Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20230723 - 8 Ways The Devil Attacks You - Luke 22:31-32

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#20230723 - 8 Ways The Devil Attacks You - Luke 22:31-32 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Take your Bibles. Open them to Luke, Chapter 22.
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Luke, Chapter 22. It's one of the verses that
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we'll be using today, and I've entitled our Bible study.
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Eight ways The devil attacks you.
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That's great. Sunday morning fair, is it not?
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Eight Ways The devil attacks you as followers of Christ.
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We face difficulties that others do not.
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Yes, it's true that we all share common issues.
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We all experience the issues of life, believer and unbeliever.
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We all have bills to pay. We all have family dramas and
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difficulties at work, problems that come up, our own mistakes,
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other people's mistakes. We we have the we share in
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common with those that don't follow Christ all kinds of
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problems. However, for the believer,
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there's an added dimension of difficulty that's commonly
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referred to as spiritual warfare.
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A simple definition of spiritual warfare is that this is a real,
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continual battle in the spiritual realm for our
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progress, for our strength, and even sometimes for our literal
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sanity. Because things can get so bad
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and so hard that false teachers have risen up and created false
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teachings to try to address it. And one of them, like this
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battle can get so bad. There's a false teaching out
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there that says that believers can be possessed by demons.
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That's not true. In any way whatsoever, As a
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believer in Jesus Christ, you are 100% sealed, guarded,
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protected, and indwelt by God himself.
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Light and darkness cannot coexist, and I've been around
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the ministry for many years now, and you would think that false
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teachings would just fall off. They come in cycles.
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And so what's coming up again is this new thing of deliverance
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ministry. You need a deliverance ministry.
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You've got to help deliver believers.
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No, the one that's teaching that stuff needs to be delivered from
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their false teachings. Because I'll give you a
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scripture. It's very profound and it's
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simplicity. Very profound.
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If this was the only scripture, it would be enough.
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But let me share one nonetheless.
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First, John, chapter 4 in verse four says this.
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You are of God, little children. And over have overcome them
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because He that is in you is greater than He who is in the
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world. They're they're not only is this
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declaration of the power of God, but there's also a distinction
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between who is in you, where He is, and also He who is in the
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world and where He is. He's not in you, Not even 1%.
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Although believers are constantly oppressed by the
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enemy and harassed by the enemy and messed with by the enemy but
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never possessed, you belong to Jesus Christ.
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He purchased you with his own blood and indwells you now by
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the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we must remember
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that we live on a battlefield and not a playground.
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Lives and souls are at stake. If not literal lives, then the
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legacy that we live is at stake. The impact that we make is at
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stake. The progress of the gospel
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through our lives, the spreading of God's message of love and
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hope. They're all at stake, although
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sometimes physical lives are as well.
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Remember Jesus described the thief or the enemy or the devil.
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He's come except to kill, steal and destroy.
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And literally he will take anything you give him.
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He'll take any space that you leave for him.
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The Bible teaches us that we face daily a threefold enemy.
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You may be familiar with this. Our threefold enemy is the
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world, the flesh and the devil. The world, our culture, the
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atmosphere of our world. You could say that our world is
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Antichrist or anti God. And we are so caught up in the
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world, we breathe it in and out every day, that you may not
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realize that some of the things you believe are actually
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Antichrist because you pick them up in the world, you pick them
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up at church, you pick them up in your family, and they don't
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square with what the Bible has to say, what God has to say
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about himself, And it's simply because you live in the world.
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The world is Antichrist. Not just speaking about the
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individual Antichrist who is to come, but the phrase Antichrist
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anti God. Remember the prefix anti refers
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to two things. Number one is the obvious one
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against the culture is against Christ.
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Jesus described it as hating him, the cultures against
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Christ. If you don't believe me, just
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open your eyes. Just open your eyes and soak in
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what you see. Soak in the way the world
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operates, the media of this world, the thoughts of this
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world, the actions. It's just Antichrist against the
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things of God. But there's a second definition
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for the prefix anti, and that is in place of.
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There's always a substitute. This world has many substitutes
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to take away devotion and dedication to God.
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I mean, I think of 1 philosophical theory that is
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extremely popular today that completely replaces God that was
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invented in the world and that is humanistic evolution.
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Humanistic evolution has completely replaced God.
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It is a religion on and to itself in many people's minds
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and lives in our culture today. And the enemy just pressing and
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pressing You live in the culture.
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I live in the culture. We must live with our eyes wide
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open. Secondly, not only is the world
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against us, but our flesh. It's an enemy.
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Our flesh. Oh, not our physical bodies, not
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not our flesh and bones. But rather, when the Bible uses
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the Word flesh spiritually, it speaks of your old sinful habit
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patterns. And this is especially important
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for those of us that was saved later in life where we had many,
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many years of very bad, sinful habits that we developed it.
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It is that action that comes first and foremost when we're
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wrong or going through something that does not reflect the love
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of Jesus. That does not reflect his
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presence in our life. I I mean a simple illustration.
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You're you're driving down the road and someone cuts you off
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and you start cussing them out. Do you know that's not from God,
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right? You cussing them out.
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It's not from you guys with me. Hello.
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That's your flush. If you didn't cuss them out,
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when you wave to them with your one finger, that doesn't please
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God, you know, you go ahead. Do Christians cuss and flip
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people out? Unfortunately, yes.
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That's your flesh. And if you live in the flesh,
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then you tend to be angry, frustrated, high.
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You know all the all the different responses that take
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you away from effectiveness. You know your lack of faith.
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When a problem comes, when you just immediately lack faith,
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that's your flesh, and it can get hard and can get difficult.
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Or you can just live a life where you have to understand
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that when you're walking in the flesh, you're not pleasing God.
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That's an enemy. You want to learn to walk in the
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Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
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And then thirdly, the devil is an enemy.
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Satan. He's know, he's known as many
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different names in the scripture, but he's an enemy and
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he uses the world to provoke our flesh, keeping us in a perpetual
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state of compromise or worse, a perpetual state of disobedience.
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It affects our church. Not the church at large.
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Not every church in town, our church.
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Some of you are just in a perpetual state of compromise,
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of disobedience, of who knows? But you're not walking in the
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Spirit because you have fallen prey in the spiritual battle to
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the Wiles of the devil. You've bought into a lie of the
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world, or you somehow excused that it's okay to live in the
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flesh. And the church is weaker as a
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result. Your marriage is weaker as a
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result. Your family is vulnerable as a
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result. Your singleness is on edge as a
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result. The Devil.
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He's known many ways in the Bible.
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He's in Ephesians chapter 4. He's referred to as the Devil.
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In First John 519, he's known as the Evil 1.
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In Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse four, he's known as the
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God of this age. Jesus referred to a member in
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John chapter 8, verse 44 as the Father of all lies.
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The origin of all lies. Lies are birthed from the devil
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himself. In Revelation chapter 12 and
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verse 10, he's known as the accuser of the brethren.
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In Matthew chapter 4, he's known as.
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The tempter in a moment in Luke 22, he's going to Jesus is going
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to call him Satan. He's a real created being.
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And today in our Bible study, I want to teach you eight ways
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that the devil attacks you so you will be ready and prepared
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for battle, so you understand the situation around you.
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As I've been taught by my pastor, to be forewarned is to
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be forearmed. I want to both warn you and arm
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you about the spiritual battle that you are currently in.
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Notice with me in Luke chapter 22 in verse 31 Jesus speaks to
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Simon to Peter and he says this Luke 22 in verse 31 and the Lord
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said Simon Simon. Indeed, Satan has asked for you
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that he may sift you as wheat. But I've prayed for you that
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your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to
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me, strengthen your brethren. Jesus speaks the truth to Peter
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and says look, the devils ask for you and he wants to separate
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you from me. He wants to take you away.
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That's what sifting of wheat really is.
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The listeners of the day would totally understand this.
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They would take wheat, the top of it.
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They would beat it really, really hard.
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Separate the kernels from the husk, the wheat from the chaff,
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and have what's left very important.
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It was a refining process that was necessary to enjoy the
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wheat. Peter's being told with that
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very Hey, Satan's asked for you. He wants to beat you down and he
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wants to separate you. And I want you to notice.
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Jesus gives Peter a little insight that Satan's going to
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have some success. This is when you return.
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I don't know that it fully hit Peter, but there is success.
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The devil does get success among us, unfortunately, and Peter
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would know that Peter experienced it.
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We know the rest of his story. The sifting of wheat that
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happened with Peter started by his denial of his best friend
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and his savior three times. Which then kicked in all sorts
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of emotions and mind games and left him extremely vulnerable to
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the ploy and the wicked schemes of the devil.
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Satan's attempt to separate Peter's faithfulness from Jesus
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was temporarily successful. The Bible says in Ephesians
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chapter 6 and verse 12, But we do not wrestle against flesh and
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blood, but against principalities.
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And against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age,
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against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
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places. You're in a real battle, and
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you're wrestling against forces and powers of darkness where you
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need to put on the whole armor of God.
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And we'll get to some solutions and some responses next time,
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but you are in a battle. Even in our Psalm was we're
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reading Psalm 35 as a church today, you see David's dealing
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with people, dealing with people, dealing with people.
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And we too often think that that's our battle.
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It's always with somebody. You know, I I think of
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marriages, I think of husbands and wives, that they're treating
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each other like enemies. You're not enemies.
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There is a spiritual reality behind your relationship to get
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you to separate. And as soon as you open your
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eyes to that, victory begins. But until you keep taking it,
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taking things into your own hands, taking vengeance, trying
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to get back, trying to hurt, trying to prove your point, you
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never experienced the victory that's already yours by faith.
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Think about how many churches could be experienced healthiness
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if we would. Just remember that while there
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are and maybe issues among us, the real issue is not among us.
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It's the enemy trying to separate us.
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And trying to use our personalities and our foibles
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and our sinful mistakes against us.
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But he doesn't have to be successful in Second
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Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4 Bible describing the
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Antichrist who's to come. He's one who opposes and exalts
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himself above all that is called or that is called God or that is
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worship. So that he sits as God in the
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temple of God, showing himself that he is God the Antichrist at
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this time. That's being described here is
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in dwelt by the devil himself. So he is personifying this
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attribute of the devil where the devil opposes God and anything
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about God, which because you follow him, he opposes you.
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The devil has no friend. The world system is no friend.
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Your flush is no friend to the true believer.
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The devil lives to oppose the work of God and your life and
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mine. He'll take you as discouraged,
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as distracted, as defeated as he can get you to take you off
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track so that you will no longer be useful or usable in the hands
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of God. However, it is important to note
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that the Devil is not all powerful.
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The devil is not all powerful. He's not the opposite of God.
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He is a created being. Satan's power is limited by God,
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but God's power is unlimited. Now the devil does have more
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power than unregenerate man. Unregenerate man is no match for
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the devil, so much so that an unregenerate or unsaved man.
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An unregenerate or unsafe man can actually be possessed by the
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devil. Give permission to the devil to
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possess him. Let me just pause here and say,
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for clarity's sake, we are talking about the devil and our
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enemy. But the devil is singular.
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He can't be. Not only is he not all powerful,
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he can't be everywhere at once. So most likely, most of us, if
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not all of us, have never taken the devil head on.
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There are far more important people doing greater things for
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the Kingdom that the devil set his sights on.
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However, when the devil fell, he took a third of the angels with
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him. When he rebelled against God, he
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took a third of the angels with him.
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And that's where that's where we refer to as demons fallen
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rebellious angels. They are in the demonic realm.
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These principalities and powers are demons, and certainly we
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have faced demonic opposition all along the way.
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While Satan's power is limited and unregenerate, man is no
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match for the devil. Let me warn you, you are no
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match for the devil. In your own strength and in your
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own wisdom, he'll wipe you out. And you'll see people on TV
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yelling at the devil, dancing on the devil, stomping on the
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devil. Nonsense, nonsense.
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That's the two errors that we make when it concerns the
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demonic realm. One, they get all hyped up and
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it over exaggerated. That's an extreme.
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That's a mistake. And on the other end, the Church
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minimizes the demonic realm in the spiritual warfare.
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And that, equally too, is a mistake.
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While we are no match for the devil in our own strength, he is
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no match for the power of God in you.
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He is no match. Thus, as a child of God, you
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never need to fear the devil. You never need to back down from
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him or run away and cower in fear.
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You don't have to fear encountering him, because ours
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is the victory through Jesus Christ and you can trust God to
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protect you looking at the next eight things here.
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I'm reminded of this verse in Second Corinthians chapter 2 in
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verse 11. Less Satan should take advantage
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of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
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These are eight devices that the devil will use against you that
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I want you to know and not be ignorant of #1 #1.
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The devil attacks you relentlessly.
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The devil attacks relentlessly. We understand that.
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He never stops, and perhaps not the devil himself.
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With the demonic realm, it just never stops.
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Peter would put it this way from personal experience after he's
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been sifted that first time. After he's been sifted and he
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returns, he writes this. Be sober.
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This is first Peter 5/8 Be sober.
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Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the
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devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may
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devour. He's just always hungry and
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looking who he can wipe out. What a vivid picture, what it
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was. What does it look like in our
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lives? Well, you gained victory in the
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morning. You wake up, you got some weird
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thought. You wake up, you pray against
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it, you've got victory going downstairs.
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And before you even open up your cereal box, it's back.
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And it's constant. And then this reminds you of
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that. And then the kids do something
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and now you're mad. Then the phone rings, then your
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neighbor, then your boss. And you're like, oh man, you get
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victory in the morning, Devil's back at noon, and you get
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victory at noon. He's back at one.
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Then he reminds you about the morning.
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Then he says, what about noon? And it's just relentless.
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Or think about it this way. He tries to knock on the front
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door and you slam the door in his face.
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They go, okay, I'm done with him.
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He walks around the back of the house, tries to come in the back
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door. You run wide back and you slam
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the door there. And then he's trying to climb in
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the window and it's just like, leave me alone.
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Have you ever felt that way? Leave me alone.
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That's the relentless attack of the enemy, and you get tired of
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it all. He doesn't cease his attacks
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against the child of God. Always looking for an opening,
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always looking for some kind of daylight of compromise.
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Some daylight of faithlessness. Some daylight of our humanity,
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void of abiding in Christ that he can capitalize on.
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And you know why it gets so hard?
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Because we don't pay attention to the little things.
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We just brush them off like it's no big deal.
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Brush them off like it's no big deal.
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Little compromise here. Little look there.
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Little thought there. Little word there.
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No big deal. No big deal.
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I mean, even that illustration, as unique as it might be, I mean
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some of you, that that's just what you do.
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You just cuss people out. You just let it go.
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Let it go. Let it go.
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You think you. You really think like that's not
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going to be used by the enemy against you.
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I'll tell you one way it'll be used.
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You'll get right with the Lord, you say?
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I never want to do that again. I want to walk in the spirit.
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And then the enemy's just going to keep accusing you, you vile,
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wicked person. Look at your heart.
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Look at your mind. What did you just do?
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What did you do last week? You'll never be good enough.
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Attacks from the enemy. It's constant, continual,
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relentless. This is important to remember.
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This is important to remember. The territory that we take back
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from the enemy in the name of Jesus Christ must be held fast
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in the name of Jesus Christ. You can't let your guard down,
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says well, you don't have victory in 1955.
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No, no, no. You need victory now.
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Right now, in the moment. It's good that you had victory
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back then, but you got to hold on to it because that what you
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don't hold on to, he'll take back.
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He'll bring his friends with him, and Jesus spoke about that.
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And if you don't take care of business, he'll bring his
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friends back with him, and it'll be worse than it was To begin
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with. Satan only yields what he must
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and seeks to retake it all if we let up and let our guards out.
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Remember with Joshua, he was told to wipe out when he took
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the land. Wipe them all out.
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Don't leave any room in any space #2 #2 Not only does the
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devil attack you relentlessly, but secondly, he attacks you
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physically. Physically the devil can attack
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you physically. We learn this from our friend by
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the name of Job. Job was attacked physically by
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the devil. When God let his guard down from
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around Job, Satan began to attack him physically.
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Job chapter 2 verse 7. So Satan went out from the
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presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the
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soul of his foot to the crown of his head and he took for
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himself. Job did a pot shirt and began to
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scrape himself while he sat in the midst of ashes.
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There is a power within if God allows for the devil to attack
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us physically. Now the devil's not behind every
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physical issue. Don't misunderstand me, sin is
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behind every physical issue, our broken bodies.
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However, it is a tool he can use, and if it's not him
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bringing it upon us, he can use our physical weaknesses against
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us. I mean, just think about it.
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You're going strong, going strong, going strong.
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You get sick. You go into the hospital, you
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they do their test, comes back with a diagnosis.
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The diagnosis messes with your head.
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Even though the doctor say it's going to be okay, you're not
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sure. Now you're worried.
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Now you're confused. Like it can use physical things,
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but he can also bring it. Remember, in the New Covenant in
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the New Testament, Jesus attributes many but not all.
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Jesus attributes many but not all physical elements to demonic
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activity and to demonic power. There was that woman that was
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bent over, remember, for 18 years, and Jesus says so ought
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not this woman. This is Luke 13.
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So ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham who Satan
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has bound. Think of it for 18 years.
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Be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath.
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Satan can attack physically. Thirdly, the devil can attack
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you financially. Let me put it this way.
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Money is a big issue in spiritual warfare.
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Money is a bigger issue than the Church will allow it to be Like
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will admit that it is. Money is a big deal and the
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devil can attack you financially.
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He can do it one of two ways. He can do it by taking it away
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again. We learn that from Job.
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We learned that he took everything away from Job in a
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moment. All of his cattle, all of his
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sheep, all of his oxen. Job was stripped off of
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everything and ripped off by the devil.
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It says in Job one verse 20 Job a rose and tore his robe and
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shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
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And he said, naked. I came from my mother's womb,
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and naked shall I return there The Lord gave and the Lord is
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taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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And all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
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But remember, Joe passes the test.
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He's restored tenfold. And the devil was behind this as
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God allowed it so money can be used by the devil.
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Then you don't have any. Now you're starting to worry and
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you're don't know what you're going to do and you start to
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freak out and you have all anxiety and you have things
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taken away. But also, Devil can use money
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when you have too much or you have more than you need and you
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begin not to trust in God anymore.
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But you trust in your money and you're not looking to him
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anymore, not pressing into him. And money's just a big issue.
25:50
I wonder how many of you are making money decisions right now
25:54
instead of spiritual decisions. Because it's that big a deal.
25:57
It's got your eyes off of the Lord, It's got your eyes away
26:01
from faith. And it wasn't even your fault.
26:04
It's just the way it is. I wonder how many marriages are
26:06
arguing right now because of money.
26:09
It's like I save, I spend, I save.
26:11
You spend too much. What are you doing?
26:14
How about this? The church is weaker than it
26:18
really can. It's weaker than it really needs
26:21
to be. So are you, some of you
26:23
listening to me right now because of money?
26:26
And I'll tell you why. You're disobedient and you're
26:28
giving of ties and offerings. You don't think that's going to
26:31
have an effect on your life and your effectiveness?
26:34
You don't think that's going to be an open door for the enemy to
26:37
distract you and take you out because you're not faithful with
26:40
the resources that God has given to you.
26:43
You're not even giving him the first fruits.
26:44
You're not even thinking about him when it comes to money.
26:46
Money is so much a part of our lives.
26:49
It's such a necessity to live that if you don't learn to honor
26:53
him first, you won't honor him at all.
26:55
You can't live a dual life. And the devil loves to exploit
26:58
that. Number four, the devil.
27:02
And now this is kind of an umbrella.
27:04
The devil attacks your mind. Isn't that the truth?
27:08
The devil? Can I get an Amen on that?
27:10
Hello. The devil attacks your mind.
27:13
This is the battleground right here.
27:16
The battleground for our lives is our minds.
27:19
What will we believe? That's the battle.
27:24
That's it. What will you choose to believe?
27:30
Will it be God's truth or a lie? That's that.
27:35
There's only two options. I know there's a lot of
27:38
subcategories, I know there's a lot of stuff going on.
27:41
But the bottom line is this. Will you believe God's truth?
27:46
Or will you believe any sort of lies that are thrown at you by
27:52
the world, by the devil, by your flesh?
27:56
Isaiah chapter 26 and verse three says you will keep him in
28:00
perfect peace whose mind has stayed on you because he trusts
28:05
in you. This is a promise of God.
28:08
When your mind has stayed on him, you live in a perfect
28:14
peace. The devil loves to disrupt this
28:17
peace. By attacking our minds, how we
28:21
think, what we think about God, you'll start having thoughts
28:25
like they just come out of nowhere.
28:27
It's not fair, Lord, or that God doesn't care, or that God has
28:32
abandoned me or he doesn't care about believers.
28:34
If he cared, he would. And if he loved me, he would.
28:38
The devil loves to inspire doubts about the faithfulness of
28:42
God, or anxieties and worries that God won't take care of you,
28:45
or even take care of your kids. He'll he'll inspire beliefs that
28:49
overwhelm you and take you away from a place of faith.
28:55
It's a barrage, if you will. He doesn't do it from the
28:59
inside. He doesn't.
29:01
He's not in your mind messing with your brain.
29:04
He does it from the outside, and so often he just kickstarts the
29:08
process and you take it from there.
29:11
He just starts to throw this seat of doubt this through.
29:13
Look at the situation. Just look at the situation and
29:17
the situation is what it is. And any logical person would
29:19
look at the situation and go, of course this is horrible, this is
29:23
horrific. We'll never survive.
29:24
We'll never get out of this. But that's what the eyes, that's
29:27
what the eyes of the world, that's with your own personal
29:29
eyes. That's your logic.
29:31
God can make a way where there is no way God can do things and
29:35
has resources at his disposal that you do not have access to.
29:38
Personally. You need him.
29:41
You need to see. We need to learn to see things
29:44
and to believe God's truth by the lens of faith.
29:48
Just like I've showed you when I put my when I take my glasses
29:51
off, I can't see you. I mean, you're here, but I can't
29:54
see you. But when I put my glasses on,
29:57
things become very clear. When I see you through the lens
30:00
of my glasses, you become very clear.
30:03
And when you put on the glasses of faith, things become very
30:07
clear because you trust God with the situation.
30:10
Even here in Isaiah 26, this is a promise.
30:13
He'll keep you in perfect peace if you your mind stayed on him.
30:17
And he wouldn't want to rip you off from that.
30:19
He would rip you off from. Oh, no, no, no.
30:23
You don't understand, Pastor. I don't have any peace in my
30:25
life. I don't have any peace.
30:26
I don't know right, right now. And not resistance you have
30:29
right now. You don't want peace because God
30:31
promised you peace if you look to him.
30:34
Well, you know, pastor, I've had because like in a time like
30:37
this, you have this opportunity to really hear from the Lord.
30:40
You're in a more place of peace now than you are in any other
30:43
time because you have dedicated yourself to seeking the Lord.
30:46
And He honors His word. You're thinking about him.
30:48
He's giving you a piece until I bring it up.
30:50
And now you got to think about it again.
30:52
But he's giving you a piece. He's going to take care of it.
30:54
You can trust him. He's got you through.
30:56
He's brought you this far. He's not going to dump you over
30:59
and over and over again. You can think of peace.
31:01
The the problem is is that the lack of peace is your choice not
31:06
to believe his promise. You believe a lie.
31:09
This is the end of me. This will never end.
31:11
This never will. And we start exaggerating things
31:14
and and we do it to ourself. And if the devil can get us to
31:17
believe a lie, we'll live that lie in rebellion and compromise
31:21
against the loving God. It's just always, constantly
31:24
dealing with your mind so that you won't believe him.
31:29
That's why church It's so important that you know the
31:32
truth of God, why you must read your Bible.
31:37
This is where he reveals his truth.
31:39
You know that the Bible is more important than sermons, and the
31:43
Bible is more important than music.
31:46
The Bible is the most important book in your life, and you need
31:51
to know it. The church is weak today not
31:56
because all the reasons people think, It's just because they're
31:59
not in the word of God where you learn about his character and
32:03
his nature. You look how he's come through
32:05
for people in situations harder than yours.
32:09
I mean, there's some heavy duty stuff that God showed himself
32:13
faithful. Why?
32:14
So we would be encouraged in what we're facing and what we're
32:19
going through. Which leads us to #5.
32:23
Not only does the devil attack the mind, but these go together.
32:26
He also attacks your emotions. This is a heavy duty one right
32:32
here, especially for those of you that would say that you are
32:36
in a more an emotional person. You live more on the emotional
32:40
realm. This is a big part of the
32:43
spiritual attack in your life. Because our emotions are real
32:48
and they're powerful. They move us.
32:51
The enemy loves to stir up feelings of distrust, fear,
32:57
anxiety that are designed to undermine your faith, your faith
33:02
in God and your faith in His Word.
33:04
And if you're not in the word regularly, then what's real,
33:07
what little is left in you, is just wiped away because of your
33:11
feelings, because you feel it. You you can listen to yourself
33:14
if you're always talking about what you feel.
33:17
That's how you've been living your life.
33:18
You're just more in tune with your feelings.
33:20
It's not good or bad. It's just the facts.
33:23
And I just feel this and I just feel that.
33:25
And I just feel you need to be careful because the enemy would
33:28
love to exploit your feelings. Here's why.
33:32
Our feelings are real. You can't talk someone out of
33:37
what they're feeling, that they're feeling strong.
33:40
They're feeling sad, they're feeling happy.
33:43
They're they're they're strong feelings.
33:46
The problem is, is that our strong, real feelings don't
33:50
always tell us the truth about the present situation.
33:55
I'll give you a great example. I'm.
33:57
I'm always shocked still to this day when when I go into a movie
34:01
theater and I watch a movie, a cartoon, a cartoon, as I'm
34:08
watching the movie and it's coming to the end and a cartoon
34:11
character starts to make me cry, I'm crying in a movie.
34:17
It's fake. It is not real.
34:20
It's been carefully crafted by professionals that know how to
34:24
put movies together. But a cartoon ad, Are you
34:28
serious? And I've just got so caught up
34:31
in the story. I remember, I remember the Toy
34:35
Story cartoon when Andy leaves house for college.
34:41
You guys remember that one? You have to watch it now.
34:43
I'm not a big movie recommended, but he goes off to college at
34:47
the same time. My oldest son, Eddie was going
34:49
off to college. And I'm just like, Oh my God, Oh
34:51
my God, I can't believe it. Poor Andy, poor mom.
34:55
I can't believe my own son is. It's a cartoon.
35:02
But those are real emotions. If you came and looked at my
35:04
cheek, you, you'd see there were tears there.
35:07
They were real emotions, but they weren't telling me the
35:09
truth. The truth was I was watching a
35:12
cartoon, a craft, a crafted cartoon that was telling me a
35:17
story, but the my emotions were not telling me the truth.
35:22
Literally, in that moment, there was nothing to be sad about.
35:28
The devil loves to exploit that and get you caught up in your
35:31
emotions because it's hard to tell when you're getting hit in
35:34
your mind, your emotions. It's hard to tell which ones are
35:36
right or wrong. It's hard to tell what I mean.
35:40
What am I even feeling? Why am I feeling this way?
35:45
The importance of being in the word will tether you to the
35:50
steadfastness of God. In Romans chapter 10 and verse
35:54
17, it says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
35:57
of God. The Bible says in First
36:01
Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13.
36:04
For this reason we also thank God without ceasing.
36:07
Because when you receive the Word of God which you heard from
36:10
us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in
36:14
truth the Word of God, which also effectively works in you
36:18
who believe fears and anxieties and emotions have a tendency to
36:25
focus our attention on the problem.
36:28
And haven't you noticed by now? The more you look at the
36:31
problem, the bigger it gets. It's just out of control and
36:37
blinds us from the resources that God has and then anxiety
36:43
and worry. They create problems that never
36:44
even happen. We can take one little thing and
36:47
make it so big and the one little thing didn't even happen
36:51
besides the big thing that we're caught up in our minds because
36:56
the enemy is exploiting these real life human issues as we
37:00
separate ourself, as we've been sifted away from God, away from
37:05
that tether that He's given us, abiding in Christ.
37:11
Emotions like discouragement, hopelessness, worry, defeat.
37:19
Emotions like depression, sorrow, sadness, even suicidal
37:26
thoughts, new emotions now and and whether it's mind or
37:31
emotions of I don't know what identity I am or what gender I
37:34
am and I'm going to try different things to find
37:37
fulfillment. It's all a part of the spiritual
37:40
warfare. It's all coming from the pit of
37:43
hell and the only way to have security and safety is to trust
37:50
in the Lord. I think of suicidal thoughts.
37:53
Those did not come from God. It's a moment in time where
37:57
you're hopeless, the situation is overwhelming, and you're
38:01
beginning to. Now your emotions are stirring
38:03
up false thoughts. And I know I'm speaking to
38:06
someone now. The way you're just thinking,
38:08
it'll be better if I go. The world will be better without
38:10
me. I won't be such a problem to my
38:12
family anymore. And on and on the list goes.
38:14
I can't take it anymore. I can't live this way anymore,
38:17
and it'd be better if I was just not here.
38:20
That's a lie. It's not true.
38:24
And I'm. I'm asking you and even begging
38:26
you not to make a, not to make a permanent decision for some
38:31
temporary problems. Because they are just temporary.
38:35
Things will get better. Things will clear up.
38:41
The Lord is with you. He's ready to save you and
38:44
rescue you. Things will not be better
38:46
without you. Families will be hurt the rest
38:50
of their lives. They'll doubt.
38:52
It'll be another layer of spiritual warfare where they
38:54
wonder, what could I have done? And I didn't know.
38:56
And it's not the right solution. And suicidal thoughts come from
39:02
the emotion and the mind and the circumstances, and it's just not
39:06
from the Lord. Which brings us to the third to
39:09
number six. They kind of go together in
39:11
these the devil attacks with confusion, confusion, confusion
39:18
and uncertainty or tools that the devil often uses to keep us
39:22
off balance, and often in retreat.
39:26
In First Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 33, it says God is not
39:29
the author of confusion but of peace.
39:32
As in all the churches of the Saints, when you don't know what
39:35
to do, the devil loves to keep you in a perpetual state of
39:39
confusion and inactivity. This is something I'm always
39:42
listening for when I'm sitting down to biblically disciple
39:45
someone and we're talking about it, talking about it.
39:47
And then they'll say something like, but I'm so confused, I'll
39:50
stop them right there and say what are you confused about?
39:53
Because that's the root of the issue.
39:55
That confusion did not come from God.
39:59
And because you're confused, it is affected every part of your
40:02
life. Confusion.
40:03
I I hear this a lot lately. It's.
40:06
I'm confused, Pastor. I don't know where I'm supposed
40:08
to live. I I I think I should go to
40:10
Montana. I think God's calling me to
40:12
Montana. I just don't know.
40:13
I'm so confused. I don't know.
40:14
And I can't do anything anymore. What do you say, Pastor?
40:17
This is what I say. What's your address?
40:19
Well, 123 Main St. Well, then go home.
40:22
That's where you live. It's not so confusing.
40:26
Where am I supposed to be? 123 Main St.
40:28
That's where you live. No.
40:30
No, Pastor. No, You don't understand.
40:31
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to go to Montana.
40:33
No, I understand. You think you should go to
40:35
Montana. Well, I think so.
40:36
I'm so confused. Move to Montana.
40:38
Tell us how it goes. It's a step of faith.
40:42
Why are you so confused? Until Montana, you live at 123
40:46
Main St. Stop being so confused.
40:49
You know where you live. You know where you live.
40:53
You know where you belong. Look, you're not going to go
40:55
home today to 125 Main St. They'll arrest you.
41:01
That's not your house. You're not confused about that.
41:04
And you can see how the enemy will take something where we
41:06
aren't quite sure. And we're trying to discern the
41:09
will of God. And it could be God's will for
41:11
you to be in Montana. But why are you worried about
41:14
tomorrow? Jesus said not to worry about
41:17
tomorrow. You know where you live, so
41:20
there's no need to be confused now.
41:22
Concerned. Are you wanting to discern the
41:25
will of God? That's a different thing.
41:27
But you can see that through through a decision that would be
41:30
a beautiful, wonderful step of faith.
41:32
To stay or to go. You've allowed the enemy to
41:35
confuse you. It's not that hard.
41:38
You think you should live in Montana, rent a Uhaul, goodbye,
41:44
and stay in touch with us because you'll get there and go.
41:46
No, I don't think I'm so confused.
41:48
I don't think I should be in Montana, Come back.
41:53
I know I'm taking very complex situations and we're reducing
41:58
something where we can laugh. But it's a it is a it is a seed
42:02
of faith being planted in your heart right now.
42:04
You don't have to be so confused the rest of your life.
42:07
It is not that complicated as you deal with today, like the
42:12
real root of that little scenario where you should move
42:14
or not. Whatever is just this.
42:16
Jesus said don't worry about tomorrow.
42:17
That's what the Bible says. If you can learn how not to
42:21
worry about tomorrow, you won't be confused today.
42:24
Confusion is not from the enemy. Excuse me, not from the Lord,
42:27
but it is from the enemy. And you'll know what what
42:32
happens in confusion is. Then the devil starts to
42:34
pressure you to make decisions that you're not making by faith.
42:38
And that which is not by faith doesn't please the Lord.
42:41
It's just so you just constantly attacking us, number 7 and we're
42:46
almost done here. For before our time of
42:48
communion, the devil likes to attack you spiritually.
42:52
What I mean by that is you relate to God in the Spirit.
42:56
You are spiritually connected to God, so he's always trying to
42:58
sever that tie. He attacks you spiritually using
43:02
the realm of lies, emotions, mind games, confusion.
43:07
The enemy of our souls will tell us that God doesn't really love
43:10
us anymore. Or like he did in the garden,
43:12
has God indeed said he doesn't love you?
43:16
Grace isn't real. The word has failed us and and
43:19
like the Psalma says, truly God is good to Israel.
43:23
Psalm 73 to such as pure and heart.
43:26
But As for me, my feet had almost stumbled.
43:30
My steps had nearly slipped. Even the Psalmas is dealing with
43:35
like I know God is good, but I almost fell hard because of his
43:42
Sir. He had his hand, you know.
43:43
In this case we know what happened.
43:45
He was looking at people that were prospering but hating God
43:48
and it jacked with his head and he knows God is good.
43:52
But as he started comparing and discontent men and seeing how
43:55
bad the world is, he's like my feet almost stumbled until you
43:59
read the rest of the song. I went into the sanctuary of the
44:01
Lord till I got my eyes back on the Lord.
44:03
Now I understand. So he loves to attack us
44:06
spiritually. So we doubt God.
44:08
We blame God, We challenge God, We blame God for things that
44:12
he's never the author of. And if you can understand, if
44:15
you're disconnected from the Bible, then you're going to make
44:17
up some really bad things about God.
44:20
I'm sure you have friends like that.
44:22
They've got beliefs about God that are not true.
44:26
The person that's breathing and living by the very life that God
44:29
gave them. Imagine how bad it is for
44:32
believers and drop by the Holy Spirit.
44:35
You've been grieving the Holy Spirit, you, you, you've been
44:37
neglecting your spiritual life. So of course the enemy's going
44:40
to go after that. Which leads us to #8.
44:45
And I didn't really have a word to describe it.
44:48
So I said the devil attacks wildly, or as one brother
44:53
suggested to me, after for service, he goes on a blitz
44:57
against you. And isn't that true?
45:00
He doesn't just attack in one area, he'll hit you here or hit
45:03
you there. He's relentless and wild.
45:06
I was thinking of some illustrations like he's a carpet
45:09
bomber. He just goes and dumps
45:11
everything on you at once to see if he can wipe you out.
45:14
Or you could say that the devil has a scorched earth policy
45:18
where he's just going to take it all out and take as much as you
45:21
will give him as much as you'll give him, he'll take it as much
45:26
as you yield to him. It's easy and common to be
45:31
completely overwhelmed by the attacks of the enemy.
45:34
We're down physically so not feeling good to begin with.
45:38
Then he starts throwing thoughts on our our heads.
45:40
Then we start feeling things and then we're weakened in our faith
45:44
and then we're mad at our somebody that we love.
45:46
And then we're fearful because of a a what doctors have said
45:50
and Anna, I mean it's just like when is it going to end?
45:53
And that's a great question. When is it going to end.
45:56
And I have to tell you the truth, as a pastor, never on
46:01
this side of eternity, the deliverance that truly is yours
46:05
in Christ is when you shed this earthly body and you're forever
46:08
with the Lord. Until then.
46:11
There's a battle, and there's a fight for your spiritual
46:13
progress, for your spiritual growth.
46:17
We're down, beat up and to the left and to the right, up and
46:21
down, which is where we're reminded today of the
46:25
faithfulness of God and His power in our lives.
46:28
You are not helpless, church. We're looking at all these
46:31
tactics going, whoa, whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
46:35
OK, just do one big whoa at the power of God.
46:39
Listen to this verse in Isaiah 59, verse 19, it says.
46:42
So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the West and his
46:45
glory from the rising of the sun.
46:47
When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord
46:51
will lift up a standard against him.
46:54
He is not going to be victorious.
46:56
He's not going to get the victory.
46:58
And it's good to know in those times when I am weak, when I'm
47:01
lacking in faith, when I'm under the severe attacks of the enemy,
47:04
which I have been many, many times in my life, it's good to
47:08
know that my God will come in and raise up a standard of
47:11
protection and defend me in my battles.
47:14
And if you feel like you're trapped, like there's no way
47:17
out, remember the children of Israel.
47:19
God makes a way where there is no way.
47:21
You need to learn to look to him, trust him.
47:26
And this is where we'll leave you.
47:27
This will be the beginning of our study next time in Romans
47:30
chapter 8, verse 37. Yet in all these things, we are
47:35
more than conquerors through him who loved us, and that's
47:40
important to know. There is a battle going on, but
47:43
you always fight from a place of victory.
47:45
You don't fight to victory. You fight from victory because
47:49
Jesus Christ has paid the price. He has risen from the dead, and
47:54
he is the eternal king of kings and the Lord of Lords.
47:58
And you can trust him with your life.
48:00
Amen. So, Father, thank you for your
48:02
word as we come to the communion table.
48:05
It's fitting that you remind us and tell us to be reminded of
48:12
your broken body and your shed blood that we forget.
48:16
I wonder. I don't wonder.
48:18
I mean, I just, I guess I do wonder.
48:20
God in the room today and those connected, Just how many
48:22
defeated difficult situations are here that we're all caught
48:27
up in it and it feels real and it looks real but actually isn't
48:34
like that cartoon. Cry my heart out for a cartoon,
48:38
for goodness sake. It's not real.
48:42
And would you just give us clarity right now, God, of the
48:44
things that aren't real? Would you give us clarity of the
48:47
things that are beating us down? Would you give us clarity of
48:49
your victory and your strength, where everybody was all beat up
48:53
back then when you were buried? And I think of those guys on the
48:56
road to Emmaus, what they saw and what they thought had a
49:00
little bit of the truth. But their conclusions were so
49:02
wrong, even with Jesus talking to them, they were still beat up
49:05
and bummed out. They needed a clarity of mine
49:08
and they needed the truth. And so do we.
49:10
God and I just pray truth over our church today.
49:13
I pray health. I pray strength.
49:16
I pray hope. I pray for those in the midst of
49:19
massive family drama. That God, you would just
49:22
establish them and help them. They're going to be the strong
49:25
one now. They're going to be the one that
49:27
speaks truth in the situations. They don't have to be beat down
49:30
by it. They don't have to be.
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They might have been lived that way their whole life.
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They don't have to live that way anymore.
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In Christ there are new creation.
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All things have passed away and they can take authority in their
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family and they can take authority over the situation and
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they can abide in you, God, and walk in victory.
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And I think of the depression and the discouragement and the
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grief, especially as we think of our brother Avant and we're it's
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bittersweet. We pray for our brother Scott
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whose wife just passed away across town.
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Pastor Scott and I think of so many more that so many stories
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in this room of bittersweetness, pain and sorrow.
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It's real and yet it's also exploited.
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So help us, Lord, We just cast our cares upon you.
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We cast ourselves upon you. You will lead us and guide us
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and comfort us and strengthen us and give us perfect peace as our
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mind is state on you. In Jesus name.
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Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
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Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you Worship Jesus this week.