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Series Code: AFDB
Program Code: AFDB000175S
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00:02 male announcer: This presentation
00:03 is brought to you by the friends of the Amazing Facts Ministry. 00:06 ♪♪♪ 00:09 Doug Batchelor: For nine months 00:10 between 1898 and 1899 two famous man-eating lions 00:15 of Sabo terrorized workers employed in the construction 00:18 of a railway bridge in Uganda. 00:21 As the death toll rose, construction was brought 00:24 to a virtual standstill. 00:25 The workers said they refused to continue until protection 00:28 could be provided. 00:30 Finally, the reign of terror was brought to an end 00:33 when Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Patterson 00:35 succeeded in tracking and killing the two lions 00:39 that had devoured 135 men. 00:43 The lions are now on permanent display 00:44 in the Field Museum of Chicago. 00:47 Even more deadly was a tigress in India that was reported to 00:51 have killed and eaten 436 people in 1907 before it was killed. 00:57 But the record for man-eating goes to one lion that 01:00 has devoured more than all these other cats combined. 01:03 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, advises us, "Be sober, 01:07 be vigilant because your adversary, 01:10 the devil is going around like a roaring lion, 01:12 seeking whom he might devour." 01:15 So, how can we be protected against this man-eater? 01:19 Join me, friends, today, as we continue our exploration 01:22 to understand the originator of sin, the devil. 01:26 ♪♪♪ 01:30 Doug: Well, friends, we have a very important study, tonight. 01:32 We're going to be talking about why is there evil in the world? 01:37 And this is one of the big reasons 01:38 that some people have problems believing in God. 01:42 They say, "If there's a God, and if God is good, 01:44 then why is there so much suffering? 01:47 Why would God create this world, and innocent children, 01:49 innocent people suffer? 01:51 If God is powerful, then why doesn't He stop the evil? 01:56 If He can do anything, why doesn't He just make 01:57 everybody be good and make everything peaceful?" 02:00 And people struggle with the problem of evil. 02:03 It's one of the most important questions, and I tell you 02:06 there's nothing more important than what we're talking about. 02:09 There are two titanic powers that are at war in the world 02:13 today, and there's a reason that God does not just snap 02:17 His fingers and annihilate Satan. 02:20 And when you understand the issue, what's going on 02:23 behind the scene, it begins to make a lot more sense. 02:26 Our study tonight is on "The Prince of Pride." 02:30 And we're going to be dealing with the subject 02:32 of did God make a devil? 02:34 Is there a devil? 02:36 Why is there evil in the world? 02:37 Now, this is not a subject that I enjoy talking about because 02:41 I'm preoccupied with the devil. 02:42 As a matter of fact, I avoid ministers that want to always 02:46 preach and talk about the devil. 02:48 But I think it's appropriate to talk about what God talks about, 02:51 and there's warnings in the Bible about the power of evil. 02:54 Even professional boxers or football players, 02:58 before they go to engage an opponent, they sit down 03:03 with a coach, and they watch videos and films of the tactics 03:06 of the enemy, so to speak, 03:08 so they can understand what's going on. 03:11 The Lord wants us to understand something about the nature 03:13 and the tactics of the devil. 03:15 And I can tell you the devil's not happy about this program, 03:17 tonight, because we're going to be exposing what his plans are. 03:21 The Bible tells us and Jesus warns us about that. 03:25 The devil is mentioned quite a bit in the book of Revelation. 03:29 What powerful beings work under the devil's command? 03:33 You can read here in Revelation 12, verse 4, "His tail drew 03:38 a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth." 03:42 Who are these stars that were following Lucifer? 03:46 They're angels, also. 03:48 You can look at Revelation chapter 12, verse 9, 03:50 "He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast with him." 03:54 So, most of the time when we say, 03:57 "Well, the devil tempted me," or "The devil made me do this," 04:00 of course, the devil doesn't make you do anything 04:02 unless you're demon possessed. 04:03 It was Flip Wilson who used to always say, 04:05 "The devil made me do it." 04:07 You can't always blame the devil. 04:09 And first of all, the devil is not omnipotent. 04:11 He doesn't know everything. He can't read minds and hearts. 04:13 But the devil has fallen angels, his minions, 04:17 probably millions of them, 04:19 one-third of the angels in heaven. 04:22 And if God has guardian angels for every person, 04:24 and there are billions of people in the world today--you know, 04:26 the Bible actually gives us the highest number 04:28 that is found in Greek. 04:30 It applies to the angels of God: 10,000 times 1,000-- 04:34 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. 04:37 It tries to describe this innumerable company of angels. 04:41 They're described as coming in a cloud when Jesus returns. 04:44 So, God's got a lot angels, but one-third of them followed 04:48 Lucifer in his rebellion. 04:50 He kept saying, "You know, God's not fair. 04:51 We should have more freedom. 04:53 We don't need God's laws to govern us. 04:54 We should make our own. 04:55 We should have the power of God to create, have our own worlds." 04:58 And as he began to plant those desires in his heart, 05:02 in the hearts of the other angels-- 05:03 by the way, what did he tell Adam and Eve? 05:06 "If you eat this fruit, you'll be like God." 05:08 That's what he wanted. 05:09 He began to plant his desires in the hearts of the angels, 05:13 and they followed him in his rebellion. 05:15 Ultimately, they were cast to the earth because it was only 05:18 on earth that Satan found another race of creatures, 05:24 made in God's image, that followed him instead of God. 05:29 God said, "Do not eat of the tree." 05:31 The Word of God said, "Do not eat of the tree." 05:33 Lucifer said, "Go ahead and eat of the tree. 05:35 You'll be like God." 05:37 Adam and Eve had to make a decision. 05:39 "Who do we obey?" 05:40 When they chose to obey Lucifer, instead of God, 05:43 Paul says in Romans chapter 6, "Whoever you obey, 05:46 that's whose servant you are." 05:48 The dominion of the world that Adam had received 05:50 was handed over to the devil. 05:52 And even Jesus calls the devil the prince of this world. 05:56 Said, "The prince of this world comes, 05:57 and he has nothing in me." 06:00 That's why the devil said to Jesus, "If you fall down 06:03 and worship me, you don't need to die for this world. 06:04 I'll give it to you." 06:06 He claims the dominion of this world. 06:09 When the devil meets God in some heavenly meeting, 06:11 and God said, "Where did you come from?" 06:13 God knew, but He's asking for the sake of others. 06:15 Said, "I came from the earth, from walking up 06:17 and down and to and fro in it. 06:18 It's my territory." 06:20 So, people say, "Why is there all this evil in the world?" 06:22 It's because our first parents made a decision not to follow 06:27 God, and God allow--He allows things to play out. 06:31 You know, we live in a country where we get to elect 06:33 our leaders. 06:35 And what we elect we experience for the next four years, 06:39 good or bad. 06:41 I'm not advocating any party. 06:43 It's just you're going to live with the consequences 06:46 of your choices, and that's what's happening in the world 06:49 right now is we are living out the consequences of 06:51 the choices that were made by our first parents, 06:53 but it's going to come to an end soon. 06:56 God just wanted the whole world to see what is the result 06:58 of following the devil's government. 07:01 The devil said, "If I was in charge, 07:02 we'd be happier in the universe." 07:04 God said, "All right, you found a world that's listening to you. 07:07 Let's see how that goes." 07:09 What methods does Satan use in his work? 07:11 Answer A: "Satan, who deceives the whole world." 07:15 This is from Revelation 12, verse 9. 07:17 Satan is the great deceiver. 07:18 Now, you know what deception is. 07:20 Deception is not just the same thing as just telling a lie. 07:23 Deception is when you commingle truth with error. 07:27 See, in one sense, the devil's got an advantage 07:29 over God because God can only use truth. 07:33 God does not lie, and God cannot sin. 07:35 The devil can, he can tell the truth when it's to his 07:37 advantage, and then he mixes in a lie, and he deceives. 07:40 He wins people's support, and then he lies. 07:43 He gives you, you know, 99% orange juice 07:45 and one drop of strychnine, and then you're poisoned. 07:51 So, the devil is a great deceiver. 07:52 And how much of the world does the Bible say he's deceived? 07:56 The whole world--we just saw on the screen. 07:58 Is there a devil? "No, no, no." 08:01 The devil loves that. 08:03 People don't think he really exists. 08:05 I should mention at this point, folks that do think 08:08 of the devil got a totally distorted concept. 08:11 All right, bear with me for just a moment. 08:13 Close your eyes for four seconds, just close your eyes. 08:15 Picture the devil. 08:18 I don't want you to meditate on it, but if you were 08:19 to picture the devil, okay, what did you see? 08:21 How many saw red leotards? 08:24 Anybody see a goatee? 08:28 Any of your devils in your mind have a goatee? 08:30 I see there are one or two goatees out there. 08:31 Horns anyone? 08:33 Yeah. 08:35 Pitchfork? 08:38 The trident, you know-- 08:41 Ostensibly, he's supposed to cook people evenly in hell. 08:43 That's why he uses that. 08:45 And he has sinister eyes, and he's got goat hooves, you know, 08:50 and he's got bat wings, and people say, you know, 08:53 "What does the devil look like?" 08:55 But in reality, the Bible tells us he is a beautiful angel-- 08:59 a lot of misunderstandings-- deceives the whole world. 09:03 Jesus was tempted. 09:05 The devil's a tempter. 09:06 You can read answer B: "He was there in the wilderness 09:09 forty days tempted by Satan." 09:11 And the three principle temptations of the devil, 09:14 through Jesus, cover really all the potential temptations. 09:18 And in Jesus overcoming those temptations, which were 09:20 the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, 09:22 and the pride of life, in his overcoming those, 09:24 it's a pattern that we can be overcomers 09:28 because Jesus overcame. 09:29 There is no sin that you cannot overcome with Jesus's help. 09:32 You can resist temptation. 09:34 By the way, it is not a sin to be tempted. 09:37 Was Jesus tempted? 09:38 We're all tempted. 09:40 We're probably tempted several times a day. 09:42 That's not a sin. 09:43 It's a sin when you embrace and fall into the temptation. 09:46 Jesus faced temptation head-on. 09:49 He met it with the Word of God. 09:50 We're going to say more about that. 09:52 Matthew chapter 4, verse 8, "Again, the devil took Him up 09:54 to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms 09:57 of the world and their glory." 09:59 This is an example of his deception. 10:01 Now, I've been all over the world, 10:03 and it's just I am so blessed to be able to travel 10:07 and do my favorite thing, and talk about God. 10:10 And one of the most incredible cities--I see my friends 10:13 that have been with me in India and China over here. 10:16 I'm not going to name them because I don't want people 10:18 to know. 10:20 But they've been to Dubai a few times-- 10:22 one of the most incredible cities in the world. 10:24 Someone took me to a hotel with golden toilet seats. 10:31 Beautiful city. 10:32 Do you know they don't have any cars in Dubai 10:34 over five years old? 10:35 It's against the law. They're all new cars. 10:37 It's like oil money everywhere, most expensive hotels 10:39 in the world, beautiful cities. 10:42 But I've also been to some cities that are, woo, 10:46 just awful mess. 10:50 The devil did not show Jesus the bad cities. 10:54 He showed him the good cities, 10:56 said, "Ah, the beautiful kingdoms of the world, 10:57 they'll all be yours if you fall down and worship me." 11:01 So, right here, it tells us what the devil wanted. 11:04 "Worship me." 11:05 The devil wants to be God. 11:09 The Bible also tells us that "They are the spirits of demons 11:11 performing signs," answer C. 11:13 The devil performs miracles. 11:16 His demons can perform miracles. 11:17 So, when you're trying to find out if something is true or not, 11:20 do you say, "Well, whoever can do the most signs and wonders, 11:22 they must be right"? 11:24 No. 11:26 Can the devil do signs and wonders? 11:27 You remember when in the Bible, I'm assuming, Moses came in, 11:31 and he threw down his rod, and it became a serpent? 11:34 And the Pharaoh summoned his magicians. 11:36 They came in, they threw down their rods, 11:38 and they became serpents. 11:41 So, the devil has a certain amount of power 11:43 to create illusions. 11:45 It says here, "He performs great signs, so that he even makes 11:48 fire come down from heaven in the sight of men." 11:52 Now, what verse is that? 11:54 Revelation 13. 11:56 This is in the verse about the beast and the mark of the beast. 11:59 One of the things that the devil will do to deceive people in the 12:02 last days is signs and wonders, making fire come down 12:04 from heaven. 12:06 Now, Elijah prayed and fire came down. 12:08 Three times Elijah prayed, fire came down, 12:11 three different times in his life. 12:13 Elijah prayed, and rain came down. 12:14 But the Bible says that the devil brought fire down 12:17 from heaven in the story of Job. 12:20 So, the devil has a certain amount of power 12:22 even over the elements. 12:24 Whenever there's an earthquake or a storm, everyone says, 12:26 "Why did God do that? It's an act of God." 12:29 Well, not always, friends. 12:31 I mean, God has biblically sometimes manipulated the 12:34 weather one way or the other to save people or to judge people, 12:39 but the devil can, too. 12:42 So, he'll counterfeit some of the miracles 12:44 and the power of God to deceive people. 12:47 He's an accuser. 12:48 He's always pointing the finger like he did at Job, 12:51 "accuser of our brethren who accused them 12:53 before God day and night." 12:54 Whenever you sin, the devil will tempt you to sin, 12:57 and then he will turn you in for sinning. 13:00 He's the accuser of the brethren, 13:02 Revelation 12, verse 10. 13:04 He's a murderer. 13:06 You read in the garden of Eden there, 13:08 he's the one who inspired Cain to murder his own brother, 13:12 and the devil is guilty of murder all over the planet, 13:15 he and his forces every single day. 13:17 He's a murderer, and he's also a liar. 13:20 He's just an outright lair. 13:21 He will tell people things that just are absolutely untruth, 13:26 and they believe it. 13:28 When is the devil the most dangerous? 13:32 Now you can look here 13:33 in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 14. 13:37 "And no wonder! 13:39 For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." 13:43 Didn't Jesus warn us? 13:44 In the last days, there'll be many false prophets, 13:48 many false Christs that will do signs and wonders." 13:52 So, got to be on our guard. 13:56 Doug: Don't go anywhere, friends. 13:57 In just a moment, we'll be back to complete 13:58 today's presentation. 14:00 Have you ever had friends ask you, "If God is good, 14:03 and if he's loving, then why is there evil? 14:05 Why do the innocent suffer? 14:07 We have a very special powerful DVD documentary 14:10 we'd like to send you for free. 14:12 It's called the "Cosmic Conflict." 14:14 This compelling movie traces the origin of sin and talks 14:17 about Lucifer's rebellion. 14:19 It helps us understand why there is evil in the world today; 14:22 and more importantly, how you can have victory over sin. 14:26 To get your free copy, call the phone number on your screen 14:29 and ask for Offer #809, or visit the web address. 14:33 And after you watch this incredible resource, 14:35 be sure and share it with a friend. 14:37 So, how about we get back to today's presentation 14:39 and learn some more amazing facts from the Word of God? 14:44 Doug: I heard an interesting fact that probably 14:46 one of the most deadly or dangerous serial arsonist 14:52 was a man named John Orr. 14:55 Between 1984 and 1991, he set approximately 14:59 2000 fires in southern California. 15:03 What's really interesting is that his job was he was 15:06 a fire chief in Glendale, California, and he was the arson 15:11 investigator, and everyone wondered how he was able 15:14 to solve arson problems so quickly. 15:18 Because he set many of the fires himself, 15:21 made himself out to be a hero. 15:22 People died. 15:23 He didn't care. 15:25 He kept setting fires. 15:27 He's now in jail for several life sentences. 15:32 The Bible talks about, Jesus said, "Beware of," what? 15:36 "Prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. 15:38 Inwardly, they are ravening wolves." 15:41 The devil works through religion. 15:43 Did Jesus have a Judas, even among the apostles? 15:46 He was a thief. 15:48 So, don't be discouraged if you say, 15:51 "Well, I'm not going to church. 15:52 There's hypocrites in the church. 15:53 There's all these counterfeit teachers and preachers out there 15:55 that are, you know, 15:57 they're making money on religion." 16:00 The devil is trying to discourage people 16:02 from following Jesus by all the counterfeits. 16:05 But buried in all the broken glass is the diamond. 16:07 It's the truth. 16:09 Does Satan know the Bible? 16:11 Ah, yeah, some people think that, you know, 16:13 if you're being tempted, you're just supposed 16:18 to take your Bible, and you wave it at the devil, 16:21 say some words, and the devil's going to run. 16:24 What? 16:26 You know, the devil will take your Bible out of your hand, 16:27 and he'll quote it back to you. 16:29 The devil knows the Bible better than anybody here, including me. 16:34 He's, I'm sure, got a photographic memory. 16:37 Did he quote the Bible to Jesus? 16:38 He did. 16:40 Matthew 4:5, one of the temptations, 16:41 it said, "The devil said to Him, 'If you're the Son of God--" 16:44 He took him up to the pinnacle of the temple. 16:46 "--cast Yourself down. 16:47 For it is written: 'He'll give His angels charge 16:50 concerning thee.'" 16:52 He left out the part that says, 16:53 "to keep you in all of Your ways." 16:55 You're not going to be jumping off of temples. 16:56 So, the devil not only quotes the Bible. 16:58 He knows how to misquote the Bible or take a verse 17:01 out of context. 17:04 But so many people out there, they think, 17:05 "Oh, I don't need to worry about the devil 17:07 because we've got five Bibles in our house," 17:10 as though having a Bible on the nightstand is going 17:12 to protect you. 17:14 No, God doesn't want the Bible on the nightstand. 17:17 He wants it in your mind, amen? 17:19 "Thy word I have hidden in my heart, 17:22 that I might not sin against You." 17:24 You've got to put it in your heart, 17:25 and that's what you're doing by coming to this program, 17:28 we're trying to put the Word of God in your heart, 17:30 and it's going to make an eternal difference in your life. 17:33 Who on earth does the devil hate the most? 17:38 You can read about this in Revelation chapter 12, verse 17. 17:42 "The dragon was enraged with the woman, 17:45 and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, 17:48 who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony 17:51 of Jesus Christ." 17:54 Now, when it says the dragon, who's the dragon? 17:56 That's the devil. 17:58 He's enraged with the woman, and he goes to make war. 18:02 Who's the woman? 18:04 I told you Christ married the church, 18:06 the bride of Christ. 18:08 The devil hates Jesus's children, 18:11 and he makes war with a special group. 18:14 He's not worried about the ones who take the name of Jesus 18:16 and don't live at all like Christ. 18:19 He's especially threatened by the ones 18:21 who have the testimony of Jesus, 18:23 they've got the faith of Jesus, and they keep 18:24 the commandments of God, and he makes war against them. 18:28 Now, the devil hates Jesus. 18:30 He cannot reach Jesus right now, but he wants to hurt Jesus. 18:34 What would hurt you more? 18:37 If someone held you down and tortured you, 18:39 or if they held your children down in front of you 18:41 and tortured them? 18:43 Won't that hurt more? 18:45 So, the devil knows how much God loves us. 18:47 God so loved us, He sent His Son to save us. 18:50 He wants to hurt God, and he hurts God by hurting us. 18:54 He knows that evil hurts us, and he hurts God 18:56 by tempting us to sin. 19:00 What two deadly animals does the Bible use to portray Satan? 19:05 You can read here, it says in 1 Peter 5:8, 19:08 "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, 19:12 he walks about like a roaring lion, 19:14 seeking whom he might devour." 19:17 So, one of the characters that is often portrayed 19:19 as the devil is a lion, and the other one is-- 19:23 you'll find this here in Revelation 12:9. 19:26 "So that great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, 19:29 called the Devil and Satan." 19:31 Perhaps you remember there in the garden of Eden, 19:34 what medium did the devil use to speak to Eve? 19:38 It was a serpent. 19:40 And when Eve was going about her pleasant tasks and working 19:43 in the garden, maybe she had drifted a little bit from Adam. 19:46 He doesn't seem to have been there at that moment. 19:49 And this beautiful, hypnotic creature--you know, snakes, 19:54 the way they move can sometimes be rather hypnotic. 20:00 You'll sometimes see them go like that before 20:01 they strike at their prey. 20:03 And all of a sudden, 20:06 it's got this supernatural ability to speak. 20:08 And he says, "Oh," he says, "I didn't know 20:11 any of the animals could speak in the garden." 20:13 He said, "Yeah, well, I've been eating this fruit, 20:14 and it does wonderful things for you. 20:16 And did God say that you're not allowed to eat 20:19 from the trees in the garden?" 20:21 "Oh, no, we can eat from the trees in the garden, 20:22 but we're not supposed to eat from this tree, 20:24 not even supposed to touch it. 20:26 He said we'll die." 20:27 And the serpent said, "Die? 20:28 Well, look at me. 20:30 You're not going to die. 20:31 You're going to have supernatural abilities. 20:32 You'll be like God if you eat it. 20:35 You'll be even more beautiful." 20:38 And she said, "Well, seems to be working for the serpent." 20:42 And she took the fruit, and then she gave it-- 20:46 she ate it, probably felt exhilarated for a little bit, 20:49 as sin often does. 20:51 It's like the little rush before the hangover. 20:54 Gave it to her husband, and then they felt the chill. 20:58 Their robes of light went out, and they saw their nakedness, 21:01 and they're running from God. 21:05 And the fruit got stuck in Adam's throat, 21:06 and that's why they call this an Adam's apple. 21:10 Where in the Bible does it say it was an apple? 21:13 It doesn't say that. 21:14 But have you ever seen any picture of Adam and Eve 21:16 in the garden where she's picking a peach, 21:19 pineapple, banana, pear? 21:24 It's always an apple. 21:25 Some traditions just don't die, right? 21:27 Could've been a coconut. 21:29 No, I'm--it was a unique fruit. 21:31 And so, but the devil used as medium of a serpent, 21:36 and because both lions and serpents are, you know, 21:40 they go after prey-- a serpent is coldblooded. 21:45 And there are verses in the Bible 21:47 that says that with the power of God 21:48 that you will be able to conquer both the lion and the serpent, 21:52 you will tread underfoot. 21:54 And then there's that verse in Mark chapter 16, 21:56 where Jesus said that through the power of His Spirit, 21:58 He said you'll be able to take up serpents. 22:01 Now, what He meant by that is if you get bit by a serpent, 22:03 you take it up, it won't harm you. 22:05 This happened to Paul in the book of Acts. 22:07 It doesn't mean we're going to go looking for snakes 22:09 and let them bite us and prove that we have supernatural power. 22:13 But the devil was symbolized by the serpent. 22:15 What was the curse that fell on the serpent? 22:18 "You will now go upon your belly. 22:19 You'll eat the dust of the ground." 22:21 Now just a little amazing fact I thought you'd find interesting 22:24 is all over the world, we find fossil evidence of these giant 22:28 flying reptiles--and even on serpents--this is a pterosaur. 22:33 That one there, wing span of 40 feet. 22:36 Its' like a Cessna airplane, weighed 300 pounds. 22:40 Everything changed after the flood. 22:43 But there were flying serpents, and this is part of the reason 22:45 that all over the world, you've got dragons--not just in China, 22:50 but in all these different cultures, 22:51 they've got legends about dragons-- 22:53 probably because they saw some of the fossilized remains. 22:56 Or who knows? 22:58 But the serpent is often portrayed as a dragon, 23:00 all the way from Revelation to--or Genesis to Revelation. 23:05 What's the only way that we can resist Satan? 23:09 "Therefore submit to God. 23:11 Resist the devil, he will flee from you. 23:14 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." 23:17 When the prodigal son came to his senses, 23:20 and he began his journey home, as soon as the father 23:22 saw him coming, the father ran to meet him. 23:25 If you've been living in the devil's territory 23:27 your whole life, or if you've been wandering there, 23:30 if you come to your senses and you pray and say, 23:32 "Lord, help me to find my way home," 23:34 God will run to meet you. 23:36 There's human effort involved in resisting the devil. 23:39 This is what the verse says. 23:40 "Resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. 23:43 Draw near to God, he'll draw near to you." 23:45 Three times, the devil came to Jesus, and he was resisted. 23:49 How did Jesus fight the assaults of the devil? 23:52 All three times when Christ was tempted by the devil, 23:55 Jesus answered and said, "It is written, it is written. 24:00 Away with you, Satan, for it is written." 24:02 So, what is our best weapon to fight against the devil? 24:06 The promises in the Word of God. 24:08 The Word of God is powerful, friends. 24:10 The Bible says the Word of God is quick 24:12 and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. 24:16 God brought the world into existence, 24:17 He created through His Word. 24:19 He said, "Let it be," and it happened. 24:22 And through the Word of God, as you read it, 24:24 it has power in your life. 24:26 It gives you determination, it gives you strength 24:28 that you will not have otherwise. 24:30 It's like a sword. 24:31 Paul talks about putting on the armor of God. 24:33 And he says, "Use the sword of the Spirit, 24:35 which is the Word of God." 24:36 It's Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17. 24:40 Again, you can read Hebrews 4:12. 24:42 "The Word of God is living and powerful, 24:44 and sharper than any two-edged sword." 24:45 And in Revelation, it talks about Jesus coming. 24:48 In chapter 19, He's got a sword coming out of His mouth. 24:51 Now, you realize Revelation is full of symbols. 24:53 When Jesus comes, he's not going to have 24:55 a big old dagger sticking out of His face. 24:57 It's a symbol for the sword in the mouth is 24:59 what's in His mouth? 25:01 The Word of God, right? 25:02 So, Jesus even comes conquering with the Word of God 25:07 in His mouth. 25:08 It portrays Him that way. 25:10 How does God feel about the destruction of the wicked, 25:13 those who follow the devil? 25:15 The Bible says Satan and those who follow Satan are cast 25:18 into the lake of fire, Revelation chapter 20. 25:21 Does the Lord enjoy that? 25:24 "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord--'" 25:27 This is Ezekiel 33:11. 25:30 "'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 25:32 but that the wicked would turn from his way and live.'" 25:35 Now listen to the appeal of God. 25:37 "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways! 25:40 For why will you die?" 25:42 The Lord is pleading with us, "Please turn. 25:44 I'll give you power to turn. 25:46 You'll never be happy with a life of sin. 25:48 Turn from your evil ways and live. 25:51 For why will you die?" 25:53 I mean, God has set before us all two options: 25:55 Jesus or the devil. 25:57 There's no--Christ said, "If you're not with me, 25:59 you're against me." 26:00 If you have not given your life to Christ, then don't say, 26:02 "Well, I'm neutral." 26:04 No, you're not neutral. 26:05 Saying no to Jesus is saying yes to the enemy. 26:07 You're either with God or you're against Him. 26:10 Moses said, "You want life, good, and blessing, or death, 26:13 evil, and cursing?" 26:15 Everybody has those two options. 26:16 The only way to have life, good, and blessing is to put your life 26:19 in God's hands. 26:21 Amen? 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Revised 2022-04-12