1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,640 Hodged in the popular imagination writes Time Magazine, December 27, 1993. 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:17,920 There are angels-only boutiques, angel newsletters, angel seminars, angels on Sonya Live. 3 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,600 Harvard Divinity School has a course on angels. 4 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,760 Boston College has two. 5 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,260 Bookstores have had to establish angel sections. 6 00:00:27,260 --> 00:00:32,680 In the most celebrated play on Broadway, Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in 7 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:38,200 America, a divine messenger ministers to a man with AIDS. 8 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:45,280 In Publishers Weekly's religious bestseller list, five of the ten paperback books are 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,680 about angels. 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:55,120 Where does this recent trend of interest in angels originate? 11 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,000 The answer, I'm sorry to say, is in the New Age Movement. 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,640 This is the coming worldview that I described briefly last week. 13 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:11,160 There's a general curiosity in our culture now about spiritual things, and it's focusing 14 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,240 on angels, especially from a New Age perspective. 15 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:25,720 A Time CNN poll recently discovered that 69% of Americans believe in angels. 16 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:34,760 46% believe in guardian angels, and more than that, 49% believe in fallen angels or demons. 17 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:42,040 32% had personally felt an angelic presence in their lives, and that may be true of some 18 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,880 here this morning. 19 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:51,800 Time tells the story of Ann Cannaday, who in 1977 had a third test for cancer, and it 20 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,600 came back positive. 21 00:01:55,600 --> 00:02:03,800 Her husband, Gary, a retired Air Force officer, had lost his first wife to cancer of the same 22 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,960 type in fact, and so they didn't know if they would have the strength to go through 23 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,440 what was ahead. 24 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:17,920 She says, we spent the next eight weeks scared and praying, praying and scared. 25 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:23,320 I kept begging God, saying, please, if I'm going to die, let me die quickly. 26 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:29,200 I don't want Gary to have to face this again. 27 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:37,400 Then one morning, three days before she was to enter surgery, Gary answered the door. 28 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:43,560 Standing there at the door was a large man who was at least a good inch taller than his 29 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,720 six foot, five inch frame. 30 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:54,320 Ann says, he was the blackest black I've ever seen, and his eyes were a deep, deep 31 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,240 azure blue. 32 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:04,960 He introduced himself simply as Thomas, and then said, your cancer is gone. 33 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,600 How do you know my name, and how do you know that I have cancer, she stammered. 34 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,400 She turned to her husband and said, Gary, what shall we do? 35 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,480 Shall we ask him in? 36 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,440 They did, and Thomas came inside and told them they could stop worrying, and quoted 37 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:26,160 to them by Isaiah 53, 5, and with his stripes we are healed. 38 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,920 Ann was still confused and looked at the man and said, who are you? 39 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:32,880 He said, I am Thomas. 40 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,280 I am sent by God. 41 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,880 Next Ann recalls with these words what happened. 42 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:47,360 He held up his right hand, palm facing me, and leaned toward me, though he didn't touch 43 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:48,360 me. 44 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,080 I'm telling you, the heat coming from that hand was incredible. 45 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,420 Suddenly I felt my legs go out from under me, and I fell to the floor. 46 00:03:57,420 --> 00:04:02,840 As I lay there, a strong white light, like one of those search lights, traveled through 47 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:03,840 my body. 48 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:05,680 It started at my feet and worked its way up. 49 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:11,820 I knew then with every part of me, my body, my mind, and my heart that something supernatural 50 00:04:11,820 --> 00:04:14,120 had happened. 51 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:15,120 She passed out. 52 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,520 Her husband woke her up wondering if she was still alive. 53 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,280 By that time Thomas was gone. 54 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:28,480 We went to the doctor, and the doctor through a series of tests discovered that in fact 55 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:33,240 there was no sign any longer of her cancer. 56 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:41,280 32% of the people in America claim to have personally felt an angelic presence in their 57 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:45,200 lives at some time. 58 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:55,520 The coming world view, the New Age world view, is heavy into angels and spirit beings. 59 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:01,360 The only problem is that they're the wrong kind of beings. 60 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,200 They're plugging into the dark side and don't realize it. 61 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:14,200 So I want to say to all of us to beware of the New Age angels, which are accessed and 62 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:20,760 gained through channeling, guided imagery, and visualization. 63 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:30,920 They may appear for a time as angels of light, but the New Age angels are angels of darkness. 64 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:37,120 The Bible talks a lot about angels too, several hundred times in fact, and nearly one half 65 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,560 of its books talk about angels. 66 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,400 Hebrews chapter 1 mentions angels a number of times. 67 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,320 We're going to look at verse 13 and verse 14. 68 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:58,920 But to which of the angels has God ever said, sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies 69 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,200 a footstool for thy feet? 70 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:09,080 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those 71 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,200 who will inherit salvation? 72 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,120 The writer asks. 73 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:22,200 Angels exist as a created order in the spiritual realm. 74 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:28,600 I have several general statements that I want to briefly make about angels before we get 75 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,360 into the real meat of our study this morning. 76 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:41,320 I want to affirm first of all that angels are real, but they are not human. 77 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:47,080 They exist in a spiritual form, which means they do not have human bodies as we do, but 78 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:56,320 they can appear in human form, as perhaps was the experience of Ann Kennedy. 79 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,080 Angels are personal. 80 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:04,960 By that I mean that they have intellect, emotion, and will. 81 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:14,080 Angels were directly created by God, and they do not procreate after their kind. 82 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:22,760 There are an innumerable number of angels, and yet it is a fixed number, whatever it 83 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:24,000 is. 84 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,920 They do not multiply. 85 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:31,960 Angels are not eternal, but they were present at the creation of the world and sang for 86 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:37,560 joy according to Job 38 verses 6 and 7. 87 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:46,240 Angels do not die, and they exercise great power. 88 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,040 In our study this morning I want first to think about their classifications. 89 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:57,800 There really are two classifications of angels, holy angels and evil angels. 90 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:06,060 Holy angels are now as they were created by God, and they are God's servants. 91 00:08:06,060 --> 00:08:07,880 They serve Him in heaven. 92 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,960 They serve Him on earth. 93 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:18,120 They have a variety of duties, including carrying out God's judgments in the world. 94 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:25,520 In Acts 12 we have the record of Herod standing before a great crowd giving an oration in 95 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:26,520 his pride. 96 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:32,080 An angel of the Lord struck him, it says, because of his pride. 97 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:40,240 He did not give God glory, and within a few days he died eaten up internally by worms. 98 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:45,440 The book of Revelation is full of angelic creatures who carry out the judgments of God 99 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,280 in the world. 100 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:53,480 And then angels have an influence on the affairs of nations as suggested in Daniel chapter 101 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,340 10. 102 00:08:55,340 --> 00:08:59,440 It mentions there Michael, the archangel. 103 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:08,160 It mentions the prince of Persia, who is a very powerful demonic creature. 104 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:14,400 It mentions a lesser angel who is bringing an answered prayer to Daniel. 105 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:20,040 It describes a struggle between these angelic forces in Daniel chapter 10, which surrounded 106 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:27,280 the Jewish people and the kingdom of Persia. 107 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,400 Spiritual beings influence the affairs of nations. 108 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:38,060 And we see in Revelation chapter 16 verse 8, for example, that angels can control weather 109 00:09:38,060 --> 00:09:42,120 and the forces of nature. 110 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:48,320 With regard to believers specifically, angels in the first place provide general help and 111 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:49,320 aid. 112 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:55,820 As it says in verse 14, they are ministering spirits sent out by God, of course, to render 113 00:09:55,820 --> 00:10:02,240 service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation. 114 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:07,420 Here is the finest, the clearest verse in the scriptures that I know that underscores 115 00:10:07,420 --> 00:10:15,760 the idea and the existence of guardian angels for believers. 116 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:21,600 I am personally convinced that we are all who are saved, that is, we are all assigned 117 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:28,160 spirit beings who guard us in this life and who may well be the same ones that carry our 118 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:36,440 souls to the presence of the Lord at death, as Jesus describes in the Gospel of Luke. 119 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:44,040 Angels provide protection for God's own and deliverance by the purpose of God. 120 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:51,720 An example of that is Lot, who as you know was living disobediently in the city of Sodom. 121 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:57,800 Nonetheless, God sent angels to Sodom to deliver Lot, to take him by the hand and lead him 122 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:03,400 out of the city before God's judgment came on that wicked place. 123 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:08,760 God sends his angels to provide protection for us. 124 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:10,720 And then angels bring answers to prayer. 125 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:15,560 I mentioned Daniel, but think too of Acts chapter 12, where the church is praying for 126 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:22,880 Peter's release from prison and God sent an angel to effect that release. 127 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,640 Peter was free. 128 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:27,960 Angels observe us. 129 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:35,560 According to 1 Corinthians 4, 9 and 1 Timothy 5, 21, we live our lives in their constant 130 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:38,960 sight. 131 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:44,640 And angels are occasionally sent to encourage us in danger. 132 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:51,920 And in Acts 27 verses 23 and 24, Paul talks about an angel who appeared to him on an occasion 133 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:56,560 to encourage him in a time of danger. 134 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:59,120 That's the ministry of the holy angels. 135 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,680 Never are people commanded to worship angels. 136 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:06,440 We are not to pray to them. 137 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:10,880 We're not to seek to communicate with them. 138 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:17,240 Our focus is to be upon God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 139 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,040 But they exist. 140 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:25,580 And they are around us this morning. 141 00:12:25,580 --> 00:12:30,040 And then there are evil angels, the second classification. 142 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:36,280 These angels were created holy, but now are evil because they chose to disobey God and 143 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:40,020 to follow Lucifer. 144 00:12:40,020 --> 00:12:48,120 On your own time, turn to Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and their study regarding the king of 145 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:56,000 Babylon and the king of Tyre, who were two earthly sovereigns who are addressed by God 146 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:02,120 but who cannot fulfill all of the language that is used in those texts. 147 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:10,920 Nearly all sound Bible scholars understand those texts in Isaiah and Ezekiel to be describing 148 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:20,720 not only earthly rulers but beyond them, the one who was manipulating them as puppets, 149 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:22,600 Satan. 150 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:27,040 We learned there that he was the bright one. 151 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:32,080 The day star is actually what he is called in Isaiah. 152 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:37,700 He apparently was created as a cherub. 153 00:13:37,700 --> 00:13:43,160 And it would seem the one who was given the responsibility to guard the very throne of 154 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,560 God. 155 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:52,020 The language suggests to us that he was assigned the duty that was greater than any other duty 156 00:13:52,020 --> 00:13:53,980 any other angel had. 157 00:13:53,980 --> 00:13:57,720 That was to stand in the presence of God before his throne. 158 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,460 He was incredibly beautiful when he was created. 159 00:14:01,460 --> 00:14:04,660 That may have helped lead to his sin. 160 00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:08,740 The sin is the sin of pride. 161 00:14:08,740 --> 00:14:14,440 It was pride this morning who was most like his master of those beings that were demonstrated 162 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,120 in the drama. 163 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:23,680 In Isaiah the five-fold willful statement of Satan is recorded. 164 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,660 He wanted to counterfeit God. 165 00:14:25,660 --> 00:14:29,660 He wanted to be like the Most High. 166 00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:34,880 The statement that he makes there is very similar to the lie by which he deceived Eve. 167 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:40,480 You will be like God, he said to her. 168 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:42,120 He himself could not be like God. 169 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:49,200 And when that pride was found in him, he was cast out of heaven. 170 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:54,600 And with him there followed many angels. 171 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:59,760 They apparently had joined with him in some sort of planned rebellion against the Most 172 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:01,280 High. 173 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:06,800 And when their leader was cast out, they were forced to follow him out of heaven. 174 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:12,120 It is these angelic beings who are called today demons. 175 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:18,760 Satan is called in Matthew 12, 24 the ruler of the demons. 176 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:25,280 It is important to understand as we think about this classification of angels that they 177 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,640 were judged at the cross. 178 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:37,320 And although waging a fierce battle against God and his hosts, they are today already 179 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:42,600 damned and doomed and they know that. 180 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:47,680 And their end is the lake of fire that was created for the devil and his angels according 181 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:54,000 to Jesus in Matthew 25, verse 41. 182 00:15:54,000 --> 00:16:00,480 Their eventual destiny is the lake of fire that burns forever and forever because of 183 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:05,440 their rebellion against their creator. 184 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:12,680 And so we have the two classifications of angels setting up for us the warfare that 185 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,600 we have been talking about. 186 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,640 Now let's think for a moment about their organization. 187 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:28,480 There seems to be a similar organization to both sides of this cosmic battle. 188 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:37,320 Either the holy angels or the demonic angels are highly structured. 189 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:42,160 Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 1 and notice the language that is used by the apostle Paul 190 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:46,360 as he describes the creatures in the spiritual realm. 191 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:52,240 He is here talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his exaltation to the 192 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,840 very right hand of God in the heavenly places. 193 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:57,320 Notice verse 20. 194 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:05,320 Now that term is unique to Ephesians and it refers to the realm of spiritual things, the 195 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,780 invisible realm. 196 00:17:08,780 --> 00:17:15,380 This one realm that we were talking about last week that our world culture denies. 197 00:17:15,380 --> 00:17:21,160 It is there that Jesus Christ is seated in the place of ultimate authority. 198 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:32,200 Verse 21, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that 199 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,320 is named. 200 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:41,000 He is talking not only about human rule and authority and power and dominion, but he is 201 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:47,880 talking about spiritual ranks and hierarchies as well. 202 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:55,480 Turn to chapter 3 verse 10 where we understand one of the reasons for which God is calling 203 00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:02,480 out the church in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through 204 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:12,320 the church to the rulers and the authorities in the realm of spiritual things in the heavenlies, 205 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,320 the heavenly places. 206 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:16,960 Again notice the terms used. 207 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:25,960 Then to chapter 6 and verse 10, verse 12 rather, where it says for our struggle, so here he 208 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:30,600 is directly addressing what we are talking about, spiritual warfare. 209 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:37,400 He says for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against 210 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:44,880 the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of 211 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:52,560 wickedness in the heavenly places, that is the spiritual realm again. 212 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:59,040 Now Bible teachers have put together these various terms and I want to share with you 213 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:06,600 one possible organizational outline as it were for the heavenly realms. 214 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:16,960 Far above all principalities and powers, whether human or spiritual, is the Lord of hosts. 215 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,560 In that great hymn of Luther, a mighty fortress is our God. 216 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,760 You find that name Lord Sabaoth. 217 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:33,000 It's not Lord Sabbath, it's Sabaoth, which means the Lord of hosts. 218 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,800 It is one of the great names of God in the Bible. 219 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:42,760 It refers to the fact that he is the Lord over all of the hosts, the spiritual beings 220 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,600 that exist in creation. 221 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,840 So he's at the very top. 222 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:56,000 Even below him there seem to be two or three categories of spiritual beings that are next 223 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,600 in rank. 224 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:06,480 There are the Seraphim, such as those seen by Isaiah flying around the throne of God 225 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:13,240 crying out, holy, holy, holy. 226 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:19,560 And then a different kind of spiritual being called Cherubim. 227 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:27,200 Cherubs are similar to Seraphs, very powerful, and yet we see them doing different things. 228 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,720 For example, there is a cherub who stands at the Garden of Eden to prevent Adam and 229 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:37,480 Eve and their descendants from coming back in the garden. 230 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:43,280 There may be a third classification on this same level, a parallel level, called living 231 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:52,240 ones, which are described to us in Revelation chapter 4, again around the throne of God. 232 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:59,840 Then if we drop down another level on our organizational chart, we come to two names. 233 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:09,340 On the side of good is Michael, who is given a unique title in Scripture, that of Archangel. 234 00:21:09,340 --> 00:21:14,920 He seems to be the very most powerful of the Lord's army. 235 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:22,160 He's the captain, as it were, of the Lord's army, the Archangel Michael. 236 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:28,840 And then on the other side, the side of evil, there is Lucifer, or Satan, as we have called 237 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:29,840 him. 238 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:40,120 He is called the anointed Cherub, which would indicate to us that Lucifer was a Cherub, 239 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:44,840 and the very highest of them before the throne of God until the time that sin was found in 240 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:53,440 him and he was cast out, and now he is a dethroned Cherub. 241 00:21:53,440 --> 00:22:01,280 When serving under Michael and Satan, there are these levels, so it seems, of spiritual 242 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,720 powers on the side of good and the side of evil. 243 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:19,240 Below them there are thrones, dominions, rulers or principalities, authorities, powers, world 244 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:26,360 rulers or lords, and then angels and wicked spirits. 245 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:31,520 These are the privates, as it were, in the two armies. 246 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:40,900 These ranks or hierarchies have varying levels of power and responsibility. 247 00:22:40,900 --> 00:22:45,320 And it seems that there is good argument in the Scriptures for saying that they are assigned 248 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,480 to various kinds of duties. 249 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:59,340 There may be some of them that are characterized by pride, for example, or diversion, or apathy. 250 00:22:59,340 --> 00:23:04,420 But there are others of them that are assigned to geographical areas. 251 00:23:04,420 --> 00:23:08,640 And because of what is said in Daniel 10, I think that we can safely say today that 252 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:16,760 there is a prince of the United States on the side of evil. 253 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,680 And you can imagine where he lives. 254 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,000 It's not in St. Paul. 255 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:28,760 He is closer to the root of power in our nation. 256 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:34,680 And then below that prince would be others assigned to geographical areas, perhaps over 257 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,600 Minnesota. 258 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:41,320 And then another powerful creature over St. Paul. 259 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:47,480 And then another perhaps over this block that we are in, or in the realm of the churches. 260 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:52,760 Perhaps the city is divided by where the enemy from their perspective is located. 261 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:57,360 The point is that there seems to be good reason to believe that there are geographical or 262 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:03,520 territorial kinds of spirits in their organization. 263 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,560 Now third, I want to talk about the confrontation that is involved here. 264 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,360 And with this we will close. 265 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:18,520 These angels on both sides in all of the ranks, all the way up to Satan and Michael, are at 266 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:19,720 war. 267 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,300 It is a continuous war. 268 00:24:22,300 --> 00:24:27,640 It is a war for the control of the world. 269 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,200 It is a war that involves human beings. 270 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:38,960 As I said last week, God has created human beings of the earth and of heaven. 271 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,880 We are part physical, we are part spiritual. 272 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:43,680 We are material, we are immaterial. 273 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:48,000 We bridge these two realms that overlap. 274 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,760 And we're right there in that overlapping area. 275 00:24:50,760 --> 00:25:03,080 Thus the war is around us, and indeed the ones who are lost in the world of humanity 276 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:09,120 are involved on that side of evil. 277 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:11,800 Now it's not necessarily that they have chosen to be there. 278 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:20,000 They were born to be there, as we all were in our sin, and then chose. 279 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,840 There's a lot of deception that is involved. 280 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:24,960 There's a lot of fear. 281 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,720 Through the fear of death, Satan manipulates people. 282 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:35,140 And they serve the forces of evil, many times unwittingly. 283 00:25:35,140 --> 00:25:40,480 On the other hand, with the spiritual forces of God, there is the Church of the Lord Jesus 284 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,400 Christ. 285 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:49,120 Those who are called saints, who are called out of this part of humanity to belong to 286 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:50,680 Christ. 287 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:57,200 And therefore there is warfare that takes place on the human level, but the real essence 288 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:01,720 of the warfare goes on on the spiritual level. 289 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:07,640 And we're caught up in it. 290 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:13,400 The work of evil spirits in this war can be described in a number of ways. 291 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,380 First they promote Satan's program. 292 00:26:17,380 --> 00:26:25,560 They do this by extending his influence through gaining the control of people. 293 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:32,860 And then by expressing his propaganda through ideas and notions and worldviews that are 294 00:26:32,860 --> 00:26:36,640 contrary to Scripture. 295 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:43,420 So you can understand the source of the lies that our traditional worldview in the West 296 00:26:43,420 --> 00:26:45,520 is. 297 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,800 The source of the lies of the West is Satan. 298 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:56,080 That's where the materialistic worldview comes from, as well as all the false materialistic, 299 00:26:56,080 --> 00:27:02,480 supernatural and spiritualistic worldviews that we talked about last week. 300 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:09,020 It is Satan who distributes the doctrines of demons. 301 00:27:09,020 --> 00:27:17,480 Not does it mean doctrines about demons, but doctrines taught by, instigated by demons 302 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:22,920 in order to deceive people and to bring them under the control of Satan. 303 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:24,880 The battle you see is for the mind. 304 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:30,080 We have an example that I want to share with you this morning. 305 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:35,640 Peggy Kershka has agreed to talk to us about her own journey spiritually. 306 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:42,520 And as you listen to her testimony, you're going to see how it began very simply with 307 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:48,040 experimentation of palm reading. 308 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:54,320 And then it became something much, much more serious as Satan continued to bring influence 309 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:59,000 and ultimately control over the way that she was thinking. 310 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:09,120 Peggy, I want to thank you for being willing to talk about your journey this morning. 311 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:13,960 At the age of 10, I read my first book on how to read palms. 312 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,660 I memorized the lines and the definitions of the hand. 313 00:28:17,660 --> 00:28:24,400 At the age of 15, I knew all the zodiac signs of my family, friends and classmates. 314 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:30,240 At the age of 21, I was desperately battling depression from drug and alcohol abuse. 315 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,520 I searched for an answer to my problems. 316 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,920 I began to see a psychic on a regular basis. 317 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,860 She told me I was surrounded by demons and gave me a rosary. 318 00:28:41,860 --> 00:28:47,400 When I looked at Jesus on the cross, it meant nothing to me. 319 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,640 I was attending the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse when I switched out of my English 320 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,320 major and into philosophy. 321 00:28:54,320 --> 00:29:00,560 I went to a seminar sponsored by the school given by a well-known witch named Starhawk. 322 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:05,280 I started studying metaphysics and became involved in Buddhist philosophy and Eastern 323 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,000 mysticism. 324 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,680 I was going to finally connect with the interrelatedness of all things. 325 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:17,400 In 1986, I went to Europe and did independent research on how Eastern philosophy was infiltrating 326 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,400 Western society. 327 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:23,540 I spent a week at a meditation center in the Black Forest. 328 00:29:23,540 --> 00:29:29,120 I was the star pupil at UW La Crosse for the development of philosophy of creativity and 329 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,720 presented a paper to the APA. 330 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:37,360 For my honors thesis at graduation, I wrote and presented a paper called Philosophy of 331 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,520 Creativity as Meta Paradigm. 332 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:44,320 I was beyond needing a model for my behavior. 333 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,300 God was impersonal and I was miserable. 334 00:29:48,300 --> 00:29:53,160 In a last effort to obtain some meaning, I took a class on how to be psychic. 335 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:58,920 My life was so empty and I remember we would smoke pot on our way to this class. 336 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:05,880 The new age was a part of my daily life and yet I was still so dissatisfied. 337 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,280 After my marriage to Dennis, I became pregnant. 338 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,240 I took a class at Lakewood Community College in ethics. 339 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:19,600 It was here I discovered what I had been missing in all of my studies, a right and a wrong. 340 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:24,560 Strategy was vague and visualization unreliable for changing my behavior. 341 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:26,400 I was so unstable. 342 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:35,000 I needed something consistent, something unshakable, and something that was unchangeable. 343 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,720 My best friend Kelly Boleyn had been attending Grace Church for two years when she convinced 344 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:43,320 me to come to Lady's Bible Study and study Genesis. 345 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:48,000 I was so impressed by the intelligent and professional lectures of Jeanne Howes and 346 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:54,240 the non-threatening leadership of Gwen Cressman that I committed to the study for a year. 347 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:58,520 I was amazed at the consistency of comparing scripture to scripture. 348 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:03,240 I was intrigued by the lie in the Garden of Eden and how closely it related to what my 349 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,320 previous studies had led me to believe. 350 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:11,040 There were morals and values and God was reliable and faithful. 351 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:16,320 By the retreat that March, I told my mother I had accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and 352 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,920 I was baptized that spring. 353 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,800 Jesus was the answer to all of my problems, all of my pain. 354 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:30,880 God's word is full of hope, stability, and meaning and now because of him so is my life. 355 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:31,880 Amen. 356 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,880 Isn't that wonderful? 357 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:40,160 Thank you Kelly. 358 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:49,400 We thank God for the ministry of the Lady's Bible Study and for others in our church who 359 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,360 are seeking to help people like Peggy. 360 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:58,400 But you know there are thousands and thousands of people, millions of people who by one way 361 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:06,000 of thinking or another have been led astray by Satan and are deceived and held captive. 362 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,840 That is the work of evil spirits. 363 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:15,440 They work on our minds to get us to believe lies. 364 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:21,560 Satan and his spirits also oppose God's program through rebellion, slander, idolatry, and 365 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:23,820 false religion. 366 00:32:23,820 --> 00:32:31,560 They oppress mankind, distracting from God's truth, destroying body and mind, degrading 367 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:41,280 man's nature, and doing everything possible to erase the image of God in humanity. 368 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:47,720 They oppose believers of course by accusing and slandering, by attacking commitment and 369 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:55,280 confidence, by tempting to sin, by inciting persecution against the church, by preventing 370 00:32:55,280 --> 00:33:03,480 service on the part of God's people, by infiltrating the church, and by promoting division among 371 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,600 the people of God. 372 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:11,560 Those are the tactics of the side of evil. 373 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:19,320 The side of God, the side of righteousness is involved in pressing righteousness and 374 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:27,080 truth against the side of lies and wickedness. 375 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:31,080 You may say, well which side is going to win? 376 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:38,400 Well the answer of course is that God's side has already had victory declared. 377 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:44,080 The war presses on but victory has been declared because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. 378 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:49,240 I want to show that to you in Colossians chapter 2. 379 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:54,120 However much you may fear or if perhaps you are here today and in your mind there is a 380 00:33:54,120 --> 00:34:03,200 voice saying this is lies, this is lies, but there is someone telling you that Christ has 381 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:10,560 been defeated, listen to the word of the living God. 382 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:16,360 I'll begin in Colossians 2 verse 13, and when you were dead in your transgressions 383 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:24,760 and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Christ, having forgiven 384 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:31,000 us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of 385 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,960 decrees against us which was hostile to us. 386 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:39,840 And He's taken it out of the way having nailed it to His cross. 387 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:48,880 After talking about the cross He goes on to say, when He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, 388 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:56,160 remember those are names for spiritual forces, here obviously on the evil side. 389 00:34:56,160 --> 00:35:05,940 When Christ had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed 390 00:35:05,940 --> 00:35:10,040 over them through Him. 391 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:17,160 The cross of Jesus Christ is God's triumph. 392 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:21,560 The spirits of evil thought that they had won the victory on that day that Jesus was 393 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:24,260 crucified. 394 00:35:24,260 --> 00:35:29,640 They knew something was wrong when He said it is finished. 395 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:34,960 And three days later they knew something was wrong when He was raised from the dead and 396 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:38,280 their kingdom was broken. 397 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:45,360 And in some sense in the spiritual realm they were disarmed and they were led in a triumph 398 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:52,960 march showing that they had been defeated and were put to an open shame because of it. 399 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:58,400 There are a few verses in the Bible that they hate more than this verse that clearly states 400 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:03,200 the fact that they were defeated at Calvary. 401 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:06,120 While you say so much for that there is still war today. 402 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:07,120 What about today? 403 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:15,240 Look in chapter 2 of Colossians again and verse 9 where it says, For in Him, in Christ, 404 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:20,600 all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. 405 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:30,320 What that says is that in Jesus Christ there dwells all of the attributes of God. 406 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:37,320 The fullness of all that God is can be found in Him in a bodily form. 407 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:47,000 Then it says in verse 10, And in Him you have been made full. 408 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:52,640 That doesn't mean that we have become deity but it means that we have been given everything 409 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:56,400 that we need. 410 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,100 Jesus Christ is the fullness of deity in the flesh. 411 00:37:00,100 --> 00:37:05,280 We are identified with Him by our salvation. 412 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:10,760 The result of that is that we have been given everything that we need in this world to be 413 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:11,920 victors. 414 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:13,520 We are complete in Him. 415 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:15,520 Notice how it ends. 416 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:21,320 He is the head over all rule and authority. 417 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:28,600 What that means is that in Jesus Christ you too are a victor over all the spiritual forces 418 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:30,160 of evil. 419 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,740 They do not want you to know that. 420 00:37:32,740 --> 00:37:34,960 They do not want you to believe that. 421 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:37,680 They do not want you to act upon that. 422 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,700 But hear the truth of God this day. 423 00:37:41,700 --> 00:37:49,680 You are complete in Jesus Christ and He is the head over all of these spiritual forces. 424 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:56,220 And Jesus Christ gives to you all that you need to be a victor in this world. 425 00:37:56,220 --> 00:38:04,600 Our prayers play a strategic role in pressing the victory against the kingdom of darkness. 426 00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:13,560 Folks, our need today is to realize the war, to understand the truth about Christ's victory 427 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,480 and our victory in Him. 428 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:22,760 And then to press that victory over the powers of darkness. 429 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,120 Why is this? 430 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:26,840 Why is this our need? 431 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:35,480 It is because the angelic war concerns us human beings. 432 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:40,280 The words of Donald Gray Barnhouse in his book The Invisible War, if we revert, he says, 433 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:46,360 to the military illustration, it would appear that angels of every rank in both camps are 434 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:50,800 constantly at war with each other in the invisible realm. 435 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:57,000 And that since there is no question of putting one of these spirit beings to death, the victory 436 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:04,960 or the defeat is gained by the application of power and the withdrawal of the inferior 437 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:06,420 force. 438 00:39:06,420 --> 00:39:12,400 The importance of all this to believers in our day is that it can be demonstrated from 439 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:19,700 the word of God that the warfare in the invisible realm principally concerns individuals in 440 00:39:19,700 --> 00:39:23,060 the human realm. 441 00:39:23,060 --> 00:39:27,860 We who live in the human realm are involved in spiritual warfare. 442 00:39:27,860 --> 00:39:34,080 And we who are in Jesus Christ have been delivered from the powers of darkness and that whole 443 00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,400 organizational kingdom. 444 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:40,300 We are now a part of God's kingdom, the kingdom of light. 445 00:39:40,300 --> 00:39:42,320 We are victors in Jesus Christ. 446 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:51,600 We are complete in him and our prayers and our activity and our use of the word of God 447 00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:58,920 presses the victory against the kingdom of darkness and they must withdraw as the inferior 448 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:03,200 defeated force. 449 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:10,240 That's where we're going to pick it up next week as we talk about how we do exactly that. 450 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:15,680 So let's recognize the warfare that's going on around us all the time even while we're 451 00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:17,640 preaching here in this auditorium. 452 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,160 There's warfare in this auditorium. 453 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:25,800 But the victory is Christ's and it is ours through Jesus Christ. 454 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:26,800 The battle is God's. 455 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:27,800 It's not ours. 456 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:30,640 We are not left to our own strength and wisdom. 457 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:35,840 The battle is the Lord's and we're going to sing about that in 485. 458 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:44,400 I invite you to turn and sing with me this great song of confidence and victory. 459 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:50,840 And let all who name the name of Jesus Christ in truth and let every spirit stand with us 460 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:59,720 to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the victor as we sing 485. 461 00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:15,680 In heavenly armor we'll enter the land The battle belongs to the Lord 462 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:24,680 No weapon that's fashioned against us will stand The battle belongs to the Lord 463 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:34,920 We sing glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord 464 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:46,120 We sing glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord 465 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:56,000 When power of darkness comes in like a flood The battle belongs to the Lord 466 00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:04,800 He's raised up a standard, the power of His blood The battle belongs to the Lord 467 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:27,040 We sing glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord 468 00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:29,560 Now let us pray. 469 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:37,680 And now our Lord Jesus, the Christ, our King, we worship you. 470 00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:45,560 We ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit upon us as we go out into the world. 471 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:53,800 We pray that you will equip us and enable us that we might press the victory against 472 00:42:53,800 --> 00:43:01,760 darkness in our own lives as well as darkness in the world around us for the glory and the 473 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:06,120 honor of your great and worthy name. 474 00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:07,120 Amen. 475 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:24,160 God bless you.