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Transcript

Insight Into The Demonic | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Well, good afternoon. Please meet me in the Gospel
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  According to Mark and your Bibles and chapter one.
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  Gospel According to Mark in chapter one.
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  And meet me here in verse 21. Mark 121.
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  Pray with me. But we thank you for our time
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  together. We know that some are away for
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  this weekend. We know some are busy with
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  families and plans but thank you that we can still Gather in this
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  place to receive your word and we just ask Lord that you would
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  help us help us understand what these passages mean.
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  We want to be more in the light than we were when we came in we
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  want to know you more than we did before we drove up here and
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  we ask for that, there would be a particular Grace and
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  delivering this word and a much-needed Grace for our hearts
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  to be opened. And Lord we just ask that we
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  would sense the reality of your Authority and that Lord, we
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  would be able to rest in that Authority rejoice in that
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  Authority. And Lord know that in you we are
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  more than conquerors. And greater.
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  Is he that is in us than he who is in the world.
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  We give you praise now in Jesus name, amen.
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  As we explore this passage in scripture.
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  It's helpful to know that at this particular point the
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  author, as you've realized. Who had a certain Pace in the
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  previous verses will now slow down the rhythm of his thoughts.
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  As we come here to this tax because now we can say that this
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  is really the beginning of the the main body of marks record of
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  his account of the life and Ministry of Jesus Christ.
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  And so now we're going to see that he is going to expand his
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  thoughts on certain events about the ministry of Jesus Christ.
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  And although there is going to be a change of shift in that
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  Rhythm. There are Also be a continuation
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  of certain themes that will flow from the verses that you, and I
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  have been exploring the previous Sundays.
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  And one of those themes that will continue especially in this
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  text is the unmatched. Superior authority of the person
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  of Jesus Christ. Up to this point you and I've
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  just gotten a glimpse of his authority in different Arenas.
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  We have seen how he is much more Supreme than Satan.
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  We have seen his Mastery over severe and intense Temptation.
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  We can also say that there is something about an attractive
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  Authority, that melted the hearts of these grown fisherman
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  who joyfully submitted to his tutelage.
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  And would follow him wherever he would go.
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  And if we think that up to this point, there is nothing else to
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  be. Proved the spirit is preparing
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  us now to see how the authority of Jesus Christ extends into a
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  different Realm. And that realm has to do with
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  the Demonic, unseen spirits and Unseen World a world that in the
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  days of Jesus, and not just the days of Jesus.
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  But from the beginning of time, has tormented many in this
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  world, has shown great power and deception to sway people into
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  self harm and destruction towards others Christ.
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  Now, in this portrait, that we are going to see by the hand of
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  Mark is going to show that. he indeed rules and Reigns not just
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  over different aspects that we are familiar with but even that
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  which we do not know much of and so we see that here, and verse
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  21 and they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath,
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  he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and they were
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  astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had
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  Authority and not as the scribes and immediately, there was in
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  their synagogue, a man with an unclean spirit.
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  And he cried out. What have you to do with us?
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  Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come to destroy us?
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  I know who You are the Holy One of God.
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  But Jesus rebuked him saying be silent and come out of him, and
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  the unclean Spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud
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  voice. Came out of him and they were
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  all amazed. So that they question among
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  themselves saying, what is this, a new teaching with authority?
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  He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him, and
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  out. Once his Fame spread everywhere,
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  throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee, The subject
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  of Angels and Demons has captivated the masses for
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  centuries. The Curiosity around Spiritual
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  Beings has been something that has spilled over even into our
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  culture, a secular culture. And I believe the main reason
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  for that is because mankind generally has a yearning
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  yearning to know. How to satisfy this nying sense
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  that there is this Unseen World that interacts with our own
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  world? And the great amount of books
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  and movies. And this new desire, this
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  growing desire for the phenomenon of new age and all
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  these different things testify that our culture is probing and
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  you even have some who claim to have answers, But no matter what
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  experience people have, no matter what kind of blurry
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  footage of citing, someone may claim to have God's word as a
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  final Authority, God's word gives us the sufficient data
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  that we need to understand all that we need to know about
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  angels and demons. And our subject today in
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  particular, is that of demons. And as we understand this, we
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  should be satisfied in knowing that in the spirits wisdom, he
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  has given us all that. We need to know.
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  We don't have to Like to figure out the answers that Jesus or
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  God's word doesn't give us and just to rest in the fact that
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  whatever we are exposed, to is enough for us to glorify God, be
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  free from confusion and walk in Holiness As He commands us to
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  walk. And that is what we are going to
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  see here. This is not going to be a
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  comprehensive study of all that we can know about demons about
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  Fallen Angels about unclean spirits.
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  But in the verses that you and I just read There is important.
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  Truths about this Kingdom, it's a dark kingdom.
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  It's an evil Kingdom. It's a king that opposes the
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  kingdom of God for us, to be edified and prepared to continue
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  to follow our master. And so the insights that we see
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  here it is, our duty to collect this information and it comes
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  from a very detailed description of a day in the ministry of
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  Jesus Christ. And so, here are some points.
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  Here are four points to consider about this realm about these
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  foes. Number one, demons are able to
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  influence. Men demons are able to influence
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  men. As we just read Jesus and his
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  disciples entered into Capernaum and immediately went into the
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  synagogue on the Sabbath day. Now, it's important to
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  understand that synagogues, you probably seen it throughout the
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  New Testament emerged the emerge during the Babylonian captivity.
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  This was not something that was known.
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  On before the Babylonian captivity.
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  But once the Israelites were taken out of their land under
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  the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, they could not have access to
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  the temple to worship. God, they could not go freely
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  and perform pilgrimage and honor God with the feast that he has
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  commanded them to honor. And so, what they did was they
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  establish these places of worship called synagogues while
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  they were in a foreign land. So they can come together,
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  recite scripture, received some kind of teaching, and pray.
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  And now, as we fast forward to the days of Jesus, we know that
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  these places of worship remained in Jewish society, and we're
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  still honored as places of worship for different Jews in
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  different areas. And so we see that here, it's
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  prevalent, they would come, they would, they would invite rabbis
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  to speak. And there is even a freedom for
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  rabbis to come into these synagogues and volunteered to
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  share something. We see that with Paul and we see
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  that in the New Testament, in the book of Acts where we see
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  the people going and spreading the gospel in Synagogue
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  synagogues played an instrumental role.
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  They were used greatly by the early church to spread the truth
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  of the Gospel. I love that.
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  I love that. This is something that was later
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  on in Jewish culture, but was used for the gospel.
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  And I like to apply that to our own lives.
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  That as we think, see, things invented and emerge that are not
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  blatantly sinful that we should utilize them for the spread of
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  the Gospel. We should utilize him to speak
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  truth, where there is freedom of speech.
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  Still let us utilize this Time and the tools that we have
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  before, it's too late. And that's what we see here with
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  Jesus. Jesus spent many many times.
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  Many, many days sessions in synagogues to proclaim the
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  gospel. That we see here.
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  And on this particular day, a guest teacher by the name of
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  Jesus visited and stunned his listeners.
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  He came in and they heard him preach, and when they heard him
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  preach, they were amazed. They were astonished at, not
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  just the content of his message, but the method, his delivery,
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  the way he spoke, they recognize that this guest teacher, many
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  scribes have came in and out, but this particular guest
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  teacher has Authority when he speaks.
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  There's conviction, there's boldness, there's Clarity,
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  there's authenticity. And there is a weightiness to
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  this man. When he preaches, we know that
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  it's coming from a heart that not just believes it.
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  But a power, there's a power Behind these words.
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  And I believe the reason why Jesus walked in this
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  authorities, from what we learned in the previous week's,
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  he was anointed with the holy spirit of God.
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  He was Jesus in those Waters of baptism and he was praying
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  according to Luke and the Holy Spirit came and descended upon
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  him and he goes into that Wilderness and he defeats Satan
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  and he overcomes Temptation. And Luke also tells us he comes
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  out of that Wilderness with great power.
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  Great power. To all be aspiring teachers of
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  God's word, to all the aspiring preachers and perhaps even the
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  Evangelist and this place may I tell you and remind you today
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  that you can acquire great information from seminaries.
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  You can gain much theology from books, but Authority Spirit
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  inspired Authority. Only comes from heaven.
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  It only comes when you realize your need and you walk in the
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  spirit. It only comes with it through a
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  life of prayers, Jesus. Demonstrated, and only comes
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  when you as Jesus did know how to First overcome sin and your
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  private life, because there is no such thing as Authority
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  publicly, if there's not authenticity privately and Jesus
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  had those components. And when he came on the scene,
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  they realized there's something different about this guy.
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  When he speaks that there's a compelling persuasion behind it,
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  these scribes were Hypocrites. They just had a wealth of
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  knowledge and they would come and give their little speech and
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  it didn't touch anyone. But all this Jesus comes and he
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  speaks and there is such a gripping element to it.
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  But there is something else about that particular day that
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  astonished these listeners, these regular attendees of the
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  synagogue in Capernaum. We are told immediately in verse
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  23, there was in their synagogue, a man with an unclean
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  spirit. This man was possessed with a
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  devil and this man was not by the tombs like the man in Mark
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  chapter 5 undressed chained, cutting himself, screaming and
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  disturbing the neighborhood. This man was sitting in a
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  spiritual religious service. Some would even say he was a
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  regular attendee of the synagogue.
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  He had interest in religious. Things.
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  He wanted to hear God's word. He was willing to be taught.
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  He was willing to be among God's people, and yet hidden in this
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  man was an unclean Wicked spirit.
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  This teaches us many things, but here's one thing it does teach
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  us. In fact that we should consider
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  for ourselves in terms of our understanding of demonology.
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  When we put all the scriptures together, what we learn is that
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  there is a wide range of symptoms of demonic influence in
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  people's lives. Just because somebody may be
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  having a demon, in them does not mean that there are always out
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  of control and dramatic and their behavior, the symptoms are
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  diverse and the various accounts of Deliverance in Jesus
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  ministry, and the New Testament. Clearly teach that you have some
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  who were overpowered by demons, and all we are told about them
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  is that they were either mute or deaf, they were not erratic,
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  they simply had These powerful ailments placed upon them by
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  demons others, experience, sporadic, seizures.
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  Others experienced this. Pull to self harm and there is
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  even some in some cases where they were Supernatural strength
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  on display. That could not be explained by
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  human reasoning. And in this case, we have no
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  comments of this man being ill, there's no ailments described.
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  There is no strange Behavior other than the Fact, that while
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  God's word was being preached, there was an outburst.
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  Of resistance and confrontation against the Lord and his
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  message. Listen, though, demonic
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  Deliverance throughout. Jesus ministry, was a major
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  feature. It was not the only feature.
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  We see him doing many other things, including healing,
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  people miraculously and when he healed many people it was not
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  ever. Always rather tied to demonic
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  influence. Why is that important to
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  understand? Because we have to be careful
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  and attempting to identify strange Behavior or disease
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  because of demons. There are people who are sick.
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  There are people who even have psychological or physiological
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  physiological, disorders that are just because As a result of
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  the Fall. Not because there is an evil
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  spirit behind it. Not because an evil spirit Is
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  possessing someone to be harmed or to be self-destructive just
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  because we live in a broken world and Jesus ministry proves
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  that. Because in many cases, he's just
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  heals them out of compassion and other times he delivers them.
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  From demonic stronghold. And the great question that many
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  people want to know is, well, how do I make that distinction?
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  How do I make that distinction between somebody's behavior that
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  seems very strange or somebody situation that seems very dark,
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  whether this is something coming from an evil spirit or something
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  that's just coming from a result of the fall.
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  And the Bible doesn't really give us any kind of lists of
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  chekhov's so that you and I can make that conclusion for
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  ourselves. If there is anything that we
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  can, we can have confidence in For an answer for that
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  distinction being made is in the ministry of Jesus himself, Jesus
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  himself by the power of the spirit, was able to deliver
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  people and at the same time, he was able to discern by the
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  spirit. He was able to discern.
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  What was what who was struggling with what, and then making the
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  appropriate action to bring about relief to the person who
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  is either Bound by a demon or just experiencing a consequence
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  of the Fall. There is great, need of
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  discernment, and there needs to be greater Great.
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  Hesitation and running around saying this is demonic and this
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  is not demonic. The Lord, was able to make that
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  clear distinction, because he was given the spirit without
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  measure, and more can be said about identifying demonic
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  activity, but I want to use this time to explain some of that.
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  It's crucially important because this verse that I just read to
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  you is often used by those who would believe that it is
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  possible for Christian believers who are filled with the spirit
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  to be at the same time. By a demon.
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  That might be something that you are familiar with in your
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  network. But I must say that among
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  Millennials, this is a growing Trend.
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  It is becoming increasingly popular, where you are, having
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  people claim and believe that Christians can be possessed by
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  demons and then make up their entire Ministry called
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  Deliverance, Ministry, doing Deliverance.
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  Has on people who are apparently child, a child of God or
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  children of God. And what they would say with a
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  verse, like, this is, well, you see you, see a man who was in
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  the synagogue, a place of worship and because this man was
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  a regular attendee in a place of worship, who had a demon, what
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  makes us not believe that somebody who comes to a regular
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  church service can be possessed with a demon.
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  There's so many problems with that and it might sound clever
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  but it is extremely problematic and severely overly simplistic.
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  You can't just come to a verse like this and say well there was
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  somebody in a synagogue who had a demon so people in church who
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  are Christians can have demons. first of all, you and I know
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  this who says that you coming to church means that you're an
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  actually child of God, we can just end the argument right
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  there just because somebody's regularly attending a service
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  does not mean automatically, we don't presume that they belong
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  to Christ. So to make the conclusion that
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  somebody was sitting physically in a religious service means
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  that they are in right. Status with God, is already an
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  argument that defeats the whole thing.
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  But we have to understand if this teaches anything is that
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  you can have people who regularly, attend a church
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  service who are demonized and unsaved.
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  That's how we interpret it. And they might go on to say
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  that. Well, you see many instances,
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  the New Testament, where people who work followers of Christ are
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  clearly possessed by a devil. And so they will use scriptures
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  like with Jesus, rebuking Peter, when Peter tried to rebuke him
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  about going to the cross and what does Jesus say?
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  Get behind me. Satan get behind me.
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  Satan, you see, here's Peter that in a moment.
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  Satan entered him and influence them and spoke through him to
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  speak to Jesus and try to divert him from the cross.
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  And then they would go on to say, well, That's even seen in
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  the book of Acts, where you see ananias and Sapphira, they come
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  into the church and they lie about their giving and Peter
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  looks at this couple and says, we're rather the man first.
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  How has Satan? Why do you allow Satan to fill
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  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit to lie to God?
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  You see Satan filled this church gourd.
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  This Christian is follower of Christ, filled his heart and so
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  it's possible for Satan to enter into a Christian and then
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  perform his will through The Christian and I just have one
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  simple question with both of those instances and many other
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  instances that they would use in the scripture.
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  If that was the case, then why didn't Jesus cast The Devil out
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  of Peter? And if that was the case, why
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  didn't Peter cast The Devil out of ananias?
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  No, what you see there in both of those instances is that the
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  evil one influence their thinking?
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  And even with Peter, Jesus, I'm paraphrasing looks at him and
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  says your mind is on the things of man, and not the things of
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  God. And then ananias is case, we all
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  believe that it is possible for evil spirits to influence us, to
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  tempt us to suggest things in us.
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  But we are not among those who believes that a demon can come
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  and have direct influence over your behavior and your speech.
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  There's so many argument we can spend the rest of the service,
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  debunking these things. But let me give you one simple.
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  I believe final verse that would close this argument.
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  It's found in Ephesians chapter 2, 1 and 2.
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  What you see in this portion of scripture is Paul addressing the
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  Glorious rescue in Jesus Christ. He's telling these Christians
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  who you were before Christ, the things that you were caught up
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  in before Christ. And who you are now?
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  Because of Christ, Ephesians 2, 1 to 10, but let me read to you.
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  The first two verses, And you were dead in the trespasses and
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  sins in which you. Once walked following the course
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  of this world, following the prince of the power of the air,
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  the spirit, that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
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  The spirit that is now at work in the sons of Disobedience.
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  There are many explanations for what this means.
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  But one thing I know in The Wider context is that the
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  spirit, the prince of the power of the air, only has access to
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  various degrees in those who are outside of Christ.
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  Those who are outside of Christ as they, whether knowingly, or
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  unknowingly follow Satan and are Guided by Satan through sin.
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  And the deceptions of this World open themselves up to his
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  influence, in their lives to various degrees and depending
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  upon the severity of a sin or the invitation of a person for
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  the Demonic that can even include demonic possession.
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  You have those who are messing up with the occult those who are
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  messing up with certain drugs and these different kind of
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  activities that open themselves up for Satan to have access to
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  them and very powerful ways. But that is a threat, that is a
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  danger for those who are outside of Christ when Jesus Rescues you
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  and I he fills us and he seals us with the Holy Spirit and part
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  of that is that we are protected from Ownership from Satan.
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  And this is an extremely important truth because I want
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  to tell you the fruit of this teaching, among many who are in
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  my age bracket and there are some or older will believe this
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  too. Deliverance has been replacing
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  repentance. What do I mean by that?
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  Now, what you're having is a demon for every sin So if I
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  struggle with pornography, it's a spirit of lust.
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  If I have a habit of lying, it's a spirit of deception.
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  If I have gambling issues, the spirit of greed, and so every
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  sin pattern, now has a demon behind it.
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  And what you have people doing is lining up to these kind of
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  ministers asking to be delivered, from particular sins.
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  When in the Bible, Jesus didn't say get the devil out of you.
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  He says, repent. So, do you see how this is very,
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  very tricky. What you're having now is people
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  who not only receive one form of Deliverance, they come for
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  constant Deliverance. Because the same people who say
• 24:16
  that you have a demon in, you will also say, you need multiple
• 24:19
  sessions to be delivered, which is fascinating to me.
• 24:24
  Because when you explore those who hold to this view of
• 24:26
  Deliverance, they would argue Jesus delivered.
• 24:30
  Jesus had a Deliverance Ministry.
• 24:32
  And so, Christians must also. And I believe that there are
• 24:36
  demons, and I believed that demons can be cast out today,
• 24:38
  because it is biblical but what I'm trying to say is those who
• 24:42
  say that we have to do Deliverance, because Jesus that
• 24:45
  Deliverance, Don't do Deliverance the way Jesus did
• 24:49
  Deliverance. Look at how Jesus brought about
• 24:53
  Deliverance of people with such Authority with one word.
• 24:56
  And those who propagate this. Deliverance Ministry among
• 25:00
  Christians. Have hours upon hours exhausting
• 25:04
  themselves and others multiple sessions to see a demon cast
• 25:08
  out. And so, there are a lot of flags
• 25:11
  here. And my main concern is, it's
• 25:13
  bring about much fear, among the people of God, much confusion.
• 25:16
  And more importantly, Deliverance now is actually
• 25:20
  replacing the call to Simply repent.
• 25:24
  It's not a devil, it's your flesh.
• 25:29
  Crucify, your flesh. Come to the Cross carry your
• 25:34
  cross. And so I needed to touch on that
• 25:38
  because you have many people who would say, what I'm saying is
• 25:40
  false and they would often use their experience or their
• 25:44
  ministry as validation for their belief.
• 25:47
  But you don't take your experience and then use your
• 25:49
  experience to interpret the word of God, you take the word of God
• 25:52
  and you interpret that experience.
• 25:57
  And so some who might be watching, this might accuse me
• 26:00
  of not believing that Jesus can deliver and people need
• 26:02
  Deliverance. I believe that people need
• 26:04
  Deliverance. I just praise God that because
• 26:06
  I'm saved. I don't have any worry to be
• 26:09
  possessed by the devil Demons can influence, people demons are
• 26:16
  able to influence people. But number two, demons are at
• 26:21
  war with the truth. Demons are at war with the
• 26:24
  truth. Look here again, in verse 23 and
• 26:26
  immediately there was in their synagogue, a man with an unclean
• 26:29
  spirit and he cried out. What have you to do with us?
• 26:33
  Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come to destroy us?
• 26:36
  I know who you are. The Holy One of God.
• 26:40
  Now, what's amazing about this is that demon activity is much
• 26:42
  more sophisticated than people perceive these spiritual agents
• 26:47
  of Satan, do not only seek to destroy people's minds and their
• 26:51
  bodies. But they are more eager to
• 26:54
  deceive and divert people from the truth.
• 26:58
  And First Timothy 4:1. Paul tells us that there are
• 27:01
  deceitful spirits and teachings of Beeman's unclean.
• 27:06
  Spirits are the masterminds behind damn Doctrines, their
• 27:11
  inventors of Blasphemous teachings and recruiters of
• 27:15
  humans, so that they would be helpers and persuading the
• 27:19
  masses to adopt that thought the originated with a fallen angel.
• 27:25
  And this is something important to understand.
• 27:27
  Because demons also know that God has his men, God has his
• 27:32
  servants, who are faithful and proclaiming the truth, and
• 27:35
  spreading the gospel in advancing in, The kingdom of God
• 27:40
  in this world and because of that, their strategy is not just
• 27:45
  trying to invent and deceive others, but it also includes
• 27:50
  being obstacles to those who do move forward with the truth.
• 27:55
  And that's exactly what we see here.
• 27:57
  Note the timing of this, demon interrupting the service.
• 28:03
  We read, write that Jesus was speaking with authority and it
• 28:08
  wasn't just that. Look at verse 22 and they were
• 28:11
  astonished at his teaching. And so it was after the truth
• 28:16
  was proclaimed with authority. And after the people expressed
• 28:20
  amazement at what they had heard, it was then that the
• 28:24
  demon Manifested demons cannot stand still.
• 28:29
  When the Lord Jesus is being preached and when the people are
• 28:32
  praising him in truth, Wherever people hearts are stirred by the
• 28:38
  truth of the Gospel. You can expect a stirring up of
• 28:41
  evil opposition. Ministry with spirit-empowered
• 28:46
  authority will attract unseen adversaries.
• 28:52
  And Satan's arsenal of distraction and disruption of
• 28:57
  interference is vanished. We see it with a man here who
• 29:02
  seem to be just a religious Jew who screams in the middle of the
• 29:06
  church. Service to try to distract
• 29:08
  everybody from the preaching. We see it in Acts chapter 13,
• 29:12
  when Paul and Barnabas are preaching to a politician and
• 29:15
  there was a magician but name of Alamos and he sought to persuade
• 29:19
  sergius paulus away from the gospel.
• 29:23
  And Paul by the spirit, has a confrontation with this man who
• 29:26
  is indeed dabbling with in the occult.
• 29:29
  And we see it even in a place like Acts chapter 16.
• 29:32
  The reason why I'm bringing these things up is to help you
• 29:34
  understand the strategies of the evil one.
• 29:36
  Turn with me to act 16 very quickly in verse 16.
• 29:40
  What you see here is Paul and Silas Paul and Silas are in
• 29:45
  Philippi. Let's start in verse 14, I want
• 29:53
  you to notice something. In verse 14 of Acts chapter 16,
• 29:59
  One who heard us was a woman named Lydia?
• 30:02
  Remember, they went to a place by the river to pray and there
• 30:05
  they found some woman one who heard us was a woman named Lydia
• 30:09
  from the city of thyatira. A seller of purple Goods who was
• 30:13
  a worshiper of God, the Lord opened her heart.
• 30:17
  To pay attention to what was said by Paul and after she was
• 30:20
  baptized and her household as well, she ER, just saying if you
• 30:24
  have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and
• 30:27
  stay, and she prevailed upon us. See, here is a clear conversion
• 30:31
  story Lidia was converted, her household was saved and notice
• 30:38
  what happens after a soul was saved in this region.
• 30:42
  Verse 16, as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met
• 30:46
  by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her
• 30:51
  owners much gain by fortune. Telling she followed Paul and US
• 30:55
  crying out. These men are Servants of the
• 30:57
  most high God, who same to you the way of salvation.
• 31:02
  You see the timing? This demon possessed, young
• 31:07
  girl, who is making money through some kind of knowledge
• 31:10
  that she had received from from Spirits.
• 31:14
  Begin to follow Paul begin to follow Silas after a soul was
• 31:18
  converted. In other words, the Demonic
• 31:21
  realm, recognize that Paul and Silas were making great
• 31:24
  advancements in the region and they want to put a halt to it as
• 31:27
  soon as possible. And so you see this demon
• 31:32
  possessed, girl, harassing not just in this moment but four
• 31:35
  days we read days she kept persisting.
• 31:38
  Annoying them to the point where he finally cast The Devil out of
• 31:42
  her. And so interesting, is it not
• 31:45
  because it's no different for us today.
• 31:46
  We see it with Jesus ministry, Satan often, when he recognizes
• 31:51
  that something is spirit-empowered, something will
• 31:54
  be effective. He seeks to put a stop to it as
• 31:57
  soon as possible. Mark chapter 1, where, at the
• 31:59
  beginning of Jesus ministry here in Acts 16, we see that there's
• 32:02
  a new region, a new missionary Endeavor and the devil's
• 32:05
  recognize it so they come in, they put up a fight.
• 32:09
  But not just that. Look at verse 16 again and as we
• 32:12
  were going to the place of Prayer.
• 32:18
  You want spiritual warfare in your life?
• 32:20
  Anyone want to volunteer? You want spiritual warfare?
• 32:24
  Get a prayer life. You want to see things happen in
• 32:28
  this church. You want to see resistance Come
• 32:31
  to the prayer meeting. The devil's know that a praying
• 32:37
  man. A Praying Woman.
• 32:38
  A Praying church is a dangerous man.
• 32:39
  A dangerous woman, a dangerous Church. and so as they set
• 32:43
  themselves to pray, which encourages me, Because they just
• 32:47
  want to saw in a household of souls to Christ.
• 32:50
  And yet they still need to see their need to come before God to
• 32:53
  Humble themselves and to seek him in prayer.
• 32:56
  These disciples knew that, we are dependent upon God, not just
• 33:01
  for success, but even after our success, and not just these
• 33:05
  disciples, not just these missionaries.
• 33:06
  But the devil's themselves new. We cannot let these men pray.
• 33:11
  We cannot let them come in contact with God.
• 33:14
  We cannot let them receive more power there.
• 33:16
  Really causing trouble in our midst.
• 33:19
  And so I want to tell you something, if there's any
• 33:21
  Ministry that Satan will tax, surely it is the preaching of
• 33:24
  God's word especially when it is with authority, but also the
• 33:27
  prayer meeting. Any church that does not have a
• 33:31
  prayer meeting is already losing Church, in my opinion.
• 33:36
  That's not my personal opinion, that's because the scriptures
• 33:38
  command us to pray. And there is no other way by
• 33:41
  which we can receive great power, wisdom, and guidance
• 33:44
  other than when we humble ourselves before God, and these
• 33:47
  Devils knew that Satan knows how to bring about a resistance and
• 33:54
  distraction, Whenever there is a work of God happening, I
• 33:58
  remember hearing an evangelist preached about the birds of the
• 34:02
  air that come to steal the word from the hearts of the
• 34:05
  listeners. And you shared a story that
• 34:07
  while he was preaching. Once he looked out by the way,
• 34:10
  preachers can see everything when they preach just to give
• 34:12
  you a heads up. They can see everything.
• 34:16
  And so here's this preacher preaching and as he is
• 34:19
  preaching, he recognizes and he sees a woman in the Pew holding
• 34:22
  a calm still baby. And as he was declaring the
• 34:27
  truth, he saw her hand reach out and pinch the baby.
• 34:32
  So that that baby would shriek and pain.
• 34:36
  And cause a distraction in the service, the baby didn't just
• 34:39
  come busting, tears, babies cry. All the time, we shouldn't be
• 34:42
  disturbed by that. He saw this mother take her hand
• 34:46
  and squeeze the baby. So that baby would cry out loud.
• 34:50
  He finished preaching, he approached her confronted her,
• 34:54
  her face changed color and she ran out of the building.
• 35:00
  Satan and his demons. Hate the truth.
• 35:06
  And we see here that after this demon and Mark chapter one,
• 35:09
  realized that there was a man now who came, and he was no
• 35:13
  ordinary men with authority in the people's hearts were being
• 35:15
  stirred that he was going to do whatever he could to bring about
• 35:18
  some kind of interference and the devil knows how to find
• 35:22
  troublemakers. He in fact knows how to find men
• 35:25
  and women to do his bidding. But let me tell you something,
• 35:28
  this account and Mark should encourage us, you know why?
• 35:30
  Because it tells us that the devil's know, the great power
• 35:34
  behind the word being preached. He is threatened by what's
• 35:38
  happening right now and I love to know that what we are doing
• 35:43
  today is threatening him and bringing glory to God.
• 35:46
  So let us continue to preach and let us continue to pray with no
• 35:50
  fear, no fear. But with a preparedness that
• 35:54
  there were, in fact come times where the enemy will make very
• 35:57
  very, very obvious attempts. To put up resistance against the
• 36:02
  move of God. Demons hate the truth.
• 36:06
  Demons. And their activity is not just
• 36:08
  limited to crazy behavior. They have minds, they create
• 36:13
  teachings, they influence people and Powers.
• 36:15
  They have some kind of influence even over Nations and
• 36:18
  governments. It goes beyond, just people
• 36:21
  acting in a certain way. That's obvious.
• 36:23
  No, no. They are much more clever than
• 36:25
  that. And we need discernment to
• 36:27
  realize it. Our Wars bigger than just demons
• 36:30
  being Passed out. It is also pulling down
• 36:33
  strongholds with the truth because they have lies to share
• 36:37
  number three, demons have a knowledge of God.
• 36:42
  Demons have a knowledge of God verse 24.
• 36:45
  What have you to do with us? Jesus of Nazareth.
• 36:48
  Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are.
• 36:49
  The Holy One Of God. Mark by the spirit, clearly
• 36:52
  wants us to know what this invisible enemy said in that
• 36:58
  meeting when he protested, he wants us to see exactly what was
• 37:01
  said. And much can be said about this
• 37:04
  Dreadful expression. But I want us to know here that
• 37:09
  I find it quite interesting to see that the very first
• 37:11
  acknowledgement and accurate description.
• 37:14
  Of the person of Jesus Christ came from a wicked spirit.
• 37:18
  It didn't come from his early followers.
• 37:20
  It didn't come from the religious Jews.
• 37:21
  That didn't come from any Jew. It came from a demon.
• 37:24
  And the demon new for aspects of Christ with great accuracy, the
• 37:28
  humanity of Christ, notice here, what have you to do with us?
• 37:31
  Jesus of Nazareth. The humanity of Jesus, the deity
• 37:36
  of Jesus. The Holy One of God, the
• 37:39
  authority of Jesus, have you come to destroy us?
• 37:42
  And even the fate of the end of all things, he realized what his
• 37:47
  Destiny was and what Jesus Destiny for him was and yet with
• 37:51
  this level of insight and with this understanding to outshine,
• 37:55
  those of Jesus day. This demon also confessed that
• 37:59
  he was terrified of being destroyed.
• 38:05
  Other than the fact that Hebrews tells us that the Lord did not
• 38:08
  come to save. Angels, namely Fallen Angels
• 38:12
  this demonic manifestation proven here, Mark chapter 1
• 38:15
  teaches us, that there is a critical difference about
• 38:18
  knowing things about God and knowing god, Great difference.
• 38:24
  James to informs us that there is in verse 19, a type of faith
• 38:28
  that has the quality of demonic belief.
• 38:34
  It's a faith. That understands very, very
• 38:37
  maybe even Rich, Revelations of God, insightful things about the
• 38:41
  word of God. That can include the Eternal
• 38:44
  existence of Christ. The Incarnation of Christ, The
• 38:47
  Works of Christ, The Return of Christ.
• 38:49
  Just like this devil, he had all the same time, you can be damned
• 38:53
  to hell. You can have this very same fate
• 38:57
  as this demon. And what this demon soberly
• 39:02
  teaches us is that a precise perception of Jesus will not
• 39:06
  save you and it is not the thing that we measure somebody
• 39:09
  salvation off of what is needed is a humble submission to the
• 39:14
  truth of Jesus Christ. That makes all the difference.
• 39:19
  And so you have some people who have a knowledge of Christ but
• 39:24
  just like this, devil are headed towards destruction because they
• 39:28
  have never repented and believed they have not submitted to the
• 39:31
  lordship of Jesus Christ. There are some people who have
• 39:35
  phds and theology who will be damned for eternity.
• 39:40
  And this may make you feel very uncomfortable, but the Screech
• 39:43
  of Terror that pierced the atmosphere of that synagogue
• 39:47
  foreshadows the torment that this demon will face one day but
• 39:51
  also those who share his quality of faith.
• 39:58
  There will be some people who will be in Hell, who have
• 40:01
  amazing. Amazing ability to articulate
• 40:04
  Doctrine. Because that truth has not
• 40:07
  changed them and cause them to fall at their feet at the feet
• 40:11
  of Jesus and to repent they were never delivered.
• 40:15
  Demons have a knowledge of God and James uses that to explain
• 40:20
  if your faith does not have Works in Chapter 2, then you are
• 40:23
  no different than the demons themselves.
• 40:27
  Demons. Have you ever noticed and your
• 40:31
  wide range of scripture? When you consider cover-to-cover
• 40:34
  that, they tend to Peak in their manifestation during the
• 40:36
  ministry of Jesus Christ. You don't really see them much
• 40:40
  their kind of veiled in the Old Testament.
• 40:42
  You do see him in the book of Acts and you see him later in
• 40:45
  Revelation, but they were really at the feverish pitch during the
• 40:49
  life of Jesus. Have you ever wondered that?
• 40:52
  I'll tell you why? It's because when Jesus Christ
• 40:55
  came in the flesh, the presence of his Holiness and the
• 40:59
  overwhelming Authority, that he carried compelled, these demons
• 41:04
  to expose themselves, they could no longer remain hidden but Is
• 41:09
  that their enemies to before them and they knew how powerless
• 41:12
  they were before him. And so they shrieked out of pure
• 41:16
  Terror that he is here and just like a light switch goes off and
• 41:21
  all the Cockroaches come out. So it is when Jesus walked the
• 41:24
  Earth for those three years, all these demons they're just coming
• 41:26
  out and falling beforehand because they realized the Holy
• 41:30
  One Of God is here. Which brings us to our last
• 41:33
  point. Yes, demons are able to
• 41:36
  influence men. Demons are at war with the
• 41:39
  truth. Demons also have a knowledge of
• 41:43
  God, but demons are rendered powerless before Christ.
• 41:48
  No matter how vicious are terrifying, these beings, maybe
• 41:52
  no matter what they've done to people's lives, no matter how
• 41:54
  intimidating they might have been no matter what failed
• 41:57
  attempts to subdue them. Like the man in Mark chapter 5.
• 41:59
  What we see here is that they do not stand a chance before the
• 42:02
  Lord. There is no competition here.
• 42:05
  Get it out of your mind that we have God and Satan, and they're
• 42:08
  they're they're equal in their strengths.
• 42:12
  That that they have a tug of war with each other.
• 42:17
  That is not the case at all. One brief command from the lips
• 42:20
  of the Savior can send a horde of reluctant demons into
• 42:23
  whatever direction that he desires, one brief command.
• 42:28
  And what you see here in the life of Jesus, is clearly a
• 42:30
  sovereignty over Satan early on and his minions.
• 42:33
  But you have to understand that that sovereignty has remained
• 42:36
  and will remain Until the End of the Age.
• 42:39
  It is no different now and it will show itself in various ways
• 42:44
  and one of the ways in which we will even see it.
• 42:47
  We see it in the scripture. Is while Christ is in heaven.
• 42:51
  He still exercises, his sovereignty.
• 42:54
  Not just bringing about deliverance and people But these
• 42:58
  these demons who think that they can run rampant and do what they
• 43:01
  want to do Revelation shows us. That is not the case.
• 43:05
  I love it, I love it. Because you see during the
• 43:07
  tribulation period when the restraining force of God is
• 43:10
  removed and the Antichrist will want to do what he wants to do
• 43:14
  and feels like he has the most freedom than he ever had.
• 43:16
  And begins to bring about deception and destruction and
• 43:19
  false signs and wonders. And you see it's clear that this
• 43:23
  world will not see tribulation Like then, and that great part
• 43:27
  of that is because of the Demonic activity, that will be
• 43:29
  so obvious. What's amazing?
• 43:32
  Is that you'll have these demons doing something at one point and
• 43:35
  it's in Revelation 16, I want you to see this as we close in a
• 43:37
  moment, Revelation 16 and verse 13.
• 43:43
  Near the end of the Great Tribulation, as a return of
• 43:46
  Christ will only be moments away.
• 43:48
  Look what happens. Look what these evil spirits
• 43:51
  will do and consider how it ties into the truth of the supremacy
• 43:55
  of Jesus Christ and Revelation 16:13.
• 43:59
  And I saw John says coming out of the mouth of the dragon out
• 44:04
  of the mouth of the Beast. Out of the mouth of the false
• 44:08
  prophet. How many, how many results?
• 44:09
  What's the number there? Three?
• 44:12
  Right? You have the dragon Satan?
• 44:14
  You have the Beast, the Antichrist.
• 44:16
  You have the false prophet, right?
• 44:17
  Who will help the Antichrist? You know what that is?
• 44:19
  The Unholy Trinity. My Satan, so wants to be like
• 44:23
  God so wants to imitate God, Satan understands the nature of
• 44:26
  God that he is one but three and he wants to try to actually
• 44:29
  reflect that himself. See if the dragon you have the
• 44:33
  false prophet, you have the Beast and these evil spirits are
• 44:38
  coming out of their mouths. And look at verse 14 for they
• 44:41
  are demonic spirits performing signs.
• 44:45
  Now, look what they will do at this point in the tribulation,
• 44:47
  the Great Tribulation, who go abroad to the kings of the whole
• 44:50
  world too. Some of them for battle on the
• 44:53
  great day of God, the Almighty. These evil spirits who have the
• 44:59
  ability to perform false signs and wonders at one point will
• 45:03
  persuade the rulers of the nation's to collaborate in their
• 45:08
  efforts to join forces to come to that piece of real estate
• 45:12
  that has known trouble for centuries and thousands of
• 45:15
  years. In their pride and their
• 45:18
  foolishness to actually wage war against not one another.
• 45:22
  But God himself, they will be so impressed by these evil spirits.
• 45:28
  They will be so moved because of their own pride and their own
• 45:31
  openness and their own hatred of God that they will move together
• 45:35
  with all of their might and all of their military to park, in
• 45:40
  the park, in Israel, and a certain Valley.
• 45:43
  And to prepare to make war with God himself.
• 45:46
  And when you Capabilities, evil spirits.
• 45:49
  You can you can say that it is quite impressive to actually
• 45:52
  come up with this, kind of a concert to deceive so many
• 45:55
  people, and to bring it to the same place to line them up so
• 45:59
  that they can fight against God is quite the effort, quite the
• 46:03
  accomplishment. What's amazing, is that the
• 46:07
  prophet Zechariah who tells us of the same event, who describes
• 46:10
  the very same event, hundreds of years before gen, John penned,
• 46:14
  these prophecies tells us something quite interesting.
• 46:19
  Here's our last passage Zechariah 14 and the Old
• 46:21
  Testament. notice what the prophet says on behalf of the
• 46:26
  Lord of hosts, Zechariah 14, verse 1.
• 46:39
  Behold. A day is coming for the Lord.
• 46:44
  when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst
• 46:49
  verse 2, For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to
• 46:57
  battle. And the city shall be taken, in
• 47:01
  the house has plundered and the woman raped half of the city
• 47:04
  shall go out into Exile. But the rest of the people shall
• 47:07
  not be cut off from the city. Did you see it?
• 47:12
  Revelation, 16 tells us that it will be these demonic spirits,
• 47:16
  who will assemble the Nations and bring them to Jerusalem to
• 47:20
  fight against God Zechariah speaking on behalf of God says,
• 47:24
  in verse 2, I will gather I will gather all the nations against
• 47:31
  Jerusalem to battle. Who is it?
• 47:34
  Is it the demonic spirits? Or is it God who's leading this,
• 47:38
  who's in charge of this? Well, here's what you have while
• 47:41
  Satan thinks that he is in control over the nation.
• 47:43
  God is the one who is actually orchestrating these events.
• 47:48
  He is using their Rebellion to accomplish his ultimate Cause
• 47:52
  And while these demons Spirits, think that they are persuading,
• 47:55
  and they are leading to fulfill their purpose and their agenda,
• 47:59
  and their evil will got sits in the heavens and he laughs Psalm
• 48:03
  2 as he's Nations, come to rage against God.
• 48:07
  God has not taken by surprise. God is actually allowing an in
• 48:11
  his sovereignty allowing and orchestrating these nations to
• 48:14
  come not to hurt him. But for them to be judged, So
• 48:19
  Satan, as much as he displays power and destruction, is
• 48:24
  ultimately submitted to The Sovereign will of our God.
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  And this is what we see here. I will gather you go to
• 48:30
  Revelation. You see, the, you think these
• 48:32
  demonic spirits are doing anything?
• 48:33
  It's the charge of the Unholy Trinity know, the real Trinity's
• 48:36
  in charge. And they come now, to this point
• 48:40
  in the Rebellion only for God to accomplish his purpose.
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  Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Should we not be amazed because we come back to mark one and we
• 48:50
  conclude with verse 27 and they were all amazed So, that the
• 48:55
  question among themselves saying, what is this a new
• 48:57
  teaching with authority? He commands even the unclean
• 48:59
  spirits and they obey him. Yes, you should be amazed, I
• 49:03
  should be amazed at this one that we worship and love and
• 49:06
  adore. He'd not he does not just have
• 49:09
  sovereignty over Temptation, it does not just have sovereignty
• 49:13
  over things in this life. Even demons tremble.
• 49:19
  Even they obey even they cannot resist, even their ultimate plan
• 49:24
  to try to usurp the Throne of Jesus.
• 49:27
  The physical throne in Jerusalem, one day to initiate,
• 49:30
  the millennial Kingdom. Even they have to obey and you,
• 49:34
  and I have this King as our master, and as our Lord, there
• 49:38
  is nothing to fear. He is with us and he is for us,
• 49:41
  let us pray. Louis, thank you.
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  That we have just be held. Something of the majesty and the
• 49:59
  dominating power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Louis, thank you. That when you save us, you seal
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  us. And we thank You O Lord.
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  That your word. Has given us much more light and
• 50:17
  confidence that we are in the truth.
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  And we ask, oh, God. that if there's any confusion, That you
• 50:28
  would bring about deliverance from confusion.
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  And if there is any demonic influence, Temptation attack.
• 50:40
  That you would bring about Deliverance. and what we pray
• 50:45
  that as we move forward, that we would have discernment That we
• 50:49
  would realize that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.
• 50:54
  Help us realize that we are on The Winning Side.
• 50:58
  And that you will prevail. and that nothing can stand before
• 51:02
  you and that the end of all every knee will bow.
• 51:07
  Every knee in heaven on Earth, and under the Earth and every
• 51:12
  tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
• 51:15
  We choose to do, so we choose to do so now.
• 51:19
  Thank You O, Lord that we can receive truth and no truth and
• 51:23
  that truth can save us. But we think of these demons who
• 51:27
  know truth, but they cannot be saved.
• 51:28
  Thank you for your mercy, and your love and your forgiveness.
• 51:32
  Though. We worship you.
• 51:33
  The one who is Sovereign over all the seen realm in the Unseen
• 51:36
  Realm. You are Lord and not just Lord.
• 51:40
  You are the Lord of lords and you are the king of kings
• 51:43
  Blessed. Be Your Name, and Jesus name.
• 51:45
  We pray. Amen.
• 51:46
  Let's stand and worship together.