WEBVTT 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.380 Hey friends, welcome back to the Semi -Seminarian. 00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:10.539 We continue with another installment this week 00:00:10.539 --> 00:00:13.019 of our Bible study series. We're calling the 00:00:13.019 --> 00:00:16.640 Bible for Grown -Ups. We continue looking at 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.739 the spiritual realm. Last week, we looked at 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:23.120 angels. We discovered that angels do not have 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:26.539 wings. And that's more than just a Bible nerd 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:31.079 joke. It definitely is a Bible nerd joke. But 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:33.299 it taught us something pretty important, that 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:36.619 there's a lot more going on to the spiritual 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:41.119 realm than just little babies with wings flying 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.859 around on clouds with harps, that there's actual 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:47.539 spiritual warfare that goes on, that although 00:00:47.539 --> 00:00:50.960 we may not always be able to see, to perceive 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.659 it, it's definitely there, and it affects our 00:00:55.659 --> 00:01:00.780 daily lives. So this week we look on the other 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:04.620 side, the side of darkness, and we find that, 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:10.319 ironically, maybe it's the devil that has wings. 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:19.219 I hope you'll enjoy. But I do want to start off. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:21.319 So tonight there's devils and there's demons, 00:01:21.379 --> 00:01:23.420 but you see this funny picture up here. This 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:27.219 is what we often think about the devil. I'll 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:29.879 describe for those that might be listening. You 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:31.859 know, we've got horns on the head. We've got 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:36.959 a pitchfork. What do you guys think? This is 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:39.280 a bit of a trivia question. What's probably the 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:42.480 only thing that might be actually an accurate 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:45.500 representation? His wings. His wings. That's 00:01:45.500 --> 00:01:48.260 right. Why? Because he's a seraph. Because he's 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:52.280 a seraph. That's exactly right. God was the chief 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:56.329 of the angels. Remember last week? When we talked 00:01:56.329 --> 00:01:59.230 about the levels and we talked about how the 00:01:59.230 --> 00:02:02.349 angels are actually at the very bottom of the 00:02:02.349 --> 00:02:05.150 spiritual being ladder. And they're just one 00:02:05.150 --> 00:02:08.550 step above humans. And they're also beings that 00:02:08.550 --> 00:02:13.030 don't have wings. Right. But there are classes 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:17.889 of angels above them. They're not angels. They're 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:22.969 spiritual beings who do the cherubs and the seraphim. 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:27.680 And the seraphim we learned from Isaiah actually 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:32.759 exists within the holy of holies. With two eyes, 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:38.039 they fly. With two eyes, they cover something. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:42.979 And with the other two wings, did I say eyes? 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:46.419 Sorry. With two wings, they fly. Two wings, they 00:02:46.419 --> 00:02:48.419 cover one thing. Two wings, they cover the other. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:50.139 And I'm sorry, I can't remember that part. I've 00:02:50.139 --> 00:02:51.719 got this stuff loaded into my brain right now. 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:57.680 And all they do, their job, is to fly around 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:03.180 the throne of God and to sing, Holy, holy, holy. 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:08.699 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:15.680 Their job, their existence, their nature is in 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:20.379 worshiping within close proximity to the Creator. 00:03:21.819 --> 00:03:24.080 That's their, in military terms, that's their 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:29.419 MOS, right? That's their job title, okay? Or 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:33.639 their job description, rather. Well, this guy 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:38.199 that we're thinking of here, Lucifer, the devil, 00:03:38.419 --> 00:03:41.099 Satan, we'll talk about all these different names 00:03:41.099 --> 00:03:44.400 here in a second. Probably the one thing within 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.659 the mythology drawings that probably is true 00:03:47.659 --> 00:03:51.520 that is Satan. So I got to do my title for my 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.939 podcast right now. So listen, here it comes, 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:58.539 right? The devil does have wings. So tonight's 00:03:58.539 --> 00:04:01.139 episode is called The Devil Does Have Wings. 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:07.400 So I also want to start off with a quote from 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:10.219 a famous philosopher and writer, Charles Baudelaire, 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.240 who says the greatest trick ever pulled was convincing 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.240 the world he didn't exist. I have to agree with 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:20.000 that. So what I'm also going to do, as we kind 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.920 of point out some clarifications here, is I want 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.839 to explain to you, this is probably a distinction 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:30.600 that is of no consequence to you. Because you 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:35.220 probably, it probably just doesn't matter what 00:04:35.220 --> 00:04:37.579 the differences are for you, and that's okay. 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:40.500 When I'm talking about the devil and the devil's 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:43.300 demons tonight, I'm going to be teaching from 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:49.079 a perspective of Christian faith. Okay? The reason 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:52.680 why I'm saying that is the conceptualizations 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:57.620 of the accuser. When we hear the word Satan, 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:02.100 Satan is not the devil's name. Satan, devil, 00:05:02.339 --> 00:05:06.160 right? Satan is actually a title. And when you 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.639 see Satan written in Hebrew, it's actually written 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:13.319 like this. Hasatan. Hasatan, that's the Satan 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:18.040 part, but the ha means the accuser. It's a title, 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:22.920 right? It's a title. So Satan's not the devil's 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:27.759 name. Satan is a title of what this character 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.839 in the story does. He is the accuser. He is the 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:37.000 opposer, okay? He is the deceiver, is another 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:42.959 translation of Hasatan. The deceiver, okay? So 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.850 that's where we get Satan. But the conceptualizations 00:05:46.850 --> 00:05:52.629 of Satan within the Jewish faith are in very, 00:05:53.009 --> 00:05:57.889 very, very complex ways different than the way 00:05:57.889 --> 00:06:00.569 we conceptualize the devil in the Christian faith. 00:06:00.930 --> 00:06:04.709 I'm not going to make any attempt to try to draw 00:06:04.709 --> 00:06:06.610 distinctions between those two things tonight 00:06:06.610 --> 00:06:11.649 because I don't even get it. So I'm talking about 00:06:11.649 --> 00:06:14.439 the devil tonight. through the lens of Christianity. 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:18.079 And what the devil is, is the personification 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:24.000 of and the author of sin and evil. The devil 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.139 is someone who rebelled against God in an attempt 00:06:27.139 --> 00:06:31.860 to become equal with God himself. Satan, or the 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:34.339 devil rather, is depicted as a fallen angel who's 00:06:34.339 --> 00:06:36.199 expelled from heaven at the beginning of time, 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:39.439 before God created the material world, and is 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.620 in constant opposition to God. Time. That's a 00:06:42.620 --> 00:06:45.740 definition of the devil. That's the character 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:48.259 we're talking about tonight. It's important for 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:50.360 us to agree that that's who we're talking about. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:56.379 The devil is a being, right, who was a fallen 00:06:56.379 --> 00:07:01.839 angel who was expelled from heaven at the beginning 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:06.379 of time before God created the material world 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:12.819 and is in constant opposition to God. So the 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:16.360 devil as a fallen angel was kicked out of heaven 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:21.399 before there ever was an earth. Okay? The spiritual 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:28.000 beings exist before the material beings do. So 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.060 this is going to be important in a second whenever 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.480 we start to think about and ask ourselves these 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.639 questions like, why is there a devil? If God 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:39.639 is good and God is great and... You know, all 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:43.699 this stuff. Then why is there a devil? If God 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:47.220 is love, what's the devil? OK, so we're going 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:50.259 to get to that here in a second. But it's important 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:52.939 for us to understand who the devil is in this 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:55.420 way before I try to get it answer those questions. 00:07:55.779 --> 00:07:57.980 So today we're going to look at the devil and 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:02.120 his demons, the devil who does have wings to 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:04.939 get to kind of a broad overview of what the demons 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:09.139 can do first. Let me show you guys a story in 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:13.079 Mark chapter 5. I've got almost all of these 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:17.620 Bible verses written on in notes there. I couldn't 00:08:17.620 --> 00:08:23.100 fit the Ezekiel one on the page. And I guess 00:08:23.100 --> 00:08:26.860 I could have just did duplex, but sorry. I tried 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:31.019 to make it one page long. So if you'll look along 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:33.090 there, we're going to start in Mark. Chapter 00:08:33.090 --> 00:08:35.750 5, Scripture says, When Jesus got out of the 00:08:35.750 --> 00:08:38.970 boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the 00:08:38.970 --> 00:08:41.269 tombs to meet him. This man has lived in the 00:08:41.269 --> 00:08:43.929 tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not 00:08:43.929 --> 00:08:47.789 even with a chain, for he had often been chained 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:52.429 hand and foot. But he tore the chains apart and 00:08:52.429 --> 00:08:55.710 broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong 00:08:55.710 --> 00:08:59.230 enough to subdue him. So here we see a regular 00:08:59.230 --> 00:09:02.950 guy who's become possessed with a demon and now 00:09:02.950 --> 00:09:06.409 is so strong, he is so powerful that even chains 00:09:06.409 --> 00:09:11.850 can't subdue him. Okay, verse 5 says, Night and 00:09:11.850 --> 00:09:13.909 day among the tombs and in the hills, this man, 00:09:14.049 --> 00:09:17.690 he would cry out and he would cut himself with 00:09:17.690 --> 00:09:20.809 stones. Now I just... Sidebar here, I think this 00:09:20.809 --> 00:09:22.929 is kind of interesting. Isn't that interesting 00:09:22.929 --> 00:09:25.730 that over 2 ,000 years later, here we are? And 00:09:25.730 --> 00:09:28.250 what do we see, unfortunately, a lot of people 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:32.889 who are hurting doing? They're cutting themselves. 00:09:33.250 --> 00:09:38.870 They're inflicting pain on themselves. It's interesting 00:09:38.870 --> 00:09:43.230 how that doesn't seem to change with time. Why? 00:09:44.169 --> 00:09:48.299 Why does that not seem to change with time? Because 00:09:48.299 --> 00:09:52.039 our spiritual enemy, right, who's been here before 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:56.039 the material world, his mission is to steal and 00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:59.279 to kill and to destroy. It's interesting to me. 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:02.740 Reading on, verse 6. When he saw Jesus from a 00:10:02.740 --> 00:10:04.679 distance, he ran and he fell on his knees in 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:06.360 front of him and he shouted at the top of his 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:09.559 voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:12.259 the Most High God? Swear to me that you won't 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:15.659 torture me. Verse 8. For Jesus had said to him, 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.480 Come out of this man, you evil spirit. Now, if 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:22.340 you'd like to read the rest of the story, it's 00:10:22.340 --> 00:10:23.940 rather interesting. I'm just trying to get to 00:10:23.940 --> 00:10:27.100 the evil spirit part. As Jesus casts out the 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:29.039 evil spirit, the spirit revealed himself and 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:31.840 says, hey, there are many of us. That's why our 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:36.179 name is Legion. There's many of us, right? And 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:39.720 then the Legion negotiates to deal with Jesus. 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:42.440 He says, hey, cast us into something else, please. 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:46.879 And so Jesus actually takes these legion, these 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.740 multitude of demons, and casts them into a herd 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:53.080 of pigs. Had there been cats, I hope that Jesus 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:56.720 would have cast them into the cats. But there 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:58.480 weren't any cats around, so he went with the 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:02.940 pigs. Ran over the cliff, and a thousand of these 00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:06.740 pigs ended up drowning as Jesus cast out the 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:10.940 demons. So it is so that it had so possessed 00:11:10.940 --> 00:11:14.549 a man. this demon, remember that he was greater 00:11:14.549 --> 00:11:17.929 than humans can even recognize. Now, some people 00:11:17.929 --> 00:11:20.429 ask me, right, because I'm a federally liberal 00:11:20.429 --> 00:11:22.690 Christian, you know, do you believe in demons? 00:11:23.070 --> 00:11:26.309 Absolutely, I believe in demons, right? You think 00:11:26.309 --> 00:11:28.210 people might say, you think you ever encountered 00:11:28.210 --> 00:11:32.669 demons? And I'd have to say, yeah, probably. 00:11:33.570 --> 00:11:37.750 Probably more than I even recognize. That's probably 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:41.980 the reality. So if that's the case, and you're 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:45.600 like me, then let's start today by trying to 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.759 look at the answer, where did Satan come from 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:54.200 in the first place? Okay. Scripture teaches us 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:58.879 that Satan wasn't always a bad guy. In fact, 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.659 years and years ago, Satan was actually an angel, 00:12:01.700 --> 00:12:03.940 one of God's best and most beautiful angels, 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:09.100 was known as Lucifer or the Morning Star. Here 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:11.519 you see this in Latin. That's Luciferos right 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.960 here. That means morning star. Whenever they 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:15.679 talk about the morning star, they're talking 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:18.200 about Venus. You get up early in the morning, 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:20.799 you look in the sky real low. You can see Venus. 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:23.340 It's a super bright star. Think about what that 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:25.940 was like before streetlights, before electricity. 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:31.259 So they saw these bright stars and they thought 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:34.399 of them as these heavenly beings in the sky. 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:37.460 And the morning star, which is actually the planet 00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:41.139 Venus, has a name, the bringer of light. The 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:45.559 morning star, then the day comes, right? Luciferos, 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:49.100 light bringer. That is the Latin name. In Greek, 00:12:49.139 --> 00:12:53.519 that name is Diablos. Diablos, from Greek to 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.639 English, is devil. Okay, that's where that all 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:03.120 comes from. And so Satan, in his beauty, Because 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:06.120 he was the light bringer, as the story goes, 00:13:06.379 --> 00:13:10.379 became jealous of God and wanted to be like God. 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.860 Instead of like Jesus, right, who says, Father, 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.700 thy will be done. Lucifer, the morning star, 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:23.179 the beautiful angel said, I will. I will. Five 00:13:23.179 --> 00:13:26.299 times in scripture, we see this angel wanting 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:28.659 to be like God. Here's the account. I've got 00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:31.659 it for you there. Isaiah chapter 14, verse 12. 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:37.320 The prophet says this, How you have fallen from 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:40.600 heaven, O morning star, son of dawn. You have 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.059 been cast down to the earth, you who once laid 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:47.360 low the nations. You said in your heart, I will 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.340 ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above 00:13:51.340 --> 00:13:55.330 the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the 00:13:55.330 --> 00:13:58.250 mount of assembly. I will ascend above the tops 00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:02.730 of the clouds. I will make myself like the most 00:14:02.730 --> 00:14:07.529 high. And God said, no, you won't. I'm the creator. 00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:11.070 No one can ever be like me. And when this beautiful 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:15.289 angel says, I will be like you, God, God casts 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:18.090 him out of heaven. And a third of the angels 00:14:18.090 --> 00:14:23.000 followed him. Most people. In the Christian faith, 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:25.399 what we're kind of using is a basic understanding 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:28.559 about this stuff. Today, most people believe 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:30.840 that that's kind of where the demons come from. 00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:34.559 Okay? Let me give you another example. You just 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:36.259 have to listen to this one, I'm afraid. I didn't 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:37.740 have, again, didn't have room to put this on 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:42.320 the page. But this is Ezekiel talking. He's actually 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:47.360 talking about the king of Tyre, which is a Mediterranean 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:53.139 coastal area that is in today Lebanon. OK, in 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:56.360 the Middle East. And so he's actually talking 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:59.340 about the king of Tyre. But the king of Tyre 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:02.659 is so evil that whenever he looks at him, he 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:07.120 actually sees the accuser. He sees the devil. 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:11.960 And so seeing the sinful nature of the king of 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:16.000 Tyre was so incredibly sinful to Isaiah that 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.759 he actually prescribes. He gives a description. 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:24.659 of the character we're talking about, this fallen 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:28.559 angel, the devil. It says, you were in Eden, 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:32.639 the garden of God. Every precious stone adorned 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:37.500 you. And then carnelian, crystallite, emerald, 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:42.019 topaz, onyx, jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise, 00:15:42.019 --> 00:15:44.740 and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made 00:15:44.740 --> 00:15:46.740 of gold, and on the day you were created, they 00:15:46.740 --> 00:15:49.799 were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:52.960 cherub, for I so ordained you. You were on the 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:55.960 holy mount of God. You walked among the fiery 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:58.980 stones. You were blameless in your ways from 00:15:58.980 --> 00:16:02.860 the day you were created till wickedness was 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:06.139 found in you. Through your widespread trade, 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:08.360 you were filled with violence and you sinned. 00:16:08.970 --> 00:16:11.250 So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:14.090 God. I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among 00:16:14.090 --> 00:16:16.889 the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on 00:16:16.889 --> 00:16:20.490 account of your beauty, and you corrupted your 00:16:20.490 --> 00:16:24.649 wisdom because of your splendor. So there I threw 00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:29.309 you to the earth. Lucifer's beauty and wisdom 00:16:29.309 --> 00:16:32.730 and might, all these good things created by God, 00:16:32.929 --> 00:16:38.899 lent to his pride of himself. His pride. led 00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:43.059 to his rebellion and fall. But he never lost, 00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:46.500 and thus therefore still retains, his powers 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:51.139 and traits. We believe, generally speaking, that 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:53.980 he is leading a cosmic revolt against the Creator 00:16:53.980 --> 00:17:00.100 to see who will make the choice to be with God 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:04.579 or against God. His strategy is to enlist mankind 00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:11.619 to his side to succumb to the same choices that 00:17:11.619 --> 00:17:16.000 he had made. To love ourselves instead of God. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.960 To make ourselves, because of our own pride, 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:26.460 autonomous from God. To defy God. The heart of 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:31.779 this and of Adam's test of will. This test of 00:17:31.779 --> 00:17:34.559 will between Satan and this test of will that 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.930 through mankind we see of Adam, right? That is 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:41.250 the same test of will. They're just dressed in 00:17:41.250 --> 00:17:45.309 different clothes, right? And they both chose 00:17:45.309 --> 00:17:51.670 to be God themselves. So again, I mentioned we 00:17:51.670 --> 00:17:54.470 have this issue, not this issue, but we have 00:17:54.470 --> 00:17:58.150 this understanding in our interpretation that 00:17:58.150 --> 00:18:02.569 Satan, Lucifer, the devil, this morning star 00:18:02.569 --> 00:18:07.240 character is a heavenly being, an angel. that 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:13.720 was born pre -human creation. Okay? So at some 00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:16.519 point, before the creation of the material world, 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:21.299 at some point the heavenly angels, the heavenly 00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:25.539 beings rather, were created. We don't have a 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:29.859 lot of info on that. And this isn't my, I didn't 00:18:29.859 --> 00:18:32.000 discover this, but this is a really great way 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:35.440 to use literary criticism to find these things. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.220 I don't, oh my gosh, I don't think I have the 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:41.380 Job in there either. Listen to Job 38, 1 through 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:45.460 7. This is so cool. Then the Lord spoke to Job 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:48.039 out of the storm. He said, where were you when 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:50.920 I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:55.839 understand. While the morning stars sang together 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.839 and all the angels shouted for joy. It's neat. 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:03.980 Because if we read that, we go, oh, what God's 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:06.460 saying here. actually has something to say about 00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:10.599 these heavenly beings. Because he's saying, well, 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.640 Job, where were you at the foundation of creation? 00:19:14.259 --> 00:19:19.099 Right? You weren't here yet. Where were you when 00:19:19.099 --> 00:19:25.019 the morning stars, the Luciferos, and the angels 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:28.940 sang together and shouted for joy? Ah, okay. 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:35.079 So, that's a pretty good argument there. At some 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:39.039 point, these angels existed, these heavenly beings 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:44.759 existed, before humans did. So, hang with me 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:49.319 and just dig. Picture Lucifer being created and 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:53.079 becoming conscious sometime during the creation 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:57.079 week. Right? At some point during the week of 00:19:57.079 --> 00:20:05.990 creation, early, early on, certainly, in the 00:20:05.990 --> 00:20:10.210 cosmos. And all he knows, this is at the instant 00:20:10.210 --> 00:20:18.309 of creation. All he knows is that he exists and 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:22.769 he's self -aware. And now, let's also add to 00:20:22.769 --> 00:20:25.650 this picture that there is also this other being 00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:30.769 who claims to have created him and all of the 00:20:30.769 --> 00:20:36.019 cosmos. Right? But how does Lucifer know that's 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:41.539 true? It's Lucifer and this other being that 00:20:41.539 --> 00:20:44.279 says, oh, by the way, I created you, and not 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:47.440 only did I create you, I created all this. But 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:50.200 this is so early on in the story here, guys, 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:52.619 that Lucifer's kind of looking around and not 00:20:52.619 --> 00:20:56.180 seeing much going on. How do I know that we didn't 00:20:56.180 --> 00:21:00.440 just pop into existence at the same time? Right? 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:04.849 Who's to say? that this person who claims to 00:21:04.849 --> 00:21:09.750 be the creator is just making it up. Perhaps 00:21:09.750 --> 00:21:12.269 this alleged creator popped into existence in 00:21:12.269 --> 00:21:15.509 the cosmos just before Lucifer popped into the 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:18.130 cosmos, but he wasn't the creator. But since 00:21:18.130 --> 00:21:20.069 he was there first, he was able to say, hey, 00:21:20.109 --> 00:21:23.569 I'm in charge. And because the creator arrived 00:21:23.569 --> 00:21:27.769 earlier on the scene, so to speak, perhaps he 00:21:27.769 --> 00:21:30.849 was more powerful. Perhaps he was more knowledgeable. 00:21:32.009 --> 00:21:37.789 Than he, Lucifer, was. Or not. Maybe he's not 00:21:37.789 --> 00:21:45.650 as more powerful. Or maybe he's not more powerful 00:21:45.650 --> 00:21:50.230 than I am. Lucifer could only accept God's word 00:21:50.230 --> 00:21:53.549 to him that he had created him and God himself 00:21:53.549 --> 00:21:57.549 was the eternal and infinite. It's only in his 00:21:57.549 --> 00:22:02.609 faith to choose to believe it. Now that we start 00:22:02.609 --> 00:22:09.549 to see that this question of seeing God for who 00:22:09.549 --> 00:22:13.849 God is and believing that God is who he says 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:18.430 he is, seems to not only be an argument, a fight 00:22:18.430 --> 00:22:21.910 of contention for each and every one of our personal 00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:24.750 spiritual lives, but it also seems to be the 00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:26.569 heart of the matter, the spiritual warfare in 00:22:26.569 --> 00:22:30.369 heaven as well. I mean, if this hypothesis is 00:22:30.369 --> 00:22:34.069 true, you could kind of see. You could kind of 00:22:34.069 --> 00:22:38.109 see how Lucifer perhaps might be skeptical that 00:22:38.109 --> 00:22:40.630 just because this guy told me he's the creator, 00:22:40.809 --> 00:22:46.089 that he is. And maybe Lucifer's pride was just 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:50.009 so strong that he was able to choose to believe 00:22:50.009 --> 00:22:52.710 the fantasy that he created in his own mind. 00:22:53.650 --> 00:22:59.569 That he was as equal to this other being. Even 00:22:59.569 --> 00:23:03.410 though he sees God. In other words, friends, 00:23:03.630 --> 00:23:09.069 seeing is not always believing. Lucifer would 00:23:09.069 --> 00:23:12.710 have seen and conversed with God, but he still 00:23:12.710 --> 00:23:16.730 would have had to accept it by faith that God 00:23:16.730 --> 00:23:20.450 had created him. Right? Many people tell me that 00:23:20.450 --> 00:23:23.230 if God would just appear before them, you know, 00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:24.849 if God would just show up even for just a second, 00:23:24.890 --> 00:23:30.930 I'd believe. But throughout the Bible, many people 00:23:30.930 --> 00:23:35.730 saw and heard God. That was never the issue. 00:23:36.509 --> 00:23:40.630 The crux of the matter was whether they would 00:23:40.630 --> 00:23:45.630 believe him or not. From Adam and Eve to Cain 00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:48.329 and Abel to Noah to the Egyptians at the first 00:23:48.329 --> 00:23:51.049 Passover to the Israelites crossing of the Red 00:23:51.049 --> 00:23:53.890 Sea all the way to those who saw the miracle. 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:58.799 miracles of jesus for themselves seeing didn't 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:04.279 always equate to trust and the fall of lucifer 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:09.319 is just another consistent example of that revelation 00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:12.900 12 i want to try to get as much where do we talk 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:15.420 about the devil and all demons and stuff i want 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:17.460 to try to throw as much of this as i can without 00:24:17.460 --> 00:24:19.819 just getting too bogged down into one particular 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:24.259 thing right this is just Devil 101 here tonight. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.640 Revelations 12 gives us this account. 7, 8, and 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.960 9. Verses 7, 8, and 9. The Bible says, And there 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:35.539 was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:37.519 against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.339 fought back. But he was not strong enough and 00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:43.160 they lost their place in heaven. Verse 9 says 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:46.579 the great dragon was hurled down. The ancient 00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:50.480 serpent called the devil or Satan or Lucifer 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:54.720 who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:57.640 to the earth and his angels with him. When Lucifer 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:01.900 said I will be like God, God said no you won't. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:06.180 Because there will be none other like me. He 00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:09.000 was cast down to the earth and now. We have to 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.599 deal with that force of darkness, right? And 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:18.140 so this character, Satan, Lucifer, the devil, 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:23.059 and then demons. Let me show you also another 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:25.579 story from the Gospel account of Mark. Again, 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:29.019 don't think this is in there. I tried to add 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:32.140 a bunch more Bible here, right? This is a parable. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:35.779 It's called the parable of the sower. This is 00:25:35.779 --> 00:25:38.640 Jesus, right? Listen, behold, the sower went 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.440 out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell along 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:43.279 the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.559 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:48.720 not have much soil, and immediately it sprang 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:51.539 up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:54.819 sun rose, it scorched, and since it had no root, 00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:59.920 it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:02.799 and the thorns grew up and choked it and yielded 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:05.140 it no grain, and other seeds fell into good soil. 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:07.789 and produce grain, growing up and increasing 00:26:07.789 --> 00:26:11.390 and yielding thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a 00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:17.269 hundredfold. And he, that's Jesus, says, he who 00:26:17.269 --> 00:26:24.250 has ears, let he or she hear. The explanation 00:26:24.250 --> 00:26:29.170 about this parable given by Jesus later on in 00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:33.250 Mark. And when he was alone, Those around him 00:26:33.250 --> 00:26:34.890 with the twelve asked him about the parables. 00:26:34.910 --> 00:26:37.509 And he said to them, To you has been given the 00:26:37.509 --> 00:26:39.349 secret of the kingdom of God. For those outside, 00:26:39.549 --> 00:26:42.670 everything is a parable, so that they may indeed 00:26:42.670 --> 00:26:46.109 see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but 00:26:46.109 --> 00:26:49.250 not understand, lest they should turn and be 00:26:49.250 --> 00:26:53.390 forgiven. And he, that's Jesus, said to them, 00:26:53.450 --> 00:26:56.930 Do you not understand this parable? How then 00:26:56.930 --> 00:26:59.849 will you understand all of the parables? The 00:26:59.849 --> 00:27:07.130 seer, Sorry, the sower sows the word. The word, 00:27:07.230 --> 00:27:11.009 the truth of God. And these are the ones along 00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:13.710 the path where the word is sown. When they hear, 00:27:13.930 --> 00:27:17.829 Satan immediately comes and takes away the word 00:27:17.829 --> 00:27:21.269 that was sown in them. And these are the ones 00:27:21.269 --> 00:27:25.049 sown on the rocky ground. The other ones who, 00:27:25.069 --> 00:27:27.710 when they hear the word, immediately receive 00:27:27.710 --> 00:27:32.690 joy. and they have no root in themselves, but 00:27:32.690 --> 00:27:35.730 endure for a while, and then when tribulation 00:27:35.730 --> 00:27:40.710 or persecution comes, and it always does, arises 00:27:40.710 --> 00:27:44.009 on account of the word, immediately they wither 00:27:44.009 --> 00:27:48.670 away. Jesus is pretty much explaining to us how 00:27:48.670 --> 00:27:52.349 the devil works in the world, right? The word 00:27:52.349 --> 00:27:54.769 of God, the truth of God, the love of God is 00:27:54.769 --> 00:27:57.700 sown into our lives, and yet... At times, because 00:27:57.700 --> 00:28:01.319 of our rocky soil, Satan can very easily come 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:06.400 along and pluck those seeds out. Right? That's 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:10.380 what we're talking about here. Now, as we talk 00:28:10.380 --> 00:28:13.720 about this today, we need to recognize this truth, 00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:16.720 friends, this reality. Again, this is called 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:20.599 the Bible for grownups. Not every bad thing that 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:24.109 happens in your life is because of demons. For 00:28:24.109 --> 00:28:27.029 example, if you have a bad hair day, that does 00:28:27.029 --> 00:28:30.990 not mean your hair was possessed by demons. Come 00:28:30.990 --> 00:28:35.990 out of me, you demon, bad hair demon. If your 00:28:35.990 --> 00:28:42.130 kids are acting up, maybe they need a nap. They're 00:28:42.130 --> 00:28:46.269 teenagers, whatever. Not every bad problem is 00:28:46.269 --> 00:28:48.690 because of demons. But what we want to do this 00:28:48.690 --> 00:28:52.019 evening... is we do want to look at a few of 00:28:52.019 --> 00:28:57.380 these things that demons do do. Let's look at 00:28:57.380 --> 00:29:02.380 four. Bible for grown -ups, right? If you're 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:05.839 taking notes, the first one is this. We need 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:08.920 to recognize that demons do, in fact, influence 00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:13.099 the leaders of nations. Demons. If you're going 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:15.779 to try to influence somebody, one of the greatest 00:29:15.779 --> 00:29:19.039 places you could make a dent would be within 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:23.819 the leaders of nations. And regardless of what 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:27.680 side of whatever team you're on, you can watch 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:30.400 the world news. It doesn't matter what side. 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:32.819 And you're going to watch the news and go, what's 00:29:32.819 --> 00:29:37.599 going on? It just seems so dark here, there, 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:43.720 other places, right? Behind those leaders, I 00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:46.539 believe one of the things that demons do, demonic 00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:48.680 forces trying to bring about the will of Satan. 00:29:49.380 --> 00:29:52.140 Daniel, the Old Testament prophecy of Daniel 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:56.740 in 10 and 13 helps illustrate this. Daniel had 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:58.660 prayed. We talked about this last week. Really 00:29:58.660 --> 00:30:02.579 cool story. Daniel had prayed for 21 days. Remember, 00:30:02.700 --> 00:30:04.680 for three weeks and nothing had happened. And 00:30:04.680 --> 00:30:08.210 then finally, the angel shows up. The angel of 00:30:08.210 --> 00:30:10.390 the Lord came to him and he said, but the prince 00:30:10.390 --> 00:30:14.690 of the Persian kingdom resisted me 21 days. What 00:30:14.690 --> 00:30:17.190 is this? This is an evil prince, an evil spirit 00:30:17.190 --> 00:30:19.990 who's doing battle, spiritual realm. Scripture 00:30:19.990 --> 00:30:22.630 goes on to say, then Michael, one of the chief 00:30:22.630 --> 00:30:25.150 princes, came to help me because I was detained 00:30:25.150 --> 00:30:29.329 there with the king of Persia. Behind the scenes, 00:30:29.509 --> 00:30:33.990 what I believe in the spirit world. We can see 00:30:33.990 --> 00:30:37.150 demonic forces trying to influence the heads 00:30:37.150 --> 00:30:40.210 of governments. That's why I think when we look 00:30:40.210 --> 00:30:42.970 throughout history and we see horrible events, 00:30:43.230 --> 00:30:47.849 genocide, the Holocaust, right? We think about 00:30:47.849 --> 00:30:50.730 those kind of things in places all over the world 00:30:50.730 --> 00:30:54.450 where leaders of governments persecute. They 00:30:54.450 --> 00:30:58.069 take the lives of people, right? They persecute 00:30:58.069 --> 00:31:01.789 and they take the lives of Christians. For the 00:31:01.789 --> 00:31:06.730 sake of proclaiming Christ. Right? What do we 00:31:06.730 --> 00:31:09.829 see here? We see the forces of darkness. Demons 00:31:09.829 --> 00:31:12.369 at work trying to influence the leaders of nations. 00:31:12.730 --> 00:31:16.930 What else do demons do? Demons also desire to 00:31:16.930 --> 00:31:22.069 inflict suffering on you. They desire to inflict 00:31:22.069 --> 00:31:26.529 suffering on you. I'll show you a story in Scripture. 00:31:27.500 --> 00:31:31.380 And as we read this story, if you have kids or 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:34.480 grandkids or neighbors with kids or whatever, 00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:41.079 I want you to think about a six -year -old, seven 00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:46.140 -year -old little boy or girl. Imagine this little 00:31:46.140 --> 00:31:49.839 child doing stuff like throwing themselves into 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:54.539 a fire, trying to jump into a swimming pool so 00:31:54.539 --> 00:31:57.920 that they might drown themselves. Okay, this 00:31:57.920 --> 00:31:59.759 is what's going on here in this story in the 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:02.759 time of Jesus. We pick up that story and it tells 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:07.640 us this in Matthew chapter 17 and 15. That the 00:32:07.640 --> 00:32:10.259 father who was beside himself, as we can imagine, 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:15.759 says to Jesus, Lord, have mercy on my son. Right? 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:18.519 He has seizures and he's suffering greatly. He 00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:22.279 falls into the fire, into the water. Why? Again, 00:32:22.359 --> 00:32:24.319 because this evil spirit is trying to kill this 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:28.140 little boy. What happens? Jesus says, bring the 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:33.279 boy to me. And Jesus does this. Jesus rebuked 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:34.960 the demon and it came out of the boy. And what 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:38.000 happens from this little moment on? This little 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:42.460 boy was healed. Here we see Jesus confronting 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:47.319 a demon, right? Who's trying to destroy the life 00:32:47.319 --> 00:32:50.960 of a little child, this kid. And if you can recognize 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.710 what... What demons might do to little children, 00:32:53.809 --> 00:32:55.509 what do you think they might want to do to you? 00:32:56.450 --> 00:33:00.150 Right? They want to kill everything that matters 00:33:00.150 --> 00:33:04.329 to God. I heard in all of my research this. One 00:33:04.329 --> 00:33:07.710 of the cool quotes that I heard just this afternoon 00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:13.490 was, the devil isn't for anything. Even bad stuff. 00:33:13.529 --> 00:33:16.490 The devil isn't for anything. The devil is only 00:33:16.490 --> 00:33:22.420 against everything in God. The devil isn't for 00:33:22.420 --> 00:33:27.740 anything. He's against everything. Demons, the 00:33:27.740 --> 00:33:31.240 princes of darkness, try to influence the leaders 00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:34.180 of nations, and they will try to inflict suffering 00:33:34.180 --> 00:33:38.579 on you. Another thing is that demons scheme to 00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:43.500 lure us away from God. Demons will study you. 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:48.220 Another funny quote I heard was like, man, if 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:49.839 you'd lived for a thousand years, you'd be pretty 00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:52.079 good at something too. Well, how good do you 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:54.019 think the devil is? The devil's been around forever. 00:33:54.500 --> 00:33:57.400 I thought, hey, that's kind of clever, right? 00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:00.980 Demons scheme to lure you away from God. They 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:04.480 will find and they will know your weaknesses 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:07.680 and they'll do anything possible to lure you 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:12.650 away from God. Maybe you like shiny things. Right? 00:34:12.750 --> 00:34:15.670 Look at this little shiny thing. Maybe you're 00:34:15.670 --> 00:34:22.630 vulnerable to skin. Temptation. Right? Could 00:34:22.630 --> 00:34:25.909 pursue. Maybe it's something that isn't something 00:34:25.909 --> 00:34:28.469 like the big sinful thing like that. But maybe 00:34:28.469 --> 00:34:31.449 it could be that you like to pursue intellectual 00:34:31.449 --> 00:34:34.849 ideas that might take you away from a relationship 00:34:34.849 --> 00:34:38.409 with God. Demons will use anything possible to 00:34:38.409 --> 00:34:41.119 lure you away from the truth of God. Here's how 00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:44.719 it's described in Scripture. In 1 Timothy, the 00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:46.719 fourth chapter, first verse, the Spirit clearly 00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:50.900 says that in the later times, some will abandon 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:54.059 their faith and they will follow deceiving spirits 00:34:54.059 --> 00:34:59.760 and things taught by demons. What are they trying 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:02.719 to do, demons? Trying to influence the leaders 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:08.099 of nations? They will try to hurt anyone and 00:35:08.099 --> 00:35:11.480 everything that they can. And they are trying 00:35:11.480 --> 00:35:15.539 to lead you away from. They're trying to steal 00:35:15.539 --> 00:35:19.019 you from the truth of God. And they're very, 00:35:19.059 --> 00:35:23.639 very active. The fourth thing, any notes, is 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:27.800 demons want to paralyze us with fear. They want 00:35:27.800 --> 00:35:31.219 us to go through life worried, in agony, always 00:35:31.219 --> 00:35:35.099 concerned about something, constant anxiety. 00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:38.940 Some of you, you might live right there, right 00:35:38.940 --> 00:35:42.030 now. You're in agony about your kids. You're 00:35:42.030 --> 00:35:44.570 worried, sick about school. You're paralyzed 00:35:44.570 --> 00:35:47.150 with fear about your health or maybe the health 00:35:47.150 --> 00:35:49.469 of somebody that you love, right? You're worried 00:35:49.469 --> 00:35:50.809 about what's going to happen, what's going to 00:35:50.809 --> 00:35:53.449 happen to my marriage. You're in agony, maybe 00:35:53.449 --> 00:35:56.530 even about your own spiritual condition. Why? 00:35:57.690 --> 00:36:01.010 Because Satan, through his demons, is trying 00:36:01.010 --> 00:36:04.050 to paralyze you with fear. Here's what Scripture 00:36:04.050 --> 00:36:08.289 says in 2 Timothy. Chapter 1, 6 and 7. For God 00:36:08.289 --> 00:36:13.050 has not given us, we know this, a spirit of fear, 00:36:13.170 --> 00:36:17.630 but of power and love and of sound mind. The 00:36:17.630 --> 00:36:23.690 spirit of fear is a very real spirit coming from 00:36:23.690 --> 00:36:26.630 the evil one who wants to paralyze you with it. 00:36:27.510 --> 00:36:30.130 Understand this, friends, and never forget it. 00:36:30.469 --> 00:36:33.519 That Satan and his demons, they hate you. They 00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:37.179 despise you and they want to take you out. They 00:36:37.179 --> 00:36:40.380 want to destroy you. And we must be ready to 00:36:40.380 --> 00:36:44.940 do battle and to do battle with them God's way. 00:36:45.699 --> 00:36:48.840 Okay? So if we're going to do that, three things 00:36:48.840 --> 00:36:53.679 we need to know. The first one is this. We never 00:36:53.679 --> 00:36:57.380 treat our enemy lightly. Right? Let's look at 00:36:57.380 --> 00:37:01.539 what Scripture says in the letter of Jude, verse 00:37:01.539 --> 00:37:05.179 9. But even the archangel Michael, when he was 00:37:05.179 --> 00:37:07.480 disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, 00:37:07.659 --> 00:37:11.139 did not dare bring a slanderous accusation against 00:37:11.139 --> 00:37:15.139 the devil, but said to the devil, the Lord rebuke 00:37:15.139 --> 00:37:20.800 you. Michael is an archangel. Michael is a very 00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:24.019 powerful being, even compared to the devil. Even 00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:28.000 compared to the devil. And he knows. No, no, 00:37:28.019 --> 00:37:30.420 no, no, no. I'm not going to fight you in Michael's 00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:33.440 power. Even the archangels, like I'm not going 00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:36.760 to use my power. No, no, no, no. The Lord's power 00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:41.619 rebuke you. The creator God's power rebuke you. 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:45.559 Even when the glorious archangel Michael was 00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:49.059 battling against the devil, he didn't trash talk 00:37:49.059 --> 00:37:52.199 the devil, right? He's not over there going, 00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:56.400 you are U -G -L -Y. You ain't got no alibi. You 00:37:56.400 --> 00:38:00.000 ugly. No, he's not doing any of that stuff. Do 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.780 not treat your enemy lightly. It's a great story. 00:38:04.820 --> 00:38:07.000 You might want to read sometime in Acts chapter 00:38:07.000 --> 00:38:10.800 19. It's about the seven sons of this high priest 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:14.079 by the name of Siva. And they thought that they 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:16.699 were able to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, 00:38:16.780 --> 00:38:19.440 even though they didn't really know the name 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:23.639 of Jesus. One time... These seven sons of Siva, 00:38:23.739 --> 00:38:26.219 they found a demon -possessed man and they approached 00:38:26.219 --> 00:38:29.099 him and they said, In the name of Jesus Christ, 00:38:29.280 --> 00:38:31.739 whom Paul preaches, come out of him. Now let's 00:38:31.739 --> 00:38:34.780 check this out. And a demon inside of this man 00:38:34.780 --> 00:38:40.079 looked at the seven sons and said, Hey, we know 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:45.800 who Jesus is. And we know who Paul is. But who 00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:49.119 are you? And scripture says that this one demon 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:52.429 -possessed man Whipped those seven other dudes 00:38:52.429 --> 00:38:55.670 so badly that they came out of the house naked 00:38:55.670 --> 00:39:00.090 and bleeding. The story teaches us, friends, 00:39:00.170 --> 00:39:02.889 the principle that we should never, ever, ever 00:39:02.889 --> 00:39:07.590 treat the enemy lightly. Second principle, don't 00:39:07.590 --> 00:39:12.090 flirt with darkness. Don't flirt around with 00:39:12.090 --> 00:39:15.949 the things of darkness. Right? Maybe as a kid. 00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:18.559 Right? You guys probably did stuff like I was 00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:20.639 when I was a kid, right? Light as a feather, 00:39:20.659 --> 00:39:23.360 stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as 00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:27.599 a board. Right? Or seances. Or you turn the lights 00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:32.599 off, you play with a Ouija board. Right? Spirit, 00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:38.760 will she go out with me? No. Right? We do all 00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:41.889 sorts of things like that. Scripture teaches 00:39:41.889 --> 00:39:44.170 us that we should never ever have anything to 00:39:44.170 --> 00:39:46.369 do with the forces of darkness. Don't mess around 00:39:46.369 --> 00:39:49.730 with that kind of stuff. Consulting mediums and 00:39:49.730 --> 00:39:52.210 spiritualists, right? We don't need to look at 00:39:52.210 --> 00:39:55.969 tarot cards and Ouija boards. Look, I get it. 00:39:55.989 --> 00:39:58.030 I know that a Ouija board is created by Milton 00:39:58.030 --> 00:40:01.730 Bradley. I understand that. But why, you know, 00:40:01.829 --> 00:40:06.630 why do you take your horoscope as a serious... 00:40:07.550 --> 00:40:09.849 Do you treat a horoscope like this is serious 00:40:09.849 --> 00:40:12.809 divine intervention in my life? It's a horoscope, 00:40:12.909 --> 00:40:18.570 right? Okay. Teletubbies? If you're watching 00:40:18.570 --> 00:40:21.170 the Teletubbies, I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding 00:40:21.170 --> 00:40:26.090 about the Teletubbies thing. Just joking. Here's 00:40:26.090 --> 00:40:29.230 what the Bible says. The first thing I could 00:40:29.230 --> 00:40:31.449 think of, what kind of music to listen to. If 00:40:31.449 --> 00:40:35.449 you're listening to that ACDC rap music. Deuteronomy 00:40:35.449 --> 00:40:39.949 chapter 18, sorry, 10, 11, and 12. Let no one 00:40:39.949 --> 00:40:43.090 be found among you practices divination or sorcery, 00:40:43.090 --> 00:40:46.010 interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or casts 00:40:46.010 --> 00:40:49.949 spells, or who is a medium or a spiritist or 00:40:49.949 --> 00:40:52.489 consults the dead. Anyone who does these things 00:40:52.489 --> 00:40:55.809 is detestable to the Lord. We do not take our 00:40:55.809 --> 00:40:58.909 enemy lightly, and we should never flirt with 00:40:58.909 --> 00:41:03.489 darkness. Finally, the third thing. In your notes 00:41:03.489 --> 00:41:06.099 there. We need to remember this. We don't fight 00:41:06.099 --> 00:41:09.000 with our power. We fight with God's authority. 00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:12.860 We never fight with our own power, but instead 00:41:12.860 --> 00:41:15.539 in the authority of God. There is a humongous 00:41:15.539 --> 00:41:18.539 difference between authority and power. Our power 00:41:18.539 --> 00:41:21.699 is not great enough, right? Matthew 10 and 1, 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:24.340 the Bible says that Jesus called his 12 disciples 00:41:24.340 --> 00:41:27.400 to him and he gave them authority to drive out 00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:30.659 evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 00:41:31.079 --> 00:41:34.820 Jesus didn't give... the disciples His power, 00:41:35.119 --> 00:41:40.059 He gave them authority to do it in the power 00:41:40.059 --> 00:41:43.840 of Jesus. And there's a big difference, and let 00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:47.000 me explain. For example, right? If I jump out 00:41:47.000 --> 00:41:49.539 here into the middle of the street and start 00:41:49.539 --> 00:41:52.400 waving at cars trying to get them to stop and 00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:56.400 to go, I might get run over. Right? But if I 00:41:56.400 --> 00:42:00.199 go out there in a uniform and a badge, and I 00:42:00.199 --> 00:42:03.960 now have the authority to use that power, that's 00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:06.460 an entirely different thing, isn't it? That's 00:42:06.460 --> 00:42:10.179 an entirely different thing. We don't fight with 00:42:10.179 --> 00:42:14.139 our power. We fight under God's authority. Right? 00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:19.739 When we do spiritual battle, we must remember 00:42:19.739 --> 00:42:23.420 that we cannot, we should not, and it is not 00:42:23.420 --> 00:42:26.760 designed that we should battle with our own power. 00:42:26.840 --> 00:42:29.980 We battle in the authority of Jesus Christ, who's 00:42:29.980 --> 00:42:34.570 greater. Right? Than any of us. And his authority, 00:42:34.630 --> 00:42:37.510 by his power, we can have victory over forces 00:42:37.510 --> 00:42:41.309 of darkness. There is a battle. There is a spiritual 00:42:41.309 --> 00:42:44.949 battle. Right? It might not be a sci -fi movie 00:42:44.949 --> 00:42:48.130 or something crazy like that. Some, you know, 00:42:48.150 --> 00:42:51.730 fantasy kind of idea. But the battle is real. 00:42:52.650 --> 00:42:55.170 The kingdom of light against the kingdom of darkness. 00:42:56.460 --> 00:42:58.500 So what do we know? Number one, we don't treat 00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:00.340 our enemy lightly. Number two, we don't ever 00:43:00.340 --> 00:43:03.280 flirt with darkness. Number three, we don't fight 00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:07.420 on our power, but God's authority, right? And 00:43:07.420 --> 00:43:09.679 we need to recognize that there is an evil force 00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:12.920 that is more wicked than you could ever imagine, 00:43:13.019 --> 00:43:16.679 that wants to rob and to steal and to kill and 00:43:16.679 --> 00:43:19.679 to destroy everything that matters to the heart 00:43:19.679 --> 00:43:23.840 of God. The demons want your family. They want 00:43:23.840 --> 00:43:26.059 your marriage. They want your children. They 00:43:26.059 --> 00:43:29.320 want your finances. They want your health. And 00:43:29.320 --> 00:43:32.960 they want your relationship with God most of 00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:36.760 all. How do you fight? We fight with spiritual 00:43:36.760 --> 00:43:40.800 weapons of warfare. Right? How did Jesus do battle? 00:43:41.679 --> 00:43:44.139 Kind of rounding the bend here. How did Jesus 00:43:44.139 --> 00:43:46.909 do battle with Satan? Perfect, perfect example 00:43:46.909 --> 00:43:49.510 for us, right? How do you fight? How did Jesus 00:43:49.510 --> 00:43:52.409 fight? When Satan tempted Jesus after 40 days 00:43:52.409 --> 00:43:55.210 of fasting, Satan came up to Jesus saying, hey, 00:43:55.449 --> 00:44:01.250 geez, you hungry? You want some Twinkies, right? 00:44:01.869 --> 00:44:04.429 And what does Jesus do? Because he says, hey, 00:44:04.510 --> 00:44:07.449 if you want, big man, you could just turn these 00:44:07.449 --> 00:44:11.130 rocks into bread. How does Jesus respond? Listen 00:44:11.130 --> 00:44:14.849 carefully, listen carefully. Jesus said, It is 00:44:14.849 --> 00:44:18.010 written, man shall not live by bread alone, but 00:44:18.010 --> 00:44:20.510 by every word that proceeds from the mouth of 00:44:20.510 --> 00:44:26.809 God. Even Jesus does battle with Satan with the 00:44:26.809 --> 00:44:31.949 written word of God. Even Jesus uses the word 00:44:31.949 --> 00:44:35.989 of God in his battle with Satan. Satan comes 00:44:35.989 --> 00:44:40.289 back a second time and says, hey, right, do this. 00:44:40.570 --> 00:44:42.369 Why don't you just throw yourself off the edge 00:44:42.369 --> 00:44:45.179 of the cliff? You know you'll have angels come 00:44:45.179 --> 00:44:47.099 along and catch you. Let them catch you. God 00:44:47.099 --> 00:44:50.300 will do that for you. Again, how does Jesus do 00:44:50.300 --> 00:44:55.860 battle? He says, it is written, thou shalt not 00:44:55.860 --> 00:45:01.539 put the Lord your God to test ever, ever. With 00:45:01.539 --> 00:45:06.820 the word of God. He defeated the life of the 00:45:06.820 --> 00:45:11.480 evil one and Satan comes back a third time. Lies. 00:45:12.650 --> 00:45:17.170 Why? Because Satan doesn't give up easily. Right? 00:45:17.289 --> 00:45:20.849 So he says, Jesus, oh Jesus, why won't you do 00:45:20.849 --> 00:45:24.349 this? Jesus, deal of the century. All you have 00:45:24.349 --> 00:45:29.690 to do, all you have to do is bow down. Bow down, 00:45:30.030 --> 00:45:33.849 Satan says, and worship me. And when you do, 00:45:33.989 --> 00:45:38.829 I will give you everything your eyes can see. 00:45:40.210 --> 00:45:43.679 And then Satan fled. I'm sorry. And Jesus fought 00:45:43.679 --> 00:45:48.159 back and said, it is written, you shall worship 00:45:48.159 --> 00:45:51.239 the Lord your God and serve him only away from 00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:54.760 me, Satan. And Satan fled. Scripture goes on 00:45:54.760 --> 00:45:59.619 to say, then the angels of God came and ministered 00:45:59.619 --> 00:46:04.260 to Jesus. Right? Now, one of the things I think 00:46:04.260 --> 00:46:08.980 that is kind of interesting is not just in that. 00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:14.420 Jesus, you're doing battle with it is written, 00:46:14.519 --> 00:46:17.219 but I want you to see something about the power 00:46:17.219 --> 00:46:20.900 of the devil. Not one time in this encounter 00:46:20.900 --> 00:46:25.000 with Satan does Jesus ever say something to Satan 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.559 like, why would you say that, oh serpent buddy? 00:46:30.699 --> 00:46:33.360 Why would you say that? You know you can't do 00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.739 that. You know you don't have the power to give 00:46:36.739 --> 00:46:40.840 me all that. He doesn't say that. Jesus believes 00:46:40.840 --> 00:46:43.530 he... If he did what Satan asked, he would be 00:46:43.530 --> 00:46:46.929 given. Satan does have the power to do that. 00:46:47.969 --> 00:46:52.130 It's important. Even Jesus understands how powerful 00:46:52.130 --> 00:46:55.769 the devil is. And it's only through his word, 00:46:55.869 --> 00:46:59.510 God's word and God's truth, can that be fought. 00:46:59.929 --> 00:47:03.150 There's another world and it is real, even more 00:47:03.150 --> 00:47:05.510 real than you might see with the eyes around 00:47:05.510 --> 00:47:08.710 you. So how do we do battle? Never in our own 00:47:08.710 --> 00:47:11.699 strength, but in the authority of God. Right? 00:47:11.880 --> 00:47:16.420 Says who we are in Christ. James chapter 4, closing, 00:47:16.559 --> 00:47:20.420 4, 7, 8. Right? We're going to do battle. How 00:47:20.420 --> 00:47:22.860 do we do battle? Scripture says submit yourselves 00:47:22.860 --> 00:47:26.179 then to God. To some of you right now, if you 00:47:26.179 --> 00:47:29.059 were honest, you'd say, I'm not submitting my 00:47:29.059 --> 00:47:33.139 life to God. Maybe partially. Maybe kind of. 00:47:33.699 --> 00:47:37.820 Not all the way. Here's what you have to do. 00:47:38.409 --> 00:47:41.190 To get into this authority, in this power business, 00:47:41.510 --> 00:47:44.289 to be equipped for this battle, you must submit 00:47:44.289 --> 00:47:48.269 yourself to God. And Scripture says, and then 00:47:48.269 --> 00:47:51.309 you'll do what? You'll resist the devil. And 00:47:51.309 --> 00:47:53.849 what will the devil do? He will flee from you. 00:47:53.949 --> 00:47:57.909 You submit yourself to God, you resist the devil, 00:47:58.050 --> 00:48:02.269 and he will flee from you. Scripture says he's 00:48:02.269 --> 00:48:04.829 out the door. And the Bible says when you come 00:48:04.829 --> 00:48:08.710 nearer to God, God will come nearer to you. That's 00:48:08.710 --> 00:48:10.789 what I hope that we're all able to do tonight. 00:48:11.510 --> 00:48:15.010 In the name of Jesus, Satan has no place, no 00:48:15.010 --> 00:48:18.909 right in our lives. So may we draw near to God 00:48:18.909 --> 00:48:23.730 and may we let God win the battle for us. Any 00:48:23.730 --> 00:48:32.409 questions? I started out tonight's Bible study 00:48:32.409 --> 00:48:35.550 with a famous quote. by Charles Baudelaire, something 00:48:35.550 --> 00:48:38.090 that goes along the lines that the greatest trick 00:48:38.090 --> 00:48:40.510 the devil ever pulled on humankind was convincing 00:48:40.510 --> 00:48:45.530 us that he never existed. I think there's some 00:48:45.530 --> 00:48:49.869 truth to that. Sometimes I feel like whenever 00:48:49.869 --> 00:48:51.989 we talk about things that we can't necessarily 00:48:51.989 --> 00:48:55.429 see, things we can't necessarily interpret, fully 00:48:55.429 --> 00:48:59.110 understand, we shy away from them as if they 00:48:59.110 --> 00:49:03.050 don't exist, as if the consequences. of the spiritual 00:49:03.050 --> 00:49:05.690 warfare that takes place in our life isn't real. 00:49:07.010 --> 00:49:10.550 But unfortunately, that's just not the case. 00:49:12.130 --> 00:49:18.610 And in the end, where you fall on the whole who 00:49:18.610 --> 00:49:21.989 is the devil spectrum, one thing I think that 00:49:21.989 --> 00:49:26.230 tonight's discussion definitely showed us is 00:49:26.230 --> 00:49:31.530 the importance of our faith. Even a spiritual 00:49:31.530 --> 00:49:39.730 being like Lucifer, seeing God for himself, was 00:49:39.730 --> 00:49:45.170 troubled, was stymied by his own pride. And that 00:49:45.170 --> 00:49:49.769 same problem holds true for us. Can we see God? 00:49:50.389 --> 00:49:54.789 And if we can't see God, can we choose to believe 00:49:54.789 --> 00:50:01.809 who God is? How much He actually loves us. And 00:50:01.809 --> 00:50:04.670 that it's not our lives, and it's not our wills, 00:50:04.670 --> 00:50:10.309 but it's God's will that be done. Can we actually 00:50:10.309 --> 00:50:15.809 live that? Can we actually do that? Well, that's 00:50:15.809 --> 00:50:19.610 the question. See you next week, and until then, 00:50:19.730 --> 00:50:21.769 be blessed, friend.