Recognizing the Need for This Day

Well, our purpose in this Atonement Message is simple.

Our objective is to create in us a deep yearning for this day, a deep yearning.

The title of this main message is, Recognizing Our Need For This Day.

You know, if you're going to speak about a coming day and fulfillment of this day of Atonement, you really have to take a look at Scripture and take a look at where we are in this world, so they will create in us that urging, yearning for this day to come.

The Day of Atonement is a day which pictures simply stated a time in which evil will no longer exist on this earth for a thousand years.

This day is the fulfillment which will usher in a thousand years of peace.

Evil will no longer run rampant at this time.

Everything, all that we wake up to, the sorrow and unspeakable tragedies on this earth, when this day comes, that will all be banished.

In itself, we'll be unshackled to experience a freedom unlike anything we've ever known.

Gone will be fear, anger, greed, and mankind will see through a different lens clearly.

It will be a time in which true physical, emotional, and spiritual healing will begin.

You know, the existence of evil has always been a challenge.

It's always been a challenge to philosophy and religion.

People have always asked, why does evil exist when we see or hear the reports of a mass murder or terrorism or war or genocide and all those things intrude our news and our ears and our eyes?

So much of mankind asks, where is God and why does this suffering occur?

And no one has come up with a better answer than that which is given in the Bible.

Because it is in the Bible where we see the existence of a powerful spiritual being named Satan the Devil.

God is known as Lucifer, a powerful angel at the very throne of God.

He defied the will of God and rebelled, taking a third of the angels with him.

And since that time, Scripture reveals to us that he has been at constant war against in opposition to God's plan.

From the very beginning, from Christ's human birth, we see the gathering of forces of the Roman Empire trying to put forth a preemptive strike to destroy this child which would grow into the one who would ultimately bring about the end of this devil.

So Jesus knew there was a very real being, Satan was a very real being.

But we know that at Christ's death, that set the stage for the final triumph over Satan and the fulfillment of this day.

Let's project forward.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them once again to Revelation 20 this time.

Let's turn over to Revelation 20.

Here we are given the picture of the great fulfillment of this day of atonement at Christ's Second Coming.

The devil will be bound here for a thousand years.

In verse 2 and 3, he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years.

And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should not deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.

Let's stop there.

So the day of atonement pictures this event in advance.

Day of atonement pictures the day in which, as it says, Satan's destructive influence in human affairs will come to an end.

Can you imagine such a day here?

Just think of how long Satan has been at war and conflict with man.

We've known nothing else, right?

In fact, this conflict was first announced back at the very beginning.

So here we are in Revelation.

Let's go to the very beginning.

Genesis chapter 3 verses 14 and 15.

Turn there if you like.

Genesis 3 verse 14 and 15, here is revealed to us the origins of this great conflict here.

This is the prophetic announcement of what was in store for mankind.

Genesis 3 beginning in verse 14.

So the Lord God said to the serpent, that's the devil, because you have done this, deceived Adam and Eve, you are cursed more than all the cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And verse 15, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

Stop there.

So God says enmity, it immense hostility between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed.

So this is the conflict announced.

This is a conflict between Satan the devil and humanity.

Specifically God's people will receive his full wrath.

And it is a conflict here where you have the bruising of the heel of the woman's seed.

That's a metaphor of Christ's crucifixion and death.

Satan was able in a sense to bruise the heel of Jesus Christ.

But ultimately death could not hold Christ after three days, three nights he's raised up establishing the destiny of crushing the head, bruising the head of Satan the devil.

So this prophecy, although Satan you will have some advancement of your evil agendas, the bruising of a heel, ultimately you are the one that will be destroyed.

As Christ has now risen from the dead, unfolding the events which will cast a fatal blow to the devil's head.

So here in Genesis 3.15 you have the prophecy eventually pointing to Jesus Christ, the one who will have ultimate victory and it will begin at the fulfillment of this day of atonement.

Now until that day comes though, there is still enmity today we know.

We won't turn there but Peter picks up his pen and writes that we are to be sober and vigilant because your great adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion.

For your notes that's 1 Peter 5.8.

So we have this adversary in the meantime walking to and fro seeking whom he may devour.

So all these words in building this picture again it's ultimately to creating us a soberness a vigilance and a yearning for this incredibly evil adversary to be put away and for the fulfillment of this day to occur.

Because we can confidently say that it is as a result of this adversary that all the conflict in the world can be traced.

So all the conflict in the world can ultimately be traced to this one root.

Everything I wonder if you recognize that or have thought about that or believe that.

The world does not believe of this.

The world has no yearning for this day of atonement to be fulfilled.

I've mentioned this before but everything we've just talked about you're not going to get it in the evening news.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone in the evening news say well you know it's no surprise that we're having all of this racial conflict because after all we exist with conflict in the heavenly realms.

I don't think you'll hear that nor will you hear you know in these great times of conflict in war between Russia and Ukraine understand the newscaster says understand what the Bible declares about the history of man.

We understand that all of this originates from a great cosmic conflict that began at the very beginning.

More news at six you know you will not hear that.

Why again it's because the world by and large has no notion of this great adversary and therefore no notion of a great day of atonement which will put the end put it into this great adversary but if ever their eyes were open to scripture they would see this on full display and while they don't see it we're the beneficiaries of this book which allows our eyes to be open to it.

It's an incredible conflict that we're in.

Let's turn over to Ephesians six.

I want to show you this and Paul the Apostle Paul tells us about this incredible ongoing conflict in the heavenly realms also down here on earth.

Ephesians six if you'd like to turn there let's look at verses eleven and twelve here.

What we're going through brethren is not merely physical.

This is what Paul the Apostle Paul is going to put forth here.

Ephesians six beginning in verse eleven Paul writes put on the whole armor but very important next two words of God.

So this isn't physical armor put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

So Paul here in Ephesians six is speaking to God's people.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities powers rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Phillips commentary sums it up this way quote we are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil unquote.

I thought about that I don't know if I ever really put my mind to think about the organized governmental structure that Satan the devil is leading.

Not only in the spiritual realms but down here on earth you know and organized his own government if you will to push against the only true government God's government.

So let this kind of sink in.

Okay so again we're creating in our we're wanting to create ourselves today the deep yearning for this day to be fulfilled if you realize the scope and influence that this great adversary has all of the conflict here as Paul reiterates is traceable to the fact that within the corridors of power where within the governments of this world there are dark sinister unseen forces at work and it is that the very people who are making our decisions in society are wittingly or unwittingly the very agents or pawns of these things it sounds so bizarre I'll tell you if I went out on the streets and gave this message I would sound like a kook right an extremist but what we're discovering in just the very few places that we've turned to in Scripture and it's in all of Scripture this is this is the truth the truth is if once we were ever to pull back the curtain as it were and the spiritual world behind came into view it would expose to our vision a struggle so intense so convulsive so sweeping everything in its range that the fierce battle ever fought on earth would seem by comparison a game and again our earthly struggle is a representation of all the unseen spiritual struggle around us and it's a struggle that will continue in fact until Christ comes and fulfills this day of atonement to put an end to this great adversary so again I just want to bring our thoughts to this singular focus this is this is what the Apostle Paul was concerned with he's finishing his letter to God's people in Ephesus and this is how he concludes it here you know we don't fight a brethren we're not fighting against flesh and blood make no doubt if we get if we if we do not recognize that fact what we're gonna find ourselves in is fighting fighting the wrong battle with the wrong tools right with the wrong weapons we'll get caught up as the the sermon at pointed to we'll get caught up in thinking that this is a physical battle these are spiritual battles here in the heavenly realms ultimately on a side note some of the commentaries say that verse 12 here of Ephesians that this identifies four tiers of spiritual opponents here in verse 12 we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against they some commentators say here's one dark tier of spiritual opponent principalities perhaps the second one is powers perhaps the third one is rulers of the darkness perhaps the fourth is spiritual hosts so you see there's an organization perhaps that is coming through Satan the devil is very organized in his purposes of putting forth darkness now I don't know if it's four tiers of spiritual opponents probably more likely is this is Paul doing what he normally does he just heaps phrases on top of phrases just to really make a point typically perhaps that's what Paul's doing here but regardless this points to the fact that this is cosmic it's all embracing and it's unavoidable and undeniable and Satan is at the helm of all of it it's interesting when you when you read this letter you'll notice very quickly Paul doesn't put forth the the argument for the existence of dark evil forces um like we might have the need to do so today you know Satan and his demons it has been so carried to church and so dismissed again people of this world have no notion of a real devil and a real government of demons that are doing work here on earth now Paul didn't have to go to very much extent to convince those to whom he was riding of this fact because um Satan and his demons and his influence were on full display to the the people in Ephesus to whom Paul wrote I'll show you of one experience that they had uh there in Ephesus uh turn over to Acts 19 if you will and we'll begin in verse 11 uh here's just one example where um we see that the people of Ephesus did not need much convincing that there was a state in the devil and a dark force on earth doing work because they they were able to experience it and see what see it with their own eyes we're gonna break in here so acts 19 and we're gonna begin in verse 11 we'll see first that Paul was doing an extraordinary work in miracles here in Ephesus Acts 19 verse 11 and it was stirring up the darkness um now um God worked unusual miracles by the hands of God so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out from them so again God was using all in a powerful way here very demonstrative way here in Ephesus uh continuing here but look what happened so the Jews were intrigued by this and some of them tried to do the same thing they wanted to get in on this work so beginning in verse 13 here then some of the Jewish exorcist took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits they took it upon themselves to do this big mistake saying we exercise you by the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches also there were seven sons of seva a Jewish chief priests who did so so let's stop there for a moment so they saw the notoriety they wanted to get in on this and they had no business operating under the name of Jesus Christ here and the demons and the evil forces knew they had no business doing this so verse 15 when an evil spirit saw these unauthorized individuals trying to call upon the name of Jesus to cast them out verse 15 the evil spirit answered and said Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you?

gives me a chill oh there man I would not want to be these individuals here so the evil spirit's calling their bluff verse 16 then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaked the evil spirit was leaped on them overpowered them and prevailed against them so they fled out of the house naked and wounded so stop there it's just unbelievable and remarkable think of how you would feel in witnessing this so the the these who weren't able to operate under the authority of Jesus Christ they tried to cast that demon out of that man like Paul was doing the true servant of God and that demon leapt upon them so you have these seven guys then running out with all their clothes torn up and they're they're bashed up and and beat up here so it goes to the point Ephesus knew that Satan the devil was real and his demons were real but look at this impact let's look at verse 17 and 18 so this event this occurrence verse 17 this became known to all the Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus and fear fell on them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds so the the seven sons of Siva um uh got their beating and and all those who practiced sorcery here were so struck by this occurrence it caused them to move away from the darkness that's verse 19 also continues right here verse 19 many who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all and they counted up the value of them and it totaled 50,000 pieces of silver let's stop there so if you look this up a silver coin coin uh was able to research is worth about a day's wage so this is some 50,000 days wages 50,000 days wages of satanic activity now being uh burned here so think of how infused Ephesus was with this this darkness of satan the devil and his demons and this is the very place Paul's entering into and i gotta tell you brother this is the place you and i are entering into i don't know if we see our culture as steeped in darkness as revealed that Ephesus was steeped in darkness and we could even propose it's even more steeped it's even more steeped as we're getting toward the end of of of christ's returning and wrapping this up satan is turning it up and think of how much access is out there to the most dark evil activity you can imagine um so with that though you can see the incredible impact one of God's lights brings just this little prick pinpoint of light everywhere in this darkness and that's you and i that's you and i so a study like this is not to get us weak need or have us cower it's to recognize we're in this and we have a we have a job to do and we need to pray for the fulfillment of this day of atonement and we can't do it alone if we don't have the name of Jesus Christ with us look at the result we won't have the power we we don't have the power but if we have Jesus Christ living in us we absolutely have the power to push against these forces and to make an impact so when when Paul says put on the whole armor of God they were like oh we get that yeah because we're no match for what we just witnessed with physical armor it's going to take something much more powerful here so we need to be convinced of this in our urgent need for the fulfillment of this day with the banishing of this incredibly dark and evil devil um no doubt the world is not the world is not in just a short bit they're going to be playing playing games with this devil on October 31st and Halloween it's incredibly scary things that they're that they're involved in but they don't understand and they don't get it we need to pray for them and we need to pray for this day to be fulfilled it is um we know that the world doesn't get it for example by the mass multi-millions billions of dollars that we're spending just to see who's going to be the leader of our our country for the next four years right rather than spending that millions and billions of dollars pushing against all of the evils of this world hunger um uh war famine you name it think of how how a skew and and how off uh the culture's uh site is and their focus but if they had a clear understanding of what we're reading about here um it would change everything um and again so the church cannot find itself preoccupied with fighting the wrong battle this is not merely here on the physical plane um we are pushing up against spiritual agents at the very headquarters of evil and they hate the light there's no code of honor they have no moral principles they have no higher ethical feelings and they're utterly ruthless in their malicious designs so when the issue of abortion comes up when the issue of pornography i want it to it really should we should be sensitive to it and it should really almost make us kind of sick in a way i hate that i'm so calloused to so many things that i should be much more sensitive to you know so many things don't even bother me in the world and i just because it is part of our world right we need to pray for sensitivity so that we don't find ourselves involved in any part of this uh of the devil any part of the devil and it will be manifest through men and women after speaking about the the wiles of the devil there in eph.

6 in verse 11 putting on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil if you look back just a few chapters to eph. 4 verse 14 eph. 4 verse 14 Paul writing he's using the he uses the same language in the same original words here eph. 4 verse 14 that we should not be no longer children tossed to and fro carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men and the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting so again when when i say that um satan is working through wittingly or unwittingly men and women this is this is what the bible puts forth so in turning back to eph.

6 in verse 4 you'll see several times that paul says that we must stand we must take a stand here we can't be wobbly stand therefore he says and then verse 13 eph. 6 verse 13 again that we may be able to withstand the evil day having done all to stand to stand so are you firm in your understanding today that the battle is not against flesh and blood but ultimately against spiritual battles so what are you struggling with what am i struggling with today how are we viewing it and then how are we organizing the the weaponry to fight against it and the weaponry is is prayer and fasting and getting close to god and and going to your brother and going to your brother and and her sister and and healing these things this is this is where we're at and we have to have victory we have to have victory over these things it's it's us against these dark spiritual uh influences that would that would long long to defeat us we long to defeat us we're not going to allow it we're not going to allow it we're going to use the power of of god's spirit to help us overcome to get on our knees in humility and pray for this help and and pray that we can be in the world but not of it well as we begin to conclude a day of evil is coming the day in which evil will be banished is coming ultimately to remove evil the evil ruler of the world must be cast out and that's exactly what jesus christ is going to do as we read in the beginning the great dragon the serpent of old called the devil and satan who deceives the world will be cast out along with his angels and demons and as the story continues we see satan locked up for a thousand years so he can deceive the nations no more this will come about at the return of jesus christ to this world those from throughout time who rejected satan's customs and influence and opted rather to accept the sacrifice of jesus christ and strive to obey his law aided by the holy spirit they will be resurrected to join the returning jesus christ and they will be at the side of jesus to usher in a whole new world to replace the evil society built by satan a new era will begin to flourish suffering from evil will cease in an almost unimaginable utopian world absent of wickedness will emerge as the earth becomes full of the knowledge of the lord as the waters cover the sea christ and his resurrected followers will work with humanity for a thousand years fashioning the society broken by satan into a paradise free from the clutches of evil so yes we yearn for this day this day when evil will finally be put to an end how wonderful it will be where a world will be full of joy and everlasting peace may we pray for this day may we all pray for the banishment of evil and for this great day of atonement to come si