Defeating Satan's Wrath

The title today, Defeating Satan's Wrath, the subtitle defeating the author of sin and death.

In our day and age, we have innocent men, women, and children gunned down in the streets, in their homes, in public places, some asleep in their beds, little children. They never wake up. There's a bullet in their head because of drive-by shooting, gang violence, drug wars. We see innocent men, women, and children blown to pieces, blown to smithereens by what are called suicide bombers. They are agents of Satan, the devil, terrorists. Almost every day now scores of innocent people have their lives taken away from them. How have the people of the world come to the point that they're so filled with hate for their fellow man that they are willing to die and to kill a person who is made in the image of God? One of the reasons why the Bible teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves is because we are all made in the image of God. And we have all, all of us, every person, has the potential of being eternal sons and daughters in the family of God. Let's note quickly a few scriptures and background along these lines because the understanding of all this and putting the picture together is essential in understanding what Satan the devil is all about. What he's trying to do is trying to kill every last person who has ever lived and thwart the plan of God. In Genesis 1.26, so God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Form, shape. If you read Isaiah chapter, Revelation chapter 4, other places that talks about God who has the same kind of characteristics with regard to the way he looks of as human beings do. We shall see him as he is. We shall look upon his face in resurrection. We are made in the image of God.

Verse 27, so God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he them, male and female, created he them. But we are not of the same essence as God. God is spirit, as it says in John 4.24, but we look across the page there in Genesis 2.7. The eternal God formed man of the dust to the ground. So the essence of man comes from the ground, 16 elements. We have what is called a physio-chemical kind of existence. There's a lot of chemistry that goes on in the body, and that chemistry also produces certain electrical charges. So we are very physical in so many ways, and our essence is flesh. The essence of God is spirit. We're made in the image of God with certain God-like faculties of mind in that we can think, we can reason, we can think in the abstract, we can think about life after death. Form man out of the dust to the ground breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and man became a living nayfish, a living soul, nayfish, and it just means an air-breathing creature, one who has life. We can take it on in the human sense. It means life potential, ultimately, because in Matthew 10.28 it says, fear not him who is able to destroy the body, but fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul, sukai life essence, in Gyanofire. So that life essence is your soul, your being. We know that soul is not something you possess, it's something it is what you are. And some people on their way to conversion don't understand that man does not have an immortal soul, but we are made in the image of God. Now you look to the New Testament in James chapter 3 and verse 9. Here we'll also see something similar with regard to this. The context of James 3 is control of the tongue and not speaking evil one of another. And one of the main reasons why that admonition is given is here in James 3 verse 7, for every kind of beast and of birds and of serpents, and the things have maintained of mankind, but the tongue can no maintain. It is utterly evil, full of deadly poison. Therefore, bless we God, even the Father, and therefore curse we man, which are made in the similitude. The homeosis is Greek. Homeo means like homeosis, homeosis after the similitude of God. Now we note in Acts chapter 17 verse 26 that we read these news items every week, and we see the turmoil that is extending the world. You watch the news throughout the week.

You maybe go to the internet. You surf the net. You see all of the things that are going on. If you're depending on news from the major news sources in the U.S., all you will get is what is Beaver doing and Ellen and a few others, and Oprah's making a comeback and that kind of thing.

Once again, she's taken up acting, and we should all now build another altar. But in Acts 3 and verse 23, and it shall come to pass an ever soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. So Jesus Christ is the only one who has this power of life and death. Now we look at Acts 17 and verse 26. Acts 17 and verse 26. In Acts 17 and verse 26, see the nations are angry. They're upset. They're at each other's throats. The diplomats run to and fro, the ambassadors trying to make peace.

Peace based on certain physical qualifications, and more not qualifications as they are conditions.

In Acts 17 and verse 26, and hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth.

In the beginning there were two, Adam and Eve. Then when the flood came, and that flood war, that no Asian world was destroyed, there were eight people saved. Noah and his wife, three sons and their wives, and Noah's children, Shim, Ham, and Japheth, and of course they had wives, eight people. And hath made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitations.

After the flood God appointed the nations their inheritances upon the face of the earth, and told them to go forth to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. And what did they do? They in rebellion built the tower of Babel. And God had to go down and confound the languages, and so they would be scattered abroad to their various inheritances. Virtually every civilization on the face of the earth has some story, and to some degree it is sort of legendary and fabled about the flood, and all of that, and even the tower of Babel.

As the nations went forth, they took their stories with them. In Romans 3 and verse 23, we see that all have sinned. You turn just forward there a few pages. You see Romans 3.23. Remember from our study of Romans, the first chapter of Romans, Paul takes the Gentiles to task. In the second chapter of Romans, he takes the Jews to task. In the third chapter of Romans, he begins to summarize that all, and we read this summary here in 3.23, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then Paul talks about how we are justified.

I'm not going to go through the justification process at this time. We have done it many times, but I want to focus on verse 29. Is he the God of the Jews only? Of course not. Is he not also of the nations, the ethnos, the Gentiles? Yes, of the nations also, seeing it as one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, the Jews, and the uncircumcision through faith. So God is not a respecter of persons, and He created us the way He created us, and from one blood He hath made all the nations on the face of the earth, and He expects us to get along with each other.

And that's why He gave us His instruction book, the Holy Scriptures, so that we might know how to get along with each other. Now this verse here, which almost no one understands, verse 31, do we then make void the law through faith?

God forbid, yea, we establish the law. How? You see, it is only through faith in the sacrifice of Christ that sins that are passed can be forgiven. Even if we were to begin to perfectly obey the law of God, that wouldn't account for the sins of the past. Someone has to die. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So you look at verse 25, "...whom God has set forth to be a perpetuation, that is Jesus Christ through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God." So those sins have to be paid for.

The wages of sin is death. So how to end it? That is an act of faith, and it's predicated two things have to work together here, repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ. And then we are baptized to show that we are going to enter into that covenant of sacrifice that we talked about last week. So in this, we come to understand we're back at this 31 now. Do we then make void the law through faith? The only way that sins can be forgiven is through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ.

So we do away with the law through faith? No, we establish the law. Why? Because if there was not sin, there would be no need of a Savior. And to sin Jesus Christ to save the world would be farcical if the law did not exist. Therefore, through faith in Christ, we establish the fact that the law exists.

And hardly anyone outside the Church of God understands that simple fact. Note what Jesus states in Matthew 5, 21, and 24. Matthew 5, verse 21.

This background that we were created in the image of God from one blood all nations were formed. It is through one Jesus Christ that all nations can be reconciled to God.

Now, what are we going to talk about eventually?

Defeating Satan's wrath, defeating the author of sin and death. In Matthew 5, verse 17, Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, I am not come to destroy but to fulfill.

The law sometimes is used in the generic sense to include all five books of the Pentateuch, not just one specific item in the law.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and teach men so shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that except one's righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, he shall in no case enter into the kingdom of God, or kingdom of heaven, as Matthew calls it. You have heard that it was said by them of old time, you shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. And one of the reasons why to kill is to kill someone made in the image of God who has the potential of being an eternal spirit being in the kingdom of God. Murder is such a terrible thing. How can people go murder people in the name of God? You have heard that it was said by them of old, you shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But see, Christ takes it a step further. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say it is brother Reicher shall be in danger of the council, the Sanhedrin, the Seventy. But whosoever shall say you fool shall be in danger of hellfire, which is the second death. God intended that human beings, the human family, regardless of their skin color, regardless of their geographical location, that they get along with each other.

The ministry of reconciliation. Let's go now to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Paul says here that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. We focus on what it means to be a new creation. See, all of this, the great plan of God from the time that God and the one who became the Word worked it out, that they were going to create human beings and that these human beings would have the potential of becoming spirit beings in the family of God of the same essence of God in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5, 17. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, new creature.

All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. God has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.

So what we read from Romans chapter 3, is he the God of the Jews only? Isn't he also the God of the nation? Yes, he is the God of everyone. See, that it is the same God that justifies Jew and Gentile, regardless of your ethnic origin, regardless of your race.

But your creed, as we shall talk about later, is something else.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us himself by Jesus Christ, hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. One of the great things that God gave to the church of God was the ministry of reconciliation. If we were to be judged on the ministry of reconciliation in the past history of the church of God in recent decades, it would not be a pretty picture. And yet we are saying that we are going to be the ones that helps God to bring all nations into a relationship with God in Christ. You see, if people are not doing what they should do with regard to reconciliation and getting along, it's because of Satan the devil, who has driven a wedge in there, and they are listening to the wrong father, the author of sin and death, Satan the devil, as it says in John 8 44. He is a liar and a murderer from the beginning.

It is given to us, a ministry of reconciliation, to know that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and is committed unto us the word of reconciliation. You know, if you had to summarize, see, Jesus Christ summarized the word of reconciliation in two verses.

When asked, Master, what is the greatest commandment in the law, and Jesus Christ responded, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets, the whole bollow acts is committed unto us the word of reconciliation. In summary, that is the word of reconciliation. And then you couple that with living as we have emphasized in recent times and for a long time, judgment, mercy, and faith. Now then, so in view of all that, we are ambassadors for Christ. John Carey is an ambassador for the United States of America, and he is the United States is the principal peace broker on the face of the earth at the present time. There's what is called the quartet, Russia, the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States. In the minds of the world, these four entities are viewed as the most important, most powerful entities on the face of the earth, but it is the United States who leads it. In fact, in this peace negotiations that we've got here in the bulletin as being brokered this week, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia not involved directly at this point, but they will be. Russia will try to resist, try to throw whatever kink in the armor that they can. Eventually, if they broker this two-nation solution, they're living side by side, and they're only separated by maybe it's a line. If you drive from Texas into Louisiana, there's no fence there, but we say we cross the state line. There are no fences between the states and the U.S. Now, Israel has tried to build a fence, and for the Palestinians to come into certain sections of Israel, they have to cross that fence.

But there will have to be some kind of enforcement agencies in the U.S. In fact, one of the articles I had there was that the U.S. is they have a general in the Pentagon who's already working on a security plan, and you can bet your bottom dollar it will involve the U.N.

and other nations. You know, there are peacekeeping forces of the U.N. that are in the Golan Heights right now that are so-called keeping the peace after the 1967 war between Syria and Israel. Many of them are, you'd never guess the nation, Filipinos, and they are withdrawing in the coming weeks. We are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you, in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God, for he has made him to be sin, Christ, for us. He took upon himself the sins of the world, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

It was God's intent that members of the human family walk in a reconciled position with each other in brotherly love. But humankind has been deceived and influenced by the Great Deceiver, that he is so now deceived to the point that he thinks he can gain eternal life by killing innocent people who are made in the image of God. So I strap bombs on my back and I go kill innocent people. Maybe some of my own, except they are Sunni instead of Shiite, or vice versa, they are Shiite instead of Sunni, and I kill them in the name of God. And I promise Norvanna or something like it, 72 virgins in the life hereafter. So it's difficult to understand how Satan is so deceived people. No one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him, and no one can understand the things of God unless Jesus Christ reveals them. God so loved humankind. Potential, spirit-filled sons and daughters that he created a spiritual realm of angelic beings to minister to the heirs of salvation. And that's part of the plan. He created these before he created human beings. You look at Hebrews chapter 1, you'll see the purpose of these spirit beings. And that's part of the plan. And that's part of the plan you look at Hebrews chapter 1, you'll see the purpose of these spirit beings created the angelic realm before human beings. And their main purpose is to help human beings along the way to become sons and daughters of God. And probably the reason why Satan rebelled was because he looked at himself so beautiful and intelligent and wise and all of that, as you read in Ezekiel 28, that he became jealous, envious, and said, hey, I'm not going to take a back seat to these little fleshly mortals that they're talking about. In Hebrews chapter 1 verse 13, but to which of the angel said, he at any time sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. He never said it at any time.

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth the minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? So it's ironic that the very ones that he created to help human beings be in the family of God, Lucifer, one of the archangels, drew a third of those away and rebelled against God.

He apparently did this out of jealousy. Look at James again. We're there in Hebrews. Forward to the next book, James. The Fruits of Jealousy.

This is one of the main things that Satan tries to do, is to set up opposing parties.

We have in our nation, which is called the two-party system, opposing parties, as it were. Yet, they are somehow supposed to work together for the benefit and good of the American people.

So you have the Republican Party and you have the Democratic Party. And it seems that there's just continually this infighting of each side trying to make the other side look as badly as they can, with some of the major news works like here's CNN and MSNBC and some of those others. They're like, well, the Democrats are always right. Then we got Fox on the other hand. The Republicans are always right. Now set up two opposing views. You represent this side, you represent that side. Let's knock heads and let everybody decide.

Maybe more about that later. In James chapter 3 and verse 13, what are the fruits of jealousy, envy?

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conduct his works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and line out against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. You know, I can't turn to Scripture and say, well, because human beings have been promised heirs to become heirs of God in the family of God, that that's the reason Satan rebelled. It does talk about because of his beauty, because of his wisdom, he had this exalted idea of himself and tried to replace God. But what there probably was some kind of motivation in addition to just looking at his own beauty and intelligence. This says that this is devilish, continuing, for where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work. Not some, every. You don't have to kill people to murder them in the spiritual sense. I mean, you don't have to physically end their physical life to kill them in the spiritual sense.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and of good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. Satan's strategy is to destroy all the potential sons of God, replace the Kingdom of God with his Kingdom of demonic spirits. Do you really understand and believe what is written in the Bible? That Satan the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he made of hour. It's 1 Peter 5, 8, and 9. Does God really mean what he says that's written here? Satan hates you and desires to see you dead. It's the same reason that Israel desired a king in the days of Samuel, that because there was evil, the people said, we want a king like the other nations because Samuel wasn't doing his job. They thought, turn to 1 Samuel 8 verse 4. 1 Samuel chapter 8 and verse 4.

So the people thought that they had really a valid reason to come to Samuel and demand that there be a king put over them, a physical king. I'll briefly rehearse something. We spend a lot of the time about this in some of the classes, fundamentalist theology. As Israel was going toward the promise of land, as you know, Moses smote the rock twice and disobeyed God, did not give God credit. You rebels must die fetch water out of this rock. And God said, because you didn't glorify me in the eyes of the people, you shall not enter into the promised land. When it came time for Moses to die, he implored God, he asked God, he besought God, appoint someone in my stead. Otherwise, the people will be a sheep with no shepherd, that principle. So God replaced Moses with Joshua, and Joshua led him into the promised land. Now after Joshua died, there was no one appointed to sit in the seat of Moses. Each tribe was supposed to take turns in doing whatever needed to be done for the good of the nations. But the overriding principle that is in this is that at all times, regardless of the governmental structure, regardless of the way you may be treated or I may be treated at any certain juncture, is that God is always your king. And you look to God in faith, knowing that he will deliver, and you do whatever you do, not as men-pleasers, but knowing that you serve God and not man.

So it wouldn't matter in one sense of what I'm going to do or you're going to do in whatever situation it is, because God is our king. We have faith in him, and he is the one who is going to deliver us. 1st Samuel 8.4. Now you look at this, and this is one of the things I used back in December, and it might have been early January of 2011 or December of 2010, when I wrote a thing and went out, went viral kind of thing on the internet with regard to where are you going to stand and what excuse are you going to use in dividing the body of Christ?

In 1st Samuel 8 verse 4, then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel and to Rama and said unto him, Behold, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. Do you want to be like all the nations? Or do you want God to be your king? Are you going to depart from the way because Mr. X, Y, or Z departed from the way? Well, how many people have left the Church of God because Mr. X, Y, or Z did something to me or you or somebody else? And that's my excuse. Who is the king? But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the eternal said unto Samuel, Harken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto them. For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. See, in any kind of decision that you make, you have to always consider, Who is my king? Who is my ruler? Who is my master? Who is my Savior? Go down the line with that, and will he be pleased with my decision?

Of course, God tells Samuel to go ahead and do it. He tells him what is going to happen. When they set up this king, and you know the story of Saul and what happened to him.

And then David came along, and David was a righteous king, but Israel suffered mightily from time to time because of David's disobedience when he numbered Israel. Scores of thousands died. And then the reign of Solomon, and he led him into a dolotry. And then the kingdom divided, and the northern tribes never returned to God. Ten tribes.

After Jeroboam.

Look at Psalm 2. So why do the nations rage and make plans against God's anointed, and against God himself? In Psalm 2, verse 6. Why do the heathen rage, or the nations, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the eternal, and against his anointed.

The eternal here, Yahweh, is God the Father, his anointed is Jesus Christ.

Let us break their bands asunder, cast away their cords from us.

In other words, the nation says, we don't want God to rule over us. We break their bands asunder, cast them away from us.

He that sits in the heaven shall laugh. The eternal shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sword as pleasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decrees the eternal center to me. You art my son.

This day have I Yalad begotten you, which Yalad in the Hebrew is equal to Gennao in the Greek. It means to bring forth to birth. This day have I brought you forth.

Paul quotes this in Acts chapter 13 and equates it with resurrection, but that's a different subject. I've already spoken. You should know it. Ask of me, and I shall give you the nations for your inheritance in the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dast them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O you kings, be instructed. You judges the earth. Serve the eternal with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun lest he be angry, and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Satan is the god of this world, as we've heard many times. He is the prince of the power of the air. He's called the prince of this world. Paul warned us to put on the whole armor of God that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. So let's look at some of the specific wiles of the devil so we'll be better prepared to be able to defend his onslaught and protect ourselves and our families from his wiles. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 2.

Satan had the power of death over humankind until Jesus Christ. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ is the one who came and paid the penalty for sin. There are not two avenues to salvation. There's not the sacrificial system of the Jews on the one hand and the sacrifice of Christ. There is only one name given under heaven whereby men must be saved, regardless of what John Hagy or any other so-called TV preacher evangelist says. One name. And Jesus Christ is the one who came, and through him we can defeat the author of sin and death. All of these things that we talk about and see going on in the world, and all the confusion and chaos and upset and trouble.

In Hebrews chapter 2, we'll start in verse 10, for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Jesus Christ suffered all the way the ignominious death on the stake, saying and saying, don't you know that I could call? During his trial, he said I could call for 10,000 legions of angels, but he knew what his mission was, what he had agreed to do to pay for the sins of the world. And he was faithful unto death for both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. There is one essence, the Spirit of God, for which cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren, because we are of the same essence that we have, the Spirit of God, saying, I will declare your name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise unto you. And again, I will put my trust in him, and again, behold, I in the children which God has given me. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death that is the devil. But the devil has only the power of the first death, the physical death. God is the one who has the ultimate power of where your life essence is going to wind up, whether in the second death or eternal life in the kingdom of God. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things that behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. And he's given us that ministry of reconciliation. And it is only through God and Jesus Christ and those faithful ones that he has called into his service. See, one of the great missions of the Church, of course, is to take this gospel to the world. But are we of all one accord? That God can add daily to the Church to make reconciliation for the sins of the world? Or in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, tested, tried, he is able to succor them that are tempted, tested, tried. Satan especially hates the Israel and the Church of God. We looked at Revelation 12, and we see this very clearly. Revelation 12, we see in verse 9 that that old serpent, Satan the devil, who is deceiving the whole world, he and his angels, the demons, were cast down. But as we read in Job chapter 1 and here, Satan still has access to the throne of God. Verse 10, Revelation 12, 10, I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now comes salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For the accuser, the slanderer of the brethren, is cast down, who slanders them, accuses them before our God day and night. Anything that he can do to drive a witch, here or there or wherever it is, to sow seeds of doubt, anxious care, fear, whatever it might be, human reasoning based on the wrong premise.

He is cast down, who accuses them before God day and night, and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they love not their lives unto the death. Three things there. The blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they love not their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell therein, woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea. For the devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knows that he has but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child, Jesus Christ sprang from the tribe of Judah, the Jews from Israel, and to the woman were given two wings with great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place where she is nourished for three and a half years. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood and army after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman. The earth opened her mouth and swallowed the army which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was mad with the woman, went to make war with the remnant of her seed and those that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

So Satan really hates Israel, hates the Church of God, because the members are the body of Jesus Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the begotten sons and daughters who are destined to rule and reign over the universe in eternity. Satan believes that if he can destroy mankind, he will thwart God's plan, a murderer and a liar from the beginning. Once again, John 844. And except those days should be shortened, that is in the tribulation, because... Turn to Matthew 24.

When the great tribulation hits and Satan's great wrath that we just read about where he's cast down, he goes after the woman. He goes after the one that brought forth the man child. He goes after those who keep the commandments of God. And if God didn't supernaturally intervene, he would get his way. And we look at this in Matthew 24. In Matthew 24, in verse 15, the abomination of desolation is set up. Then the various behaviors that some engage in after that. And then we note verse 21. 21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of this world, to this time no ever shall be, and except those days should be shortened, unless God cast out the flood, unless he helps the woman, unless he intervenes, except those days should be shortened. There should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall rise false Christ, false prophets, shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect. But if you love the truth, Satan is going to think that during the tribulation that he is going to accomplish this, that he's going to destroy human beings. And if God didn't intervene, as we've read here, perhaps he would. The world experiences the wrath of Satan during the first part of the great tribulation, and Satan is organized for these purposes. Some people believe that Satan is just sort of aimlessly wandering around, and to a certain degree that may be true, but he is organized. He's always there. He is planning, scheming, conniving, controlling as much as possible. Satan has an invisible government, an invisible organizational structure. Each nation has a prince or a demon assigned to it, and Satan tries to set up world government and destroy Israel and the Church of God. We get a glimpse of this in Daniel chapter 10. Turn back there to confirm what I've just said there with regard to Satan's organizational structure and a demonic being, a strong spirit being, being over these various nations. In Daniel chapter 10 verse 3, I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh, so he fasted.

Neither did I anoint myself for three weeks.

Daniel was fasting and praying to understand. We come to verse 12. Then he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for the first day that you did set your heart to understand and to chasten yourself before the eternal new words were heard.

Verse 13, But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. But lo, Michael, Michael is the prince for Israel. Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I've come to make you understand what shall befall your people in the latter days, for the vision is yet in the future.

Now you look at verse 20. Then said he, Know you, wherefore I come unto you, and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grisha shall come.

Of course, Alexander the Great came and conquered the known world at that time, as they say, and no doubt he was energized by powerful spiritual forces.

But I will show you that which is noted in the scripture of truth. And there is none that holds with me in these things but Michael your prince. Now look at chapter 12, verse 1.

And at that time shall Michael stand up the great prince, which stands for the children of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble which has never was since there was a nation, even to the same time. And at that time your people shall be delivered every one of them that shall be found written in the book. What book? The book of life.

So unseen battles are being fought.

God has set a hedgerow around Israel for quite a long time, and he set a hedgerow around this nation for quite a long time. But after World War II, and especially after Vietnam, various forces began to take shape. The hippie movement began, the drug culture began, the subculture, the world of rock music, drugs, and all that goes with it, and the rebellion of the youth, and almost overnight there was a quote, generation gap, and a new subculture developed. And it is continued unto this day. And these are the people, to a large degree, who are held up in high esteem and applauded in the high places of the land. These are the people who come and entertain at the White House. These are the people that are glorified and praised. Very seldom do you hear of Joe the Plumber, but when you really heard what Joe the Plumber had to say, we really wanted to put a gag in his mouth.

America now prides itself in multicultural diversity, and all of these cultures have their gods and forms of worship. What I'm about to say to you now in the scriptures I read, we need to understand, and everybody that thinks that they can dabble with the gods of this world and the customs and traditions of this world, no matter how strong the emotional ties may be with regard to things like Christmas and Easter, God does not want us to have anything to do with it. Why?

Let's notice now 1 Corinthians 10. We've seen clearly here from Daniel chapter 10 that Satan does have an organizational structure. There are what are called princes, chief demons over various nations, and there is some kind of organizational structure. Do you think that the scripture says in vain that Satan is a god of this present evil age? Do you think that everything that's happening is just a man?

Satan surely is having a powerful influence, and it's going the way that he has planned at the present time. Few voices are standing up and crying out, some stronger than we are at the present time. And may God give us the courage to do what we need to do. These are no ordinary times, though we are so blessed with what we have here with regard to peace and tranquility. It's unbelievable. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 18, "...behold, Israel, after the flesh, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar." In other words, this meat that was offered to idols.

If you go there and eat of that, are you not a partaker of the altar? If you go there and you dabble in whatever the heathen customs, traditions, pagans, that which is not of God, are you not a partaker thereof?

What say I then, that the idol is anything or that which is offered and sacrificed to idols is anything? That's not the point he's saying. But I say that the things which the nations sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. That's the point.

And the more that somebody tries to say, oh well, Christmas, Merry Christmas, and we want it to be Christmas spelled with C-H-R-I-S-T, not X-mas. This is Christ's birthday. Well, basically the whole world knows that Christ was not born in December. It's in the encyclopedias. Well, it doesn't matter. But I say unto you, the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils.

I think we have people who think they can.

You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils.

Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify. Let not man seek his own, but every man another's wealth or welfare.

Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, you can eat asking no question for conscience's sake.

But if you know that it is connected, God says, don't have anything to do with it. We have people who try to play both ends against the middle, as it's said. We have nations who try to play both ends against the middle. Saudi Arabia is trying to play both ends against the middle, as it were. On the one hand, they're a friend of the U.S. Ostensibly. The U.S. is one of their principal customers of petroleum products. On the other hand, they're providing monies, underhanded, for various enemies of the U.S. Pakistan is the same way.

And of course, there are many people who try to play both ends against the middle, pretending that they are this when really they're that. In Jeremiah chapter 10, of course, you could call this the Christmas Tree chapter.

In Jeremiah chapter 10, we're just going to read it. I'm not going to go through the whole thing here, but the main point is in verse 2.

Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 2. It says, Some people think that as long as Satan's party has some so-called redeeming aspects, it's okay to be partakers at the devil's table. Even good works do not necessarily mean that they work the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ says in Matthew chapter 7, Many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, have we not done these wonderful works and cast out devils in your name? And he will say unto them, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Christ did not mince words with the scribes and the Pharisees. Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!

Time after time, in Matthew 23, Satan seeks out the control points of society. Society is controlled by government, economics, media, social institutions, education. Now, the very structure of the family has been under attack for decades, and more and more it's eroding away. So we have religious leaders now embracing homosexuality and saying it's okay to be homosexual and serve in the priesthood.

That it's okay to believe that you can abort little babies in the womb. You can kill them. You can murder them. See, Satan is in control in the basic sense of government and false religion. And Satan has, from time to time, planted tares in the Church of God.

And we are warned about this in Matthew 13.

Matthew 13, verse 24.

In Matthew 13, verse 24.

Another parable put forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the household came and said unto them, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? From whence then came these tares? He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servant said unto him, Will you that we go and gather them? But he said, No, lest you gather up the tares, you pull up the roots of the good wheat. And let both grow together unto the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, bind them in bundles, and burn them. But gather the wheat, put it in my barn.

And another parable he put forth unto them, The kingdom is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when he grows, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

In 2 Peter chapter 2, notice 2 Peter chapter 2.

You see, one of the things, if they speak not according to the law and testimony, it is because there is no truth in them. In 2 Peter chapter 2, we're warned about these things, but there were false prophets also among the people. Even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them, that bought them, you're bought with a price, you're not your own, and bring upon them swift destruction. Many shall follow their pernicious ways, the reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And so we see throughout the past two or three decades and more, people look at the Church of God, all those people, they can't even get along with themselves. See, that's playing right into the hands of Satan the devil.

About the only news that is reported is that news which will create anxious care, fear, doubt, and human reasoning apart from God. This is coupled with diversionary news of celebrities and the various godless behaviors and antics that you see today. Oh, we interrupt this newscast. Those people in Cleveland who held those women in captivity, they are about to be sentenced. Let's all go there now. We're going to look at their house. These are the chains. This is where they held them. We're really interested in that kind of stuff.

In the meantime, the world is going up in flames everywhere else. Ellen DeGeneres is going to host the Oscars. Thanks for the warning. Of course, Satan hates the family, and the great attack on the family has been going on for quite a long time. Satan and his agents pose as intellectuals, suave, sophisticated. Many use the Gnostic approach. I have special knowledge for you.

And of course, one of the main things now has to do with these two opposing points of view.

This is what is called the Hegelian dialectic. Thesis. This side is for X. Antithesis. This side is against X. Let's come together, butt-heads. It's sort of a show in one sense, because when all is said and done, the leaders of this country, both Republicans and Democrats, have let this country slide to the point that it is. Basically, all of them now embrace some form of free market world government, global economy, on and on we could go. Brethren, if we are going to defeat the author of sin and death, there is only one solution, and that solution is to turn to God with our whole heart. There is no other solution for it. There are so many different ploys and strategies that Satan employs, but we do have that which can defeat him in every way. I probably need to come back with a part two of this, but let's once again be reminded in Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians chapter 6, of course, we are all so familiar with it, yet how many of us have really taken it to heart and really applied it in our lives to the point that we know it, we know that we know it, we believe it, we understand it, and it is part of us. In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, but on the whole armor of God, which he is about to describe.

Remember, I read those, well, I quoted those two great commandments. Love your neighbor as yourself. Well, first of all, love God with all your heart, mind, and so love your neighbor as yourself. On these two, hang all the law and the prophets. That's somewhat of a summary of what God expects us to do as ministers of reconciliation to defeat Satan, the author of sin and death. Finally, my brethren, Ephesians 6, 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and the power of his might put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. And it says to put on the whole armor, not part of the armor, but the whole armor of God. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And we've read about the organizational structure of Satan the devil in Daniel chapter 10. We also read about being part of the devil's table in 1 Corinthians 10, where to foretake unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand. Of course, man punctuated that.

Stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Your word is truth, hiding the word of God in your heart, having on the breastplate of righteousness all your commandments are righteousness. Psalm 119 verse 172.

Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In other words, you are an ambassador for Christ. You are a minister of reconciliation. You are ready to take this gospel to the world. Shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of a wicked. The reason for that, if you know and know that you know that God is your deliverer, no matter what he throws at you, will fall harmlessly at your feet. And take the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation is hope. That's 1 Thessalonians 5.10. Maybe it's 5.8 or 10. The helmet of salvation, that means the helmet of salvation is hope. That which permeates your whole being, the big picture. You realize what's out there, and it's ever before you. God is your king. Jesus Christ is your master.

You have nothing to fear. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplications in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with perseverance and supplication for all saints. See, if we put on that whole armory, and if we hold fast to that which is good, God is going to deliver us, and we will be able to defeat Satan. We will overcome him in every way, and they overcame him by the word of their testimony, the blood of the Lamb, and they love not their lives unto the death. So, brethren, we are equipped to defeat Satan and anything that he can throw at us. So let's lift our heads high. Let's be of good cheer. Let's be courageous, because this great enemy, the great enemy of death, is going to be conquered. And in a sense, it's already been conquered for those who will embrace Jesus Christ.

He came and conquered death, as we read in Hebrews 2. And then at resurrection, the greatest victory of all, eternal life in the kingdom of God.