Into The Dark Realm – Part 2

0:00 We've gotten into this new section of the Applied series and we began looking at what we're calling into the realm or into the dark realm. And we began to go through scripture and all of a sudden like what happens most of the time, somehow the clock ran out of time. And so tonight we'll be getting back into this. But I have to give all of you this, I think, word of encouragement. it's very deliberate that as we consider, number one, the Applied Series, this is specifically designed as we're going through this, that we would be looking at Bible prophecy and see how it applies to our lives and what we can know from the Bible regarding these days and the future. And the reason why that's important is because we are to know this from Scripture.

1:00 were to be like the sons of Ishakar, the Bible tells us, who knew what Israel ought to do. That discernment that the sons of Ishakar had out of the 12 tribes was they had a sense of looking ahead. They conducted themselves in a way that was not stagnant. It wasn't stale. It was, hey, maybe God wants to do something. Hey, what do you think God's going to do next? and without a prophet in those days, they weren't sure. But God was always faithful to give Israel their prophets. And in this day and age, we've got the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, whereby we go to the word of God, the Bible, and this is God's word to us. In fact, the scripture says, Peter says, we have the more sure word committed to us of prophecy, the Bible.

2:01 So when you look at this Bible, when you pick it up, I understand. You can buy one online, you can get one from the bookstore, and you can have one on your device, but you should always own a Bible. Don't think for a moment it's just some old book. You need to look at this thing like it's alive, because it is, and what's it going to say next. If you've approached the Bible before in sincerity, you know that you could read, for example, Ezekiel chapter 11 or John chapter 6, and you could say, I'm going to read John chapter 6, just John chapter 6, every day of this week. And every day of the week out of John 6, you are going to get a different thing that the Spirit will draw to your attention from one chapter. You can do the same thing with Ezekiel chapter 11 or any part of the Bible. Why is that the case?

2:54 Because the Bible is literally God's eternal word. And if you could say it, that it's very much alive. Because I think it's no exaggeration that Jesus is called the word of God. He is the living, breathing, manifested to mankind word of God. If you want to know what the will of God looks like, then read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And look at Jesus personifying the very will of God. And so always, always, every study is going to always begin referencing our theme verse. It's John 14, 29. I love it. Every week we say it or we look at it, it just means more and more to me because it is so comforting. And that verse says, Jesus spoke it.

3:47 and he says, and now I have told you before it comes. I'm telling you this in advance, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. It's my belief that Christians and churches who are open to study the prophetic word of God will have a very strong foundation and base in faith. And that faith explains why they're missionary churches. It's that faith in the word of God that brings them confidence in living out the word of God. I think it matters greatly. And churches that are Christians that shy away from reading God's future word, when Jesus says, look, I've told you in advance so that when it happens, you might believe. If belief is the key, and that's what it is. Jesus, in fact, said that the greatest work that we can do, the work of God, is to believe on him whom God has sent, and that's Jesus Christ. The more you believe in him, the greater faith you're going to have. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and I think the more dynamic your Christian life will be. So tonight, every Wednesday night, every Sunday, every day you pick up the Bible, you are investing well. And so I hope you can handle this evening.

5:09 I think it's kind of cool. I think it's kind of fun. I believe it's 100% biblical. But as we look into this second installment of Into the Dark Realm, we're talking about the demonic and satanic activity that the believer has to contend with in a biblically prophetic sense. Before we get into this, I'm going to ask you to consider what you see on page one. If you guys have scanned the notes, they're on your device, and you're looking at them. And it is this, that life is lived out, and I'm stealing this, you'll hear it in a moment, that life is being lived out in parallels. Think about that for a moment. What is a parallel? Two things running along side by side. and I get this from Charles Spurgeon's morning and evening devotion. Many of you own that devotion. It's one of the most famous daily devotions that have ever been written and it was on August 25th just this week where I'm reading my morning devotion and I got this out of that devotion of Charles Spurgeon and let me put it to you a little bit differently because he speaks Queens English and I don't speak English. I speak American because that's what we speak in America.

6:28 I don't know if we even understand English sometimes. But check this out. He talked about things that are invisible that we cannot see. That just because we can't see them doesn't mean they're not real. He went on to argue that because we cannot see them, they are in fact more real than the things we can see because the things that we do see can be easily done away with. You can erase something that you can see with your eyes. I can write on a chalkboard, but then somebody can come right along, no matter what it says, and erase it. You can look at a car and think, now that, that's living. Look at that guy's car. That car could blow up. I'll never forget when the Palisades fire took place and the Real Life Network news crew went straight to the fires and we were there and we were in there long before the owners could ever get a chance to get back in and we saw homes that were completely reduced to steel or concrete but we saw in many of those homes we saw a blob a very large blob it was probably maybe I don't know, 10, 15 feet across, and they had emergency tape around it, and it said EV, danger, EV.

7:50 Do you know what EV means? Electric vehicle. And when they melt, let me tell you, there were no wheels, there were no engines or motors, there were no tires, there were no seats, there were no nothing but a blob. You could have said, wow, look at that. I just bought this most expensive electric Porsche that can be bought, and there it is reduced to what you cannot even identify, and you thought that was real? We live in parallels. The world that you and I live in, that we touch and feel, well, the Bible says there's a world parallel to our world that you and I touch and feel that is eternal. And right now, in this room, according to the Bible, there are spirit entities always present wherever the heirs of salvation gather together. That's us. We are the heirs of salvation. And the Bible tells us both in the Gospels and the book of Hebrews that God's ministering angels are sent forth to be our help. What do you think about that tonight?

8:52 Between you and I, imagine that, between you and I right now, there could be a plethora of angels or demons passing by or in some grand battle. You don't know. This is not a Christian book, but it's called World and Collisions. And if you want to read it, it'll keep you up all night. But it was by the great scientific philosopher, Immanuel Wilikovsky. And he talks about how scientifically we know in science that just the twisting of the molecular structure, you could alter the world that you're in in such a way that between you and I there could be a train going by in an altered structure of molecules and you'd never know it nor would the people on the train be aware of your presence you see the jack that's nuts it's not nuts because right now in between you and I as we stand here we cannot see the massive collection of air molecules that you and I are enjoying right now when we breathe and you can thank God they're real even though you cannot see them. So Spurgeon led to this consideration. We hear with our ears, but we have ears both physically and spiritually. Think of that. You think this is the only ear you have?

10:11 God has made you in such a way that you can hear spiritually if you're listening. Spurgeon points out that you and I can smell with our noses, but listen, physically and spiritually, there's some sort of parallel to that. What about how we feel, what we feel? There's a spiritual parallel. He went on to argue that there's a parallel to everything. And I do believe that. He talked about the eyes. Think about this, the eyes. We have our physical eyes, but do we have our spiritual eyes? And so this is a setup for where we're going tonight. I want to have you look into or look at Hebrews chapter 11. This will remind you of what I just mentioned a moment ago. You might be sitting here tonight or listening right now saying, that sounds insane what you just said a moment ago. Well, I have it on good grounds.

11:06 Hebrews 11 verse 1 says, now faith is the substance. That's a funny thing. Faith, faith is, you can't touch it. You can see it in action. But listen, faith is the substance. When you think of substance, what do you think? Something you can grab, right? That's substance. How can faith be connected with substance? That's a good question. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for. That's the future. The evidence of things not seen. In other words, God has arranged the universe and all that he's created, visible and invisible, whereby it is evidence of God's existence and the fact that you and I live in a parallel universe where you and I live in the physical realm, but there's also the spiritual realm. He goes on.

12:02 Verse 2. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony by faith. We understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. That means God spoke the world into existence. That's awesome. God, who is spirit, spoke in material creation, came into existence. Wow. That's the God. That's the God of the Bible. That's the God that you love. And so we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God. So that the things which are seen. So church, I want you to hold up your hand and I want you to just tap your other hand. Just touch your other hand. Just do that. And as you're doing that, look at this. That the things, by faith that we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Remarkable.

12:57 We can touch, we can even hear the sound of the touch. And yet, according to God's word, all of it began with that which is invisible. Now, I can't explain this to you, but you see this podium. I forget what kind of wood this is. This thing is extremely heavy. It's a hard wood. It's very, very heavy. But you know what? A scientist in the audience is already knowing where I'm going to go with this. If we were to remove, according to science, if we were to remove the space that exists between the molecules of this wooden platform. So here's the molecules, but they're separated. If we remove the space that's between the molecules, this podium would be something like four inches tall.

13:46 How do you fathom that? It takes faith. It really takes faith. And you think about scientists today. I do believe that scientists today operate in a world of faith that they don't recognize. They should, but they don't. And so also this verse, a few of them leading up to what we're going to be talking about tonight. Colossians chapter 1 verse 15. This is awesome. Colossians chapter 1 verse 15. He, that's Jesus Christ, is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn over all creation. The word firstborn doesn't mean that Jesus was born and then he came into existence. It means that he was the one and only son of God begotten. That means the eternal son of God came into a world of material existence. Isn't that cool? I love that. Are you guys awake? Yeah, I thought you'd be, ooh, and ah. That's so cool.

14:40 Are you guys having heat stroke? Is that what it is? Yeah, for good reason. Verse 16, for by him all things were created. that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Yikes, here's where we're going tonight. Jesus Christ is the one who created invisible spiritual entities. Jesus is the creator of the angelic realm. And the next few weeks, we'll get into the origins of demons. It's different. It's different. That's a result of something. Jesus created angels. And the Bible talks of this. Visible and invisible are the thrones, dominions, their principalities, their powers. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things.

15:35 And in him, all things consist. Remarkable. no scientific individual has yet to come to being able to answer the end of verse 17. By Jesus Christ, who spoke the word of God in existence, somebody might say, well, that's religion. Hang on a second. According to the Bible, all things consist because of him. What does that mean? All things that exist are held together. And to this moment, in the scientific world, in the 21st century, scientists do not know what holds an atom together. Did you know an atom functions much like a little solar system? They do not know tonight what keeps it glued together. Guess who? I don't know how he does it. I don't care about how he does it.

16:29 I know who did it. I know who does it. The Bible says Christ holds it together. That ought to drive some of you that are taking physics crazy. Go find that out. Go see what holds the atoms, the atomic world, or the invisible world that you and I experience in our molecular realm. Who's holding it together? It's a mystery. Not for us, exactly. We got it. We got it. Colossians chapter 2, verse 9 says, For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Jesus. Jesus. John chapter 1, verse 1 begins there. In the beginning, that is of the physical universe, was the Word. In other words, the Word of God preceded the beginning. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. Wow. Verse 14. And the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.

17:35 And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten, the only glorified of God the Father, full of grace and truth. That's your Jesus. That's the one that we worship. That is the Lord our God. I was in somewhat of a soft debate the other day regarding Islam and Christianity, and it was fun. But one of the things was this. Regarding Bible prophecy, there's no hope for the Muslim that Muhammad's going to return. Oh, he's going to return. He'll be here soon. There's none of that. There's only one who the Bible says is returning. And it's Jesus Christ. There's nobody else. And I just think that's just so cool because he's so absolute and absolute unique. And it is key that we focus on his greatness as we go into these discussions and these lessons on the dark realm of the spiritual realm that you and I contend with as believers.

18:41 So this is where we left off last week. You guys ready? It's this. We left off in the first argument, and that is into the dark realm and the nature of the dark realm itself. And so regarding that, the nature of the dark realm, the nature of this realm to where it is invisible to our eyes naturally, but it, according to the Bible, is all absolutely in existence. Spiritual activity. And I want you to mark a few things down. And one of them is, is that according to the Bible, the spiritual dark realm that you and I are up against is absolutely relentless. It's relentless. In 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, the Bible gives us a command on how to deal with a relentless enemy. I mentioned last week that Jesus Christ loves you. The God of the Bible loves you and he tells you he loves you.

19:33 But you gotta remember, the devil who hates God hates you. And to be quite honest, you're caught in the middle of this war between love and hate. God loves, Satan hates. You're the prize. You say, why doesn't Satan just give up? He's already defeated. Why doesn't he just twiddle his thumbs until he winds up in hell? There's a good answer to this question. He can't win a thing. There's only one thing he can do, and that is to inflict pain in the heart of Almighty God, who gave himself through Christ Jesus on the cross for your sins. God loves you, but God does not make robots. You've got to make a choice to accept Christ or not. The Bible says that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to eternal life. God wants you in heaven. Satan doesn't. It's not that he cares like he's going to be lonely and he wants you there with him down in hell. That's not it.

20:25 He wants to hurt the heart of God constantly. He hates you so much and he hates God so much that his only battle that's left is to blind you from ever coming to faith in Jesus Christ so he can steal your soul and inflict pain in the heart of God. That's how valued you are.

20:52 He might say like some mafia gangster. Look you, it's nothing personal. I'm going to take your soul to hell. It's not personal. I just hate God that much that he loves you. And so because he loves you, I hate you. And so I'm trying to blind you to coming to faith in Christ. Be sober, the Bible says. This is an order. It's a military order. Be sober. What does that mean? Wake up. Wake up out of your apathy. Wake up out of your lazy spirituality and get absolutely alert. Be vigilant. That is such a great old English word. We don't use it anymore. But be vigilant is an amazing thing. So when you wake up, you're like this. What? It's like when the alarm goes off, you're like up. You're sober. And the next thing is be vigilant. What is that? You are just on it. You are taking all things into account. You're checking the door and the windows and the locks and you are looking at the horizon. You're vigilant. You're very careful. You're thinking things like what could happen.

22:04 And am I ready? If this happens over here, are we set up for that? We need to be like, the Bible commands us to be like this. Why do we need to be like this? Why such important words? Because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking. Tonight he's seeking. He's looking for you. You ever think about that? You wonder what's going on in your life? Listen, are you safe in the everlasting arms of Jesus or you're not sure? Satan is out seeking you to destroy you. The only way that you can be safe from Satan is to run to Jesus Christ. He's your only protection against Satan. You can't outsmart him. There's no way that we can compete against Satan. We need Christ. And he's seeking you out. He's doing tricks to blind you, to get you to think that he doesn't exist for one thing.

23:06 or to get you to think that this is really good over here. Go for the shiny thing. Take the shiny thing. It's right there. Grab it. He's seeking whom he may devour. Translation, he is seeking who's available for him to take. He's for real. He's not a story. He's not an illustration. the next thing about his dark natured realm in which he dwells in is that it is obviously invisible Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 says but we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against rulers of the darkness of this age this is all demonic and satanic activity against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places church family see that verse Ephesians 6 verse 12 What do you think about that?

24:05 I mean, process that for yourself. This is one verse telling you, hey, cheer up, Christian. You're in a fight of your life. Understanding this, you take on the devil with your own strength, you're gonna lose. It's a spiritual war. And the issue is this. The realm that you're up against is of ranking of spiritual powers that dwell in dark realms that go about seeking to destroy lives. Dead serious.

24:42 I think the dark realm is violent. In John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus said, The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come, Jesus said, that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus wants you to have life. Satan wants to take life. Real simple, clear. Anything, anybody, any doctrine, any actions of robbing, killing, stealing, destroying life outside of God's justice, where God reserves the right to exercise justice against evildoers, when somebody thinks up an idea of this is how we're going to exterminate people or kill people, that's satanic. It's operated under satanic influences.

25:36 And people will do great things to great lengths to try to cover that up and call it all kinds of things. Well, it's a woman's right, or it's a man's right. I say it's a man's right, because how many times does a man make his girlfriend or his wife go get an abortion? And so, oh no, it's their right. It's their constitutional right. Is that true? Is that true? I mean, the Constitution's awesome. but it ain't that authoritative. The constitution doesn't trump the word of God and Jesus says, I give life. I create it, I give it, I make it. Wow. I submit to you tonight that this spiritual realm of darkness is very violent. They're playing for keeps. And then it's also deceptive. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 14, for Satan himself, this is amazing, transforms himself into an angel of light. He can do that.

26:37 By the way, I think that's what he did when he talked to Eve. Somehow, yes, obviously he used the serpent, but we don't understand all that went on there. That's a weird deal. He's got the power to transform himself into an angel of light. Listen, if some angel spoke to you and said, I've got a revelation for you. I've got a new testament for you, another testament. Or I'm going to give you this new religion. Isn't it interesting that the Bible, listen to this, the Bible already announced, had already been available for people to read, not in the Gutenberg Bible printed manner, but in scrolls and in writings, The Bible said from the Apostle Paul, if an angel or any one of us or anybody preaches to you a different gospel than that which Christ gave us, let them be accursed. Anybody, any angel preaching a different gospel that Christ preached, let them be.

27:43 The word is maranatha anathema. Anathema, you get the word anathema, right? You know what that means. Maranatha is cometh. May the judgment of God come upon them. Maranatha and Nathema. Wow, that's pretty serious, right? And lo and behold, there are cults, and their foundation is an angel gave our leader special instructions that contradict the Bible. Think of Islam. How did Islam ever get started? If you can believe the story that Muhammad said the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him another message. But that was way later, way later than the New Testament era in its foundation, in its finding.

28:37 And yes, I heard some of you mention there are various cults that an angel gave us this. I would submit to you that that angel giving another gospel is none other than Satan himself masquerading as an angel. Well, you know, we went to this show and this angel thing was speaking through somebody. Yeah, that's called channeling. And it's real and you better run. That's demonic, man. And don't come crying to me if strange things start happening in your life because you were goofing around with Ouija boards and tarot cards and you went to go to the lady down the street to have you read your palms so you can pick whatever lotto ticket. Man, dude, you're cruising for trouble, man. That's crazy. Here's why it's crazy. It's real.

29:29 That's why it's dangerous. Don't laugh at it. It's for real. so wow think about this you guys doctrine matters so much that doctrine judges the message that's being proclaimed even if it's an angel announcing it Acts 17 11 says write it down it's not in the notes Acts 17 11 says that you should judge everything that you hear against the word of God that you don't believe it until you prove it in the Bible for yourself deceptive and then vulnerable vulnerable this way the nature of the dark realm is vulnerable this way James 4 verse 7 says therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you we're not listen we are not to be victimized and vandalized by the devil and his cohorts the Christian has the power to submit to God first of all that's your covering and then secondly the result is resist the devil fight him in the word of God with the word of God If I stick true to my notes, we'll get to that tonight.

30:36 The word of God is our offensive weapon system against the devil. When Jesus was in the wilderness and he was starving 40 days and Satan comes to him, when Christ is actually near death in the wilderness, having been without food and water sustained by God himself, then Satan comes and says, why don't you turn these rocks to stone? What did Jesus say? That would taste terrible. No, he didn't say that. Jesus said it's written in the Bible.

31:09 You shall not tempt the Lord thy God. And with every attack by the enemy to tempt, Jesus responded with the Bible. What does that mean to us? Every time you and I are attacked, we should respond with the Bible. Not a happy thought, not a wish. The Bible. Absolutely awesome. And so I want you to see this, that the nature of the dark realm is number one, it's unseen, it's an unseen realm, but it's a transcendent realm from ours. It doesn't mean it's not real because you can't see it. Number two, it's a realm that you and I are unfit and unable to contend with apart from the word of God, apart from Christ. Thirdly, it is a realm where only invisible powers are truly effective, meaning this, the invisible realm is what actually manipulates the physical world in which you and I live in.

32:07 I want that to settle in for a moment. Why do things happen in the physical realm? there's a spiritual world at play behind them. It could be in family life. It could be in war. It could be in leadership. It could be in places of authority. Religion. What's going on? For whatever takes place in the physical realm, there are spiritual reasons as to why they're taking place. That should cause us, I think, to be very, very serious about this. Okay, number two, it's this. Into the dark realm. It is in the armor that we wear. The armor that you and I wear. Armor. Today I was speaking at an event. And the young man who the event was all about, really.

32:57 At one point, we gave each other a hug. And this kid, because he stands for truth. He's had so many death threats on his life. He has to wear body armor. He was wearing Kevlar because he's been threatened to be killed so many times. There's people out that want to kill him.

33:21 And then I thought about it. Hey, I'm standing next to this guy. So I stood behind him. But he had armor on. Why? Because there's threats against his life. Ladies and gentlemen, are you a Christian? Are you not a Christian? It's still the same. There are threats against your life. Here's the cool thing for the Christian. Our life cannot be taken until God is done with us. If you're not a Christian, you should actually kind of like freak out a little bit. Because you need to get safe. And you need to understand that the only one who can make you safe is also the one who died on the cross for your sins. For my sins. He's Jesus. We're not talking religion here. Religion will not keep you safe. only a personal relationship with Christ will keep you safe so I want to read to you this comment hopefully we got it on the, yeah, okay so putting on the armor of God is necessary for every believer engaged in spiritual warfare through the apostle Paul the Lord gives us a powerful picture of the spiritual protection and equipment and spiritual protection and equipment needed to stand against the works of the dark realm.

34:39 Each piece of this armor points to a vital truth of the Christian life, truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer. This armor is not something we admire from a distance. It is something we must deliberately take up and wear each day. As we, that is the believer, understand the purpose and power of what God has provided, we are strengthened to face temptation, resist the enemy's strategies, and remain courageous in the heat of the battle. The armor of God enables us to stand firm, walk faithfully, and encourage others to do the same as we contend against the forces of Satan's dark realm. Get your notes out. Let's start with this one. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. You guys okay? Let's go to battle.

35:30 Let's put some armor on. Number one, this is where we start. 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 11 says this. Lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. What is this statement he's making? Be educated, don't be ignorant about Satan's attack plans. So if we are equipped with the word of God, he will not take advantage of us. because we have to be understanding this, that he's got his tricks, so don't be ignorant. The word ignorant here, it's not an insult. The word ignorant means do not be uneducated about this very fact. Very important, so here it is. The original armor all is this. Ephesians chapter six, verse 10. Ephesians six, verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. I'm gonna exaggerate these, so listen carefully.

36:25 Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You get the picture? Starting to form? Number one, this is the first exhortation. Be strong in the Lord. Meaning, don't be strong in yourself.

36:46 Be strong with God's power and his might, not your own. Next verse goes on in Ephesians 6, and we're going to dissect this here in a second. Verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles, the trickery of the devil. Without the armor, you're not going to make it.

37:08 Now, I'm going to say something that's probably going to generate comments. It's just my personal conviction. This is just me. I personally believe that all of God's true children, a real Christian, is very serious about putting this armor on. I don't think they even have to be told. They can be encouraged, I guess, but you read the Bible and it's like, I know I'm in a spiritual battle. I'm gonna put this on.

37:33 I just think God's kids know his voice. And you might say, well, that's mighty simplistic. Probably, yeah. I think so, and I love it. I think Jesus called this sheep for a reason. He says, my sheep, they follow me. You have a problem with that? I don't have a problem with that. I'm glad about that. He said, they know my boys and I know theirs. I know them. You like that? I like that. Oh, so simplistic. Amen. He said, a stranger they will not follow. You know people that you know that are running away with cult leaders or weird people? They're just weird leaders. They're like leading people off this. I don't know. They'll say something or they'll do something and they'll get people to follow them. And you're like, oh no, my friend is going off the ditch.

38:29 I understand. Pray for them. Reach out to them. But I never panic about people I know who go off the ditch after some goofy teaching. When they start talking about goofy teaching, it's telling me something about them. Because the shepherd, he never said those kinds of words when speaking to his sheep. Oh, but this person, they're really great. My friend turned me on to this guy, and he sees these things, and then he arranges the deal, the Bible, and pages, and then they gather around, and then they read this thing, and then they go do this. What do you think? Well, by you asking me what I think, you're not very confident about it yourself. That's weird stuff, man.

39:13 I don't think God's kids can... Excuse me. can be deceived by the enemy ultimately. The enemy can attack us and get our head to spin for a moment, that days of deception, but God's kids straighten up. We get our rudder back.

39:37 And again, if I keep going, we'll get to it. In fact, let's go quick. Verse 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, remember that verse? Against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, in the invisible realms. Next verse, verse 13. Front end. Therefore, because that's true, take up the whole armor of God, part B, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. That's a huge promise. You don't have to get knocked off your feet. You can stand, Christian, knowing the word of God and contending with the devil. Next verse. And having done all to stand, notice the progression. Next verse, verse 14. Stand, advancing is the word.

40:31 Therefore, having girded your waist with truth. Next. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Next. Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Next. And above all, taking the shield of faith, which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. I love the boldness of that. Next verse. 17a. And take the helmet of salvation. Next. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That's your Bible. That's the word of God. next. Hebrews 4.12, for the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the division and the soul of the spirit and of the joints and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Now watch this. This reality can only be done by ingesting the Bible, by taking on the Bible. And for the sake of time, I want to give you this one word that here applies where it says, take the sword of the spirit.

41:46 It is the only offensive weapon we have. Out of everything that God gave the Christian human in this physical world, the ability to fight the spiritual non-human entities in the invisible realm is the word of God, the Bible. Listen, you quote the Bible in a demonic spiritual encounter, and you've got power. And that power, I'm telling you, if you've never experienced the power of God and the word of God in a setting like that, I'm convinced that Satan doesn't want you to see that happen because you will walk away with a radical esteem of the Bible. It's like, wow, this situation, this person was contorting, black eyes, voices coming out, and you're quoting Bible, the Bible says, and they're freaking out all the more?

42:44 If you read a recipe to your mom's fruitcake, nothing would happen. You could read a dictionary, watch this, and nothing would happen. You could read a Bible commentary book, nothing would happen. Watch this. You could be in that type of encounter and use Genesis chapter one, verse one, nothing would happen. Jack, how dare you? That's the Bible. Yeah, the sword, the word sword in the Greek language, take the sword of the spirit, it's the Greek word makaira. Take the makaira. It's different than a Roman broadsword. That's a totally different word. Say, what is a makaira? It's on the Roman centurion's hip. It's on his opposite side of his hip. It's a blade, 18 inches long. in fact you probably don't even notice it he's got all this stuff on he's got this we'd call it like a dagger but the Roman machaira was 18 inches okay and the Bible says take the machaira and fight your battles against the invisible host of wickedness the machaira was only pulled out when the Roman centurion or the warrior soldier was in a hand-to-hand combat for his life.

44:04 The broadsword was open field. It's huge. That's the big one. That's the big one you saw Russell Crowe using in the gladiator. But when you're in close combat, you throw that one away and you go like this. wham, wham. And they're able to, you've seen how they do that, right? It's amazing. They let go of it. They grab it back this way and stab. And they don't even, they're not even looking. And if anything at all, they'll grab their opponent and they'll force their opponent's body even onto the blade that way. They'll keep going and they don't have to look. Why? Because they're using the machaira. Isn't it amazing that the word of God used that word? The Holy Spirit used that word for the word of God. Why? It means, you want to slay the enemy? You have to know what parts of the Bible to use when you're going to slay the enemy's attacks against your life.

44:59 You can quote Genesis 1-1 and nothing's going to happen. The enemy's smarter than that. The enemy already knows that in the beginning God created. It's not going to do anything. But when you use the specific word of God, and there's only one way to have that. You have to have it in your chamber. You have to have it in your arsenal. And by that I mean by this, you need to have it in your heart. Thy word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. Because the enemy will come and he'll look for those things that will trip you up to sin. If you are absolutely, you know you're weak when it comes to donuts. you just can't you don't have the power to go buy a Krispy Kreme you can't even drive by one So what do you do?

45:58 Listen, you determine, I know now how to get to the other side of town by not going down that street where there's a Krispy Kreme. And while you are avoiding the evil, fighting against it, resisting it, you're also asking the Lord, give me the power to someday have this strong enough to where I can go into that Krispy Kreme and rescue people from gluttony. And that's a huge victory. think of that it's amazing but the armor that we put on is critically important and I want you to consider this the third thing is this in closing into the dark realm we really need to know and understand this life of ours that God's given us and by that I mean this here that look at you and I in this present in this present realm in which you and I exist in this human condition that you and I are right now we don't look very militant look at you you're laid back, you're relaxing good for you, that's great but you know spiritually you're supposed to be militant what do you mean by militant?

47:12 you need to be always thinking that the fact that your 18 year old son is just going off the rails, making incredibly stupid decisions, and not going to church anymore, not reading his Bible, and there's one disaster happening after another by way of his conduct.

47:34 You've got to understand something, that he's giving in to demonic attacks. You could go up to him and hit him in the face with a Bible, but it's not going to work. there's a way in which we understand that in our physical nature write them down these things are absolute truths number one we are in christ are you a christian you are in christ so what does that mean just simply take an egg in your mind and put it inside a container. The container's Christ. You're the egg. You're inside. You're in Christ. According to the Bible, you're one with him as a believer.

48:27 If you're not a follower of Jesus tonight, you don't have this. Watch. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22 for as in Adam all die wow even so in Christ in Christ all shall be made alive in Christ next verse still in Christ likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin in other words you know that sin that is a problem in your life you should this is what you do the Bible says in Romans 6 11 I need to reckon myself dead to that sin. I am no longer starting tonight. I'm not going to yield myself to the yells and screams and the hoots and the hollers when that sin comes yelling at me. I am not going to go for it because Christ has given me the power. I'm in Christ. I don't have to be a slave to that anymore.

49:23 Listen, if you have to say that to yourself, say it to yourself, but just know this. Being in Christ is the power. You just have to remind yourself That sin has no power over what God has done for me at the cross. No matter what it is. And don't tell me later, but Pastor, you don't know. We all know. We all know. Okay? But look, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. I don't have to do what she wants me to do. He wants me to do because I belong to Jesus Christ. I'm in Christ. Romans 6.23 says this. for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans chapter eight, verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

50:18 Listen, we are in Christ Jesus. Number two, we are children of God, like I was saying earlier. Children of God. John chapter one, verse 12. But as many as received him, To them gave he the right to become children of God. Who are they? To those who believe in his name.

50:39 That's a decision you have to make. He wants you to receive him, but he'll never make you receive him. You've got to invite him in like you would any friend. Romans chapter 8, verse 16. The Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit himself, bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Church family, listen, this is so serious. The Bible says right here, the Holy Spirit will confirm to you that you belong to God. If tonight you don't know that, why are you in doubt? You're probably in doubt because you're not a child of God. You may be religious, but a child of God, the Holy Spirit tells them, convinces them, you belong to me.

51:24 Oh, please research your life and dig deep and find out if this is a reality for you. And if it's not, don't go to sleep tonight. I'm serious. Don't go to sleep. Talk to God. Take a drive. Take a walk. Talk to him and say, God, I want this to be certain. I want to know this verse in my life. The Holy Spirit himself bears witness with my spirit that I'm a child of God. I'm not sure, Lord. You need to make sure tonight. Please don't put yourself in jeopardy like that. so, so serious. Philippians chapter 2, verse 15, that you may become, number one, blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. That is the result of you being in Christ and being a child of God.

52:21 The third thing is that we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. You know all the stuff we've been talking about the devil? Well, all these truths from the Bible makes him tremble if you'll just believe God's word. The Bible says you are a joint heir with Christ. Romans chapter 8, verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, translation, do you know what it's like to have God at work in your life? These are sons of God. for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. Notice, fear.

53:00 But you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father, the Spirit himself. And there's that verse. Down to verse 17. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together, that is together with him. You are a joint heir. Christ not only saved you from your sins, rescued you from hell, gave you a new life, but he's gonna share all of his glory, well, glory, his blessed presence with you forever.

53:40 The co-heir. To be a co-heir. Look, I know we're just happy to get to heaven, are we not? It's just like, I just wanna get out of here and get to heaven. I'll be happy to be there. Apparently God's not content with that. He's going to have you there, but the Bible says you're going to be a co-heir with Christ. He said, well, but I don't need that. Shh, just take it. He's excited to do that. Let's be honest. When you love your kids or you love somebody, you love giving them stuff. It's just part of love. I think we're going to spend so much of eternity running around looking at the stuff he's, he's so excited to show us. and if he's excited to show us, I mean, you say, I don't know about that. That's true. Didn't he say, I'm going to go away and prepare a place for you? I'm going to take you there. What do you think?

54:32 What do you think he's making a place for you and he's going to come and pick you up and take you there? And you're like, is that it? That's all? That's all? No, I don't think so. I think he's going to say like, what do you think? I mean, I made everything in six days. This I've been working on for 2,000 years. I hope you like it. That's amazing! Did you know the Bible tells us that we're the bride of Christ? Guys don't understand this. We just have to take this by faith. Girls, they get all cuddly about it. That's so wonderful. I love that. Us guys are like, yeah, okay, we're the bride of Christ. It's not easy for us. It takes great faith.

55:19 But yeah, the Bible says we are the bride of Christ. Wow. You know, the Bible says, let's see how smart you guys are. If you don't know, don't answer. I don't want you to look like a nut, but question. Is Israel married or not?

55:41 Yeah. The Bible says Israel is married to God the Father, to the Lord. Israel is married to the Lord that's why you read so much in Jeremiah and other verses where he says why have you left me and gone whoring after other gods we are you've committed adultery against me that's what God says about Israel listen test is the church married or not good she's not married we are betrothed we are engaged to who? You're so smart. The Bible says to Jesus. Wow. The marriage supper of the lamb is yet to come, but you can't have a marriage supper of the lamb without a bride. And that's the church. Yeah. And listen to this. Revelation chapter 21, verse nine. This is awesome. Revelation 21, nine says, and this is John, by the way, speaking. John says, then one of the seven angels, watch this, please, who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues. Question, when will the seven last plagues be delivered onto the earth? When will that be? Anybody? Tribulation period. Bible says exactly that. Oh, you got that? This is important for the one person in here, but they got it messed up. Now they're going to have to think. John says, the seventh angel who's got the bowls of judgment, to be poured out, came to me and talked with me saying, John, where's John?

57:29 In the revelation, he's looking at everything from heaven, from heaven. Watch what happens. So he says that the angel came and talked to me saying, come, I will show you the bride, the lamb's wife. Where is she? She's found in heaven, guys. How'd she get there? I'm going to let you wrestle with yourself on that one. How did she ever get to heaven when in Revelation chapter 21, the angel is showing John the bride of Christ in heaven before he pours out the judgment down on the earth? I don't know about you, but you should have, you all should have just gone crazy over that one. Revelation chapter 22, verse 17. We're almost done. Revelation 22, 17. And the spirit and the bride say, come and let him who hears say, come and let him who thirsts, come. Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely.

58:36 This is Revelation chapter 22, the last book of the Bible. The scene is in heaven. The bride is in heaven, joining in with the Holy Spirit, proclaiming, come. And the invitation is to enjoy eternity forever with God. And that's God's invitation. That's what he wants. He wants us to experience this. Very quickly, we're out of time. Forgiveness. Listen, we are the forgiven. We are the forgiven. 1 John 2, verse 12. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his namesake. Go again, look at this past tense. Your sins, listen, it doesn't say your sins will be forgiven. It doesn't say that your sins are being forgiven. The Bible says to those who come to Christ, your sins are forgiven. Past tense. All sin. Past, today, future. It's all done with God because he lives in the eternal. I love this. Almost done. We're kept by the power of God. You can stand. We're kept by the power of God. Watch this. Next verse, kept by the power of God. And the Lord said to Peter, you know, Simon Peter, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. Jesus said to Peter, but I've prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. That's always a freaky verse to me. Hey, Peter, guess what? Last night, Satan came and talked to me. And Peter, can you imagine poor Peter? What? Jesus says to him, yeah, Satan was talking to me last night.

1:00:17 Satan asked for you by name. Can I have Peter? Let's make a deal. and in my mind Peter just goes wow I mean that's heavy I'm so glad you told him no Jesus didn't say no Jesus says yeah he wants to sift you as wheat and when you recover when you come back when you return strengthen your brethren tell them how you made through the battle. You're going to be a great minister of the gospel, Peter. Here's the deal. You should read the fine print, Peter. I'm in charge of everything. When Satan tries to do something on you, I'll even use him to do great things in your life. Think of that. So Jesus didn't say, oh no, it's all going to be rosy. Jesus did say, when you return, strengthen your brothers. Next verse. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever. Father God, we pray, Lord, that you would just wash over us. May we go back maybe and revisit these notes, read them for ourselves, settle it in and that we would take up the word of God like the machira the sword of the spirit that it is and that we'd begin to apply these verses to our life and Lord that we would just stop whimpering about and stop kind of just just dragging ourselves around surviving when you are our father our God our redeemer our Lord and Savior and Jesus Christ the king of kings and Lord of Lords, you want us to stand up using this flesh. Stand up straight, grab onto the Word of God, and proclaim light where there's darkness. To bring love where there's hate. And hope to the

1:02:29 hopeless. Lord, may we tell the gospel more now than ever before. Time is running out. We've got such a short period of time to do that. May we not waste a moment. And Lord, I pray that we would leave this building tonight. Holy Spirit, that you'd stir us all up tonight when we wake up tomorrow, during the day. Lord, may we not return back to any form of sleepy Christianity that frankly doesn't even exist. It's either hot or it's not. in Jesus name Lord we pray Amen God bless you