01:01:04,760
for Yahweh. 
Again and again, they appear 

1290
01:01:04,760 --> 01:01:07,080
associated with the people 
standing in opposition to them. 

1291
01:01:07,080 --> 01:01:10,040
So there's even another layer 
here that I'm just going to 

1292
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:13,320
throw out there to you. 
The Old Testament talks about 

1293
01:01:13,320 --> 01:01:17,320
rituals that they had some 
people that would consult with 

1294
01:01:17,320 --> 01:01:20,200
the dead and invoke some of 
these ancestral spirits or the 

1295
01:01:20,200 --> 01:01:23,240
spirits of these ancient heroes.
Sometimes they would mark their 

1296
01:01:23,240 --> 01:01:25,840
body for these dead giants, for 
these dead champions. 

1297
01:01:25,840 --> 01:01:29,400
And we look at this and we say 
today, look, it says not to get 

1298
01:01:29,400 --> 01:01:32,400
a tattoo. 
I'm not going to express my 

1299
01:01:32,400 --> 01:01:36,040
opinion on that today, but 
perhaps you have an idea. 

1300
01:01:36,520 --> 01:01:38,760
You don't mark your body for the
dead because they were marking 

1301
01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:40,840
their body for the dead and 
asking to be imbued with the 

1302
01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:43,320
power of an ancient spirit so 
that they could go to war 

1303
01:01:43,320 --> 01:01:46,760
against God's people. 
And God was saying, hey, hey, 

1304
01:01:46,760 --> 01:01:50,160
let's not, let's not cut 
ourselves and ask for a demon to

1305
01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:53,400
come inside of us. 
I think it's good advice. 

1306
01:01:55,320 --> 01:01:57,680
Some scholars have even 
suggested that there were 

1307
01:01:57,680 --> 01:01:59,960
traditions there in an ancient 
belief that they would do this 

1308
01:01:59,960 --> 01:02:02,880
as a regular basis, not to 
remember the fallen dead, but to

1309
01:02:02,880 --> 01:02:04,880
be empowered by fallen dead 
people. 

1310
01:02:05,240 --> 01:02:07,360
And they would get deceived by 
different spirits. 

1311
01:02:07,960 --> 01:02:10,240
So what's happening here is even
as you look at the Tower of 

1312
01:02:10,240 --> 01:02:12,520
Babel, where people are trying 
to grab a hold of knowledge and 

1313
01:02:12,520 --> 01:02:15,160
power they weren't supposed to, 
and God scattered them, He's 

1314
01:02:15,160 --> 01:02:17,560
saying, no, this is my nation, 
you are my people. 

1315
01:02:17,560 --> 01:02:18,880
We're going to start this in a 
way. 

1316
01:02:18,880 --> 01:02:20,560
I'm going to make this covenant 
with Moses. 

1317
01:02:20,560 --> 01:02:22,040
I'm going to honour this 
covenant with you. 

1318
01:02:22,480 --> 01:02:24,080
And we are not going to become 
impure. 

1319
01:02:24,120 --> 01:02:27,200
We are not going to have other 
cultures and these demonic 

1320
01:02:27,200 --> 01:02:31,320
things come and invade us. 
So, and, and hear me on this 

1321
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:34,520
man, I love the United States of
America, but we got all sorts 

1322
01:02:34,520 --> 01:02:37,200
here, right? 
So you and I, we have this job 

1323
01:02:37,200 --> 01:02:39,720
because we're not sitting in one
pristine country that's just 

1324
01:02:39,720 --> 01:02:42,200
under the bubble of God as we 
know him. 

1325
01:02:42,200 --> 01:02:45,520
We are surrounded by things and 
we are not called to go and take

1326
01:02:45,520 --> 01:02:48,040
them out by a sword. 
We are called to go and to love 

1327
01:02:48,040 --> 01:02:51,520
them and to bring them back. 
Jesus sends you and I out as 

1328
01:02:51,520 --> 01:02:54,560
sheep amongst wolves so that 
these wolves can become sheep. 

1329
01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:56,840
And it's very important that you
understand this. 

1330
01:02:57,520 --> 01:03:00,400
So what happened to these other 
rebellious spiritual beings? 

1331
01:03:00,400 --> 01:03:04,400
Well, they used to be called, 
they used to be called angelic 

1332
01:03:04,400 --> 01:03:06,920
beings. 
Now we understand them as this. 

1333
01:03:07,720 --> 01:03:12,640
Paul calls them principalities. 
So we just read about it, 

1334
01:03:12,640 --> 01:03:15,920
Deuteronomy 32, Psalm 82, He 
places these angelic beings as 

1335
01:03:15,920 --> 01:03:18,800
regional overseers, but they 
fall and they're corrupt. 

1336
01:03:19,120 --> 01:03:21,600
Now you understand as you go 
around the globe how you can 

1337
01:03:21,600 --> 01:03:24,400
look and you can see different 
spiritual oppression, and it's 

1338
01:03:24,400 --> 01:03:26,120
all the same in certain regions.
Why? 

1339
01:03:26,120 --> 01:03:29,040
Because these different 
spiritual beings have set up 

1340
01:03:29,200 --> 01:03:31,480
shop for themselves and called 
themselves gods. 

1341
01:03:32,680 --> 01:03:34,840
And he says you call yourselves 
gods, but you're going to fall 

1342
01:03:34,840 --> 01:03:38,400
like men. 
But remember this, even if you 

1343
01:03:38,600 --> 01:03:41,120
even if you ever encounter 
somebody who's under oppression 

1344
01:03:41,120 --> 01:03:44,400
from an area there, every single
human being on this planet is 

1345
01:03:44,400 --> 01:03:46,840
made in the image of God. 
Every single one of them. 

1346
01:03:47,080 --> 01:03:48,960
I don't care their belief, I 
don't care their lifestyle. 

1347
01:03:48,960 --> 01:03:51,040
I don't care any of that stuff. 
You can get to that in time. 

1348
01:03:51,040 --> 01:03:52,640
They're all made in the image of
God. 

1349
01:03:53,360 --> 01:03:55,200
You do not war against flesh and
blood. 

1350
01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:58,560
You war against the powers and 
the principalities and the 

1351
01:03:58,560 --> 01:04:00,320
spirits of darkness that are in 
this world. 

1352
01:04:01,680 --> 01:04:02,960
Guys, this is what we're up 
against. 

1353
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:04,320
Here's your final scripture of 
the day. 

1354
01:04:04,440 --> 01:04:07,040
I know we're just a few minutes 
late, but I really needed you to

1355
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:11,120
know this today. 
Hebrews 12 says this in the 1st 

1356
01:04:11,120 --> 01:04:13,320
2 verses. 
Therefore, since we are 

1357
01:04:13,320 --> 01:04:16,000
surrounded by such a huge crowd 
of witnesses to the life of 

1358
01:04:16,000 --> 01:04:19,360
faith, let us strip off every 
weight that slows us down, 

1359
01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:22,920
especially the sin that so 
easily trips us up, and let us 

1360
01:04:22,920 --> 01:04:26,080
run with endurance the race that
God has set before us. 

1361
01:04:26,600 --> 01:04:30,200
We do this by keeping our eyes 
on Jesus, the champion who 

1362
01:04:30,200 --> 01:04:33,640
initiates and perfects our faith
because of the joy awaiting him.

1363
01:04:33,640 --> 01:04:37,320
He endured the cross, 
disregarding its shame, and now 

1364
01:04:37,320 --> 01:04:39,760
he's seated in the place of 
honor beside God's throne. 

1365
01:04:41,080 --> 01:04:43,600
It is tempting to assume that 
that is a stadium full of angels

1366
01:04:43,600 --> 01:04:46,800
that's watching us run our race.
I don't think that it is. 

1367
01:04:46,800 --> 01:04:49,320
It's a beautiful picture. 
It's just probably not true. 

1368
01:04:49,720 --> 01:04:51,960
The chapter previous to this 
talks about the Hall of Faith 

1369
01:04:51,960 --> 01:04:55,240
and it gives us names like 
Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, 

1370
01:04:55,240 --> 01:04:58,760
Gideon, David, Samuel, and 
generation after generation of 

1371
01:04:58,760 --> 01:05:01,320
people who trusted God when they
couldn't see how the story was 

1372
01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:04,520
going to end. 
You and I are in that lineage. 

1373
01:05:04,720 --> 01:05:08,560
We are also running that race 
even though we can't fully see 

1374
01:05:08,560 --> 01:05:10,360
the way that the story is going 
to end. 

1375
01:05:11,320 --> 01:05:13,840
So when do we stand firm? 
When we're under attack? 

1376
01:05:13,960 --> 01:05:17,440
When do we run? 
When Jesus says run, that's when

1377
01:05:17,440 --> 01:05:20,160
you run your race and you keep 
your eyes fixed on Him. 

1378
01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:22,960
If you are concerned about your 
nation and you want to 

1379
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:25,320
intercede, do it, but fix your 
eyes on Jesus. 

1380
01:05:25,480 --> 01:05:27,960
If you're concerned for your 
family, be concerned, pray for 

1381
01:05:27,960 --> 01:05:29,720
them, but fix your eyes on 
Jesus. 

1382
01:05:29,920 --> 01:05:32,400
If you're concerned about any 
sort of thing going on in your 

1383
01:05:32,400 --> 01:05:36,360
life, be concerned and pray, but
don't take your eyes off of 

1384
01:05:36,440 --> 01:05:38,680
Jesus because the second you 
take your eyes off of him, 

1385
01:05:38,880 --> 01:05:41,360
you've got one of these demonic 
entities coming in and saying, 

1386
01:05:41,360 --> 01:05:44,080
hey, what about this? 
What if this family member 

1387
01:05:44,080 --> 01:05:46,320
abandons you? 
What if this person falls? 

1388
01:05:46,440 --> 01:05:48,680
What if this business crumbles? 
What if you get fired? 

1389
01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:50,680
What if, what if, what if, What 
if you shut up? 

1390
01:05:53,040 --> 01:05:55,320
You have my permission to say 
that the next time you hear that

1391
01:05:55,320 --> 01:05:57,280
thought, and I don't care if 
it's a demon or if it's you 

1392
01:05:57,280 --> 01:05:59,200
talking to yourself, tell them 
both to shut up. 

1393
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:05,840
What if I just take my eyes off 
of you and I look above and I 

1394
01:06:05,840 --> 01:06:09,960
look to the one who has that 
much power and trusts me to 

1395
01:06:09,960 --> 01:06:11,600
carry some of His power on this 
earth? 

1396
01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:15,400
What would change then? 
I'll just tell you this, we got 

1397
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:17,360
one more. 
We got one more sermon in this 

1398
01:06:17,360 --> 01:06:19,560
series that comes next week, and
then I'll be on a team with 

1399
01:06:19,560 --> 01:06:21,040
Guatemala. 
When I come back, we'll talk 

1400
01:06:21,040 --> 01:06:23,840
about the power of the Holy 
Spirit and how He changes our 

1401
01:06:23,840 --> 01:06:25,720
lives. 
But I want you to understand the

1402
01:06:25,720 --> 01:06:28,120
next week we're talking about 
the unseen truth, which is that 

1403
01:06:28,120 --> 01:06:30,640
there is a victory and we sing 
about it. 

1404
01:06:30,800 --> 01:06:32,880
We talk about it. 
I think we believe it with our 

1405
01:06:32,880 --> 01:06:36,200
head. 
I get that, but you can't 

1406
01:06:36,200 --> 01:06:39,120
actually see that victory any 
more than you can see the enemy.

1407
01:06:39,680 --> 01:06:42,840
Since we don't visibly see the 
enemy, we don't treat the enemy 

1408
01:06:42,840 --> 01:06:46,160
like a real enemy all too often.
And since we don't see the 

1409
01:06:46,160 --> 01:06:48,440
actual victory, we don't act 
like we've really got that 

1410
01:06:48,440 --> 01:06:51,240
victory. 
But guys, it's there, and we're 

1411
01:06:51,240 --> 01:06:53,680
going to talk about that victory
that Jesus shares with us next 

1412
01:06:53,680 --> 01:06:54,200
week. 
Amen. 

1413
01:06:54,880 --> 01:06:56,920
Would you all stand up so we can
end with worshiping God? 

1414
01:06:56,920 --> 01:06:59,000
And I hope that we worship Him 
differently than we did this 

1415
01:06:59,000 --> 01:06:59,360
morning.