WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:02.600 Let's get started. Like I said, we're not going 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:06.480 to get as far as I planned or as we need to this 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:08.859 evening, but that's okay. If the Lord tarries, 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:12.300 we've got plenty of time to talk about the spiritual 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:14.720 warfare going on all around us, angels and demons 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.620 and whatnot. And so just to kind of recap, what 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:20.460 we're doing is we're saying that we want to get 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:23.160 in the right mindset to be able to understand 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:26.280 Revelation chapter 12. And so we are talking 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.929 about the unseen realm. this reality that there 00:00:29.929 --> 00:00:33.530 exists in our world, an entire world that's just 00:00:33.530 --> 00:00:36.590 beyond our eyes, an entire world that we're often 00:00:36.590 --> 00:00:40.329 not aware of, that there's really this unseen 00:00:40.329 --> 00:00:42.909 realm all around us that consists of angels and 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:45.609 demons and spiritual forces, and they are actually 00:00:45.609 --> 00:00:48.189 at work in our world today. And I was saying 00:00:48.189 --> 00:00:50.229 it's important for Christians to realize this 00:00:50.229 --> 00:00:52.649 because oftentimes we're just like the world. 00:00:52.689 --> 00:00:55.049 We're materialists. We only believe in what we 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:58.159 see and not what we can't see. and that's to 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:00.719 our detriment because it makes us ignorant to 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.099 this ongoing war all around us. It makes us unaware 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:08.159 of the spiritual darkness that exists all around 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:10.560 us today, and last week we kind of did the what 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.840 I like to call the 30 ,000 foot overview of angels. 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.980 We certainly didn't exhaust that topic, and we 00:01:16.980 --> 00:01:20.280 can dive in more to that at another time, but 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:23.659 But this evening I wanted to start touching on 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:27.560 Satan and demons and kind of doing another 30 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:31.099 ,000 foot overview of Satan and demons and then 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:33.780 the plan for next week is to get more personal 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:37.060 with demons and talk about demon possession and 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:38.920 demon oppression and what that looks like in 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:42.640 our world today because it still exists. But 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:44.379 when you look at the Bible, the Bible is going 00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:46.959 to tell us in Revelation chapter 12 as well as 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:51.700 other places that Satan was an angel and he led 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:55.379 an army of angels in rebellion against God. And 00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:59.659 then God and Michael the archangel and all the 00:01:59.659 --> 00:02:02.180 other angels who didn't rebel, they fought against 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:06.040 this rebellious angelic army and they defeated 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:09.020 them and Satan and his angels were cast down 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:11.349 to earth. So you're wondering where Satan is 00:02:11.349 --> 00:02:13.430 today, and you're wondering where demons are 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:19.310 today, it's here. They're in our world. I think 00:02:19.310 --> 00:02:22.590 we maybe kind of think there's just a few demons, 00:02:22.830 --> 00:02:26.229 but there's a lot. There are a whole lot of demons 00:02:26.229 --> 00:02:30.689 in our world today. We read about this also in 00:02:30.689 --> 00:02:35.060 Jude chapter 1 verse 6. The Bible says, and the 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.639 angels who did not stay within their own position 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:40.259 of authority, but left their proper dwelling, 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:44.120 he is kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:48.159 until the judgment of the great day. Now we look 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.800 at that and it's another example of how angels 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.360 who rebelled were cast down and fallen angels 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.319 are just called demons, right? They're synonymous. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.919 They were angels, they're fallen now, and now 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.620 they're demons. And here's what we know, not 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:03.960 all angels are the same, right? There are different 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.219 classifications of angels. You know, people will 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:10.240 add more or less depending on their view. We 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:15.139 know archangel, cherubim, seraphim, angels, principalities, 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:18.900 rulers, thrones, dominions, regular angels, whatever 00:03:18.900 --> 00:03:21.280 that looks like. But there's all sorts of names 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:24.039 and classifications for angels in the Bible, 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:27.520 which raises a pretty good question. If Satan 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.960 was an angel, what kind of angel was he? Anybody 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:39.460 know? Possibly. Yeah, so the Bible doesn't ever 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:43.979 explicitly say Satan was this type of angel There 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:47.680 is a passage in Ezekiel 28 that many believe 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.560 is about Satan that There's debate whether or 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:53.780 not it's actually about Satan but needless to 00:03:53.780 --> 00:03:56.719 say there is a passage in Ezekiel 28 that many 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:00.060 believe is about Satan and it says he was a cherub 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:02.740 so he's possibly a cherub although his name is 00:04:02.740 --> 00:04:05.360 never explicitly mentioned in that chapter and 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.199 so you would have to draw inferences and things 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:11.099 like that but there's another possibility and 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:15.219 it's possible if he wasn't a cherub it's possible 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:19.100 that he was a seraphim potentially some people 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:21.040 say he was an archangel but the bible only ever 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.819 mentions one archangel michael Many will say 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:27.139 that Gabriel is an archangel as well. The Bible 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:29.819 never explicitly says that, but they'll say he's 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:32.279 the only other angel who has a name given to 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:34.620 him in scripture, therefore he must be an archangel 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:37.240 like Michael. But the Bible only ever explicitly 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:41.800 says Michael is an archangel, archangel. But 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:43.540 the seraphim, here's what's interesting about 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:45.819 them. Anybody know what a seraphim looks like? 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:53.060 Okay, so in Hebrew seraphim the the word seraphim 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:56.339 it just means the fiery ones and this is the 00:04:56.339 --> 00:04:58.319 description we get of them in Isaiah chapter 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.120 6 verse 2 Above him being God stood the seraphim 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.860 each had six wings with two He covered his face 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:09.500 and with two he covered his feet and with two 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:12.839 He flew and the word seraphim not only means 00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:15.920 fiery ones, but it's connected to the word serpent 00:05:16.139 --> 00:05:18.720 snake and so when you're reading this in Hebrew 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:23.639 it reads the fiery snakes and so you read about 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:26.620 this description in in the Bible of what these 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:29.079 angels look like and they are described as a 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:32.879 serpentine creature that has wings and they are 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:35.879 fiery in the sense that at least their bite is 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:38.279 fiery and potentially have fire coming out of 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:41.850 their mouth. That's how they're described. Now 00:05:41.850 --> 00:05:43.930 this brings up another interesting passage because 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:47.750 the word seraphim is not often used in scripture. 00:05:47.829 --> 00:05:50.610 It's very rarely used and it's only ever used 00:05:50.610 --> 00:05:54.529 of angelic beings in heaven. But there is another 00:05:54.529 --> 00:05:56.889 passage in scripture where the word is used but 00:05:56.889 --> 00:05:59.230 our English translations decided to translate 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:02.170 it differently. You might remember this story 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:04.730 of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.839 and they're complaining about God and you brought 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.319 us out here to die what did we do to deserve 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:12.360 this we wish we could go back to Egypt we had 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:14.160 it so much blah blah blah blah right so what 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:19.300 does God do he sends some serpents who bite them 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:22.480 and their bite is said to burn right and the 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:26.199 Bible says in Numbers 21 6 then the Lord sent 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:29.560 fiery serpents among the people and they bit 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:33.259 the people so that many people of Israel died 00:06:33.629 --> 00:06:35.649 Now, here's what's interesting. You can see from 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:37.970 the screen the English translations, and let 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:39.810 me know if yours says something different, but 00:06:39.810 --> 00:06:41.930 almost all English translations say, then the 00:06:41.930 --> 00:06:44.870 Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. I 00:06:44.870 --> 00:06:46.750 don't know why they did that though, because 00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:51.509 it's the exact Hebrew word, seraphim. In Isaiah 00:06:51.509 --> 00:06:55.370 6, they just translate it or transliterate it, 00:06:55.490 --> 00:06:58.519 they just put it into English, seraphim. It's 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:00.860 right here and it's the only time in scripture 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:04.240 where it's used of what would lead us to believe 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.240 not angelic beings. However, if you just read 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:11.040 this in Hebrew, you believe there's no difference. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:13.939 And I don't believe there is. So when we picture 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:15.360 this scene, here's what's really cool, right? 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:17.120 When we picture this scene from how we've heard 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.379 it all our lives, we like to imagine a bunch 00:07:19.379 --> 00:07:21.459 of snakes slithering around on the ground, which 00:07:21.459 --> 00:07:23.399 is horrifying. I will grant you that. That is 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:25.060 horrifying. I would not want to be there. I'd 00:07:25.060 --> 00:07:27.480 be calling Gene McKinney so quickly, Pop, come 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.980 get these snakes. But we like to imagine them 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:33.060 slithering on the ground and then they bite people 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:36.000 and the bite just kind of burned, right? But 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.339 what if it was even more terrifying than that? 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.699 Because the Bible literally says, then the Lord 00:07:41.699 --> 00:07:46.120 sent the seraphim. I think it makes more sense, 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:47.759 especially when you're reading this in Hebrew, 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:52.079 to see that God sent forth angels from heaven 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:57.079 to come and discipline the Israelites. And those 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.879 angels from heaven just happened to look like 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:03.120 serpentine creatures that had wings and could 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.819 either breathe fire or had a fiery bite. That's 00:08:06.819 --> 00:08:09.000 much more terrifying, is it not? than a bunch 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.660 of snakes slithering around on the ground. They 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:14.720 look like dragons, right? Can y 'all see that? 00:08:14.899 --> 00:08:16.819 How would you describe a dragon? A dragon looks 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:19.339 like a serpentine creature that has wings and 00:08:19.339 --> 00:08:21.459 can breathe fire and potentially has legs like 00:08:21.459 --> 00:08:23.600 the seraphim because they stood before God. That 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.600 is a hornet. Y 'all just ignore it. It'll probably 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:31.480 not sting you. This is my sermon illustration. 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:38.320 So it's a winged creature and it will burn. So 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.279 anyways, no, so the the seraphim they kind of 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:44.940 look like what we think of as dragons a serpentine 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:47.919 type creature with wings that either breeds fire 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.019 or has a fiery bite which is interesting because 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:54.159 You know, I was talking with Joseph about this 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:56.480 and and you know, you could say people might 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:00.860 think we're crazy but I Personally believe that 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:03.539 the dragons that we have heard about throughout 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:06.500 history are not really mythological creatures 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:10.220 at all I actually do believe that they are probably 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.820 fallen seraphim that are terrorizing the earth 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:15.539 much like they did the Israelites here except 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:18.299 these are the good seraphim not the fallen ones 00:09:18.299 --> 00:09:21.740 and one interesting point on that is to note 00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:25.440 that almost every civilization at least many 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.519 many civilizations throughout history have dragon 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:30.700 stories and you're like okay well everybody does 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:33.679 but but here's the thing they didn't have contact 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.279 with each other so Let's put it another way. 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:42.440 Almost no culture has vampire stories, right? 00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:45.580 That is pretty much Transylvania. Everybody on 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:47.059 board, right? So if you think of vampires, what 00:09:47.059 --> 00:09:48.840 do you think? You think Transylvania, Dracula, 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:51.399 right? That's unique to their culture. That didn't 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:54.580 originate in every other culture. Not every culture 00:09:54.580 --> 00:09:57.220 has a Loch Ness monster, right? That's unique 00:09:57.220 --> 00:10:01.620 to Scotland. But almost every culture has dragon 00:10:01.620 --> 00:10:05.230 stories throughout their history. with no contact 00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:08.470 with one another to spread something like a dragon 00:10:08.470 --> 00:10:11.549 mythology. And so it seems more likely that these 00:10:11.549 --> 00:10:14.529 people had an actual encounter with something 00:10:14.529 --> 00:10:16.909 that they didn't really know how to describe 00:10:16.909 --> 00:10:19.789 other than it was a serpentine type creature 00:10:19.789 --> 00:10:23.350 that had wings and breathed fire and was terrorizing 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:26.870 people. That sounds like a fallen angel to me. 00:10:26.909 --> 00:10:29.870 That sounds like a seraphim a demon who is rebelled 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:31.690 against God So I just want you to see that that 00:10:31.690 --> 00:10:34.309 is possible And I've got to move on now because 00:10:34.309 --> 00:10:36.009 Anna's gonna get on to me for even mentioning 00:10:36.009 --> 00:10:38.149 dragons tonight But I told her I was gonna do 00:10:38.149 --> 00:10:42.470 it anyways, so Back to Satan. Okay. I want you 00:10:42.470 --> 00:10:44.610 to think about this. Here's what's interesting 00:10:44.610 --> 00:10:49.080 is throughout the Bible What is the most common 00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:52.500 phrase used for Satan or common word used to 00:10:52.500 --> 00:10:56.100 describe Satan apart from the name Satan? The 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:00.960 dragon or another one? No, not that one. Never 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:05.779 that one. The serpent. Yeah. So this is interesting, 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:07.759 right? He is, throughout scripture, referred 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:11.980 to as the serpent. And the Bible makes it abundantly 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:15.639 clear that the serpent, that Satan was the serpent 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:17.879 in the garden. right you know this so revelation 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:21.340 chapter 12 verse 9 it says and the great dragon 00:11:21.340 --> 00:11:24.080 so look the bible says there were dragons i'm 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.340 not crazy y 'all think i'm crazy the bible says 00:11:26.340 --> 00:11:29.740 it so the great dragon was thrown down that ancient 00:11:29.740 --> 00:11:33.059 serpent who was called the devil and satan the 00:11:33.059 --> 00:11:35.700 deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down 00:11:35.700 --> 00:11:37.980 to the earth and his angels were thrown down 00:11:37.980 --> 00:11:40.019 with him so here you have a description of satan 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:43.379 and he is referred to as a dragon and a serpent 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:46.399 and we know that he was an angel at one point 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:50.240 and the only angelic being that is described 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:54.000 as either a dragon or a serpent is a seraphim 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.600 but we go on 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:00.779 3 Paul says but I'm afraid that as the serpent 00:12:00.779 --> 00:12:04.200 deceived Eve by his cunning your thoughts will 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.379 be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion 00:12:07.379 --> 00:12:09.779 to Christ so there again he's referred to as 00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:12.740 the serpent and then 2nd Corinthians 11 14 and 00:12:12.740 --> 00:12:17.639 no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:21.990 an angel. light and so you have this idea that 00:12:21.990 --> 00:12:24.870 fallen angels we like to picture the devil with 00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:27.169 horns and he's red and he has that you know forked 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:30.210 tail and whatever and demons are these nasty 00:12:30.210 --> 00:12:33.090 ugly creatures but the Bible says most of the 00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:35.190 time they're disguising themselves as angels 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:37.970 of light as something that's beautiful and appealing 00:12:37.970 --> 00:12:40.950 because they will set themselves up as a counterfeit 00:12:40.950 --> 00:12:44.629 to Christ so that they can get worship for themselves 00:12:44.990 --> 00:12:46.769 So here's what you do. Think about the Genesis 00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:49.629 story, Genesis chapter 3. We're in the garden 00:12:49.629 --> 00:12:53.950 of Eden and then you see that there's this serpent 00:12:53.950 --> 00:12:56.429 that comes on scene. And what's interesting is 00:12:56.429 --> 00:13:01.710 the Bible says now the serpent was more crafty 00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:04.429 or shrewd than any other creature of the field 00:13:04.429 --> 00:13:07.549 that the Lord God created, right? Why does it 00:13:07.549 --> 00:13:16.029 say the serpent? Why not a serpent? It's a specific 00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:17.830 one. That's right. That's what the definite article 00:13:17.830 --> 00:13:20.970 is there for. It's a specific serpent, one that 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:22.629 was known, and then here's the other thing about 00:13:22.629 --> 00:13:27.009 this story. The serpent can talk. How many other 00:13:27.009 --> 00:13:29.429 of God's creatures have the ability to speak? 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:32.659 None that we read about I mean parrots can kind 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:35.480 of mimic you today, but but in the the narrative 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.039 of scripture There are no speaking animals and 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:40.960 yet here's one and so from the very get -go when 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:42.879 you're reading this story It becomes clear that 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.480 this serpent is is more than a serpent, right? 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.220 It's not your ordinary snake that God just created 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:50.600 all these snakes And here's one that had the 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:52.240 ability to talk and maybe all the other ones 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.480 did as well This one is unique and it's saying 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.200 the serpent because it's a particular one. It 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.019 has the ability to talk so it's not just just 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:03.000 a regular snake. And then here's what gets me 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.799 about this account, right? Is that people, atheists, 00:14:07.220 --> 00:14:09.440 have you noticed that they use this account to 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:13.090 mock Christians all the time? there's a famous 00:14:13.090 --> 00:14:15.750 comedian Ricky Gervais who actually has a whole 00:14:15.750 --> 00:14:18.710 stand -up bit about this where he's mocking the 00:14:18.710 --> 00:14:21.129 Bible and he says you know when he gets to the 00:14:21.129 --> 00:14:23.389 part where God's dishing out punishment the snakes 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:25.750 like oh what's my punishment God and God says 00:14:25.750 --> 00:14:27.649 well you're gonna slither around on your belly 00:14:27.649 --> 00:14:29.769 for the rest of your days and the snakes like 00:14:29.769 --> 00:14:34.669 oh no okay well if you insist it's like how's 00:14:34.669 --> 00:14:37.629 that a punishment if snakes were always like 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:40.350 slithering on the ground how is it a punishment 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:42.879 for him to have to slither on the ground for 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:44.700 it seems like it's not a punishment right you 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:47.080 get what i'm saying here and so i've had people 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:50.519 mock me atheists where they're like how can you 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.700 believe this thing you have a talking snake and 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:54.700 its punishment is to continue doing what it's 00:14:54.700 --> 00:15:01.039 always done but this account makes a lot more 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:06.639 sense if satan here is a seraphim Seraphim have 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:09.120 the ability to talk, as we saw from Isaiah 6. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:11.279 They go around the throne of God saying, holy, 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.779 holy, holy. So they have the ability to talk. 00:15:14.019 --> 00:15:16.399 They're serpentine creatures with wings that 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:18.759 can either breathe fire or have a fiery bite. 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:22.419 Let me ask you something. If you are a creature 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:26.340 of the air, what's the worst thing that can happen 00:15:26.340 --> 00:15:32.879 to you? To be brought low, right? To slither 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:36.090 around on your belly. If you're used to soaring 00:15:36.090 --> 00:15:39.169 the heavens, the worst and most humiliating thing 00:15:39.169 --> 00:15:42.429 that can possibly happen to you is to be forced 00:15:42.429 --> 00:15:46.570 down to the ground forever. And so it makes a 00:15:46.570 --> 00:15:49.549 lot of sense if in the Genesis account, the reason 00:15:49.549 --> 00:15:51.970 this is a punishment is because God clipped his 00:15:51.970 --> 00:15:56.009 wings there. He was taken from the sky and not 00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:58.250 able to fly around like the rest of the Seraphim 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:00.789 anymore. He would be forced to slither around 00:16:00.789 --> 00:16:03.850 on his belly for the rest of his days if you 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:05.549 still don't believe me on this or you're not 00:16:05.549 --> 00:16:08.110 convinced that's okay but let me remind you of 00:16:08.110 --> 00:16:10.610 another phrase that's used of satan in the bible 00:16:10.610 --> 00:16:14.169 in ephesians chapter 2 it says that he is the 00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:22.929 prince of the power of the air the air the prince 00:16:22.929 --> 00:16:27.049 of the power of the air He was in the air, had 00:16:27.049 --> 00:16:29.590 a whole host of angelic beings who accompanied 00:16:29.590 --> 00:16:33.029 him in his rebellion, and ultimately God defeated 00:16:33.029 --> 00:16:37.029 them and cast them down to the earth. And so 00:16:37.029 --> 00:16:41.750 we go on though, and you see that Satan, although 00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:45.049 he is on the ground, he's slithering around as 00:16:45.049 --> 00:16:48.669 a seraphim who's had his wings clipped, he does 00:16:48.669 --> 00:16:51.389 still have the ability to possess people. We 00:16:51.389 --> 00:16:54.610 read about this in Luke 22 in verse 3. The Bible 00:16:54.610 --> 00:16:57.509 says, then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, 00:16:57.629 --> 00:17:01.509 or called Iscariot, who was of the number of 00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:04.029 the twelve. And so that's terrifying. We don't 00:17:04.029 --> 00:17:07.029 read often that Satan is possessing people, but 00:17:07.029 --> 00:17:09.529 he intentionally, out of all people on earth, 00:17:09.970 --> 00:17:13.609 chose Judas to possess. And so here's the thing 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:16.269 about this today, is that Satan doesn't have 00:17:16.269 --> 00:17:18.470 to look like a seraphim that's had his wings 00:17:18.470 --> 00:17:21.059 clipped today. He could look like anyone in this 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:24.420 room. He could possess anyone he wants at any 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.680 time. He's not omnipresent, so he'd have to go 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:30.099 to them, but we can rest assured that he's most 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:33.099 likely possessing someone today seeking to lead 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:37.279 people astray and away from Christ. We see that 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:42.109 Paul tells us that demons often disguise themselves 00:17:42.109 --> 00:17:43.990 as angels of light. And like I said earlier, 00:17:44.170 --> 00:17:46.609 one of the reasons they do this is because they 00:17:46.609 --> 00:17:50.289 want to get worship for themselves. They want 00:17:50.289 --> 00:17:54.869 to present themselves as God. They want to be 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:56.859 a counterfeit to the original. And we're going 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:58.319 to see that all throughout the book of Revelation. 00:17:58.980 --> 00:18:01.279 Satan and the beast, they constantly set themselves 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.940 up as a counterfeit to Christ and even try to 00:18:03.940 --> 00:18:05.779 do the same miracles as Christ so that people 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:08.000 will come and believe that they are Christ. They 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.140 want to lead people astray. And so here's what 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:12.759 I want to propose to you as well as we're thinking 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:16.140 about demons on earth today is that many of the 00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:19.859 false gods and idols of all these other religions, 00:18:20.619 --> 00:18:23.420 they don't necessarily have to be false in the 00:18:23.420 --> 00:18:26.430 way that we think about them. So for instance, 00:18:26.650 --> 00:18:29.609 think about ancient Egypt and all the gods they 00:18:29.609 --> 00:18:31.809 had. Think about ancient Rome and all the gods 00:18:31.809 --> 00:18:35.369 they had. Rather than thinking that all of their 00:18:35.369 --> 00:18:39.410 gods were imaginary gods, it's possible that 00:18:39.410 --> 00:18:43.009 the gods they worshiped were fallen angels who 00:18:43.009 --> 00:18:47.150 had set themselves up as an angel of light and 00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:50.430 seek to lead people astray and get worship for 00:18:50.430 --> 00:18:53.130 themselves. And I actually think that there is 00:18:53.130 --> 00:18:56.079 some biblical warrant to this. And you actually 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:59.119 get this in the book of Exodus, right? So think 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:00.740 back to the book of Exodus. At the beginning 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:03.140 of the book, we're about to start the 10 plagues. 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:07.579 Anybody remember what the first plague was? Gene 00:19:07.579 --> 00:19:28.349 McKinney. We are going to get to that, but the 00:19:28.349 --> 00:19:31.829 first plague upon Egypt was turning the Nile 00:19:31.829 --> 00:19:35.650 into blood. Now here's what's interesting, right? 00:19:36.349 --> 00:19:39.750 The Egyptians believed in a river god, a god 00:19:39.750 --> 00:19:42.769 that was over specifically the Nile River. The 00:19:42.769 --> 00:19:46.710 god was called Hopi, and this god symbolized 00:19:46.710 --> 00:19:49.990 life and fertility because when they believed 00:19:49.990 --> 00:19:54.000 that Hopi visited them once a year, and when 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.500 Hopi came to Egypt, and specifically to the Nile, 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:00.119 it would flood. And when it would flood, that 00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:02.319 would be great for everybody. Fertile soil, the 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.140 crops would grow, everybody blessed, so he became 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:10.079 the god of fertility and life. And then the plague 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:14.839 happens and the water turns to blood. Now we 00:20:14.839 --> 00:20:16.940 look at that and we go, oh, it's just a symbolic 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:20.380 or metaphorical picture. But if you have to imagine, 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.680 if you're an ancient Egyptian, you believe that 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:26.359 there is this actual being that many people claim 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.339 to have seen who is God over this river and they 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:33.079 know that this God is over this river and then 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:35.279 they see that river filled with blood. Do you 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:39.299 know what that would have meant to them? That 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:43.119 someone had just killed their God and its blood 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:47.519 was filling the Nile. See each one of the plagues 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.920 of Egypt is actually a judgment against one of 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.190 the gods of Egypt. It's God's judgment upon Egypt 00:20:54.190 --> 00:20:57.250 as a whole, but each specific plague relates 00:20:57.250 --> 00:21:01.049 to one of the gods of Egypt. And so when God 00:21:01.049 --> 00:21:05.289 slaughtered this false god, the Nile turns to 00:21:05.289 --> 00:21:07.230 blood. The one that they associated with the 00:21:07.230 --> 00:21:10.509 god of the river, the Lord slaughters that god 00:21:10.509 --> 00:21:14.470 and the Nile fills with blood. Then there's the 00:21:14.470 --> 00:21:16.710 second plague. And I know what you're thinking 00:21:16.710 --> 00:21:18.029 at this point. You're like, well, no, it's just 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:20.809 a symbolic metaphorical picture. There's no substance 00:21:20.809 --> 00:21:23.230 here whatsoever. You're kind of reading too far 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:25.230 in the text. I would think that too. Trust me, 00:21:25.230 --> 00:21:27.190 I told you, I'm a skeptic. I'm not like one of 00:21:27.190 --> 00:21:29.210 these people who believes everything, despite 00:21:29.210 --> 00:21:30.730 what my wife would think if she's listening, 00:21:30.809 --> 00:21:34.029 but I'm not one of those people. And I would 00:21:34.029 --> 00:21:36.250 be right there with you if it wasn't for the 00:21:36.250 --> 00:21:39.170 second and third plague. Because something really 00:21:39.170 --> 00:21:41.809 interesting happens. Anybody, you get kudos from 00:21:41.809 --> 00:21:43.250 me, theologian of the night, if you can remember 00:21:43.250 --> 00:21:44.910 the second plague. Anybody know what it was? 00:21:48.169 --> 00:21:51.930 Eat it each. Okay. I Was gonna make a joke. I 00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:53.430 was gonna say it's hopping right on the tip of 00:21:53.430 --> 00:21:56.529 your tongue. But yeah It's just hopping ready 00:21:56.529 --> 00:21:59.549 to get out All right. So so the second plague 00:21:59.549 --> 00:22:04.170 is you God sent all these frogs And they invaded 00:22:04.170 --> 00:22:06.930 all the homes of the Egyptians right and the 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:09.230 Bible specifically says that these frogs go into 00:22:09.230 --> 00:22:11.769 the homes and Into the beds of the people and 00:22:11.769 --> 00:22:13.650 it makes this big deal about the beds and where 00:22:13.650 --> 00:22:15.970 they sleep and things like that alright, so there's 00:22:15.970 --> 00:22:20.650 this God in in Egypt and This God I wrote down 00:22:20.650 --> 00:22:24.210 its name somewhere Hec tight or something like 00:22:24.210 --> 00:22:30.759 that and This God was depicted as a frog it had 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:33.720 like a frog's head and it was the god specifically 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:36.640 of fertility so again what would happen is the 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:38.799 Nile would flood and when the Nile flooded all 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.119 the frogs came to shore and so there was an abundance 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.859 of frogs and people would see the frogs and they 00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:46.200 would know that oh things are about to be fertile 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:49.359 around here and so the frog god became the god 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:53.420 of fertility right and here's what's interesting 00:22:53.420 --> 00:22:57.640 about the the plague stories it's that as the 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.990 the story of Exodus is going on Pharaoh had these 00:23:00.990 --> 00:23:04.289 magicians and they were able to do everything 00:23:04.289 --> 00:23:06.670 Moses did, right? Gene just mentioned one. So 00:23:06.670 --> 00:23:08.549 Aaron throws his staff on the ground. It turns 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:10.730 into a snake. A lot of significance there, by 00:23:10.730 --> 00:23:14.130 the way. And then the Bible says that Pharaoh 00:23:14.130 --> 00:23:16.789 had his magicians and they were able to do the 00:23:16.789 --> 00:23:19.170 exact same thing. So it basically made Moses 00:23:19.170 --> 00:23:21.150 seem not that impressive, Aaron not that impressive. 00:23:21.549 --> 00:23:24.410 And then the Lord turns the waters of the Nile 00:23:24.410 --> 00:23:28.059 to blood. And guess what happened? Fear as magicians. 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:30.220 It says the Bible repeatedly keeps saying they 00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:32.880 did their secret arts and they were able to do 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:35.200 the same thing so they turned water to blood 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:39.440 and then the frogs happened and The Lord sent 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:41.579 these frogs invade the homes and the Bible says 00:23:41.579 --> 00:23:43.940 the magicians practiced their secret arts again 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:47.140 And they were able to conjure up frogs and the 00:23:47.140 --> 00:23:49.759 frogs came upon Egypt I don't know why they'd 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.660 want to make their problem worse, but they did 00:23:51.660 --> 00:23:53.299 it to just prove like oh It's not that special 00:23:53.299 --> 00:23:56.200 we can do it, too, right? So everybody at this 00:23:56.200 --> 00:23:58.839 point is like, okay, well here's what happens. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:02.220 This is where it gets really interesting. The 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:05.039 Bible never says that they were like the magicians 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:07.299 we have today. The magicians we have today are 00:24:07.299 --> 00:24:08.980 illusionists, right? Like they make a pen disappear, 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:10.539 but it doesn't really disappear. It's a sleight 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:13.279 of hand. The Bible specifically says that these 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:15.599 magicians practiced secret arts and were able 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.359 to do what Moses did. Okay, are we tracking? 00:24:18.460 --> 00:24:22.380 Like there was some occultist, real dark art 00:24:22.380 --> 00:24:26.180 stuff going on here. So then here's what happens 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:29.259 they complain to the Lord and the Lord agrees 00:24:29.259 --> 00:24:33.359 to to kill all the frogs and then make it to 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.059 where only frogs are in the Nile again and so 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:38.819 all the frogs die in their beds which is hilarious 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:40.920 because he was supposedly the god of fertility 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:43.079 and where did he they die they died in the beds 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:45.500 and in the homes where people will you get the 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:49.700 point so um so there's there's irony there And 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:52.319 so they compile all these frogs, and they put 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.240 them on the shore, they stack them in this big 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.180 pile, and the Bible says that all of Egypt stank 00:24:57.180 --> 00:24:59.660 because there were dead frogs. God has just killed 00:24:59.660 --> 00:25:02.079 the frog god. So the frog god was not just the 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:05.019 frog of fertility. Another interesting point 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:08.079 that I left out is that he was the god of witchcraft. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:10.839 And actually his name, like Hectate or something 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:13.720 like that, was given later to a Greek god who 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:15.680 was over witchcraft as well. So it was the god 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:19.279 of witchcraft, sorcery, magicians. and so all 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:23.460 of Egypt stank because the frog god has metaphorically 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:26.900 symbolically been killed and then you get the 00:25:26.900 --> 00:25:29.220 third plague and this is why it gets really interesting 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:32.460 the third plague comes it's the plague of gnats 00:25:32.460 --> 00:25:34.799 and the bible says the lord sent gnats just as 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:39.119 he sent frogs and then we have this on screen 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:42.440 this is what the bible says in exodus 8 18 through 00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:47.690 19 The magicians tried by their secret arts to 00:25:47.690 --> 00:25:51.549 produce gnats, but they could not. So there were 00:25:51.549 --> 00:25:53.609 gnats on man and beast. Then the magician said 00:25:53.609 --> 00:25:58.250 to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's 00:25:58.250 --> 00:25:59.869 heart was hardened and he would not listen to 00:25:59.869 --> 00:26:03.990 them as the Lord had said. It's at this point, 00:26:04.349 --> 00:26:06.769 here's what's really interesting, okay? If they 00:26:06.769 --> 00:26:09.200 were just faking it, they could fake gnats, that's 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.779 not that hard, okay? And if it was all a show, 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:13.559 they could put on a show, they want to please 00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:16.519 Pharaoh. This proves that what they were doing 00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:19.099 was not an illusion, it was not an act, they 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:22.940 were actually practicing dark arts, you know, 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:28.180 spiritual, dark demonized things, dark practices, 00:26:28.180 --> 00:26:33.839 but after the god of witchcraft is symbolically 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:36.869 murdered, they no longer have the ability. to 00:26:36.869 --> 00:26:41.490 do any magic. We have to reckon with that somehow, 00:26:42.170 --> 00:26:45.789 and in my own view, I believe that there was 00:26:45.789 --> 00:26:49.049 actually some sort of demonic force at work in 00:26:49.049 --> 00:26:52.390 Egypt, and because they were connected to this 00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:56.009 demonic force, they had the ability by secret 00:26:56.009 --> 00:26:59.349 arts, dark magic, to produce some sort of what 00:26:59.349 --> 00:27:02.769 looked like real magic in the world today, but 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.140 i believe that that demon was actually put to 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:09.279 death because their connection to the demonic 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:12.720 the dark arts is severed and they are no longer 00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:15.759 after the frogs die i mean again this is in the 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:17.559 bible you just have to reckon with this there's 00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:19.220 a lot of verses that are going to trip us up 00:27:19.220 --> 00:27:21.900 like the one last week with their angels in heaven 00:27:21.900 --> 00:27:23.759 that tripped us up this week this is the one 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:26.180 that got me this week after the frogs died the 00:27:26.180 --> 00:27:31.200 magicians are never able to do magic again now 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:33.609 make of that what you will but I just want to 00:27:33.609 --> 00:27:35.430 say to you, I think there's something more going 00:27:35.430 --> 00:27:39.150 on there. I think there's a power at work there, 00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:41.869 and we know that there was all sorts of demonic 00:27:41.869 --> 00:27:45.349 activity in Egypt because Egypt, they had many 00:27:45.349 --> 00:27:49.549 gods, but the main god of Egypt, this was a god 00:27:49.549 --> 00:27:52.200 named Wadjet. I don't know if I'm pronouncing 00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:53.900 that right. I don't speak Egyptian. It's kind 00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:56.799 of a dead language to me. So the god was named 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:00.319 Wadjet and it was the main god of Egypt. It was 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:03.440 said to be the protector and the patron of all 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:06.660 of Egypt. Anybody want to guess what Wadjet looked 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:19.019 like? No. The god Wadjet looked like a snake 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:23.390 with wings. That's how it's depicted, as a snake 00:28:23.390 --> 00:28:27.950 with wings. In fact, all the Egyptian kings and 00:28:27.950 --> 00:28:30.630 pharaohs and whatnot, they had a royal diadem 00:28:30.630 --> 00:28:35.089 and on the middle, there was the serpent. And 00:28:35.089 --> 00:28:37.809 so you look at what's going on in Egypt and how 00:28:37.809 --> 00:28:40.069 they are oppressing the people of God, keeping 00:28:40.069 --> 00:28:43.230 them in bondage and enslaved, how they hate the 00:28:43.230 --> 00:28:46.069 people of God. You see them practicing dark arts 00:28:46.069 --> 00:28:48.549 and magic and things like that. And it's very 00:28:48.549 --> 00:28:50.430 clear when you see the symbol of the snake and 00:28:50.430 --> 00:28:53.490 it's a snake with wings, there's something more 00:28:53.490 --> 00:28:57.289 at play here. There's the influence of the demonic 00:28:57.289 --> 00:29:00.920 here. and it's really getting at this idea that 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:02.960 we kind of mentioned some last week as well. 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:06.079 Remember we said that demons, according to Daniel 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.500 chapter 10, that demons have the ability to have 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:12.319 some level of authority in kingdoms. You all 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:14.380 remember that? That a demon had set up shop in 00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:17.000 Persia and that Michael and this other angel 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.039 were warring against it. So we said demons can 00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:22.539 be regional. We're going to talk about next week 00:29:22.539 --> 00:29:24.579 demons can be personal, they can possess you, 00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:27.440 but demons can be regional. They were regional 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:30.880 in Persia, regional in Egypt here. You also see 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:34.059 other examples in scripture. Anybody ever heard 00:29:34.059 --> 00:29:38.140 of the witch of Endor? Yeah, this was a person 00:29:38.140 --> 00:29:40.880 who practiced witchcraft and necromancy which 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:43.839 all throughout the Bible are connected with demonic 00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:47.319 activity and This which this person connected 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:50.220 to the demonic had set up shop in indoor and 00:29:50.220 --> 00:29:52.640 had become known to be part of that region So 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:55.700 there was a demonic influence that exerted control 00:29:55.700 --> 00:29:58.619 over an entire region You might say well pastor. 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:01.200 You're crazy. You're in too much into it Matthew 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:05.339 8 28 When Jesus came to the other side, to the 00:30:05.339 --> 00:30:08.940 country of the Gadarenes, two demon -possessed 00:30:08.940 --> 00:30:12.319 men met him coming out of the tombs so fierce 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:15.559 that no one could pass that way. And so here 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:19.240 are two demon -possessed men, and the Bible says 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:22.619 that these demons had such control in the region 00:30:22.619 --> 00:30:26.440 that no one passed that way. They had to take 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.339 alternate routes to get wherever they were going 00:30:28.339 --> 00:30:30.819 because no one was going to pass by that particular 00:30:30.819 --> 00:30:35.180 region because the demonic influence was so great 00:30:35.180 --> 00:30:38.299 there. And I think you can still see this in 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:40.480 our world today. I don't think it's a stretch 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:43.700 to say that demons can set up shop in a particular 00:30:43.700 --> 00:30:47.119 region and exert a level of control in that region 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:50.559 like the Witch of Andor or the people here in 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:52.539 the demon possessed people in the gatherings. 00:30:53.130 --> 00:30:54.769 I mean, there are just some places you go and 00:30:54.769 --> 00:30:57.089 they give you the creeps, right? We just get 00:30:57.089 --> 00:30:59.670 that feeling and it's universal. Like even the 00:30:59.670 --> 00:31:02.250 bravest person will walk in some place and they 00:31:02.250 --> 00:31:04.250 just get the creeps. Something doesn't feel right 00:31:04.250 --> 00:31:07.250 there. And you can see places in our world today 00:31:07.250 --> 00:31:09.609 where I think there is a high level of demonic 00:31:09.609 --> 00:31:12.589 influence and activity. And I mentioned one last 00:31:12.589 --> 00:31:15.390 week. I mentioned this place in Japan that's 00:31:15.390 --> 00:31:19.170 known as the suicide forest. And so in Mount 00:31:19.170 --> 00:31:21.170 Fuji, right at the edge of Mount Fuji, there's 00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:25.220 this forest. And pretty much over a hundred people 00:31:25.220 --> 00:31:28.319 every single year go there to commit suicide. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:31.440 And what's amazing is they've had to set up like 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:33.779 signs and everything encouraging people to remember 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:36.400 their loved ones, to call a suicide hotline. 00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:39.339 And people report there that when they go there, 00:31:39.880 --> 00:31:42.319 the forest is so thick that light barely gets 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:45.160 in. And you walk in and they say it just feels 00:31:45.160 --> 00:31:49.599 heavy. It feels eerie and they start going in 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:52.500 and people have reported feeling an overwhelming 00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:56.059 sense of dread. They've reported feeling incredibly 00:31:56.059 --> 00:31:58.880 uneasy. There are people who reported feeling 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:02.839 overwhelmingly sad. And then worst of all, there 00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:05.240 were people who reported that once they were 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:07.319 walking on the path, the further they went into 00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:10.619 the forest, the more they had a sense that something 00:32:10.619 --> 00:32:14.380 was drawing them to leave the path and go off 00:32:14.380 --> 00:32:16.839 the beaten path further into the forest. And 00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.079 when they did, they felt like they should take 00:32:19.079 --> 00:32:23.200 their own life. And this is a place where, like 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:25.380 I said, over a hundred people every single year 00:32:25.380 --> 00:32:29.180 go there to take their own lives. And many people 00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:32.019 of the families have said that they don't think 00:32:32.019 --> 00:32:35.079 that the person who took their own life had any 00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:38.460 desire to do that. But there was just this overwhelming 00:32:38.460 --> 00:32:41.180 presence there that something was not right. 00:32:41.640 --> 00:32:44.880 And I think it's another example of demonic influence 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:47.200 in our world, that there's some sort of demonic 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:49.960 influence in this region that is seeking to do 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:54.130 what demons always do. to hurt the people of 00:32:54.130 --> 00:32:56.930 God and what better way to do that than to kill 00:32:56.930 --> 00:33:00.029 those and coerce someone into killing themselves 00:33:00.029 --> 00:33:04.130 who's made in the image of God. Demons hate God 00:33:04.130 --> 00:33:07.190 and since we are made in the image of God, they 00:33:07.190 --> 00:33:10.609 hate us. They see God's love for us and they 00:33:10.609 --> 00:33:14.589 want us dead. They want us to despise God and 00:33:14.589 --> 00:33:16.990 so all of this to say like we could go more in 00:33:16.990 --> 00:33:18.450 depth and like I said next week we're really 00:33:18.450 --> 00:33:21.299 going to get into demon possession and demon 00:33:21.299 --> 00:33:23.920 oppression and what does it look like for someone 00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:26.839 to be demon possessed today? But I just want 00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:29.680 to put this before you to show you that there 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:33.319 is a real spiritual darkness in our world today. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:36.539 This is not some fantasy that Alex has created. 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:39.940 This is something that is real. There are demonic 00:33:39.940 --> 00:33:42.339 forces in our world and they can set themselves 00:33:42.339 --> 00:33:44.619 up in governments. They can set themselves up 00:33:44.619 --> 00:33:47.259 in kingdoms. They can set themselves up in regions. 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:51.299 There are real demons out there who can appear 00:33:51.299 --> 00:33:54.319 as an angel of light, who can deceive you, who 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:57.079 can try to lead you astray, and who actually 00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:00.980 have supernatural powers and the ability to do 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:03.480 things with that, which I mean, we could get 00:34:03.480 --> 00:34:08.179 into this too, but occult practices and practicing 00:34:08.179 --> 00:34:10.599 dark arts and things like that, I mean, that's 00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:13.659 always connected to the demonic. If you really 00:34:13.659 --> 00:34:16.059 want to investigate this further, and I would 00:34:16.059 --> 00:34:19.269 encourage you to do so, Go home, you go on a 00:34:19.269 --> 00:34:22.530 three -hour trail about this, look up the use 00:34:22.530 --> 00:34:27.210 of psychedelic drugs in connection with spiritual 00:34:27.210 --> 00:34:29.369 realities and demonic forces. And there have 00:34:29.369 --> 00:34:32.309 been extensive studies on this where people who 00:34:32.309 --> 00:34:36.650 take like acid or acid -related drugs, things 00:34:36.650 --> 00:34:40.650 that alter the cognition of the brain, that almost 00:34:40.650 --> 00:34:42.929 all of them enter what they would call some sort 00:34:42.929 --> 00:34:47.059 of spiritual reality. and many of them see a 00:34:47.059 --> 00:34:49.960 serpent and sometimes that serpent has wings 00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:53.900 and they have this feeling of dread and like 00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:57.280 they're in some other plane of dimension and 00:34:57.280 --> 00:34:59.900 so it's really interesting to see the use of 00:34:59.900 --> 00:35:02.760 drugs in connection with the spiritual realities 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:05.820 that often go unseen in our world today and so 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:07.920 there's a lot there. There's more than we have 00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:11.400 time to say but all of this should make us thankful. 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:14.480 that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. 00:35:15.139 --> 00:35:16.440 And I'm going to mention this Sunday because 00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:18.619 we're talking about a demon passage on Sunday 00:35:18.619 --> 00:35:20.219 too. I didn't plan it that way. That's just where 00:35:20.219 --> 00:35:23.820 we're at in Matthew. But basically the Bible 00:35:23.820 --> 00:35:26.320 says that because we are indwelt by the Spirit 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:28.639 of God, we cannot be possessed by demons. That's 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:31.199 good to know. Is it not? You look at what demons 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:33.690 do to people. We'll get in that next week. It's 00:35:33.690 --> 00:35:36.190 good to know that because the Holy Spirit has 00:35:36.190 --> 00:35:38.190 made His dwelling in us, there's no room for 00:35:38.190 --> 00:35:41.050 a demon. We don't have to worry about that. And 00:35:41.050 --> 00:35:43.289 because we have the Holy Spirit, He guides us, 00:35:43.489 --> 00:35:45.989 He protects us, He comforts us, and all of that 00:35:45.989 --> 00:35:48.730 comes through faith in Christ. So you see all 00:35:48.730 --> 00:35:50.469 this darkness and the things we're talking about, 00:35:50.469 --> 00:35:52.889 it should just make you that much more thankful 00:35:52.889 --> 00:35:56.570 for Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. All 00:35:56.570 --> 00:35:58.590 right, Michael, how about a word of wisdom?