Vanquishing All Enemies

Aloha! Okay, good. You're awake out there. I know I hear you breathing, so I know you've got to be out there.

Appreciate the special music. Such a wonderful thing to think about, the kingdom of God, and to sing about it. I know I hear on the side of the stage was sort of singing along with him. I remember singing those songs, you know, at the choir at Ambassador College many, many years ago.

You know, we've been talking about age from time to time. You know, there was an old man that was crying, sitting on the the doorsteps and crying, and somebody came up to him and said, why are you crying? You know, the man was 80 years old, by the way, and he said, why are you crying?

And the old man says, well, daddy spanked me.

Daddy spanked you? You're 80 years old! How is that? And why did he spank you? He said, for talking back to grandpa. So, you know, sometimes we think old is old. That's old. You know, your grandpa, you know, you talk back to him, he gets spanked. You know, people are afraid of aging.

You know, Woody Allen said, I don't mind dying. I just don't want to be there when it happens. I don't know if you're like that or not, that you don't want to be there. You know, and I personally, I've been through a little bit of something like death.

And really, you just don't notice it much. Woody Allen also said, I don't want to hear about my legacy going on. He said, I want to hear about me going on. And I think probably all of us want to go on, don't we? You know, Mark Twain said, when friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old. You know, it's amazing. You go to a funeral and, you know, the person is in the casket and people always say, he looks so good. You know, it doesn't matter how old they may be. They look so good. And so it is certainly true. When people start flattering about, you know, how good you look at your age, that's a sure sign that you're getting old.

Well, some people want to stay young forever. And, you know, they'll do anything to preserve the self. You know, they will liposuction. They will stretch. They will do whatever they can do. You know, some have talked about how that they've had so many facelift that their navel is up about here around their chest. You know, they keep stretching and stretching and stretching.

I think that was the way it was and has been for some of the movie stars. Joan Rivers is one of those who's been stretched and bent out of shape, I guess. And she looks like she's got this permanent smile on her face. You know, and the eyebrows are up here, you know. But it seems like that that is the way it is in Hollywood.

They'll do anything to preserve their youth. And I think the reason for it is because man, deep inside, wants to live forever. He wants immortality. He desires immortality. You know, the only novel Oscar Wilde ever published was called The Picture of Dorian Gray. And it's the story about a fellow by the name of Dorian Gray, who was so markedly handsome to the point of beauty. You know, you probably have seen even men that are like that, that are, you know, so symmetrical.

They're so, you know, they got all the things that I guess a human being would desire in terms of personal appearance. You know, maybe what you would imagine Adam would have been or Eve would have been in the Gardeville. But in this novel that Oscar Wilde wrote, an artist paints a portrait of Dorian Gray. And Dorian, of course, knows that his beauty is going to fail. His handsomeness and his beauty is going to fade. And what he does is he sells his soul so that he can be, you know, young forever, basically.

And that basically the painting would grow old, but he would not grow old. And that's the story, that's the plot, you know, of this book, the picture of Dorian Gray that was written by Oscar Wilde back in 1890, as a matter of fact. But in the story, Dorian Gray pursues a life of hedonism, of debauchery, of in every sense of the word. And each sin changes the picture.

And so the picture becomes more and more distorted, you know, more brutally ugly to show the effect, I think, maybe it's a sort of a play on showing the effect of sin and what sin does in people's lives. And people, of course, can age very rapidly if they do a lot of sinning, they do a lot of drinking, they do a lot of carousing.

You know, it's like the guy who was on Johnny Carson one time, you know, he was sitting there in an old, old band and Johnny asked him, he said, what would you credit, you know, your long life? And the old band said, well, you know, I, you know, I drank what I wanted to drink when I was, you know, all my life.

He said, I've smoked, you know, more than a pack of cigarettes every day. I chased women, you know, all my life. And Johnny Carson says, well, how old are you? And he said 32. And people do, it seems, age if they, they do a lot more living. Sometimes you see people, and that's sometimes what I think, if they, they look like they, they have had a rough life.

I oftentimes will say my own mind, well, you have surely lived a lot of life, a little bit too quick for some people. But, but, you know, the fact is that sin distorts us. Sin affects us in a very big way in our lives. I think also, and, you know, this book that Oscar Wilde wrote, it points to the fact that man wants eternal life, but he doesn't want to live a life that's fitting for eternal life.

You know, science has tried to be able to bestow upon us longer life, of course, and now they are searching feverishly for what is called, you know, in the human genome, the Methuselah gene. They're looking for that gene that you can, it's like a switch, you can turn it on or turn it off, and it, you know, if you turn it on, then you don't age, and you, I guess, in some cases, if you find the right one, you don't die, or at least that's their theory that they have.

You have immortality, but like Dorian Gray, they hope to obtain that objective without God or the character that is worthy of eternal life. And brethren, right character is important, if very important, necessary for eternal beings.

And God has a plan, though, for mankind. It's not going to be through science. It's not going to be through what man does. Another question I think that we should ask ourselves is, does the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles is over? Yesterday, when the sun went down, the Feast of Tabernacles, as far as that festival, is over. And we started a new one last evening. It was the eighth day. But does that mean that the full realization of the establishment of the kingdom of God is finished just because the Feast of Tabernacles is over? Actually, no. Because the conquest of God's kingdom does not come about by one single act.

It doesn't take place just because of the millennium. It does not take place just because Christ returns, in fact. You know, sometimes we, of course, pray for the return of Christ. And we should. We should pray, thy kingdom come. But that's not going to bring about the kingdom of God entirely. Because things are going to take place in stages. And it is going to take over a thousand years for the kingdom of God to be fully realized.

Because the ultimate objective, brethren, is the complete rulership of God over the entire universe. That is His objective to do that. And that is established in stages. And it will not be over until the things, all things opposed to God, have been defeated. All things have been vanquished and brought under the feet of Jesus Christ. You know, think about the universe and how large it is.

The Milky Way galaxy, what is it? A hundred thousand light years across? You know, sometimes you watch Star Trek and you sort of dream about, you know, zooming across the galaxy. Of course, they deal in warp speed. And I think they've gotten up to over 10 now on Star Trek.

But, of course, man has first to go to pass the speed of light. He, in fact, has come nowhere close to the speed of light. Scientists say that this universe is 13.8 billion light years across. I saw a report one time that if you measure beyond that, that there may be as many as 45 billion light years beyond that, what they classify as dark matter. So, man, man may very well just be touching, you might say, the very tip of the iceberg of how large this universe is and how great it is. The Holy Days, brethren, show us God has a plan that has been unfolding since ancient times. Been working on it, in fact, since, you know, the earth itself was created. He's been thinking about his plan. And, of course, Adam was brought on the scene in Eve. And the population of the earth, you know, that we see out here, a man populating and increasing to where probably through the ages there are 50 plus billion people that have existed upon this earth. And so God has had this plan that's been unfolding all of this time. And Christ knew, as was talked about yesterday, when Adam sinned, that he was going to have to come and die for mankind. And that must have been a very difficult time for the Father in heaven and the angels to watch, you know, the being who had been the Word, the spokesman, the logos, coming in the flesh and dying for mankind as he did. But that's exactly what he did for mankind, what he did for each of us, as was talked about very well yesterday. And God has been working, by the way, to the time when all human beings can be reconciled back to him.

You might say there was one good day in the Garden of Eden, as far as we know, in which man walked with God. Well, he's going to walk with God again. And the time is going to come when the Father is going to be with us. He might say, Daddy's going to come home, as it were, and dwell with us in the future. But let's go over, brethren, and notice over here in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 21, we know before mankind is going to be able, though, to be reconciled with God, all are going to have to come to a real repentance. And, you know, and God does a desire, by the way, in his plan that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and all should have an opportunity for eternal life, at least to have that opportunity for eternal life. Some may not go the gamut. Some may not obey God and do what God commands us to do. But let's go to 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 21 here. And it says, For since by man, through Adam, of course, the first Adam, came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ, all shall be made alive. Christ, of course, is the second Adam. But each one in his own order. God does things in an orderly manner, in an orderly way. And notice Christ the firstfruits, and afterwards those who are Christ at his coming. And so when Christ comes back, you know, in the clouds, as Mr. Garnet was talking about, you know, the spectacular return of Jesus Christ, we know that then we're going to be ascending to meet him in the air. And we'll be changed at that time. But there's an order that things are going to take place that God has in mind. In the diagolot, by the way, the Greek diagolot in verse 23 here, but it says, But each one in his own rank. Of course, Christ has the preeminence. He was number one. And so it is no surprise that the saints are going to be the second to be brought up in that resurrection. And Christ, of course, as it says, who is the first fruit, afterwards those who are Christ at his appearing, as the Jerusalem Bible says. It says Christ a first fruit, by the way, in the singular, in the Jerusalem Bible, and those who are Christ's appearing.

And then in other places it says, But all of them in their proper order. And so God has a sorter, an order by which he goes. But one thing we need to understand and realize there's a limited time with all of this. Let's notice down here in verse 24, going on and reading here. And then notice, then comes the end. And so we see the climax is going to come eventually in God's plan. And when he delivers the kingdom of God to the Father. So the Father in the end is going to be the recipient of the kingdom of God, which is the family of God. It says when he puts an end to all rule, and so all rule will be ended, and all authority and power. Everything will be brought under Jesus Christ, and then it will be yielded up to the Father. And so this is what we see within the Scriptures. And the millennium, of course, is a thousand years under Christ's rule, and the time comes when the Father himself is going to reign over everything. Right now, that's committed to Jesus Christ. You know, it mentions that in the Scriptures that Christ has the responsibility here upon the earth. In fact, he has all power in heaven and earth, as the Bible even says to us. But he has that responsibility, but he's going to yield the family up to the Father eventually. Now, notice going on here, you know, as we see that all is going to have to be under Christ, there are certain enemies that have to be brought under Jesus Christ. What enemies must be subdued before this can completely be realized? And before, in fact, the kingdom or the family of God could be yielded up to the Father. Well, we know that the physical elements aren't enemies, but what is is the perversion of those physical things that God has given us.

And he's given much into our hands, much dominion. Man was given dominion over the earth.

One thing we have dominion over is the family, our families, and what is happening to the family. Well, the demise of the family is an example. Homosexuality is such a plague on society that the definition of what a family is is being distorted. You know, it's being perverted.

I'll tell you, in California, those of you who live in California know what I'm talking about. The school systems now, it's like they mandated equal time. And it won't be long before same-sex marriages will be so rampant and out front that it's going to be very difficult for our kids, I think. I know in the schools that our children went to, they were fairly good, but of course they were beginning to see some of those things creep into them. But now, it is really bad. I think all of you know that. But notice going on here in verse 26 in 1 Corinthians 15, it says, the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. The last enemy. Well, if the last enemy is death, then what are the other enemies that we have? What other enemies, brethren, need to be vanquished? You know, we of course know that humanly, again, all of us sin. We've talked about that and in fact been referred to a number of times.

Mentioned yesterday, it's been mentioned a number of times here, if this feast that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And of course, we know that Paul says the wages of sin is death. So if death is the final enemy that's going to be subdued and vanquished, then sin also is an enemy of man because sin brings forth death. So sin is an enemy. Sin separates us from God, as Isaiah says, and God is not able to hear us because of the distortion in our life of sin. You know, it's like a sin that distorted the painting, the portrait of Dorian Gray. It distorts us, brethren, and it can cloud, put a cloud between us and God that He cannot hear us. And this is the state of all mankind right now.

And all those who have not truly repented and been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And of course, the world isn't totally aware of dark forces which sway society, that oftentimes injects through fiery darts, ideas, and attitudes, moods and attitudes.

You know, jealousy, envy, greed, all those things that are perpetuated in society. These dark forces actually feed. And of course, humanly, we get that so embedded in us, brethren. And you know, you watch the boob tube, as they call it, and you take things for granted.

Some of the most popular television programs anymore, you know, if you notice, I don't think there's a solitary program, sitcom, that is on that does not in some way touch on homosexuality. You know, it just is there. And of course, if that's not there, then you're talking about immorality, people living together, shacked up together. You know, nobody's thinking anything about it. It becomes, you know, whereas even the older in society used to be more examples, even among those who are older, you know, it's depicted that way, you know, in the sitcoms and so forth.

It's the way the world spins around. As the world churns, I think there's a, you know, one of those opera soap operas, as they call them. I haven't seen one of those on television a long time. I assume they're still out there. I guess it's as the world turns and not churns, is it? But I don't know if any of you watch those type of programs, but, you know, I imagine those programs were tamed back in the 60s compared to what they are now. I haven't seen them, you know, even in glancing in the morning at television. You know, when I remember there was a program on television when I was, I think it was a teenager, it was back in the 60s. Some of you may remember this. Peyton Place, remember Peyton Place? Remember how much of a stir that Peyton Place created? And now, I mean, that's tame, isn't it? Peyton Place would be a yoner, you know, people would be going to sleep during Peyton Place. Not enough action, not enough sin in it, you know, but again, this is the way of society. But the world is not aware of this. You know, Paul said, justice through one man, sin entered the world, death through sin, and thus death spread to all men as a result of sin, because all have sinned. So Satan, brethren, brought about sin through Adam, so Satan is an enemy of man, and an enemy, of course, we know of God, because the word Satan means adversary. God renamed him adversary, or Satan, you know, after he tried to ascend the throne of God and knock God off his throne, and God cast him to the earth. And Jesus Christ said, I saw him fall as lightning, you know, from heaven. And so he saw the whole affair of Satan being thrown out of heaven, you know, and to this earth. And, you know, sometimes people talk about, you know, is there a hell? Yes, there is a hell, brethren. And you know where that place is? Here, upon the earth. In fact, we know Satan and his demons are restrained down here. In the Greek, it's, of course, the word tataru, or taurus, that, you know, Satan is restrained down here. And you and I are right, smack dab in the middle of his domain. He's the God of this world, as 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says. You know, Jesus Christ, when He came and began His earthly ministry, said the devil is the father of lies. And He said the scribes and the Pharisees of His day, the religious intelligentsia, were His children. And He said, that's the reason why you won't listen to me, talking again to the scribes and Pharisees and the religious people of His day. You know, sometimes we wonder why we don't have the effectiveness, brethren, is because, again, the world is not tuned in to what God has to say. The world is not listening to us as it didn't listen to Jesus Christ. There are some that are going to hear, though. Their minds are going to be open, and they're going to see. So we have three enemies. The last enemy that's going to be destroyed is death. The first enemy that is going to be destroyed is sin. And then the second enemy that is going to be destroyed is Satan, the devil. So we have these three enemies, brethren. And, of course, there are probably other enemies, but these must be vanquished. These must be brought down before everything is going to be yielded up to the Father. A question I would want to pose now, though, is, have any of these enemies been totally defeated? Let's go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. I know one enemy has not been defeated.

And, of course, I think we'll find that all of them have not been totally defeated as yet. You know, you might say things have happened that makes it possible for them to be totally defeated. But here in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14, let's notice here, it says, Inasmuch then as the children are partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the sign, Jesus Christ came as a flesh and blood being, that through death he might destroy him who hath the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. We know that angels have eternal life, and God has promised that to them. But human beings, yes, we have a fear of death. There's a fear of death, and we all have it. Conversion and truth really change our whole perspective about that, doesn't it? It really changes the way we think. You know, many times we go through stages of changing our understanding. You know, I heard Mr. Garnett's message, his first message, what it was going to be. And I thought it then when we when he discussed it, you know, when we had their meeting. And I thought it again, sitting here today, my journey with God began when I looked up in the sky and I saw a cloud. And I said, look, Dad, there's a cloud, a big cloud. And my dad said, you know, he said, well, you know, I've heard that God comes in a cloud, that God is in the cloud. Of course, I was a little boy at the time, and I, not a little boy, I suppose I was probably 11, fairly small, but, but, you know, I looked up at that cloud, I wonder, I wonder where God is in there, you know, in that cloud. And I remember it was that time I started praying. We had some other things that we were going through in our family, and I started praying from from that day. But it basically stemmed from the fact that I had a brother, my brother had a tumor, and we thought he was going to die. And so I started praying that day. But there's a fear of death. I feared I would lose my brother. By the way, I did not, he's still alive today. God intervened and healed him. But all of us have this fear of death. But our perspective changes when we gain understanding.

Now, the first, in fact, time, though, I had to deal with death was in 1957, when my grandpa died. I was seven years old. First time I had ever been around death.

I hadn't seen grandpa that much, you know, every once in a while we would travel down from Missouri where we were living at the time, and we'd go see grandpa and grandma.

And I would always beg my grandfather for a nickel. They had a store, an old store, located right up from their house, and we'd walk up there, you know, and we would buy a fudge sickle. You know, get down in there and fish around, you know, how it is in those old freezers, and you'd reach down in there and get yourself a fudge sickle. But they were a nickel at that time, I remember distinctly. My grandfather would give us a nickel so we could do that every time. And I guess I could say I loved him for that reason, for the fudge sickle. Now, my wife gives me fudge sickles now, by the way, but I love her for other reasons, too. But they lived on 3rd Street in Portsmouth, Arkansas, in what was a shotgun house? I don't know if you know what a shotgun house is. It's a house that has all the rooms. You walk from one room to the other room. The front room to the kitchen to the, you know, whatever the different rooms, it was just straight through. They called them shotgun houses. And in the front room, they placed my grandfather's coffin, open coffin. So everybody would come through and they'd see, you know, Grandpa in there. Of course, I would see him and it scared me half to death, this dead man in a casket. But that was eerie because we were sleeping in that house.

And remember, I was seven years old. And I remember we slept in Grandpa and Grandma's bed.

And they put 27 quilts over us. I guess that's, in the old days, it was to hold the kids down.

So heavy. And, but I remember almost smothering under those quilts. And I was, it was hard to fall asleep, quite frankly. Because I wondered, Grandpa might come out of that casket.

And didn't know what would happen. But I remember the funeral, I was right in the back of an, of a, I don't know what year it would have been, but the car was smelled very musty. Reminded me of one of those old, you know how the fabric in the seats, back in the old days, they all smelled musty. Doesn't matter. You know, what, in fact, car you in, all the liner in the roof was smelled, had a certain smell to it. Not a new car smell. Off the factory line, it was the old musty smell, you know, that it smelled. And we, I remember riding on a dirt road up in Salasaw, Oklahoma, to take my grandfather to the graveside. And they set his casket up under a green canopy, and everybody sat there. And the preacher got up and he started preaching. And then afterwards, everybody filed past, you know, the casket. This was the, the good by. A lot of motion, a lot of crying, a lot of hysteria. My aunt, especially. She threw herself on the casket, threw herself, you know, on my grandpa. Again, I was really afraid she would, he would wake up, you know, and scared me half to death. Seven years old, you know, wondering what was going to happen. I was thinking somebody pull her off, you know, grandpa. That, and then when we got home that night, my grandmother said that she saw grandpa.

That grandpa came to her. And again, that, that terrified me. You know, he came? He really came to you? Well, we know that, and of course, that's what she imagined was the case. But that was my introduction to death. And it impacted me pretty much until I began to ask the questions and started reading the Bible. God opened my mind as He did you. We know, brethren, Christ came on the physical plane that Satan and his lies and death could be destroyed. Yet, how can Satan and eternal pain be destroyed? What does Paul mean when he says that Christ came to destroy the devil? Well, in the Greek word, the word destroy comes from the Greek word katargeo, probably not pronouncing that correctly, but it's spelled K-A-T-A-R-G-E-O. And, and the Vines Expositor Dictionary says it means to reduce to inactivity. You know, Satan is the eternal being, and God's not going to take his eternal life from it, but he can put him out of action. That's what it means. He puts him out of action because he's no longer effective. He cannot, you know, operate, you might say, in the realm eventually of human beings and spirit beings are going to be a part of God's family in the future. And he and his demons are going to be cast in outer darkness in the future. And brethren, Satan's full action or influence should, in fact, be neutralized in your life and my life. You know, you shouldn't be active. Remember, if we submit to God, Satan flees from this. He leaves us alone. So his activity with us is not there.

But, of course, it would be naivety to think that it's completely so now. We all of us, again, fall prey to the wiles of the devil. And it certainly does happen. And even when Christ prayed, he said, I pray that they not be taken out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one or that you keep them from the evil that is out in society. Well, Satan came to tempt Jesus Christ, remember, after he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. And it was one of the great titanic battles of all time. I can only imagine it in heaven. There was a pensiveness, a pause when they saw what was happening to Jesus Christ as it discusses it there in Matthew 4. You know, remember, after Christ had fasted, Satan comes to him and says, if you're the son of God, turn these stones into bread. And Christ said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Remember, he took Jesus to Jerusalem, put him on the pinnacle, you know, probably of the temple. He said, if you're the son of God, throw yourself down from here.

We know that Jesus Christ responded in like manner, quoting Scripture. And remember, he offered him all the kingdoms of the world. If he would only fall down and worship him, and Jesus Christ told Satan, get behind me. And, brethren, we as God's people need to strive as much as we can to do that in our own personal lives. But Satan had to go because Christ's power, brethren, was established in the realm of Satan's kingdom. No, Christ had marched into hell, as it were. And he commanded Satan in his own domain, in his own kingdom, to get behind him. And when he came in preaching the Gospel, brethren, he cast out demons right and left. And people were amazed by what Jesus Christ did.

It was the beginning of the end of the power of the devil and his demons. Let's go to Mark 1. Mark 1, over here. Mark 1, verse 21.

Here's the Gospel of Mark, down in verse 21. It says, Then they were in Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished, it says, at his teaching. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, Let us alone! What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet, and come out of him.

And when the unclean spirit convulsed him, and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. And then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. But notice here, brethren, this was new to them. They hadn't seen this. The strides and the Pharisees were not like this. The power of God in action here.

And when Christ cast out demons, and the apostles cast out demons, brethren, it showed the power, the absolute power of the kingdom of God, that even the demons recognized, brethren, this part in God's plan, and what God was about to do, and what he was about to accomplish, he was going to put the devil and his demons out of action. And they ask, Are you come to destroy us?

And another place actually says, Have you come to destroy us before the time? Before the time. And so they knew exactly what Jesus Christ was there for, and what he was going to do, and what he was going to accomplish.

Let's go to Matthew, Matthew 12, Matthew 12 and verse 24.

Matthew 12 and verse 24 over here.

It says, Now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. He's working in cahoots with the devil. This is how he does it. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. Every city and house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?

It says, Therefore they shall be your judges.

The fact of the matter is, brethren, their sons did not cast out demons. They didn't have that power because the people were so amazed at what Christ was doing.

Here it showed the great superiority of Jesus Christ. And in fact, he was the Messiah.

He was the Messiah that had come. But notice what it says. And if I cast out demons again by the Spirit of God, surely, surely, he says, the kingdom of God has come upon you.

If I'm doing it by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God has come upon you. Christ was a representative of that great kingdom, the future King of kings and Lord of lords. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad.

You know, if you're going to be with me, Christ is saying you have to recognize the fact that you can't come into a strong man's house unless you bind the strong man. And what you're seeing is the strong man is being bound and within his own house, within Satan's house. You know, Jesus Christ was able to do what he will, what he wanted to do, and what he desired to do. Because the strong man is Satan and the demons, and the house is Satan and his kingdom, this world and this society. You know, the human eye doesn't see the power of Satan broken. His power began to be broken when Christ came on the scene.

Satan has been on this earth now for some time, and ahead of us looks the time when the devil is going to be locked up and incarcerated. We know for a thousand years, and eventually he's going to be cast in outer darkness entirely, away from and apart from man. You know, I've wondered, I've known some have wondered if he's going to be cast into a black hole somewhere. I really don't have a clue. Maybe he's going to be thrown into dark matter beyond the universe. You know, what a frustration it would be for him when he has no impact upon anyone. Let's go to Revelation 20. Revelation 20 again looks to the time when, in fact, these events are going to take place. In Revelation 20 in verse 1, it says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the keys of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and he laid a hole in the dragon. So the Father nor Christ is going to do this, but just an angel, a great angel that will do this, a powerful angel. We don't know which one will do it. Maybe Michael will do this. He laid hold on the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil, and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. He cast him in the great abyss or the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things, he must be released a little while. And so apparently he's going to be released at the end of the thousand years. And over here in verse 10, notice the devil who deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, it says here in the New King James, it really should be were. Because they will have burned up. And they, speaking of course of Satan and demons, will be tormented day and night forever and ever. This will just be the beginning of their torment when they are kept away from mankind. The power of sin was broken when the power of Satan was broken. And no longer would we have to have death hanging over our heads by a single hair like the legendary sword of Democles. God has taken us that out of the equation for you and me, brethren. He's going to take that out of the equation for all mankind when they repent and begin to obey God and submit with God. When Christ gave his life for all, grace became possible. Before Christ came along, brethren, every man, every human being, you and I included, were inexorably under the death penalty. And the power of the devil is broken in the life of those who repent and have access to grace. However, we have God's law to show us how to stay away from sin so we do not fall under the death penalty once again. We've got to stay out of sin, brethren, because it isn't once saved, always saved, as we understand. So there's a responsibility, a great responsibility for us to walk in the right way of God. Brethren, are you holding back? Are you holding back? And has the power of Satan been broken in your life?

No, we must allow the power of the Holy Spirit, brethren, in us, in fact, to work when we know what is right and wrong to do what is right every time. That's what character is. In spite of the obstacles, you know, what do you do on the Sabbath when there's an obstacle? Do you let that obstacle affect you? Do you cave in? Don't keep the Sabbath the right way, or do you go ahead and obey God? That's just one of the things, the many things, as Christians we are to do. Because we're involved in a war, brethren. We're involved in a war. Let's notice over in Ephesians 6, Ephesians chapter 6 over here. We're told, in fact, about this battle that we have and that God's given us the armor to fight this battle. But in verse 10, notice it says that you may...or verse 10 of chapter 6, I'm sorry, I'm in Philippians, and that's no good. Ephesians 6 and verse 10. But it says, Because we're wrestling, as it says, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of witness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, and notice what it says that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Like the Roman soldier, brethren, in the fit of battle, he's standing on the battlefield. Yet, God wants us to be still standing after our battle is over. I remember when I first came to know the truth, and I started to make commitments, as all of us do, and I know I couldn't do it on my own. I knew my own weaknesses.

And I said, God, you know, if you will help me, I promise you, I may not be able to run across the finish line, but I'll drag myself across with every fiber of my being, if you will help me. And under those conditions, I turned my life over to Jesus Christ and began to go his way of life, and tried to live a way of righteousness in my life. And I know you have tried to do the same thing. There have been many battles, lots of battles. In fact, if we've known how many battles there were, we probably would have chickened out and run the other way. I think God doesn't tell us. He doesn't want to scare us. But one thing we need to know, brethren, too, is, you know, we can have all the good works, and we should, but good works don't prove conversion. In 1995, when people rejected the truth of God, many people who had a lot better good works than you and me, they remained in our former association. They stayed and rejected their truth. So good works do not prove conversion. Now, we've got to have good works, but the world has, in fact, I think, people who do many wonderful works. Mother Teresa, a whole lot better than you and me, brethren, sacrificed their life in so many ways, brethren. But what is important, brethren, is that we obey God and do His will. You know, Jesus Himself said, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and in Your name done many wonderful works? And then I'll profess to them I never knew You. Depart from me. Use at work iniquity. Or, if you look in the Greek, the word is anomia, lawlessness. That was breaking the laws of God. But, you know, if we only keep the law of God and we don't have love, then Paul says you got nothing as well. You got a goose egg. Unless there is real love. Love for God and love for your neighbor. And, brethren, we need to show more love within our congregations, in our own personal lives, in our families with one another. We need to show more love and concern, outgoing concern. Again, that's not to take from what you may have done or others have done, brethren, but let's not rest on our laurels, either, about what we have done in the past, in the old days, you know. But let's, brethren, think about what we're doing now. What we're doing for God lately is really very important to God. You know, God has made all the arrangements, brethren. He sent His Son to die for us, the very Creator of all things, beautiful, that exist in the universe, brethren. He sent to die for you and me. And He made also possible for you and me to have the Holy Spirit, you know, as Paul says, the down payment for our full inheritance in the future. And He, of course, came, as we know, there in that titanic battle in Matthew 4, and He did defeat Satan. And so, the total vanquishment of Satan and sin is well underway, brethren. But again, it's taking place in stages. Not only is it taking place in stages in your life, but in fact, in what God is doing. And with God's grace and mercy, brethren, and God's Spirit, that is resolendous, we're going to be there when it all happens. Let's go back to Revelation 20. Revelation 20. Revelation 20. In verse 4, it says, that I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was committed to them.

And so, this is, of course, those who are going to be in the first resurrection, as we understand. But in verse 5, notice, it says, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Of course, we know, referring back to verse 4, that latter part of that verse there. But verse 6, it says, blessed is he that has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death have no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. So we're going to be given, rather than that immortality that man seeks then. And the second death will have no power over us anymore. No more the pains and, you know, the problems we have in this physical flesh. I was telling someone backstage that my bed is getting to be a trouble to me here. You know, if you lay on another bed that you're not familiar with, your body just doesn't do well with it. I noticed my shoulders began to get sore.

Imagine what it's going to be like, brethren, when we're mortal. We won't have to sleep.

We'll have to eat, unless we want to. We won't have to do any of these things. We'll not be bound by the physical anymore. Somebody asked me one time, what is the transportation? How are we going to work that out in the world tomorrow? What problems with transportation? All you got to do is travel to the speed of thought. You don't need buses. You don't need trains. You don't need jets. Jets would be too slow for us. So we're going to have these abilities, brethren, that God is going to bestow upon us. But let's notice over here, not only do we have hope, but let's do this over here in verse 11. We've heard about the white chair already by Dr. Beren. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.

And there was found no place for them. It's like his face was so brilliant.

And it's amazing to me, brethren, that you and I are going to be able to look upon the face of Jesus Christ of the future, and God the Father. Remember, we're going to see Christ as he is, because we're going to be like him. But with Christ, you know, his face would in fact cause the sun to disappear. That's how bright and brilliant he is, the one that sits upon the great white throne. And it says, going on, I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were open. And another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written to books. And of course, we know the word books here from the Greek is the word for which we get the word Bible. This book that you and I have in our laps, brethren, that we go to pains to try to understand, you know, to look at every nook and cranny of the Bible. And we memorize, and we read, and we study.

And sometimes we wonder how much we forget.

Hard to remember all the things that you forget. But we'll have minds, brethren, we'll be able to retain that. But here is a resurrection where God's going to offer it to, you know, all human beings that never came to know God in this life. You know, the people prior to the flood of Noah that never knew about Christ, the people in the Old Testament times that were never called at that time. Of course, we know that they're going to be the Old Testament saints, as Mr. Smith was talking about yesterday, that are going to be brought up in the first resurrection. Not going to be in the second resurrection, but these people are going to be brought up, and they are going to be given a period of time. We, of course, turn to Isaiah 65 and in verse 20. I won't do that for now, but over there it talks about no longer is there going to be, you know, an infant of days or an old man who is not filled out as years, but a child is going to die at 100. And, you know, if someone is 100, by the way, it says, you know, and they, if they are still sinners, they're going to be accursed. So, in other words, we have basically felt that during this period of time, the 50 or so billion people are going to be brought up, and it's going to be a major, major undertaking, that they'll be given a period of time to live their lives. They'll have to learn about this book here, like you and me. They'll have to study this book. And I remember Mr. Armstrong's playing the way it may be. Is Christ going to have them come before his throne? He's going to say, how have you lived in your life? And he's going to say, have you lived by my law? And they're going to say, no, I didn't know about your law. In other words, Christ's going to say, you sinned, huh? Yes, but I didn't know about your law. Well, Christ's going to say, it doesn't matter.

You know, you've sinned, therefore I condemn you to death. Imagine again, 50 billion people coming up and having this said to them. And what is the average person going to do, brethren? It's going to be brought up at that time. When they're talking about the death, when they're told I condemn you to death because the wages of sin is death.

They're going to say, oh, Lord, if you'd give me a chance, let me know what the truth is. And Christ may say, well, you know, you were a Protestant minister. You really got up and you said a lot of stuff. But, Lord, I didn't know. I wasn't aware that your law should be kept. You know, I really believed it was done away. Nailed to the cross.

Well, Christ is going to say, you know, I condemn you to death, but if they have an attitude, a right attitude, he's going to say, okay, I have made a sacrifice.

And if you'll promise me this time you'll live by this book, then I'll give you a chance. But you got to live by this book. Not make excuses about it.

Then I'll give you an opportunity. You know, 99% of people are going to buy that.

They're going to do that so that everyone will have a chance. Most everybody will have a chance.

And if someone is not willing to live by God's laws, then remember, they are going to be brought up in a world that has been ruled by Christ for a thousand years. It's going to be a different world. Then if they're not willing to do that, then they will be destroyed in what is called the Lake of Fire. And of course, the Lake of Fire is another name for it is the second death. And that is when the physical elements are burned up, and all that are physical are burned up. And now, after this, you have, of course, only spirit beings that exist in the family of God. And then, brethren, then Jesus Christ is going to offer the family up to the Father. The Father is going to come. He's going to dwell with us. Let's go to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Again, the end of the book over here. But in Revelation 21, it says, when I saw a new heaven and a new earth, it's going to be a new time, brethren, for the first heaven and the first earth that passed away. Remember, the physical elements will have been burned up. And New Jerusalem will come down in heaven and be upon the earth for the first heaven and the first earth that passed away. And also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things that passed away. And then He who sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, He said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to Him who thirsts.

And so God is faithful, brethren, and these things are going to happen. In this eighth day we're observing today, brethren, pictures this time. And this day, brethren, pictures a time when all enemies of God are going to be finally vanquished, and the family is going to be yielded up to the Father in heaven.