Sharper Focus, A

Angels

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Dinzey

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Series Code: ASHF

Program Code: ASHF000164A


00:20 Hello and welcome to A Sharper Focus.
00:23 We welcome you to this Bible study
00:26 that we hope you will join us
00:28 with your Bible open or with your device
00:31 to follow along as we study God's Word together.
00:34 We are in the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:37 also known as the 3ABN Worship Center
00:40 located in Thompsonville, Illinois,
00:43 Route 149, West Frankfort,
00:44 just as you get near to Thompsonville, Illinois.
00:47 And you're welcome to join us every Wednesday at 7:00pm
00:51 here in the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:55 Normally, it's a Bible study,
00:57 and we encourage you to follow along.
01:00 And Pastor Lomacang was not able to be here.
01:03 And the study that he is on will continue
01:07 the next time he is available.
01:09 But we want to ask you to join us now for prayer
01:12 because we're gonna study a topic
01:14 that is worthy of our attention
01:16 due to the fact that we are living in times
01:18 when there's evil everywhere
01:20 and we want to see
01:21 what the Bible says concerning this.
01:23 So let's go to the Lord in prayer.
01:26 Our loving heavenly Father, we come to You in Jesus' name.
01:30 And we pray that You will bless us as we study together.
01:34 Those of us that are present and those that are joining
01:37 wherever they may be in the world, be it by radio,
01:40 television, internet,
01:42 or whatever means they have available to view, listen,
01:46 and watch this program.
01:48 We ask You, Father, to bless us as we study,
01:50 bless me with Your Holy Spirit.
01:51 I lay myself aside and ask that You will speak to Your children
01:55 that every word will come from Your throne of grace.
01:57 And we pray that in all things Your name will be glorified
02:00 and we will be drawn to Christ in Jesus' name.
02:03 Amen, amen.
02:05 Well, today's study takes us into the world of the unseen
02:10 if I may say it that way.
02:12 The Bible talks about angels
02:14 and it mentions good angels and bad angels,
02:17 and we're going to look into this
02:20 because there are people that do not believe in angels
02:23 and there are people that worship angels,
02:25 should angels be worshipped.
02:26 The Bible does not say that angels should be worshipped.
02:29 In fact, angels say you should worship God.
02:32 And so we want to study this because there are people
02:36 that do not believe there is a real devil
02:38 and that there are devils
02:39 going around causing trouble in this world.
02:42 And there are, there are devils.
02:45 But let's look into the Bible
02:46 to see what it says about angels.
02:48 We're not going to do a deep study
02:50 into as far as what kind of angels,
02:54 we're just going to talk about
02:55 the good angels and the bad angels
02:57 because our focus is to reveal
02:59 what the Bible says concerning the evil angels
03:01 and the work that they are doing.
03:03 We will begin our study with Psalms 103, Psalms 103.
03:09 And we are going to look at verses 20 and 21 to begin with.
03:14 Psalms 103:20, 21,
03:17 and this is what the Bible says.
03:21 "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength,
03:26 that do His commandments,
03:28 hearkening unto the voice of His word.
03:30 Bless ye the Lord, all ye His hosts,
03:33 ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure."
03:37 This is a wonderful passage in the Bible
03:39 because it lets us know that even the angels
03:42 obey God's commandments.
03:44 You see, God wants us to obey His commandments
03:47 because we love Him.
03:49 And this is why Jesus says in John 14:15,
03:52 "If you love me, keep my commandments."
03:55 And you see the angels themselves,
03:57 they live by the great principles
04:00 established by God in Matthew 22
04:03 that we are to love the Lord with all of our heart,
04:05 with all of our soul, with all of our mind,
04:07 and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.
04:11 Let's look into another passage
04:12 that helps us understand a little bit about the angels
04:15 and when, whether or not they existed
04:19 before people were created.
04:22 For this we go to Job 38:4-7,
04:27 Job 38:4-7.
04:32 Here we go.
04:34 And here are some questions that God had for Job.
04:37 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
04:42 Tell me, if you have understanding.
04:44 Who determined the measurements?
04:46 Surely you know!
04:48 Or who stretched the line upon it?
04:52 To what were its foundation fastened?
04:54 Or who laid its cornerstone,
04:57 when the morning stars sang together,
05:01 and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
05:05 These morning stars that are mentioned here
05:08 are angels is what we understand.
05:11 And it says here that they shouted for joy
05:15 and sang praises to God
05:17 when the foundation of the earth was laid.
05:21 In other words, they existed before the earth was created.
05:26 The Bible doesn't tell us when the angels were created
05:30 but we know they existed
05:31 before the people on this earth.
05:35 But now we go into a scripture
05:39 that helps us understand a little bit
05:42 about the difference between human beings and angels.
05:47 For this we go to the book of Hebrews 2,
05:51 the book of Hebrews 2.
05:52 And this actually you can find almost identical words
05:57 in the book of Psalms 8, but we're going to Hebrews 2.
06:02 Hebrews 2, and we're going to read verses 6 and 7.
06:08 Here we go.
06:09 It says, "But one testified in a certain place, saying,
06:17 'What is man that You are mindful of him,
06:20 or the son of man that You take care of him?
06:24 You have made him a little lower than the angels,
06:28 you have crowned him with glory and honor,
06:30 and set him over the works of Your hands."
06:33 You may also find something similar in Psalms 8:4 and 5.
06:37 So here it says that God made us men and women
06:42 a little lower than the angels.
06:45 When it says a little lower than the angels,
06:47 it's talking about intellectual capacity,
06:50 strength, and ability.
06:52 For us, at this moment in time,
06:54 because of sin entering into the world,
06:57 our eyes cannot see the angels
06:59 unless God allows them to reveal themselves to us.
07:04 For now, you may be there
07:06 and angels will be guarding you,
07:09 and you will not see them.
07:11 And so these angels,
07:13 the Bible says that they excel in strength,
07:15 and Bible says that they are made higher than us.
07:18 And so for this reason,
07:20 we need to be respectful of the one
07:23 that the Bible says Lucifer who was wise,
07:27 very wise among the angels and is very deceptive.
07:31 So let's look into now what happened eventually.
07:36 We're not going to dwell too much
07:38 as far as the how Lucifer became Satan.
07:42 But let's go to Revelation 12:7 and 9
07:45 that reveals that Lucifer
07:47 eventually rebelled against God.
07:50 In Revelation 12,
07:52 we're going to begin reading in verse 7.
07:55 Revelation 12:7, if you found this say, amen.
07:58 Amen. Amen.
07:59 "And there was war in heaven," actually I'm reading, yes,
08:04 verse 7.
08:06 "And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought
08:08 against the dragon,
08:10 and the dragon fought and his angels."
08:12 And the Bible says, "And prevailed not
08:15 neither was there place found any more in heaven."
08:19 So what happened here is that these angels
08:24 that rebelled against God, it says here,
08:27 they did not prevail, they were not victorious.
08:30 Because of this, they were cast out.
08:34 And not only were they cast out,
08:35 but they could not go back to their place.
08:37 Their place was not found anymore in heaven.
08:40 Now look at verse 9, "And the dragon was cast out,
08:43 that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan,
08:48 which deceiveth the whole world,
08:50 he was cast out into the earth,
08:52 and his angels were cast out with him."
08:55 And so eventually after Adam and Eve sinned,
08:57 this was their home.
09:00 We don't have time to explain that
09:02 but eventually after Adam and Eve sinned,
09:05 this place became their home.
09:06 So we understand from the scriptures
09:09 that Satan and his angels are here
09:12 and they have been here since Adam and Eve sinned.
09:15 So what are we to do?
09:17 What do they look like?
09:18 The Bible doesn't describe their physical appearance,
09:23 but some people have taken to task
09:25 to paint pictures of the devil.
09:27 And I'm sure you've seen these pictures of the devil
09:30 that he's red with horns
09:31 and some paint them with a little gold teeth,
09:34 and different place,
09:36 and that he has a tail with a little arrow
09:38 looking point at the end.
09:41 Does the devil look like that?
09:43 Remember that he was a fallen angel,
09:46 he's a fallen angel,
09:48 therefore he does not look like the animal
09:50 they paint him to be.
09:53 And I would say to you that the Bible reveals,
09:56 and we'll see that in a moment,
09:57 that he's able to transform himself into an angel of light.
10:01 In other words, he's able to take the appearance
10:05 somewhat like he was before.
10:08 He has lost some of that light,
10:09 you see, he's not near God anymore,
10:12 so the glory that he once had is no longer with him.
10:17 But let's look to see
10:19 what happened here in Revelation 12,
10:23 we continue with verse 10.
10:24 The Bible says, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
10:27 Now is come salvation, and strength,
10:29 and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ,
10:33 for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
10:37 which accused them before our God day and night.
10:41 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb
10:43 and by the word of their testimony,
10:45 and they loved not their lives unto the death.
10:48 Therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them.
10:51 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth
10:54 and of the sea for the devil is come down
10:58 unto you having great wrath
11:00 because he knows that he has but a short time."
11:04 So we have here in this passage of scripture
11:08 rejoicing in heaven
11:09 because that devil was cast out and cast down to the earth.
11:13 However, there is a warning for us,
11:16 it says, woe to the inhabiters or in other words,
11:19 the inhabitants of the earth.
11:21 Why?
11:22 Because the devil is extremely happy
11:24 and he wants to make you happy.
11:25 No, it says that he has, what kind of wrath?
11:28 Great wrath. He's extremely angry.
11:31 Why is he angry?
11:33 Because he knows he has a short time.
11:34 A short time for what?
11:37 A short time to reveal who he is,
11:40 to reveal what kind of kingdom he would have upon this world
11:45 and to do the work that he believes
11:49 he should do as the devil.
11:50 What kind of work does he do as the devil?
11:53 Well, it says he's very angry
11:54 so that means he's not gonna treat you well.
11:56 Do you know anyone
11:58 that has been angry and treated you well?
12:00 You probably don't.
12:01 They either yell at you or hurt you in some way.
12:05 And so the devil has great wrath
12:08 and he's out to kill, to steal, and to destroy.
12:14 I would like to talk a little bit about the angels
12:17 and then the amount of angels,
12:20 the Bible doesn't reveal
12:22 the amount of angels that exist,
12:24 but there's a scripture that helps us understand
12:27 that there are millions upon millions of them.
12:30 A couple of scriptures, there's one in Daniel,
12:32 we're gonna look at one in Revelation,
12:34 Revelation 5 now, Revelation 5:11.
12:38 I usually like to, when I'm preaching in the church,
12:40 I like to have the people read,
12:41 but since you don't have microphones
12:43 we'll have to, I will have to read myself.
12:45 Revelation 5:11.
12:50 Revelation 5:11, the Bible says,
12:53 "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels
12:57 around about the throne
12:58 and the beasts and the elders,
13:00 and the number of them was
13:02 ten thousand times ten thousand,
13:05 and thousands of thousands."
13:07 Question,
13:08 how many is ten thousand times ten thousand?
13:11 Is anybody a good mathematician here?
13:13 A hundred million. A hundred million.
13:16 And then it states that there are thousands of thousands.
13:22 So if there's just a hundred million
13:24 in the expression ten thousand times ten thousand
13:27 and then thousands of thousands,
13:29 it's a number that we do not know of.
13:32 Many angels.
13:35 So we ask ourselves how many evil angels are there.
13:41 Well, we go to Revelation 12,
13:44 we go back there to find out a little bit about this.
13:47 Revelation 12:4 reveals to us
13:51 that of the angels that were in heaven
13:53 "One third of them,
13:55 one third of them rebelled against God."
13:58 So when you go to Revelation 5:11, it says...
14:03 No, I'm sorry, Revelation 12:4, it says, concerning the devil,
14:07 "And his tail drew
14:09 the third part of the stars of heaven,
14:11 and did cast them to the earth.
14:13 And the dragon stood before the woman
14:15 which was ready to be delivered
14:18 to devour her child as soon as it was born."
14:22 You see very quickly there in Revelation 12
14:24 as you begin reading verse 1
14:26 that the narrative as it continues it shows you
14:29 that the devil he is out to destroy.
14:31 He is out, it shows him trying to destroy the man-child
14:36 that was caught up to the throne of God
14:37 which is Jesus Christ
14:39 because he was not successful,
14:40 then he goes after the woman it states in Revelation 12
14:44 which is a symbol of the church.
14:46 And so if you are a Christian, the devil is out to get you.
14:50 And so it says woe to the inhabitants of the earth,
14:52 he's out to get anyone he can
14:54 but specifically he wants to destroy the Christians.
14:57 Why is that?
14:58 Because the Christians want to follow God,
15:01 they love God and want to serve Him,
15:02 and he's trying to stop them from serving Him
15:05 and he will try whatever he can to do this.
15:08 He will try to lead them astray through temptations,
15:11 to enjoy the wicked things of this world,
15:14 or he's gonna try to deceive them
15:16 into believing that God is not good.
15:18 And so the devil will use whatever he can.
15:20 It is a terrible thing
15:22 when the enemy that tries to destroy you
15:25 tries to destroy you with things that you like.
15:28 Isn't that terrible
15:30 that the devil would do such a thing?
15:32 You know, usually when if one nation is fighting
15:35 against another nation, they're shooting bullets,
15:37 they're throwing bombs, they're throwing grenades,
15:43 fire, chemical weapons,
15:45 and, you know, they're out to hurt you.
15:48 But isn't it terrible
15:50 when somebody comes with flowers,
15:52 with candy, or something else that either looks good,
15:57 tastes good, or feels good
15:59 because the ultimate thing
16:01 behind the deception is to destroy you?
16:05 And that is a terrible thing.
16:06 So we cannot trust in the devil
16:08 because he is a liar and he is a deceiver.
16:11 We read in Revelation 12 that he deceiveth the whole world.
16:15 Question, do we have evidence of the devil deceiving people?
16:20 Yes, the Bible reveals that he deceived Adam and Eve,
16:24 and therefore Adam and Eve, I would say to you,
16:28 were a lot smarter than we are
16:31 because they were created perfect.
16:34 We are the descendants of Adam and Eve
16:36 after they sinned and therefore our capacity
16:40 to evaluate things is diminished
16:42 because of sin.
16:44 So we are really no match for the devil.
16:46 We need the Lord to help us
16:48 to be able to understand
16:50 that the devil is trying to deceive us.
16:52 Now I have some good news for you.
16:55 So when you look at one third of the angels
16:57 that were deceived
16:58 and if you take the figure 100 million,
17:02 what's one third of 100 million?
17:03 So you begin to get an idea that there are many evil angels
17:08 because this says,
17:09 ten thousand times ten thousands
17:11 and thousands of thousands,
17:13 so we don't know how many evil angels there are
17:15 but there certainly seems to be a whole lot of them
17:19 because they seem to be causing trouble everywhere.
17:22 Have you seen that happening?
17:24 Yesterday, we heard of some terrible, terrible things.
17:27 We heard of some people that burned 19 young ladies.
17:33 They burned these 19 young ladies,
17:36 and I'm sorry to bring this to you
17:37 because I don't like to hear these type of things,
17:39 but they burned them
17:41 because they refuse to be their sex slaves.
17:44 Now you ask yourself is this the kind of behavior
17:49 that is of God or of the devil?
17:52 This is behavior that is of the devil
17:54 because the devil is out to kill,
17:55 to steal, and to destroy.
17:57 And those that identify with him
17:59 are doing the things that cause harm to others.
18:02 So we need to be very, very careful.
18:04 So we see here and you hear,
18:06 you've heard of wars and people destroying
18:10 and hurting people in different ways,
18:12 so we are living in very, very dangerous times.
18:15 So now I told you we have good news.
18:17 So let's talk about the good news.
18:19 In Psalms 34:7, we have some good news for you.
18:22 Psalms 34:7 and I believe that some will know
18:27 or at least know part of this verse
18:29 as we began to read it.
18:30 I can pretty much quote it
18:33 because one of the verses is on my list of favorites
18:37 if you want to say it that way.
18:39 The Bible says in Psalms 34:7,
18:41 "The angel of the Lord encampeth
18:44 round about them that fear him, and delivereth them."
18:48 You know, I like that because it says,
18:51 it doesn't say he's just standing around you,
18:53 it says, he encampeth round about you
18:55 as if he had a permanent place with you.
19:00 Isn't that wonderful?
19:01 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them
19:04 that fear him and delivereth them.
19:05 His job is to deliver you
19:07 from the evil things that devil wants to do to you.
19:10 Praise the Lord.
19:11 Would you say Praise the Lord to that?
19:12 Praise the Lord. And God is good.
19:14 You see, God will not allow the devil
19:18 to do to you everything that he wants to do to you.
19:21 If the Lord allows the devil to do everything
19:23 he wants to do to you,
19:25 you would be dead already because he wants to kill,
19:28 to steal, and to destroy.
19:31 And I can probably, I'm sure I can ask this question.
19:35 How many of you have been near death?
19:38 At one point or another,
19:39 maybe an accident or some disease,
19:41 how many of you thought you could possibly have died
19:43 in the past?
19:45 Probably, most of you here.
19:46 And so we see that it is good for the Lord to protect us.
19:51 And so you have no idea,
19:53 we have no idea
19:54 how many times the devil has asked for permission
19:57 to kill you off,
19:59 but thank God, we're all here.
20:01 Praise the Lord. Amen. Praise the Lord.
20:03 So the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them
20:07 that fear him and delivereth them.
20:08 So people call these guardian angels.
20:12 Let's go to Matthew 18,
20:14 this is one of the closest verses that helps us understand
20:17 that we have guardian angels.
20:20 It is Psalm 18:10.
20:23 I'm sorry, Matthew 18:10.
20:28 And the Bible says the following,
20:31 "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones,"
20:36 he's talking about the children,
20:38 "for I say unto you that in heaven
20:40 their angels do always behold the face of my Father
20:46 which is in heaven."
20:47 Praise the Lord.
20:49 So we see here that the angels
20:53 that watch over these children
20:54 also behold the face of the Father,
20:57 God the Father.
20:59 So we understand that we have guardian angels
21:01 and we praise the Lord for that
21:02 because the devil would have killed us off
21:04 a long time ago.
21:05 And I say to you that you will live
21:09 as long as the Lord intends you to live as long as you follow
21:15 and obey him because it is a reality.
21:17 The Bible says that ask the question,
21:20 "Why will you die before the time?"
21:23 It's a very interesting question the Bible asks,
21:25 "Why will you die before the time?"
21:27 So how is it that people can die before their time?
21:30 Well, they can eat bad things.
21:33 They can put themselves in unnecessary danger.
21:36 Is that true?
21:38 Has anybody ever, anybody here ever placed themselves
21:40 in unnecessary danger
21:41 and had to ask the Lord please help me.
21:43 I see some people nodding their heads.
21:46 So you see you can die before the time.
21:48 The Bible talks about that
21:50 because of sin that most people live fourscore and ten years,
21:55 what is it, not fourscore and ten, yeah, fourscore,
21:58 about 80 something years old,
21:59 the average individual should live.
22:02 Threescore.
22:04 Thank you very much.
22:05 So anyway, as we have here,
22:07 the Bible tells us that the Lord protects us
22:10 and I say amen to that.
22:12 The time is advancing quickly, so let's move on.
22:15 Let's talk a little bit about the contrast between Jesus,
22:19 God, and the devil, and what he wants to do.
22:24 What does the Bible tell us,
22:25 the Bible tells us that God is love.
22:27 In John 3:16,
22:29 the Bible tells us that God loves us.
22:31 It says that "God so loved the world
22:34 that He gave His only begotten Son
22:36 that whosoever," what,
22:38 "believeth in Him should not perish,"
22:41 which means die, "but have everlasting life."
22:44 So this is what God is like.
22:46 And notice the following verse, Jesus says in verse 17,
22:50 "For God sent not his Son
22:52 into the world to condemn the world
22:54 but that the world through him might be saved."
22:59 So I say that's good news.
23:01 I rather be on God's side
23:03 because He wants to give me eternal life,
23:05 He wants to give you eternal life.
23:07 Notice in Luke 19:10, Luke 19:10.
23:12 I may have to resort to just reading them off my notes
23:15 because we may not have time to look all the verses up.
23:17 Luke 19:10,
23:19 "For the Son of man is come
23:21 to seek and to save that which was lost."
23:26 So does the Lord have good news for us?
23:28 Yes, the Lord has good news for us.
23:31 Now let's think about the devil just for a moment.
23:33 Don't dwell on it.
23:34 We already read in Revelation 12
23:36 that the devil has great wrath.
23:39 And he knows he has a short time
23:41 and he goes to make war against God's children
23:44 if you keep reading in Revelation 12.
23:46 He goes to make war with the remnant of her seed,
23:48 those that keep the commandments of God
23:50 and have the faith of Jesus.
23:52 So you see he believes he has no time to lose.
23:56 The devil is...
23:57 He doesn't take vacations.
24:00 He continues day in and day out trying to destroy people.
24:04 And one of the things he does is try to destroy those people
24:07 that have influence for good upon others.
24:11 Who are these people? These are the Christians.
24:13 They are an influence for good in the world.
24:15 So he's going to try to lead them astray,
24:17 to lead them into sin, to lead them to forget God,
24:21 to lead them away from reading the Bible,
24:23 to really lead them away from praying
24:26 because he knows that when he can keep you,
24:29 he cannot force you,
24:31 but when he can distract you from reading the Bible,
24:34 from praying,
24:36 you are disconnecting yourself from the source of strength,
24:41 our source of strength, which is God.
24:43 And see we need to have a vital connection with God
24:46 just as Jesus said that we are to be...
24:48 He is the vine and we are the branches
24:50 attached to Jesus with a connection
24:53 that is not to be severed by anyone or anything.
24:57 So let's look at some scriptures
24:59 that help us understand
25:00 some of the things the devil wants to do.
25:02 In Luke 19, I'm in Luke 19, I'm gonna read verse 10.
25:06 The Bible says, "For the Son of man is come
25:09 to seek and to save that which was lost."
25:11 Now I'm going to John 10:10, we already read Luke 19:10.
25:16 John 10:10.
25:17 In John 10:10, Jesus reveals something to us.
25:22 The Bible says, "The thief," that is the devil in this case,
25:25 "cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
25:30 I am come that they might have life
25:33 and that they might have it more abundantly."
25:36 A contrast is drawn here
25:37 between the devil and Jesus Christ.
25:40 Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly
25:42 while the devil comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy.
25:48 And so we need to keep away from him.
25:51 We are in John 10.
25:53 Let's go to John 8:44, John 8:44.
25:59 "Ye are of your father the devil,"
26:01 Jesus is speaking to the scribes and Pharisees,
26:04 "and the lusts of your father ye will do."
26:07 Does the devil have lusts?
26:08 Oh, yes.
26:10 "The lusts of your father ye will do.
26:12 He was a murderer from the beginning
26:15 and abode not in the truth
26:18 because there is no truth in him.
26:20 When he speaketh a lie,
26:22 he speaketh of his own for he is a liar
26:24 and the father of it."
26:27 So we see here in this scripture
26:28 Jesus says that devil is a murderer.
26:32 So if he is a murderer, should we associate with him?
26:35 Should we look for the devil?
26:37 Should we try to make friends with him?
26:40 Should we try to enjoy ourselves
26:42 with the things he has to offer?
26:43 No, because he is a murderer and a liar,
26:46 and he is trying to entice you into his territory
26:50 so that he can destroy you.
26:53 And so Jesus came to give us life
26:55 and life more abundantly.
26:58 Furthermore in 1 Peter 5, in 1 Peter 5,
27:02 the Bible reveals to us
27:04 something that we are familiar with
27:07 and gives us an understanding that the devil is like that,
27:12 the devil is like that.
27:14 You know, when you go to the zoo,
27:15 you see certain animals kept in cages,
27:21 pretty strong cages,
27:22 and there's a distance between them and us
27:25 or there's glass between them and us.
27:27 One of those creatures is the lion.
27:30 Now it's interesting some people have tamed lions
27:33 and I've seen them even put
27:34 their videos or pictures of them
27:37 putting their heads inside lions.
27:39 But there's one lion that you are not able to tame
27:41 and that is the devil.
27:43 The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:6 and 7,
27:48 chapter 5 beginning verse 6.
27:50 "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
27:53 that He may exalt you in due time.
27:56 Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
27:59 Is that good news?
28:00 God cares for us. But notice verse 8.
28:05 "Be sober, be vigilant
28:07 because your adversary the devil,
28:09 as a roaring lion, walketh about,
28:12 seeking whom he may tickle."
28:15 It doesn't say tickle, does it?
28:17 "Seeking whom he may devour."
28:20 That's what he wants to do, seeking whom he may destroy.
28:24 So shall we make friends with the devil?
28:27 No. Shall we associate with him?
28:28 No.
28:30 Because his mission is to devour us, destroy us.
28:34 And so we need to keep away from him.
28:38 In so much as the Bible describes him
28:40 as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,
28:44 he may not always come as a roaring lion.
28:50 Let's look at 2 Corinthians 11:14,
28:55 2 Corinthians 11:14.
28:58 Now this is a scripture
29:01 that for those that have not read it should open their eyes.
29:05 2 Corinthians 11:14,
29:08 "And no marvel, for Satan himself
29:11 is transformed into an angel of light."
29:17 Wow!
29:19 Think about that for a moment.
29:21 He is so deceptive
29:23 that he may transform himself into an angel of light
29:27 for the purpose of deceiving you to listen to him,
29:32 to follow his suggestions
29:35 just so that he can destroy you in some way.
29:38 So if he is coming to us as an angel of light,
29:43 how can we defend ourselves?
29:45 When we see him, we're going to say, "Wow!
29:47 It's an angel."
29:49 And we think here's a message from heaven for us.
29:53 So what are we to do
29:55 when the devil presents himself as an angel of light?
30:01 Well, this is why it's important for us
30:04 to read the scriptures and understand,
30:08 ask the Lord to help us understand the scriptures
30:10 because when he comes as an angel of light,
30:15 he's going to try to deceive you
30:16 from separating yourself from a thus saith the Lord.
30:21 And as you know, you can see, this is in Matthew 4,
30:26 when the devil came to tempt Jesus,
30:29 he quoted what?
30:31 Scripture.
30:33 So you see, he may quote scripture
30:35 but leave some part out and change the second part.
30:39 So we need to be careful, we need to understand,
30:42 read and understand the scripture,
30:44 ask the Lord to help us understand.
30:45 So how do we protect ourselves?
30:48 The Bible says in Isaiah 8:20,
30:50 "To the law and to the testimony,
30:54 if they speak not according to this,
30:57 it is because there is no light in them."
31:01 So through the law,
31:02 and he's making reference
31:03 to the first five books of the Bible,
31:06 and to the testimony, the testimony of scripture,
31:08 the rest of the scriptures,
31:09 if they do not speak according to this,
31:12 it's because there is no light in them.
31:14 And this goes for the devil himself
31:16 and those that would be used by him
31:19 and in this those that would be used by him
31:21 are just above anybody else
31:25 because the devil can use people
31:31 and the devil can use people to try to deceive us as well.
31:35 Unfortunately, the devil is so deceptive
31:38 that he may use friends and family
31:42 and they may think they're trying to do you good
31:45 but they do not know
31:46 that the devil has somehow confused their mind
31:48 and they may tell you something
31:51 that they think, this is for your own good.
31:53 But if they do not speak according to the Word of God,
31:57 it is an error to follow what that person is saying
32:00 or what the devil is saying.
32:02 So our only safety is to compare the things
32:06 with the scriptures.
32:08 Time is flying, and so we must move on.
32:10 Let's look a little bit into Genesis 3:13.
32:14 I will read this for you,
32:16 "And the Lord God said unto the woman,
32:18 what is this that you have done?"
32:19 This is God talking to Eve after she sinned.
32:21 "The woman said the serpent beguiled me and I ate."
32:27 In the New King James it says,
32:28 "The serpent deceived me and I ate."
32:32 Afterward she realized that she was deceived.
32:36 During the time that the devil was talking to her
32:38 as a serpent,
32:40 she did not know she was being deceived.
32:42 She actually evaluated what the devil said
32:44 and thought it was a good thing.
32:47 She said, she looked at the fruit,
32:49 "Oh, this is a fruit to make me wise."
32:51 And she took of it and ate.
32:54 So you see the devil can deceive.
32:57 The word for beguiled is the word deceive
33:00 in Hebrews pretty plain.
33:02 So the devil can deceive if he deceived Eve,
33:04 and I'll tell you,
33:05 Eve is a lot smarter than anybody in this room.
33:09 She was deceived by the devil.
33:11 As a matter of fact, the devil is so deceptive
33:14 that he deceived a third of the angels.
33:16 So we really are no match for him.
33:18 We really need the Lord to discern
33:20 what is truth and what is error.
33:24 So the last scripture we were talking about was what,
33:27 Genesis what?
33:29 Chapter 3.
33:32 I like to read to you from a book Selected Messages
33:36 Volume 2, page 352.
33:40 "Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil
33:45 in the power which one human mind
33:48 is capable of exerting on another human mind.
33:52 This influence is so seductive
33:55 that the person who is being molded by it
33:58 is often unconscious of its power.
34:01 God has bidden me to speak concerning against this evil."
34:05 So after Eve sinned,
34:10 she became an agent of the devil.
34:12 What is it that she does?
34:14 Does she go out looking for Adam to warn him?
34:18 I ate of the fruit, don't eat of this fruit,
34:20 it's horrible, I am worse off than I was.
34:23 No, she took up the fruit and offered it to Adam.
34:28 And so she became an agent of the devil
34:31 and gave some fruit to Adam.
34:33 Adam evaluated the situation.
34:35 He knew it was the forbidden fruit,
34:38 but he ate of it anyway.
34:42 We don't have time to dwell on that,
34:43 but his sin is perhaps greater than Eve's sin
34:48 because he knew that she had done the wrong thing.
34:51 But again, I say to you the power of mind upon mind,
34:56 when the devil uses someone else,
34:58 it may be a stronger influence for us to do wrong
35:02 than if we were evaluating things on our own.
35:07 Question, there are things
35:10 as well that the devil uses called peer pressure.
35:14 Have you ever heard of peer pressure?
35:16 Anybody ever have peer pressure?
35:19 When others around you are saying, yes, let's do this,
35:21 let's do this.
35:22 I remember as young person
35:23 I was taken in by peer pressure at one time
35:28 and I realized that I was going down the wrong thing.
35:31 I said, "I need to back out, back away from this."
35:34 And I praised the Lord for His goodness.
35:37 So peer pressure,
35:38 people being swayed by what others are doing.
35:42 Let's go to 1 Chronicles, 1 Chronicles 21,
35:47 1 Chronicles 21:1,
35:51 "And Satan stood up against Israel
35:53 and provoked David to number Israel."
35:58 This is Satan working directly upon King David.
36:02 What did David do?
36:04 He numbered the people.
36:05 And when it says provoked,
36:07 this is the word soothe in Hebrew
36:10 and it means to persuade to move upon him
36:15 and to seduce him.
36:17 So David began to analyze
36:19 the idea of numbering the people
36:21 and he thought it was a good thing
36:23 and he numbered the people, and it was a sin
36:25 because the Lord had told them not to number the people.
36:30 So there's a danger of being deceived by the devil.
36:34 We're all in danger of being deceived by the devil.
36:36 Our only safety is to hear the knock of Jesus.
36:42 "Behold, I stand at the door," Revelation 3:20,
36:46 "and knock, if any man hears my voice
36:48 and opens the door,
36:50 I will come into him and sup with him,
36:52 and he with me."
36:53 Our only safety is allowing Jesus to come into our heart
36:57 so that the Lord Jesus
36:59 can guide us and help us understand
37:02 when we are in danger.
37:04 You know, it's very interesting
37:07 that some people have felt a cold chill
37:11 when they feel evil is around them.
37:14 The devil, you can feel evil influences.
37:18 Have you ever come into a room and felt peace?
37:22 Anybody here? I see some heads nodding.
37:24 Yes, I have come into a room and felt,
37:26 hey, there's peace in this room.
37:28 But you can also go some places
37:30 and you feel something is not right here.
37:34 And so we need to give heed to those things.
37:38 Let's go quickly to some scriptures
37:40 that will help us understand how the devil works.
37:42 In John 13:2, John 13:2.
37:46 The Bible says, "And supper being ended,
37:48 the devil having now
37:50 put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
37:52 Simon's son, to betray him."
37:56 That's all we're going to read.
37:58 That's John 13:2.
38:01 The reason I'm quoting this scripture
38:03 is to help you understand
38:04 that the devil can put thoughts into your mind.
38:08 The devil can put thoughts into your mind.
38:10 Question, is it a sin to be tempted?
38:12 No. No, it's not a sin to be tempted.
38:14 Jesus Christ was tempted,
38:16 but it's a sin to fall into temptation.
38:20 So even though the devil can put thoughts into your mind,
38:23 it is your choice what to do with those thoughts, isn't it?
38:27 You still have a choice and you can dismiss the thought
38:31 and choose to think on good things.
38:33 Now Judas, the devil was working on him,
38:38 working on him, working on him.
38:40 It wasn't an overnight thing that Judas turned to evil.
38:45 And I can guarantee to you
38:47 that Jesus tried to help Judas understand
38:52 that he was in danger of being deceived.
38:55 You know, as you analyze the scriptures
38:57 and you start looking through them,
38:59 if you did not know from beforehand
39:01 that it would be Judas betraying Jesus,
39:04 you might think that Peter
39:06 would be the one betraying Jesus.
39:08 Because there's a point in time,
39:09 I think we may read that if we have time.
39:11 There's a point in time
39:13 that Jesus began to say to the disciples,
39:16 I will soon go to Jerusalem and I will be betrayed,
39:21 and I will be crucified.
39:23 And Peter grabs him
39:24 and he says, Lord, this is not going to happen to him,
39:27 rebuking Jesus.
39:28 And what does Jesus say to Peter?
39:30 "Get thee behind me, Satan."
39:34 So you can say, well, maybe Peter is the guy
39:36 that's going to deceive Jesus or betray Jesus.
39:39 But Judas is pretty silent in the scriptures up
39:43 until the moment of the end of his life,
39:46 of the life of Jesus, and then he takes action.
39:49 You see God works on people, and I'll say this to you.
39:53 If you've ever seen somebody fall into some great sin,
39:58 the person does not fall suddenly into great sin.
40:01 He has taken little baby steps,
40:03 little baby steps to get to that great sin
40:06 because the devil does that.
40:09 Takes little baby steps, little baby steps,
40:11 and finally when the person falls into that sin,
40:14 it's because he has consented to the little things,
40:17 into the little things
40:18 and a great fall comes upon the person
40:20 because they gave in.
40:22 And this is what happened to Judas.
40:25 You see, Satan is very deceptive.
40:27 I'm going to read to you
40:29 from the book Great Controversy 528.
40:33 It says, "Satan can present a counterfeit
40:36 so closely resembling the truth that it deceives those
40:41 who are willing to be deceived,
40:44 who desire to shun the self-denial
40:46 and sacrifice demanded by the truth.
40:49 But it is impossible for him
40:52 to hold under his power one soul
40:56 who honestly desires, at whatever cost,
40:59 to know the truth."
41:00 Isn't that wonderful?
41:02 Satan is able to deceive
41:03 those who are willing to be deceived,
41:05 but those who want to do God's will,
41:08 it is impossible for Satan to deceive them.
41:12 It says, "Christ is the truth and the light,
41:15 which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
41:18 He lights, Jesus, every person that comes into the world.
41:21 That's John 1:9.
41:23 "The Spirit of truth has been sent
41:26 to guide men into all truth.
41:28 And upon the authority of the Son of God,
41:30 it is declared, 'Seek, and you shall find.'
41:33 'If any man will do His will, he shall know the doctrine.'"
41:38 That's in Great Controversy 528.
41:40 If you do not have that book, I encourage you to get it.
41:42 And not only get it but read it
41:45 because then it will do you well.
41:49 I want to tell you this story
41:53 so that you understand how deceptive the devil is.
41:56 Working at 3ABN, I received a call one day
41:58 during a time that there was a Bible reading program.
42:03 And the person that was reading the Bible
42:07 caught the attention of the caller.
42:09 He was a young man
42:11 and he wanted to know who the person was.
42:15 And eventually as we talked,
42:17 he said that he was a Satan worshipper.
42:22 And I said, "You are a Satan worshipper?"
42:24 And I will say, well, in my mind I said,
42:26 "Well, at least he's watching 3ABN."
42:30 And as we continued talking
42:33 he said, he had a priestess, a high priestess.
42:36 And he said, "You seem to know a lot about the Bible.
42:40 I would like to introduce you to her
42:41 because maybe you can study together."
42:47 Well, as we continued talking,
42:50 he told me that he had been taught
42:55 that in the end time there is no hell for them.
43:01 It is just endless enjoying themselves,
43:04 party after party, just enjoying the rest of time.
43:10 And I said to him, "This is a great deception.
43:13 I'm sorry, but you have been deceived."
43:16 And I took him through a Bible study,
43:17 read some scriptures to him to help him understand
43:20 that there is a lake of fire and the devil and his angels
43:24 will be thrown into the lake of fire.
43:26 And those that follow the devil and his angels
43:28 will also go into the lake of fire and there,
43:31 as the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death,
43:34 eventually they will die."
43:35 There is no party I told him, there is no party.
43:38 "Oh, I didn't know that," he said.
43:41 And so you see the Bible is a lamp unto our feet.
43:44 And this is why the devil wants to keep people
43:47 away from the Bible
43:48 because he reveals who he is
43:50 and it reveals the truth concerning him.
43:54 Now when we look to Luke 22, Luke 22:3 and 4,
43:58 we enter into a different phase of the work of the devil.
44:04 Luke 22:3 and 4, the Bible says,
44:07 "Then entered Satan into Judas surname Iscariot,
44:11 being of the number of the twelve.
44:13 And he went his way
44:15 and communed with the chief priests and captains
44:17 how he might betray Him unto them."
44:22 Question.
44:25 Is there any scripture
44:26 that says that Jesus was unkind to Judas?
44:29 Any scripture that says
44:31 that Jesus did him some harm at any time,
44:35 that Jesus mistreated him in anyway?
44:38 There is no scripture.
44:39 Jesus only did Judas good.
44:44 But because Judas refused
44:46 to follow the teachings of Jesus,
44:49 even though he sat at his feet
44:51 and even had close conversations,
44:54 just Jesus and the disciples,
44:57 Judas had as much of an opportunity
45:01 to do right as the others.
45:02 But he rebelled and rebelled and rebelled
45:06 and accepted and accepted and accepted
45:09 that insinuations that the deceptions of the devil,
45:14 the lies of the devil,
45:16 that eventually he opened the door
45:19 for this to happen
45:20 because it says the devil entered into Judas,
45:24 that means he was possessed by a devil.
45:28 And this is a condition that one can get into
45:32 when one continues to do evil, evil, evil, evil.
45:39 And so perhaps today we look around
45:41 and you might say, well,
45:42 I've never run into anyone possessed by a devil.
45:44 You might think you haven't, but perhaps you have.
45:48 It seems that you read
45:50 the whole Old Testament scriptures
45:52 and you don't see the type of demon possession
45:56 described in the New Testament.
45:59 But you see there was increased activity
46:02 as Jesus came on the scene.
46:04 Why?
46:06 Because the Lord, God sent Jesus
46:10 to deliver the captives.
46:14 And those that were bound imprisoned by the devil.
46:17 And so there's gonna be increased demonic activity
46:21 in the last days.
46:23 And because it seems that God's people are powerless,
46:28 weak, asleep,
46:31 God does not allow them to encounter these things
46:33 because they will be overwhelmed
46:36 and could not handle it.
46:38 I would say to you that there is a danger.
46:43 So how is it that people can be possessed?
46:48 Let's look into this.
46:50 Let's continue reading in Matthew 16:20 and onward,
46:53 Matthew 16:20 and onward.
46:55 "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man
46:59 that he was Jesus the Christ.
47:01 From that time forth began
47:02 Jesus to show unto his disciples
47:05 how that he must go unto Jerusalem,
47:07 and suffer many things of the elders
47:08 and chief priests and scribes
47:10 and be killed and be raised again the third day.
47:14 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
47:17 saying, 'Be it far from thee, Lord,
47:19 this shall not be unto thee.'
47:24 But he turned," that is Jesus, "and said unto Peter,
47:27 'Get thee behind me, Satan,
47:30 for thou art an offence unto me,
47:33 for thou savourest not the things
47:35 that be of God but those that be of men.'
47:38 Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
47:39 'If any man will come after me,
47:42 let him deny himself
47:43 and take up his cross and follow me.'"
47:46 What happened here?
47:49 A mistaken sympathy for Jesus,
47:53 Peter spoke this way because of his love for Jesus
47:56 but the devil deceived him and the devil used him.
48:01 And when Jesus says, "Get thee behind me, Satan.
48:03 Who is he talking to?
48:05 It is a warning for Peter to let him know
48:08 that the devil is using you,
48:09 but Jesus is talking to the devil.
48:13 So there is no evidence
48:17 that Peter was possessed by a devil.
48:20 And I bring you this scripture to help you understand
48:22 that people can be used by the devil,
48:26 but they don't necessarily have to be possessed by the devil.
48:30 If that's clear, say amen.
48:31 Amen. Amen.
48:33 Okay, so I say to you demon possession,
48:36 or devil possession occurs
48:39 when a person continues to do evil
48:41 despite the fact that God has tried over and over again,
48:45 over and over again to lead the person to repentance
48:48 and the person continues to say no, to say no.
48:52 Let's look at some scriptures quickly
48:53 to help us understand this
48:55 and we may have to do a part two on this.
48:58 In James 4:7 and 8, James 4:7 and 8.
49:02 The Bible says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God.
49:06 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
49:11 Praise the Lord.
49:12 "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
49:15 Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts,
49:18 ye double minded."
49:22 Praise the Lord. So what do we have here?
49:24 This scripture reveals to us
49:27 that when we submit ourselves to God,
49:32 God working in us, we are able to resist the devil.
49:37 And what will the devil do?
49:39 Flee from us because he gains no ground.
49:44 And that's why we need to do what verse 8 says,
49:46 "Draw near to God and God will draw near to us."
49:50 And it says, "Cleanse your hands,
49:52 ye sinners, and purify your hearts,
49:54 ye double minded."
49:55 That means that we have a work to do in putting away sin
49:59 and the things that will lead us to sin.
50:02 That's a part that we have to do.
50:04 God does not do that part for us.
50:07 We must do that part for ourselves.
50:09 When God reveals to us that we're doing wrong,
50:12 it is our duty to cooperate with God to put away the evil,
50:16 to put away the wrong.
50:18 Because if we continue pursuing the evil desires
50:21 and evil things that we do, we are in danger of the devil
50:25 taking us deeper and deeper and deeper
50:27 and can lead us into being possessed by the devil.
50:31 Let's look into 1 Samuel 16:13.
50:35 1 Samuel 16:13, we're gonna read 13 through 15.
50:39 1 Samuel 16:13-15.
50:42 The Bible says, "Then Samuel took the horn of oil
50:45 and anointed him in the midst of his brethren,"
50:47 that is David,
50:49 "and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David
50:51 from that day forward.
50:52 So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah."
50:55 Now verse 14 reveals,
50:57 "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul,
51:00 and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
51:03 And Saul's servants said to him, behold now,
51:06 an evil spirit from God troubleth thee,
51:09 or troubleth him."
51:11 Now people read this scripture
51:12 and think that God sends evil spirits to people.
51:17 I hope to be able to clarify this
51:19 because God does not send evil spirits.
51:22 What this scripture is saying that God allowed
51:25 the evil spirit to come to Saul
51:28 because Saul continued to pursue an evil course,
51:32 a life of evil and continued to reject God's counsel,
51:36 continued to say no
51:39 to the Lord leading him in the right path,
51:42 leading him to repentance.
51:43 And he continued doing his own thing, his own desire,
51:46 his own evil ways,
51:47 and that he opened the door
51:50 for the devil to take control of Saul, King Saul.
51:53 We're talking about King Saul.
51:55 So you see I read to you from Volume 1 Mind, Character,
52:01 And Personality page 26.
52:06 It's very simple, it says, "Satan cannot touch the mind
52:10 or intellect unless we yield it to him."
52:15 You see to anyone that is following Jesus
52:20 because Jesus says, "If any man will follow me,
52:22 if you choose to follow me,
52:23 let him take up his cross daily and follow me."
52:26 If any man is following Jesus and that is his desire,
52:30 that is his desire,
52:32 that person cannot be possessed by the devil.
52:35 Why?
52:36 Because the angel of the Lord encampeth round about him
52:39 and delivers him.
52:41 You see, danger comes when we resist the Lord,
52:47 reject the Lord, and continue to do evil,
52:50 we place ourselves in danger.
52:52 And when the Holy Spirit, after we sin,
52:55 tries to lead us to repentance,
52:57 we don't repent and we do it again
52:59 and we do it again.
53:01 And the Lord through His great love for us
53:03 tries to lead us to repentance and we don't repent,
53:08 our heart becomes harder and harder,
53:10 and the impressions of God become,
53:14 in our minds, weaker and weaker
53:17 because we're listening more and more to the devil
53:19 than to the Lord.
53:20 We are increasing, increasing in danger
53:24 of becoming possessed by the devil.
53:27 Let's go look at some scriptures
53:28 that help us understand that.
53:30 You see what happened to Paul is that he did not repent
53:32 and continued to follow the Lord.
53:34 In Galatians 6:7, I'm going to have to read this to you.
53:37 Galatians 6:7,
53:38 "Be not deceived, God is not mocked,
53:41 for whatsoever a man soweth, that he also shall reap."
53:45 King Saul reaped the results of an evil course of action,
53:51 daily doing evil instead of daily following the Lord.
53:55 You see when sin becomes the dominating desire
53:58 and occupies the majority of your thoughts and actions,
54:01 you are in danger of being possessed by a devil.
54:05 Let's look at Jeremiah 6, Jeremiah 6:16-19,
54:10 Jeremiah 6:16-19, this is what the Bible says.
54:14 "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see,
54:18 and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,
54:23 and walk therein,
54:24 and ye shall find rest for your souls.
54:26 But they said, We will not walk therein."
54:29 You see God is appealing to them to walk in his ways
54:33 but they say we will not walk therein,
54:34 we're not going to do that.
54:36 "Also, I set watchmen over you, saying,
54:38 Hearken to the sound of the trumpet.
54:41 But they said, We will not hearken."
54:43 In other words, God continues to appeal,
54:45 and they said we are not gonna do that.
54:47 Verse 18, "Therefore hear, ye nations,
54:50 and know, O congregation, what is among them.
54:53 Hear, O earth, behold,
54:54 I will bring evil upon this people,
54:57 even the fruit of their thoughts
55:00 because they have not hearkened unto my words,
55:03 nor to my law, but rejected it."
55:06 You see the people of Israel
55:07 at this point in time were rejecting the Lord.
55:09 So the Lord had no other choice
55:11 but to allow them to reap what they sowed.
55:15 If you understand this, say amen.
55:17 Amen.
55:18 Let's move quickly to Ezekiel,
55:20 perhaps we can get these two verses in
55:22 before our time is over.
55:23 Ezekiel 39:23, Ezekiel 39:23 and 24.
55:28 The Bible says, "And the heathen shall know
55:30 that the house of Israel went into captivity
55:34 for their iniquity
55:36 because they trespassed against me,
55:39 therefore I hid my face from them
55:42 and gave them into the hand of their enemies,
55:44 so fell they all by the sword.
55:47 According to their uncleanness
55:50 and according to their transgressions
55:52 have I done unto them and hid my face from them."
55:57 So you see this
55:58 because a continued pursuing of an evil course of action
56:03 that God has to say, you have chosen,
56:06 this is what you have chosen,
56:08 you can then continue in that direction
56:12 and the person opens the door to the devil
56:14 because that's what they have chosen to do,
56:16 and the devil can come in and control the mind.
56:20 We have some good news to share with you
56:22 but maybe in the next program
56:23 we'll elaborate more into this area.
56:26 But know this, Romans 6:16,
56:29 we can get this one in before our time is over.
56:31 Roman 6:16.
56:32 "Know ye not
56:34 that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
56:37 his servants you are to whom you obey,
56:39 whether of sin unto death
56:41 or of obedience unto righteousness."
56:44 So you see we all have choices to make.
56:45 We can all choose to obey God and follow Him
56:49 and receive the blessings of obedience,
56:52 the blessings that God has to give us.
56:54 Or if we choose the devil's way,
56:57 we become his slave, do his will
57:01 and we are not only in danger
57:04 of reaping the results of our evil ways
57:08 when the wages of sin will be death,
57:10 when that time comes, but here on this earth,
57:13 we may become puppets of the devil
57:15 to do whatever the devil desires.
57:18 But even for the people that are possessed by devils,
57:21 there is hope.
57:23 And that's what we want to explain to you,
57:25 there is hope in Jesus
57:26 because the Bible says many times
57:28 that Jesus drove demons out.
57:31 And perhaps in the next time we're together,
57:33 when I'm present,
57:34 we will deal with this aspect of this study
57:36 how the Lord can deliver people from demon possession,
57:40 how the Lord delivers people from evil spirits.
57:42 And the clue to protect yourself
57:46 against these things
57:48 is to open the door to Jesus every day.
57:50 Jesus says, "If any man will come after Me,
57:52 let him take up his cross,"
57:54 how often, "daily and follow Me."
57:56 When we do this, Jesus says,
57:59 "My peace will I give unto you."
58:00 And so I encourage you to accept the peace of Jesus.


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Revised 2017-08-03