Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "What the Book of Revelation Teaches Us About the Devil" by Hiram Kemp

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"What the Book of Revelation Teaches Us About the Devil" by Hiram Kemp · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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One of the proofs that the Bible comes full circle is the fact that the
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devil is mentioned in the first book of the Bible. In Genesis chapter 3,
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we're introduced to him as the deceitful serpent who deceives Eve
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into disobeying God and ultimately leads to sin being brought into
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the world. And we meet him in the final book of the Bible. Landon just
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read for us from Revelation 12:9-11 where he's called the ancient
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serpent, the dragon, the devil, the deceiver of the whole world.
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As much as we would like the Bible to, it doesn't really tell us about
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the origin of the devil, though we know he's created, and there are some passages
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that allude to his downfall— Jude 6 and 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse
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4. You start reading throughout the Old Testament, and really the devil
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is not a prominent adversary in the sense of what he does in earthly affairs,
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though he makes an occasional appearance in places like 1 Chronicles 21
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and verse 1, Zechariah 3:1-5.
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But other than that, The Bible doesn't really say a whole bunch in the Old
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Testament about what the devil does, but when you get to the New Testament,
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he's mentioned all over the place, from the first book of Matthew through
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to the end in the book of Revelation. And somehow, in between the
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first mention in Genesis and the final mention in the book of Revelation,
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humanity— and maybe it's just our speculation— has seen fit to add
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a host of our own ideas and thoughts about who the devil is and how
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he works. Maybe you've heard some of these before, ideas like the devil is
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actually the person who is like in charge and running the
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realms of hell, when in actuality there is no king in hell,
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just cursed rebels, Matthew 25:41. Sometimes people
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view the devil as this individual who is an equal and opposite force
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against God. God's all-powerful and good, but the devil
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at the same time is all-powerful but evil. But the Bible says, no,
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this isn't the case at all. God reigns supreme over everything he's created,
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and he alone is sovereign and omnipotent. Colossians 1:16.
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Or maybe like in art depictions, people picture the devil as
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being the most gruesome and ugly figure that you can think of,
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when in actuality the Bible says very little about his physical
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appearance. In fact, he's a spirit being. But when the Bible does hint and touch
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on the fact that he may look a certain way, the Bible doesn't say he's
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ugly at all. Instead, the Bible says he's beautiful,
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he's enticing, he's like an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:14.
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And there's a host of other ideas that people have come up with that sort
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of cloud our judgment on what the Bible teaches about the devil. The New Testament
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not only gives us more information, but Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11,
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we're not ignorant of his devices. With the fullness
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of New Testament revelation, we know who the devil is and we know how he
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works. The New Testament not only mentions the devil more than the Old Testament
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does, But the book of Revelation mentions the devil more
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than any other book in all of the New Testament. And you might
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imagine why that's the case. Christians in the book of Revelation experiencing intense persecution
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and difficulty, and much of it instigated by the devil, of course, would want to
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know a great deal about their foe, their adversary, and how they can ultimately
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overcome him. So tonight what I want us to do is look at what the
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book of Revelation teaches us about the devil. This lesson is not
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going to be an unpacking of all of the details and the intricacies of the
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book of Revelation. Neither is it going to really be a comprehensive view of everything
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the Bible says about the devil, but it will touch on the passages in the
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book of Revelation that tell us who the devil is, how he operates,
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and what it has to do with the way that we live our lives.
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It's my hope at the end of this lesson— I'm not preaching it so that
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we can go out into the world and talk more intelligibly to other people
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about the devil. That would be a plus. But the purpose of a lesson like
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this one, what the Bible or the book of Revelation teaches us about the devil,
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is hopefully going to aid us in living our lives more skillfully in the
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presence of our ever-present adversary and opponent. Because non-religious
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people are deeply interested in the devil, and maybe sometimes Christians
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aren't interested enough. C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape
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Letters said, humanity is always in danger of 2 equal and opposite errors.
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There are some people on the one hand that are infatuated with the devil and
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want to know everything about him, and then there are others on the other hand
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that pretend that he's not there. And Lewis says, in the end, the devil
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doesn't care if you're a materialist that thinks he's imaginary or a magician
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who thinks he's infinite. He'll take you either way.
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And if we're going to be the people that thread the middle of that,
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that know enough about him that we're not infatuated with him, but that don't fail
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to see his presence, we'll be wise to study what the book of Revelation says
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about him. And so, here are some of the things that the book of Revelation
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teaches about the devil. Number 1, suffering is one of his favorite tactics. If you
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have your Bible, go to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10. This isn't a new
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verse to us. This is what Jesus says. In his letters to the churches.
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Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3 is where in the book of Revelation
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John has Jesus speaking to the 7 churches. And in Revelation
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chapter 2, there's this famous phrase in verse 10: Fear none of the things which
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you're about to suffer. Behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison that
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you may be tried for 10 days, but be faithful until death and I'll give
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you the crown of life. Much has been made about this verse. Sometimes we focus
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on the fact that there's going to be this suffering and this difficulty and hardship.
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A lot of times this verse is quoted to say to people, hey, after you
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become a Christian, you got to be faithful until the end. Matthew 10:22.
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And that's right. Sometimes there's something said about the 10-day
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period, and maybe this is pointing back to Daniel 1:12
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where Daniel says about him and his 3 friends, test us for a period
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of 10 days and we'll come out better than the Babylonians. And maybe that's what's
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going on in Revelation 2:10. The 10 days signify a period of testing and hardship.
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And then we rightfully make great deal about this idea of the crown of life
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that God has promised to those that love him, 2 Timothy 4:8.
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But folded into this verse, in addition to all of those things, is this idea:
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suffering is one of the devil's favorite tactics. Notice the verse again.
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The devil will cast some of you into prison that you may be tested
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for 10 days. One of the devil's favorite ways to operate in our lives
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is through suffering. As far as he sees it, if he just hits
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hard enough, just creates enough discomfort, enough hardship,
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most people are going to give up. That's what he thinks is going to happen
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in the book of Job. I mean, we know it didn't work with Job,
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but it didn't stop him from trying it. In Job 1:9-10, he says
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to God, touch everything that he has and he'll curse you to
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your face. After the first wave of temptation, he comes back in Job 2:4-5
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and he says, yes, skin for skin, all that a man has he'll give for
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his life. And yes, Job proves faithful to the end, but in the devil's mind,
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so far as he can see it, if you tempt humanity with suffering,
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they'll give in and they'll curse God. This is why he's confused about what God
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does at the cross. He has no idea about the salvation Jesus is accomplishing on
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the cross, primarily because God didn't tell him, but also because in
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the mind of the devil, suffering is where you take a person to break
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them, not to bless them. But the Bible says God had other plans in mind.
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Who for the joy that was set before Jesus endured the cross, despised the shame,
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Hebrews 12:2. He made him to be sin for us who knew no
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sin, 2 Corinthians 5:21. But in the devil's mind,
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suffering ruins a person. And it's one of his favorite tactics
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that he uses in our lives. And we would be wise to be prepared.
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Hardship and suffering is one of the ways that the devil infiltrates our lives and
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ultimately tries to get us as Christians to give up
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and surrender. It's important that John reveals this. He has to tell them, because the
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text says the devil's going to cast some of you into prison. We weren't there,
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but I think we can all be for certain that the devil himself didn't literally
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grab these Christians and throw them into prison. It would be the Romans who would
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do it. But when it happened, They needed to know, hey, this isn't a coincidence.
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This isn't happenstance. It's not because you've done anything wrong.
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It's the devil, and he uses suffering and discomfort
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because he wants to make life difficult for you. Proverbs 24:10
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says, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
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Several universities and schools in general, I guess, do this, but there are some top-notch
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universities that practice what you might call the weeding out or the filtering
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out principle. It's where certain individuals are put in classes and
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we've got to whittle down who's really going to be in these classes. NYU and
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Harvard, for example, in their law school, they have what's called the 1L classes and
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this is for the first-year law students and at the end of the first course,
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there's this long 3 to 4 hour exam. Everything in the class hinges
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on this one exam. It's 3 to 4 hours and it's pass or fail and
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the purpose of this exam is to try to differentiate between all
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of these students that made it into this top-notch law school. Who is actually
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a person that can think critically and analyze versus a person
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who just has linear thinking. And maybe you were smart and intelligent in high school
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and in undergrad, but if you can't get through this process, you're weeded out.
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The University of California at Berkeley and Princeton do a similar thing in
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their Intro to Organic Chemistry class. They start testing kids
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in a unique and specific way. They make it difficult on purpose because
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what they want to weed out are the rote memorizers. Maybe in high school you
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were great at memorizing stuff, but on the path to medical school, they want to
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make sure you can synthesize material together. And they ultimately want to see who belongs
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in and who belongs out. And suffering does a similar thing. The devil
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uses suffering to tempt us, to test us, to ultimately get us to give
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up. That's why Revelation 2:10 says you'll suffer tribulation. It's this discomfort.
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And what he hopes happens is ultimately through hardship and suffering,
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you'll just give way and root yourself out and weed yourself
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out and give up. So every one of us needs to have our hearts on
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guard, especially when we suffer in any way, to any degree. You might
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be thinking about great suffering, but even in small minute ways, just always keep in
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mind the devil uses suffering to get us to give way, and it's one of
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his favorite tactics. And so, when suffering enters our lives, we need a resolve
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that we're not going to give up. These are the 5 commandments of suffering we
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all need to have in our minds whenever suffering comes. Number 1, I will not
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blame God. When suffering comes, just right out of the gate, know this is a
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tactic the devil uses to get me to give up. You won't always know everything
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about your suffering, why it's coming, where it's coming from, but when it comes,
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we need to resolve I will not blame God. James 1:13, let no man
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say when he's tempted, I'm being tempted by God. Here's number 2, I will not
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miss church. When suffering time comes, he says, if I can just get
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you isolated and away from the group. But Hebrews 10:24-25 says,
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you need to be stirred up to love and good works, and do not abandon
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the assembling of yourselves together with the saints. Number 3, I will not neglect prayer.
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I may be mad at God because of suffering. I may be frustrated with God
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because of suffering, but I'll talk to God. I will not neglect prayer. Psalm 61:1-2,
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David says, from the ends of the earth, when my heart's overwhelmed,
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I'll cry unto you. Number 4, I will not abandon Scripture.
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John 6:68, Peter says, Lord, to whom shall
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we go? You have the words of everlasting life. And then finally, number 5,
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I will not give up. 2 Corinthians 4:1,
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Paul says, we've received this ministry, and as a result
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of this, we do not lose heart. These are the 5 commandments of suffering.
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How are you going to get through it? The devil's going to throw some of
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you into tribulation for 10 days. We learned the devil uses suffering suffering as
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a tactic, but we can overcome. Now, here's number 2. The book of Revelation
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teaches us about the devil, that Satan has his people. If you have your Bible,
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go to Revelation 2 and notice verse 24. There are several statements throughout the book
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of Revelation that you might just slide right past. I mean, the book of Revelation
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is about Jesus Christ and his people, Revelation 1:1, the things that God
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sent to signify to his servant John and then share with his
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people. But the book of Revelation also teaches that Satan has his
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people. Revelation 2:24 to the church at Thyatira,
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we read about some people teaching what they call the deep things of
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Satan. We don't know what those things were, but just like in 1 Corinthians 2:10,
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there are the deep things of God. According to this passage, false teachers were
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teaching what Jesus calls here the deep things of Satan. And guess what?
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Some people went along with it. Later in Revelation 3:9,
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he talks about some individuals that Jesus simply says they are
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members of what he calls the synagogue of Satan. These are probably Jewish
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people still holding on to the Old Testament law and binding it on
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other Christians and saying, hey, if you really want to be a faithful servant of
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God, you've got to hold to the Old Testament law. Jesus says, since you're
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doing that, your synagogue now belongs to Satan. Note— notice that Jesus
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doesn't simply say they belong to Satan. He actually names their place
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of worship after Satan himself. And then in Revelation 13
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and verse 4, some individuals just directly worship the dragon,
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who is also known as the devil. One of the things we learn about
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the devil in the book of Revelation is Satan has his people.
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Maybe you know this already, but there are 700,000 people in the United
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States of America known as Satanists. They worship,
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they gather. There's some 20 to 30 chapters globally, or congregations
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globally throughout the world. They've got ministers in America, Europe,
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and in Australia. And the demographics and the size
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of those congregations varies from place to place. There's a congregation in Illinois with about
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120 members that meet. There's one in Detroit with some 200 members that
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meet together. Individuals engaged in these what we call Satan temples,
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they go there for worship and for benevolence. They're not devil
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worshipers like maybe you might be thinking. They go by the name Satanist, but at
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the heart of it, many of them are just naturalists. They don't believe in God,
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and they believe, hey, We can accomplish good and do good things whether we
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believe in God or not. In fact, we have our own church. The United States
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recognizes the Church of Satan as a legitimate religion that people
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follow and that they're engaged in. Maybe when you read these texts in the book
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of Revelation and you think about Satan having his people, you think about something
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like this, but John is saying it's much more subtle than that. There are people
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all throughout the world that don't have any idea that they're actually a part of
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the synagogue of Satan. That they're following him. Jesus said there would
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come a time, John 16:1-3, that those who oppose God would
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actually think that they were doing God service. There are all sorts of people
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that are being misled. It's possible to think I'm doing the right thing and
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be completely deceived. What does Jesus say in Matthew 7:21-23?
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Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven,
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but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will
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say to me in that day, Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name, done many
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wonderful works? Cast out demons, and I'll profess unto them,
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I never knew you. We'll be deceived if we allow ourselves
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to be, not because God's tricking us, but because we didn't analyze, evaluate,
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and do the hard work. And the book of Revelation teaches God has His people,
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but Satan has his people. In Revelation 9, at the end of
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that chapter, right after the— one of the first wave of plagues that'll come in
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the book of Revelation, Revelation 9:20-21, John says,
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after all of these things, there were wicked individuals And he says they didn't stop
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worshiping demons or idols and gold things that were made with their hands.
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They didn't repent and they didn't change their mind. Some people are just committed to
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the devil no matter what, and the book of Revelation teaches us Satan has his
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people. Now, if any one of these teams on the screen belong to you,
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I'm sorry, but what the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Cleveland
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Browns, and the Colorado Rockies all have in common is in their respective sports,
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if you look back at the records over the past 5 decades, they have the
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most losing record in the regular season. There's not a long line of people
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waiting to be on the bandwagon of any one of these teams.
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They're terrible. They don't have a history of winning. They're really not good. Nobody wants
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to sign up to align with them. Most people that are their fans, they're their
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fans by right or birthright, and they just simply tolerate these teams.
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But for a long time, nobody expects these teams to win anything. Why would you
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attach yourself to them? But when you think about the devil, as far as the
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Bible reveals it, he's been a loser from eternity's past. Matthew 25:41,
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God created hell for the devil and his angels, and yet people
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flock to him. Jesus says, I saw Satan fall like lightning, in Luke 10:18.
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And yet there are some people that love darkness rather than light because their
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deeds are evil, John 3:19. It may be hard for us to
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accept, but one of the things the book of Revelation teaches, no matter what God
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does, no matter how much revelation is given in Scripture, the devil is going
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to always have people that go his way. There's at least one more thing to
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say on this point though, and it is this: in the book of Revelation,
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John through the Holy Spirit only knows 2 groups of people.
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Either people are with God and his people, or they're with the devil and his
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people. That doesn't mean everybody on the devil's side is the epitome of wickedness.
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As image bearers of God, Genesis 1:26-29,
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they can and are capable of much good. But we need to keep a sober
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reminder in front of ourselves that there is really only 2 camps. There are
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2 camps that everybody in the world falls into. And if a person's not
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of the people of God, like we talked about this morning, we need to be
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doing everything that we can to move them toward this way, because at the
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end of the day, God has his people and the devil has his people.
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Here's number 3. The book of Revelation teaches us the devil's many names
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describe his many works. Throughout the New Testament,
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we're told several things about the devil. He's our adversary, 1 Peter
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5:8. He's the enemy,
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Matthew 13:28. He's a strong man,
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Matthew chapter 12 and verse 29. He's the lowercase
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g god of this world, 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 4.
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He's also described as the ruler of this world, John 12:31 and
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John 14 and verse 30. If that's all we had, we'd know enough about the
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way that he operates and he works so that we could know what we're up
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against. But the book of Revelation, John says more. Look at Revelation 12:9-10.
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Just in these verses alone, John says that he's a dragon,
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He's the ancient serpent in verse 9. He's the devil. He's called Satan.
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He's the deceiver of the whole world. That's in verse 9. In verse
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10, he calls him the deceiver of the whole world. And then in verse 17,
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he makes war against the woman and her offspring. That's Christians.
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The many names of the devil tell us a great deal about the way that
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he operates in the world and ultimately in our lives. When Jesus says the
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thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy, But I've come that
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you might have life and have it more abundantly. He's talking to us about the
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way that the devil tries to work in our lives and ultimately in the
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world so that we're not deceived, so that we know how he works,
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so that we can overcome him. His many names describe his many works.
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The name Satan means he's our enemy, our adversary.
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Jesus told Peter, Satan has desired to have you that he might
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sift you like wheat, Luke 22:31. The name devil means slanderer,
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an individual that speaks against you and that tries to mislead you.
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When God approaches Eve after her sin in Genesis 3, she says
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in verse 13, Satan deceived me. The serpent, he deceived me.
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It's what he does. In the Kentucky Living magazine,
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there was an article in this month's edition, and it talked about how you can
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guard yourself against scams, whether it's through text message or through
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phone calling. And this is how you know you're being scammed. They gave a list
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of certain things primarily that people would do when they're trying to scam you.
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If a person calls you or texts you, they say, here are some of the
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markers that you're being scammed. Number 1, the person is urging you to act immediately.
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You've got to do this right now or the offer or whatever it is,
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it'll be gone. They make everything seem like in the second place,
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it's an emergency. If they call you on the phone and it sounds like they're
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far away, they say, well, this is probably an indication that it's not a genuine
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call, or if they ask to have remote access to your phone or your
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computer where they call and say, hey, just let me take over your phone and
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your computer and I'll do everything from there. You read that list and you think
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to yourself, who would fall for that? Who would just give their information to somebody?
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Who would give over access to their phone or their computer or their tablet
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to a stranger halfway across the world? And yet the soul scammer has
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been doing the same things to us throughout time. And sometimes we've
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got to ask ourselves, are we ignorant of his devices or do we know
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how he operates? In your life, one of the ways you know
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it's the devil and not God is when you're being rushed.
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God does a lot of things, but he never rushes us. Psalm 46:10 says,
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be still, and know that I'm God. How does the devil work?
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Often in haste. You know it's the devil and not
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God when it seems strange, like it didn't really come from
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the Bible. It sounds spiritual, it sounds deep, but I can't find any passage
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to back that up. Hebrews 13:9 says, don't be carried
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away with strange and diverse doctrines, things that aren't in the Bible.
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It's probably the devil and not God active in your life if it
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says something to you, or the effects of the relationship or the situation goes something
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like this: well, you know, if you do this, you can always repent later.
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I mean, God's forgiving. You can always repent later. Jude verse
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4 says that certain individuals come in and they turn the grace of God into
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licentiousness, a license to do wrong. It's the devil
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and not God whenever it calls for you to violate your conscience.
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Romans 14:23. This doesn't feel right. It doesn't sound right,
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but I'm just going to do it anyway. And it's the devil and not God
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when it fuels our arrogance and pride rather than our humility.
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I'm going to do this activity and this deed and this good so
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that other people can see me. That's not God sending you on that errand.
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It's the devil. And how do we know it? Because we know how he operates.
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Jesus says, serve others like I did and put others above yourself,
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Mark 10:43-45. The book of Revelation teaches us
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how the devil works. Through his many names, and his devices are described through
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those works. Here's number 4: the book of Revelation teaches
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that his time is short. Still in Revelation chapter 12,
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John says in verse 12, the devil in his wrath comes
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out to cause havoc on the earth, and then he adds this
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phrase, because he knows that his time is short.
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The book of Revelation teaches us about the devil. He's only going to
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be able to do what he's doing for a short time. A momentary time,
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and we should know the very same thing. Throughout the New Testament,
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the New Testament writers are sometimes trying to encourage Christians about
21:44
the joy that's coming by saying the difficulty you're currently experiencing is
21:48
going to be over before you know it. Think about some of the passages that
21:51
talk about heaven and how it's going to spring upon us in a moment of
21:54
time. Romans 8:18 says, for our light affliction— Romans
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8:18 says, the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy
22:02
to be compared with the glory that will be revealed. Or Romans 13:11
22:06
says, now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.
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When Paul talked about the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:52,
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he says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
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just like that, he says, our bodies will be raised and ultimately transformed,
22:21
and they'll be glorified and changed. Our light and momentary affliction,
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which is but for a moment, is producing for us a far more exceeding and
22:29
eternal weight of glory 2 Corinthians 4:16-17.
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The book of Revelation has the devil at war against God's people, at war
22:36
against God in heaven, causing havoc throughout the first-century church. And then John says,
22:40
but by the way, his time is short. The most striking thing
22:44
about this verse— look at your Bible, look at verse 12. It says the devil
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knows his time is short. That's striking to me because it says the devil knows
22:52
it. Here's the question: do we know it? I mean, do you know it?
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The devil's time is short. The Bible says he knows this. The question
23:00
is, do we know it? And do we know what this means? If the devil's
23:03
time is short, what does this mean? It means every day you wake up,
23:06
there is coming a day when you'll never hear sirens again.
23:09
You'll never go to a doctor again. There'll never be any crime, injustice,
23:13
wickedness, sin. There is coming a day you'll never go to another funeral again.
23:17
The devil and all of his wickedness, his time is
23:21
short. And if the devil knows that, the people of God need
23:25
to know it to a greater degree. Listen, there are all kinds of things in
23:28
your life that are just a part of your life. There's nothing you can do
23:31
about it. You can't unsubscribe from some things. Some things are coming. You didn't
23:34
ask for them, but here they are. Mondays, as long as you live,
23:37
Mondays are coming. They're coming. There's no way out of it. Mondays are coming
23:41
whether you like it or not. Red lights when you're running late, they're coming.
23:45
You can't unsubscribe. You're going to be running late and you're going to get behind
23:48
somebody that's just a law-abiding citizen doing 5 miles under the speed limit.
23:52
There's no way around it. Laundry, it's not going anywhere.
23:56
You can't unsubscribe from it. You can't. You can't unsubscribe
23:59
from aches and pains and allergies. But this point is about reminding
24:03
you of all the things you can unsubscribe from if you're a Christian.
24:07
Don't unsubscribe from hope, because according to the Bible,
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the true light is already breaking into the world, John 1:9.
24:16
Our glorious forever sunshine day is currently being downloaded,
24:19
and it won't last for just a short time. The Bible describes it as eternal.
24:23
It's a sure and steadfast hope, an anchor for the soul,
24:27
Hebrews 6:18. And the book of Revelation teaches us about
24:31
the devil. His time is short. Here's number 5: he's temporarily allowed to exercise
24:35
power. I don't like this part
24:39
of it, and unbelievers and believers struggle with this being a reality.
24:42
But before we start with our questions, we just need to accept
24:46
this as a reality as God reveals it in Scripture. There are reasons why,
24:49
and some reasons unknown to us, that God allows the devil
24:53
to temporarily exercise power in the world. When Jesus taught the
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parable of the wheat and the tares, which is really about the world and the
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wickedness that is sown into God's good world, in Matthew 13:30,
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he says, God speaking, let them both grow together, and then
25:07
at the harvest, at the end of the world, he'll separate them. God allows the
25:11
devil in this present world to temporarily exercise power. Look at Revelation chapter
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20. In Revelation 20, in verse 2, it says the devil's bound
25:20
and cast into prison. But then in verse 3, it says he's only there for
25:23
a short time and then he must be released. And when you get down
25:27
to verse 7, it says the devil is released out of his prison.
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Listen, we may not like this, but the Bible tells us the devil is temporarily
25:34
allowed to exercise power in the world, and the book of Revelation teaches
25:38
this. And you could think about a host of reasons why that's the case.
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A part of that is because you and I live in a fallen world.
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And when we're in the world, there will be tribulation, John 16:33.
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God allows the devil to exercise power because sometimes human beings choose with
25:52
our own free will to cooperate with the devil and
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to do his bidding. Ephesians 2:2-3 says that we sometimes
25:59
have gone into the power of the wickedness— of the wicked one,
26:02
the prince of the power of the air. And then the other reasons
26:06
we can think of are probably God just hasn't told us. And maybe you can
26:10
think to yourself of some reasons why God shouldn't allow this to be the case.
26:13
If God is God and he's loving and good and cares about everybody,
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why allow the devil to exercise any power? Once he was thrown in prison in
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Revelation 20, why allow him to be out for any amount of time? And maybe
26:24
you and I can't think of any good reasons why that would be the case,
26:27
but we're not God. Isaiah 55:8-9 says,
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his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts higher than our thoughts.
26:35
As the heavens are high above the earth, so are his ways above our ways
26:38
and his thoughts over our thoughts. Oh, the depths and the riches both of the
26:41
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways
26:46
past finding out! Who's known the mind of the Lord? Who's ever given anything
26:49
to God that he needs to be repaid? For of him and through him and
26:53
to him are all things. To him belongs glory forever. Romans 11:33-36.
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God in his infinite wisdom chooses to allow the devil
27:02
to temporarily exercise power in the world.
27:06
If you were in the medical field, you would know what this term is,
27:09
and I can't pronounce it right now because I'm drawing a memory blank, but it's
27:12
a nice O word. You see it up there. It's a procedure
27:16
though where the doctors go in and they cut a person's bone in order
27:20
to set something in its proper place, and when they do this, they cause
27:24
pain, they cause trouble. If you were at the procedure and you didn't know what
27:27
was going on, you would think that the surgeons performing this procedure have
27:31
lost their mind because they're breaking a bone. They're creating an issue so
27:35
that they can realign something and set it in its proper place. And if you
27:38
came in and tried to disrupt the procedure, you'd be causing all kinds of havoc
27:42
because you can't see what the surgeon can see. The surgeon can see
27:46
things, and what temporarily looks like pain and discomfort and hardship
27:51
is ultimately going to lead to relief and setting things
27:54
right and putting things in their proper place. That God choose to
27:57
allow the devil to exercise power in this present world in the ways
28:01
that he decides and chooses to us it may not make sense, but it's
28:05
not because God's ways are not sensible, it's because we're short-sighted. It's amazing
28:09
to me that we will undergo surgery through finite human beings,
28:13
never doubt anything. We'll go through it unconsciously, trusting them all
28:17
the way, and at the very same time doubt the infinite God.
28:21
Job 40:2, God says, who will find fault with his Maker?
28:25
Let him stand before me and ask questions. The book of Revelation teaches that
28:29
God allows the devil for a temporary time to exercise
28:32
some power, but never forget who ultimately wields all of it.
28:36
Here's number 6: the book of Revelation teaches that the devil will
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be eternally destroyed. Revelation 20:10 says
28:44
that he'll be cast into the lake of fire and he'll burn with fire
28:48
and brimstone forever and ever. I imagine the first
28:52
time Christians read this, there was great rejoicing on their part because they were suffering
28:55
terribly at the instigation of the devil. Revelation 19, when this
28:59
is first introduced, Revelation 19:1-3 has the Christians
29:03
and saints praising God and saying, hallelujah, praise be to God and salvation
29:07
to Him because the punishment that's coming on the devil. In Revelation 6,
29:11
there are souls under the altar. These are people that are already in heaven who've
29:15
been killed for their faith, and in their minds, they still want to know one
29:17
thing: God, when are you going to get vengeance on us and
29:21
on our blood for the persecution we've suffered? People that have suffered in this
29:25
world at the hands of the devil and the wickedness that was instigated by his
29:28
activity, they don't just want relief. They want retribution and revenge,
29:33
and it's a biblical response. And Revelation 20:10
29:36
says the day's coming. God doesn't reckon time like
29:40
we do, but the day is coming in which the devil will be thrown into
29:43
hell. Matthew 25:46 says it'll last as long
29:47
as heaven. It'll be forever and ever. Sometimes people wonder,
29:51
when I get to heaven, how is it going to be the case that I
29:54
never sin again? I mean, in this body, all I've ever known is temptation and
29:58
hardship. What if I make a mistake in heaven? Am I, like, going to get
30:01
kicked out or something? Is God going to renege on his promise? That won't happen.
30:05
But here's one of the major reasons we know it won't happen. The person largely
30:09
involved with and responsible for the great deal of temptation that we suffer
30:13
in this world, he'll be forever removed and put out of the way. And whatever
30:16
God possesses that allows him not to be tempted and not to struggle with sin
30:19
whatsoever, there's a sense in which we've got to know he's going to share that
30:23
very same thing with us. The book of Revelation teaches us that ultimately the devil
30:28
will be destroyed and he'll be destroyed forever. And here's number 7,
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and finally, the book of Revelation teaches Christians can
30:35
overcome him now. In Revelation 12:11,
30:39
John says that Christians overcame the devil by
30:43
the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and because they
30:46
didn't love their lives unto death. And we overcome by those very
30:50
same things. By the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 1:5 says, to him who
30:54
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
30:57
By the word of our testimony. That's what we say we believe. That's what you
31:02
said before you were baptized. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Romans 10:9-10.
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And this loving our life— not loving our lives unto death is saying What
31:10
matters to me most in life is not this physical life, for to me
31:14
to live is Christ and to die is ultimately gain, Philippians 1:21.
31:19
Christians can overcome the devil now. We will overcome him in eternity,
31:23
but the Bible teaches right now we can be victorious. These first-century
31:28
Christians were. Revelation 14:4 says they followed the Lamb
31:31
wherever he went. As you read through the New Testament, there's an already and not
31:35
yet principle. The New Testament is teaching one day the things
31:39
that you and I know by faith, we'll know by sight, and victory over Satan
31:42
is one of them. But there are a dozen passages in the New Testament that
31:45
also teach if you're a Christian, you're victorious over him right
31:49
now. In fact, you can read through the New Testament and you'll find passages that
31:53
say flee temptation, flee sin, but not one verse
31:56
in the Bible ever tells you to flee from the devil because we're not supposed
32:00
to run from him. If we stand up against him and fight him with the
32:02
armor of God, James 4:7 says, Resist the devil and he'll
32:07
flee from you. He's the coward. He's the one that'll run in the other direction.
32:10
But as a Christian, you have nothing to fear. You already have eternal life,
32:13
1 John 5:13. Jesus says, you'll receive a hundredfold now
32:18
in this time for following me and in the age to come everlasting life.
32:21
The book of Revelation teaches us this about the devil. You can
32:26
overcome him right now if you're a Christian. Listen, your soul will
32:29
feed on and survive on whatever you feed it.
32:32
If you feed it, I'm a loser, the devil tempts me, I've been struggling with
32:35
this for 20 years, I'm never overcoming, your soul will feed on and
32:39
survive on whatever you feed it. But if you feed it things like,
32:43
I'm more than a conqueror, Romans 8:37. Oh, but the devil has death.
32:47
Yes, but we have resurrection. The devil has hardship. Yes,
32:50
but we've got comfort. Oh, the devil has anxiety. Yes, but we have peace.
32:54
And if you feed your soul the biblical truths of the New Testament,
32:58
you will begin to taste what will eventually be ours forever and ever,
33:02
and that is the overcoming of the devil and what John calls
33:05
in Revelation 21:5, Him making all things new.
33:10
I was at the barbershop on Friday, and then this text came through, or the
33:13
ESPN notification. A'ja Wilson won her 5th WNBA
33:17
MVP, record-breaking. I don't know if you know anything about
33:22
basketball. Some people in here do. Do you know what that means when you're guarding
33:24
A'ja Wilson and you put a hand like that in her face? The photograph
33:27
was taken by a famous photographer and it's gone viral. Do you know what that
33:31
means when you put a hand like that in her face in the middle of
33:33
a game? It means nothing. I mean, this is all they
33:37
could do. The defender puts her hand in A'ja Wilson's face and in this game
33:41
she scored 36 points, had 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. When you put a hand
33:45
in somebody's face like A'ja Wilson who's dominant and on the top of her game,
33:49
all it is is a distraction. It ultimately can stop and
33:52
do nothing. You're a Christian. That's your life. The devil can put his hand
33:56
in your face. At best, he can try to distract you. But if you're in
33:59
Christ, do you know what that means for you? It means nothing.
34:03
All the things that are going to come up this week and all of the
34:05
things that are going to come up in your life from this time until you
34:09
see him, they're just like a hand in your face, things that think they can
34:12
stop you, things that think they can distract you. But what John says
34:17
in Revelation 12:11, it's true about you, it's true about me, it's true about every
34:20
Christian. They overcame him. Not that they will, it's already happened. They've overcome
34:24
him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony,
34:28
and because they didn't love their lives unto death. Already winners, already victorious,
34:33
because we appeal to the blood of Jesus rather than our own.
34:36
And no matter how many hands are put in our face, no matter how many
34:39
distractions the world tries to throw at us, the Bible teaches about the devil in
34:42
the book of Revelation and throughout the New Testament, he's a defeated foe.
34:48
The devil's mentioned in the first book of the Bible and in the last book
34:51
of the Bible, but that by no means means to teach us or suggest that
34:56
he has the first word of the Bible or the last word. The first person
34:59
to talk in the Bible is God. He creates the heavens and the earth,
35:03
and the last verse of the Bible is about the grace of our Lord Jesus
35:07
Christ, Revelation 22:21. This is God's
35:11
book. This is God's world. And we're God's people. The book
35:14
of Revelation says a great deal about the devil, but as you get launched out
35:18
into the week, don't forget what it tells you about Jesus. The book of Revelation
35:22
says Jesus has been raised, Jesus is reigning,
35:26
and Jesus will return. But until then, we reign
35:29
with him on earth, and one day we'll reign with him in glory. Tonight,
35:33
if you need to respond to heaven's invitation, become a Christian by
35:37
the word of your testimony. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Turning away
35:40
from sin and allowing your body to be immersed in water for the forgiveness of
35:44
sins. Revelation 1:5 says it's there that he'll wash away all your sins
35:47
in his blood, and you'll have all the power God offers to
35:51
overcome and ultimately defeat the devil, both now and ultimately in
35:55
eternity. If we can pray with you or pray for you, Bill's going to lead
35:58
us in a song to encourage us. Come now, as together we stand and as
36:01
we sing.