Amen. So we'll be back there in Deuteronomy 18, but if you want to go to Mark, chapter
number five, we'll start there tonight. So I'm going to take a break. I know I said we're
going to be in, where are we? In Genesis, but we're actually going to be preaching something
else tonight. I'm going to come back to Genesis next week because it's Halloween. You know,
I thought I'd kind of give a hollow, you know, kind of a, I don't want to say Halloween-y,
although I just did. Right. Because now someone's going to clip that and say, he said weenie
from the pulpit, you know, they're going to get me for that, for not wearing a tie. There's
probably, you know, some Levi or some Pharisee out there is going to say we're going liberal
down here because I forgot my tie tonight. But in any case, I do want to preach a Halloween
themed sermon there. I mean, that's a better way to say it, but, and not something that's,
you know, necessarily promoting Halloween. Obviously I believe Halloween is a very demonic
in its roots, obviously, not, not to, we joke, you know, that if you're not actually cook
off, you're out worshiping Satan. But, you know, that we say that jokingly, obviously,
but in a sense, you know, that is really what Halloween's about. It's a very pagan practice
and the world understands this. And I always found it interesting that people, the people
that I've known in my personal life that had the most animosity towards the things of God
that had the most animosity towards the Bible were very big proponents of Halloween. That
was kind of like their favorite holiday. I don't think that's a coincidence because I
think a lot of people understand that it's kind of an unchristian holiday too. And you'll
see that tonight. You might've caught that in Deuteronomy 18. We were reading that God
is not one that celebrates a lot of things that are being celebrated out there in the
world tonight, even as we speak. But I do want to preach about exorcisms in the scripture
exorcisms because exorcisms are often the theme of, you know, different horror movies
and things like that. It's a, it's a very, to me, that's probably a very frightening
thing. You know, I've never seen, I haven't seen a lot of these horror movies that are
out there that was never a genre that I was into. And there's one film in particular that
probably everyone is familiar with. Hopefully you've never seen it, is The Exorcist, right?
I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands of people that have seen it because I really
don't care. I've never seen it. And in fact, part of the reason I never saw it is one because
my dad would not allow that film in the house. My dad was not a Christian man, but he would
be, you know, he definitely believed in spiritual things. He definitely believed in demons and
things like that and that kind of thing. And I remember a relative trying to bring that
film into the house and he literally wouldn't even let it come in the door. Like he said,
you can't even bring, take that videotape away from me. Like he didn't even want that
to come through the door. Like it really, that always made an impression on me. And,
you know, as a result, you know, through the years, I didn't see that happen, but I remember
him telling that story when I was younger and I kind of took note of that when I heard
him tell that story. And I said, you know, that's just one film amongst many others that
I'm just never going to watch. And I know enough about it to know that it's probably,
it's a very scary subject, you know, that it's about, you know, someone who is, it literally
has a demon cast out of them by a bunch of Catholic priests. And we'll, we'll touch on
that tonight. And something about pea green soup too in the film. I don't know if that's
on there, but if you've seen it, you would have known, but good on you if nobody got
that because no one's seen it. Okay. We'll just assume. But I do want to talk about exorcism
in the scripture again, because it's, it's Halloween. People like scary things. Well,
you know, let's, let's talk about some things that are actually scary tonight. You know,
people want to dress up like ghouls and goblins. People want to dress up like devils and demons
and witches. You know, the Bible addresses these things. The Bible talks about these
things. The spiritual world is a very real world. It's, we live, we are spiritual beings.
We live in a spiritual world. There are things that are seen and there are things that are
unseen at all times. And of course, one of the probably most famous stories about an
exorcism is here in Mark chapter number five, where you have the demoniac of Gadara. Let's
just read it very quickly. Beginning of verse one, it says, and they came over to the other
side of the country, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the
ship, immediately they met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. Now,
an unclean spirit is not a spirit that hasn't taken a bath in a few days. An unclean spirit
is a spirit that is demonic. It's wicked. It's a devil. It's evil. And this man, it
says there, he had an unclean spirit. Doesn't mean he had it in his pocket. Doesn't mean
that he had, you know, had it on a leash. It means he was possessed by this unclean
spirit. He had an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs that no man could
bind him, no, not with chains. So, you know, we're learning some things about devil possession
tonight, right? That this guy is actually given great strength because of the fact that
he has this unclean spirit in him. We'll see this come up again later in the book of Acts
as well, that this is sometimes something you'll often see is that people who are possessed,
you know, have great strength. And this is why I don't think it is our place as Christians
to dabble with demonic entities. You know, sometimes a lot of Christians, especially
in the charismatic movement and things like that, Pentecostals and others, you know, they'd
really like to kind of get into this thing of casting out devils. Everything's a devil,
right? Every sin is, you know, is attributed to some demon. You know, if you're smoking
cigarettes, you're possessed by, you know, the spirit of Joe Camel, right? You've been
possessed by the demon of the Marlboro Man or whatever it is. You know, there's all these
different spirits and devils that are responsible for certain sins. So if you have some sin
in your life, it must mean that you are possessed by a devil. And obviously, you know, you could
see a lot of this kind of crazy stuff on YouTube as well. Well, they'll even say, you know,
you have generational demon possession. Like you didn't do anything, but your ancestors
did things. And now you've been, had this devil passed down through generations. It
gets really wild. It gets really crazy. And as a result, you know, a lot of these charismatic
types, they like to get involved in this stuff and they like to put on a show and they like
to cast out devils. And I don't think it's our place. I don't think Christians should
be messing with that stuff. And in fact, in this story, you know, one of the warnings
is that if you were actually to begin to try and take on somebody that's possessed with
a devil, you could actually end up getting physically hurt, right? Because they could
not even bind this man, it says in verse four, he could not be, or end of verse three, he
could not, no man could bind him, no, not with chains. So they're literally trying to
physically restrain this guy and the reason why he can't be bound with chains, it says,
it wasn't because he was so wild they could never get ahold of him. It's because of verse
four, because that when he had been often bound with fetters, they'd get the chains
on him. But when they got on the fetters and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder,
meaning this guy would just tear these chains apart. I mean, imagine just being able to
grab a piece of steel chain and snap it with your hands. That's an amazing feat of strength.
And the fetters were broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him, and always day and
night he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting himself with stones. So
demon possession, you know, it's not something, exorcism, these things, these aren't things
that the Bible treats lightly. You know, we have to understand that the people that are
actually afflicted with these things are suffering greatly often. Now obviously we're
not going to chalk up every single person who's acting erratically as demon possessed,
but I often wonder, you know, when you see people who, you know, maybe are just out there
strung out on drugs and different things like that, or maybe not even on drugs at all, just
homeless wandering and exhibiting very strange behavior, it makes you wonder, you know, if
that isn't the result of demon possession. I understand there's mental illnesses and
things like that as well. I'm not going to chalk that all up to the devil, but it's certainly
a possibility. We should not seek to mess with people like this or try to get involved.
I believe it's our, we do not perform exorcisms. Okay. I believe that's a dog and pony show.
I believe that's something that was reserved for the apostles and the early church. And
we'll see that here in a minute, but that is something that today has been done away
with. And those that are performing it are actually doing it through the power of Satan
because the people that you see practicing this stuff, the Catholics, the Pentecostals
and others are unsaved people. I said Catholics and Pentecostals are unsaved people. Okay.
Is the chili, is the chili getting to you tonight? Did you eat too much cornbread? All
right. Maybe we need to go back there and brew up some coffee. You know, they're, they're
preaching a false gospel. When you're preaching, you have to repent your sins to be saved.
You have to live some sinless life to be saved. You have to keep the sacraments to be saved.
You know, that's a false gospel. You're unsaved. And I believe it's my opinion that they do,
they do cast out devils because through the power of the devil, okay, that they're actually
working in tandem whether they know it or not. But we as God's people, as, as, as born
again believers, we are not to be messing with these things. One, you could be putting
yourself in, you know, serious physical harm. You could be putting yourself in the way of
serious physical harm. I mean, look the kind of person that you're dealing with here. A
guy who can just take chains and pluck them asunder like they were just, you know, a piece
of string and not, nobody could bind him. And, you know, let's also not forget this
isn't something to make light of. Like tonight, I'm sure there's a lot of people that are
making light of the demonic world. There's a lot of people tonight that are making light
of the occult, the dark arts, you know, the hidden things of this world, the hidden things
of darkness. The Bible says, which are a shame to even be spoken of. There's a lot of people
are making light of that, but we have to remember that these, that the people that
are actually afflicted with these things are suffering. They're human beings that are suffering
greatly. And obviously there, there is deliverance in Christ. I'm not saying we shouldn't try
to preach people the gospel, but I don't believe in this thing of where we're going to take
on, you know, the ministry of exorcism or something like that. I do not believe that
is the Christian's place. And again, this guy, you know, he's cutting himself with stones.
He's, you know, that shows you that that kind of practice is often associated with that,
which is demonic. He cried with a loud voice and said, what do I have to do with the Jesus
thou son of the most high God, I adjure thee, that thou torment me not. Of course those
are the demons speaking. What I want to notice is, and notice verse six, but when he saw
Jesus so far off, he ran and worshiped him. So he brought himself to Jesus. You know,
that verse always sticks out to me in the story. There was nobody else guiding him there.
And I always wonder, and to this day I still scratch my head. It's like, how did he know?
And if it's the, was it the devils that recognize the son of God? Because they go to him and
they implore him. They say, I adjure thee, the son of God, that thou torment me not before
the time. Right? So I tend to think that it's the devils recognizing Christ that are driving
him to Jesus. And then, you know, ultimately is their undoing. They're not tormented before
the time, but they're cast out of the man. And we know the story he's put, he's clothed
and put in his right mind. And then he's told to go and tell others to go publish what great
things God has done for him, though he very much wants to go and be with Christ. Okay.
So my first point is that, you know, there's the reality of demon possession. It's not
just a joke. It's not just something that, you know, that we just should dress up as
and make light of and think is funny or have a good time with. It's actually the demonic
world is a very real world. And we should never forget that, that we have an adversary
of the devil. And I know I've been bringing that up a lot lately, but it's something that
I feel like needs to at this, at least at this time, kind of needs, you know, we have
spiritual forces at work against that, you know, don't go home at night and start anointing
all the doorways, you know, with oil and piss up all over your house. You know, like we're
going to take, you know what I mean? But we also don't want to be ignorant of the devil's
devices. They're real. Obviously people, and then they get this thing where they're
gonna like do battle with the devil. You know, they're going to take on Satan and his, and
his to abide in him and trust God to deliver us from these things. Go back to Deuteronomy
19 very quickly. He says, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them. We have to reprove the unfruitful works of darkness. Look, we should
not want to know everything that goes on behind the closed doors of these secrets. We're curious,
but the Bible says we shouldn't even, it's a shame to even speak of those things which
are done. You know, my sin that there have been times where I've desired to look into
these things and I have looked into these things. If you can call, you know, searching
on the internet, look, I'm doing my own research, right? By watching a bunch of YouTube videos
or something back when YouTube would actually publish this stuff. Now I'm ready to do battle.
Now that I know, you know, what's going on with Pizzagate, I'm ready to take on Satan.
Unfortunately today, you know, people get so desensitized to this stuff through the
media, through things like Halloween, on people's minds. I remember people used to talk about
this a lot when I was younger. It should make light of things like devils, which, you know,
the next verse is a verse against bestiality. Look, there's some sins that, you know, are
listed in the Bible that if you were guilty of sleeping with animals, like at least there's
no sin. Hopefully none of us are guilty of a sin that's immediately followed by Beast
Wizard of Oz here, right? And there's another example, you know, being desensitized. You
know, the Bible says thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Good witch, bad witch. And
I remember I had a parent that she was a witch, but she said that she was a good witch, or
she was a white witch. But they would, you know, they would tell stories, you know, and
you hear stories about some of these things that people that start to get involved with
these things, the occult, stuff does happen. Okay. You know, maybe, maybe I could tell,
you know, a little bit of a ghost story tonight. You know, maybe we could tell, I mean, I'm
sure people probably, maybe some people in this room have experienced, you know, a brush
with the spiritual world. You know, I can think of several things, you know, a few things
in my own life that maybe aren't, you could say, well, that's just a dream or that was
just this or that, that you could kind of write off. But, you know, I'll tell a story
my dad told. Okay. And I know, you know, my dad, you know, he never knew with my dad because
maybe this will explain to some of you why I am the way I am. He was kind of a guy that
you could never tell if he was telling the truth or if he was just pulling your leg.
Right. So sometimes he'd tell a story. He'd be like, right. I mean, it's the guy that
had me convinced for about a second that you could actually see the equator. Like we were,
because he lived in the St. Croix for a while. We drive around the island, we parked at the
scenic outlook and he says, you see where the water goes from that light green to that
real dark blue. Because if you've ever seen the ocean like that, there's distinctions
like where it's, it's light, it's like this one color green or light blue and then just
boom. It's like there's a line and it's this completely different shade of, of water, of
color of water. And I was like, yeah, I see that right there. He's like, that's the equator.
And I was like, wow. And then I was like, wait a minute. I kind of looked at him and
he's like, I got you. Right. I had you. And I, and I was like, I shouldn't have been so
gullible because everyone knows if you ever looked at a globe that the equator is red.
I can't believe I fell for it. You know, you ever flown over, you'd seen that red line.
No one else has seen that. Okay. But he told the story because my dad is, you know, he's,
uh, he was, he was, uh, Ogallala Sioux. So he's, you know, Native American or was rather
he's, he's passed on. But, uh, he would tell you, I remember him telling me the story because
my descendants, I go back to that, those tribes, that Sioux tribe. And if anyone here ever
hear of black elk, he was like the last Native American you, of course you have, because
I probably told this to you, probably several people have already heard the story by over
six years, I'm sure. But I'm telling it again for those that haven't, you know, black elk
was the last Native American Mexican or Mexican medicine, man. I've been at Tucson too long,
brother. Everything's Mexican now. Praise the Lord. But, uh, anyway, he was, uh, but
he actually wrote a book called black elk speaks. And I read that book a long time ago,
but my dad remembers, he was alive when my dad was a boy, like he died, I think sometime
in the late fifties or sixties, I don't know exactly, but his life, the end of his life
overlapped when the time of my dad was alive and he had relatives, my father had an aunt
and others who would be on these reservations, you know, the Pine Ridge Rosebud, which is
where that guy was. And black elk would show up sometimes at my relative's house. And she,
and he remembers very distinctly, it's like a six, seven year old boy, one of his aunts
coming over and just being, just, just freaking out because she, and she starts telling him
the story, how she was over at somebody else's house and black elk showed up. And as soon
as he walked in the door, all the lights started turning off and on. Doors started opening
and closing things like things were moving in the cupboards and stuff like that. And
he just remember she was just being very panicked. Now I'm trying to, you know, again, after
I just told you anything about my dad, he's like, yeah, is he pulling your leg? But there's,
I believe him because he, you know, there's nothing funny about that. He was, he was genuinely
freaked out and it kind of, and I tied it together with like, that's why he didn't want
to watch The Exorcist. And I remember even, you know, before I got saved, there was another
film that I brought around him and he watched it and he lost it. He's like, don't ever show
me anything like that again. He took that stuff very seriously. I think it's because
he either himself had some experiences with that stuff and brush was with that or he knew
other people that had, you know, talked to a guy like Blackout. I mean, it's a, it's
a real thing. You say, oh, you know, that's all making it up. You know what? I believe
that story because that's that kind of stuff. I mean, it happens. That kind of stuff is
out there. I remember being at a church in our old church in Michigan one night, this
young lady just showed up on a midweek. You remember that? You probably remember that.
And she had never been at our church before. And I remember we walked in and got there
a little early and my pastor and his family were there and my pastor was kind of sitting
off in the corner of the auditorium talking to this young lady and then she, you know,
she got saved. Praise the Lord. Then she left and he, my pastor came over and told me, he's
like, yeah, she was, she had all these questions about the demonic world cause she's living
in this house with these other girls and there's all this like, just like Blackout, there's
like things are opening, things are closing, lights are coming off, doors are moving, like
things happening, right? Like that's creepy. That's creepy stuff, right? But people, they
get kicks out of that, you know, but there, there's a reality there. There's a reality.
And you know, it sounds silly, but I mean, just think about how chilling that would be
to actually see something like that happen. You just all of a sudden just talking about
it right now, you know, if something just like moved, you know, it'd just be like, well,
please don't happen. Right. But you know, we, we, we think about that, but why do we
even let, why does that even begin? Some of us perhaps kind of frighten us because we
know that stuff's true. And you know, maybe I've already said too much, right? Because
it's a shame to even speak of those things which are done of them in secret. And this
is, you know, it's Halloween. Everyone likes being scared until you actually talking about
stuff that's, that's really scary. Okay. And I don't even bring it up. Hell, like that's
the scariest thing of all, you know, save that for next year. But you know, the Bible
says, thou shall not suffer a witch to live. And you know, we shouldn't, why, why, you
know, which would go for like any kind of a medicine man, anyone's practicing the occult,
anyone's that's practicing these dark arts, the Bible says don't even let them live, right?
Cause they're going to lead people into idolatry and away from the Lord because they can do
things, right? Because they have the power through Satan to make things happen and kind
of cast a spell on people in a sense to make them, you know, if, if, why did people, you
know, why did my dad's ancestors give so much credence to a guy like black elk and call
him a holy man and a medicine man and sought counsel from him because he wasn't, he, whether
he realized what he was in touch with or not was in touch with the demonic world and was
able to make things happen through him. And that gave him a lot of clout with people like,
Oh, he's this spiritual vessel, right? And that's why we should not let these people,
they're not to be suffered to live, you know, because if I can do a bunch of demonic parlor
tricks to convince you that I have some power of God and you see this in the book of acts,
then, you know, I might be able to con you and say, well, you know, this, this is not
it. This isn't a holy book. I'm a holy man. You need to listen to what I have to say.
And God knew that. Look at Deuteronomy 18 verse nine. When thou art coming to the land
which Lord thy God giveth thee, Deuteronomy 18 verse nine, thou shall not learn to do
after the abominations of those nations. And you know, this there obviously it's abominations
plural and he gives us a list of some of these things, but you know, my point is, is
that this, what follows is called as considered an abomination. There's not be found among
you any that make his son or daughter to pass through the fire. You're not going to sacrifice
your children to the false gods or that useth divination, right? No reading the tea leaves,
no, you know, you know, break, you know, throw in the chicken bones or whatever it is they
do, you know, none of the voodoo, that kind of stuff. That's divining, right? People who
are no palm reading, okay? No tarot cards. These are people that are trying to divine
things to, to be oracles, to learn things. They're tapping into a demonic world through
those things or an observer of times, right? You have your astrologer and things like that,
or an enchanter or a witch or a charmer or a consultant with familiar spirits, which
is what they all are, or a wizard or a necromancer. I mean, how many different ways does God have
to say it? You know, there's all these different avenues in the occult and he brings up, I
think it's interesting, he brings up the observer of times and this is astrology. Now, this
is almost embarrassing to bring up, but there was a time before I got saved that I was a
little bit into astrology. I know as a man, it's embarrassing. Okay. But I got curious
about it because, you know, if you learn how to like do your, you know, when you were
born and where the stars were, then you can figure out your sign and what house was and
where and what, you know, cause I was looking for truth. I was seriously looking for things
and I thought, well, maybe, maybe there's something to this. I remember I got this book
on it and I'm reading it and I've kind of figured all this stuff out about, you know,
when I was born and all this stuff. And it was like this, a person like this is, would
benefit greatly from occult practices. It literally said that black and white ink on
the page, you would benefit from delving into the occult. You would do well. You, you're
going to find more truth than another person. I thought that's kind of weird. So then I
just like did somebody else's chart. Like I just found somebody else's time just completely
unrelated and it was a totally different sign and totally different thing. And you know
what I told them? You would do well to get into the occult. And that was kind of like
a wake up call to me. I was like, man, you know, I wonder if I did like a third one or
four. I was pretty much convinced at that point that no matter what star sign or whatever
astrological sign you chose, it would probably lead you to tell you to get into an occult.
And this is a time when God was really starting to, I believe, work in my life and bring me
to a saving knowledge of Christ. And that was enough for me. I said, you know, that's
creepy. There's something wrong with that. And I, and I got rid of it, you know, and
I stopped going that route and that's when I started, you know, looking for elsewhere.
But you know, that would be an observer of times, you know. Oh, what's wrong with reading
your horoscope in the paper? I don't know if that's even a thing anymore. Do they even
have newspapers? I don't know. But you know, well, you know, it's, it's, it's opening the
door to this stuff. You know, it's opening the door to these enchanters, these things
that God calls an abomination. Look at verse 12, for all that do these things, right there,
there again, as I preached the other night, not these things themselves, but those that
do these things are an abomination to the Lord thy God. And because of these abominations,
the Lord thy God doth drive out them from, from, out from before thee. So God's saying,
one of the reasons I'm punishing these, the nations of the Canaanites is because they
practice these things. They have the diviner, they have the necromancer, they have these
observers of times, these enchanters, these witches, these wizards, these wicked abominable
people, right? And we also know a lot of the Canaanites got into a lot of other stuff,
right? So, you know, this is kind of their dark religion, and it led them into this very
wicked sense. You know, that's why it's no coincidence that in Exodus, you know, thou
shall not suffer to a witch to live, neither shall thou lay down with a beast. I'm kind
of paraphrasing that, because those things go hand in hand. People that get away from
God and get into these, these wicked things, you know, they get into these demonic practices,
the devil's going to try to defile people through that stuff. And look, you, and I'm
not saying anybody should go watch this stuff, but I'm willing to bet, because if you went
and watched a lot of these horror movies, there would be a lot of just perverted stuff
in them as well. Just a lot of just deviant, disgusting things that you should, you know,
you would never want to be guilty of. It's because, you know, these things go hand in
hand. Perversion and this demonic stuff. Even tonight, on Halloween, I bet there's a lot
of just people that are dressing up in very, you know, racy, risky outfits, very sensual
out there tonight, because these things go hand in hand. The moral depravity and the
demonic practices are hand in glove, my friend. Because these people did it, right, that were
cast out in the land before them, but that's not all they did. They, you know, they were
guilty of sodomy, bestiality, child sacrifice, I mean just all kinds of just the worst, disgusting
filth. That's the reality of it. Now, if you would, go to Mark 16, I should have keep
something to Mark. I've got to move along quickly. You know, several other stories came
to mind, but I'm not going to tell them about stuff, you know, because it's just, you know,
you're here for the Bible anyway. The reality, though, is that there's a spiritual world
out there, that, you know, the devil is real, and we should not be, you know, wanting to
you know, wanting to dip our toe in these things. Now, obviously, none of us is going
to go, probably going to have to go home and throw out a cauldron tonight or something
like that, you know, or go break in a Ouija board or, you know, whatever it is, you know,
finally say, you know, pour the chicken's blood down the grain and say, well, you know,
you heard the pastor, you know, more occultic practice. You know, we would, we're probably
not guilty of that, but you know what, a lot of Christians, they come at it from the other
side. Well, I'm going to do battle with this stuff. You know, I'm going to like, I'm going
to perform exorcisms, right? That's a big one, okay? Look, the Bible does say that the
apostles were to cast out devils, right? In Mark chapter 16, as Jesus is ascending into
heaven and giving the Great Commission, he says in verse 15, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,
but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these things, these signs shall follow
them that believe, and in my name they shall cast out devils. Now, people say, see, if
you believe, if you're a believer, you have the ability to cast out devils. But I believe
what this is referring to is that early church. This is something, a sign, what the Bible
calls special miracles that were given unto Paul, the apostles, and others as a sign at
that time to kind of ground the truth or ground the church and get things started, okay? Because
notice, you know, a lot of people, they like to pick and choose from this list, right?
They shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents.
And I know there's some, you know, crazy backwater Baptists out there in the south and stuff
that like to do this stuff too. And they, a lot of times, and then they get bit and
they're like, I didn't have enough faith. You know, it's like, you know, they're going
to the hospital, you know, I must have some sin in my life. You know, it's like, no, it's
cause you're playing with a snake, dude. Don't do that. Right? They, and even that, like,
they'll do that. Like they'll say, oh, we do the, we cast out devils. We speak hands
with new tongues. We'll even take up serpents. It goes on and they shall lay hands on the
sick and they shall recover. You know, this is, you have your Charismatics that are doing
the healings, the Benny Hinns and the, and others that are going to slap you with your
jacket and be healed, you know, and that kind of stuff, right? Funny, they can only do it
at their show at their auditorium that they've sold out. They can never go to a hospital
and do that. Interesting. You know, but, you know, the one that I'd never seen them take
up on this one is drink any deadly thing. I've yet to see them try that. Cause that,
that one, you know, like, cause you can kind of get away, like if you know how to handle
a steak, right? I mean, we've all seen guys like, you know, who can like, like my dad
again, like he milked rattlesnakes at a, at a, at a tourist trap called Reptile Gardens
in South Dakota and he would even wrestle alligators. Like I got pictures of it to prove
it, but you know, he'd have like the rod, he'd pin their head down and like you could,
you know, guys that work with these animals, they could probably get to a place where like,
you know, they could fool people. Oh, you're going to handle, you shall take up serpents.
When you see what happened, actually happened to Paul in the end of the book of Acts, it's
not like he goes like, watch this, you know, and he's like, handles a serpent. He's actually
picking up, you know, the bundle of sticks or what we would call a fag, right? That is
a bit, that is the actual term. Okay. That's why we call them fags because they're gathered
together to be burned. Okay. That's, that's, that's why, that's where that certain term
comes from. A hundred percent. But notice when he was gathering the fags, the bundle
of sticks to burn them, that that's when the serpent latches onto him. Remember the story?
And he'd shake off the beast. It was an accident, right? Like he, it wasn't like he was trying
to do that. And then they're all, all the barbarians are watching him and like waiting
for him to die and he doesn't. Okay. You know, they'll, so, but a guy could like, you know,
purposely kind of learn how to work with a snake to try and like snow people on this.
Like, eh, see, you know, I got so much faith. But they know, you never see him like grab
a jug of bleach and just start chugging it. You never see him pour him a nice tall glass
of battery acid and down it. You never see him stir up some strychnine and just be like,
yeah, check this out. Cause you can't fool that. Like you're either, either that stuff's
not going to have effect on you or you're going to die and die a painful death, right?
Like show me, show me the man of faith who's getting up in front of a crowd and drinking
a bottle of Drano. It's not out there, right? So they like to pick and choose because there's
some of these things they could fake, some of these things they can get away with. But
those that believed in the time of Christ and the early church, they could do any and
all of these things. Okay. And they, they shall drink any deadly thing. I think that's
probably because of the fact that people were going to try and kill them, maybe poison them,
you know, try to get them to, to drink something and die. And he's saying, you know what, that's
going to happen and it's not going to have an effect on them. In fact, if you would just
go to Acts 19, right? So yeah, these were things that were given unto the early church.
Remember he's talking to the apostles, right? And I believe these are gifts that were given
to the early church or what the Bible calls special miracles. Okay. In fact, that's what
the Bible calls it in Acts chapter 19 in verse 11. It says, and God wrought special miracles.
Now what does special mean? It means it's unique, right? It's not, it's not standard.
It's special. It's something that's unique. It's something that's particular, you know,
to a certain person in this case being Paul and God wrought special miracles by the hand
of Paul, meaning not just your run of the mill miracle, not just a miracle that anybody
could perform. It's a special one. What made it special? Because it was wrought by the
hand of Paul and nobody else. So that from his body were brought in the sick handkerchiefs
or aprons and the diseases departed from them. I mean, people are just walking up to Paul
and they're like yanking off a piece of his shirt and like, thanks, you know, and going
off and like healing somebody. I don't know if that's how it went, but I think it's funny.
You know, he's taking, Hey, take this, you know, just take my handkerchief, you know,
here, go heal him. Take my apron. Here, go heal him. Right? That's a pretty, that's a
pretty special miracle. And the disease is departed from and evil spirits went out from
them. I mean, he didn't even have to be present. He just some, a garment from him, like a shred
of a garment was brought under them, just a piece of fabric and devils were driven out
from them just from the presence. I mean, think about that. That's pretty cool, but
it's a special miracle. That's not for us today. You know, well, if I have enough faith
and you know, you can just take my hanky and go heal so-and-so right. And go perform an
exorcism. And this is my point is that, you know, we would never be guilty of, you know,
getting involved with the occult from, from the side of, you know, which would be condemned
by Deuteronomy 18 and others chapters. But sometimes Christians like to come at it from
the other side. We were like, no, man, I'm taking on the devil. Well, it's not your place.
That's a special miracle. That's something that was reserved for Paul and the apostles
and those in the early church, I believe. And then notice in verse 12, so that from
his body were brought in under the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons and diseases departed
from them. The evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists
took upon them to call over them, which had the evil spirits, then the name of the Lord
Jesus saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth, right? So there's these Jews,
these vagabond Jews, meaning they're not, they're kind of like rogue Jews practicing
a rogue religion. You know, they're not going to the temple. They're not in a synagogue.
They're just kind of doing their own thing, right? And they're into this stuff and they're
doing exorcisms. They're called exorcists, right? So they're, they're kind of into this
stuff. They've practiced it and now they're going to endure them by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
Now this is after they see all this, they're like, wow, there's power in the name of Paul.
Look just a handkerchief, just a apron from Paul is all you need. We're going to use Paul's
name in our practicing of doing this. And it says in verse 14, and there were seven
sons of Sceva, a Jew and the chief of the priest, which did so. And the evil spirit
answered and said, Jesus, I know, and Paul, I know, but who are you? Who are ye? Right?
Where are the seven sons of Sceva? That's not going very well. That's when they start
getting nervous, right? Like, Oh, and the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on
them. So these guys, you know, are just taken upon themselves to dry and go cast out a devil,
which was not, you know, in the name of Jesus, which is not their place. You know, that's
not something that was given unto them. The special miracles were wrought by the hand
of Paul. Okay. And this guy leaps on them and overcame them and prevailed them against
them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. Right? I mean, that's pretty
embarrassing and pretty humiliating and probably pretty humbling. You know, when you, if you,
we really started to tangle with the dark forces of this world on our own and you know,
it would not end well for people. That's not something we should be getting into. And this
was known on all the Jews and Greeks dwelling at Ephesus. Now, again, I know I got to hurry
up and wrap up, but if you go to go to Matthew chapter number 12, Matthew chapter number
12, you say, well, wait a minute though. There's guys here in the staff and they're called
exorcists. They're practicing exorcism. They're doing it. It's just that now they're trying
to do it with, under the authority of Jesus whom Paul preaches. And the, and now the devil
is saying, well, Paul I know and Jesus I know, but who are you? Right. And it's not working
for them. And in fact that they're, you know, you know, but they are practicing it. So what's
the deal? And some people might even think, well, wait a minute, you know, I saw a video
or I know somebody, you know, who had a Catholic priest come over and prac- and I, and did
an exorcism. Yeah, I'm sure they did. I'm not saying that exorcisms don't exist. I'm
just saying it's not God's, it's not the place for God's people to do it. We are not to try
to take this stuff upon us. I don't believe that. Don't ever, you know, ask me to come
over and cast a devil out of your cat or something. It's just not, you know, whatever. Cause no
cat can have the devil cast out of him. I'm just kidding. Right. Don't, you know, don't
ask me to come perform special miracles saying, no, I can't do it. It's not my place. Okay.
That was a certain time and place for a very specific reason. And I think the reason why
this is because God doesn't want us to get caught up in that stuff because come on, don't
people get caught up in it? Big time people get caught up in this stuff. You know, they,
they, they, you know, they haven't read the Bible. They don't know what the Bible says
about something. They don't, they don't know any of that, but they're, they're a real interested
in the book of Enoch, you know, or they're real interested in something on YouTube or
something. Right. And this is, this is real typical. And you know, I went through a similar
thing, you know, before I'd read the Bible, I'm like, well, what does the Apocrypha say?
Who cares what the Apocrypha says? It's a bunch of garbage anyway. You know, but it's
like we, people get more caught up in these secret things. People, you know, there's the
allure of that and people want to get into that stuff. And God knew that if there was
anything to it, that's what people would spend all their time doing and not doing the things
that have actual real importance, the work that we're actually given to do. Because what
is, what is the work that we're here to do? Well, we just read it in Mark 16, go ye and
preach the gospel to every creature. That's where our commission ends, right? You know,
and teaching them to observe all things, which I've commanded you, you know, baptizing the
name of the father, son, and the Holy Ghost. Obviously, you know, we disciple people, bring
people along. We understand that, but you know, that's the work that we're here to do
and not get caught up in all this other mystical, magical stuff, whatever you want to call it.
And God knew that if that was something that he allowed his people to partake in, that's
what they would spend their time doing because you already see people doing that stuff. We've
probably all experienced that early on in our Christian life. Like we get saved, we
start believing the Bible, and then we hear something about, you know, the Nephilim. It's
like, oh, I got to, I got to pull on that thread and find out what's up with the Nephilim.
And then you hear about the giants and you know, what's up with that, right? And then,
and then you get hit with some actual Bible truth and it kind of, all the air goes out
of that and you're just kind of like, you know, oh, there's, it's all, it's all fake,
right? You know, I'll leave you Loch Ness. I'll leave you with Sasquatch. You know, if
you guys want to believe those things, you know, I can't disprove any of that from the
Bible, but if all you can ever show anybody is some grainy photo, right? And the world
that we're living in anyway, or they'll get into like UFOs and things like that. And that's
a big thing, right? Even the presidents, you know, you know, the supposed president elect
Trump is talking about UFOs, you know, and, and, and bringing this stuff up and people
are into it and say, well, what's, what's up with UFOs over the aliens? Well, it's like,
if they're, if that stuff's really going on, the Bible says, you know, that we wrestle
out against flesh and blood, but powers and principalities in high places, you know, one
way of interpreting that is maybe those high places are spiritual entities that are literally
higher in altitude. I don't know. You know, high places obviously is probably a direct
reference to the principalities, the governments, the high places of rulership in this world,
the governments and things like that. But you know, if that stuff's really going on
up there, I'm just like, it's, you know, it's demonic. It's maybe it's something spiritual,
but that never crosses there a lot of their mind, doesn't it? They're just like, well,
it's aliens. You know, maybe the devil's doing that to make them think it's alien. So they
won't believe the Bible. I remember before I even got saved hearing a guy say that, oh,
if they ever find aliens, you can just forget about religion. Oh, you know, the Bible's
going right out the window. If they ever find life on another planet, if they ever find
aliens coming and visiting here, then we know the Bible's not true. I remember a guy saying
that. You know, so I think that's really what's going on there is the devil does that
stuff to get people thinking, well, well, we know that we're, we know we're being visited
by ET. You know, we know that little green men are coming down and have crashed in Roswell.
We know that pilots and others, and you know what, maybe they really did see something,
but you know, our, our adversary, the devil is a powerful adversary. He's a liar, right?
He's a deceiver. And he, and he's not just trying to deceive an individual. He's trying
to deceive all of mankind. Okay. So it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of that stuff is just
whatever grain of truth there is to it is just, it's just demonic in nature. Case closed.
Now go read your Bible. But you know what? Christians don't want to hear that. They want
like, no, no, there's gotta be more to this. Well, if it's, if it's demons, it's like,
you know, can we see one? You know, it's like, why? It's a shame to even speak of those things
which are done in the secret. You know, well, you know, if our government is really being
led by a bunch of blood drinking occultists, you know, like let's find out more about,
why do you want to know about that? You know, read your Bible, pray, do the work that you're
commanded here to do, to do, commanded to do here. Go preach the gospel to every creature.
Oh, I just, I just want to really learn how to cast the devil out of somebody. I'd rather
learn how to get somebody out of hell. You know, if I, if that was my place to go cast
devils out of people, great, but it's not. Sorry to ruin your party. You know, the people
say, Oh, but I saw a Catholic priest do it. Yeah. Well, you know what? The Bible says
some vagabonds Jews did it too. Guess what? They're not saved. If they're vagabond Jews,
they're not saved. Okay. Cause you know, the Jews are, they, they're, they don't believe
in Christ. Hello. You know, Jews are those which are Jews. The true Jew is the one which
is a drew inwardly, right? Whose circumcision is the heart and not the flesh. Whose praise
is of God and not of men. We are the circumcision made without hands. We are the children of
God. We are the children of Abraham by faith. We're the true Jew. The vagabond Jews in this
story are not safe people. And they're the ones that are messing around with this stuff
and you know, get handed their hat and little else cause they go out naked. So, well, how
does that happen? Well, Jesus has the answer. Did I have you go to Matthew 12? If you're
there, look at verse 25 and Jesus knew their thoughts and said on them, every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation. Every city or house divided against itself shall
not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall
his kingdom stand? Now, Jesus is saying this to the Jews to defend himself because they're
saying he hath a devil and by the prince of the devils he casteth out devils. That
he is Beelzebub. They're saying he's able to do these works because he's satanic. That
he's doing this through the power of the devil. Look, obviously that's a lie. That's blasphemy
of the Holy Ghost is actually what that is. Jesus go on and teach us that's the actual
blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Is when you attribute the works of Christ to Satan. That's the blasphemy
of the Holy Ghost right there. Cause sometimes people get confused about that. They go, I
think I blasphemed the Holy Ghost. Have you attributed the works of Christ and his miracles
to Satan? No, then you haven't done it. Anyway, but my point is that Jesus is making the argument
and saying, they're saying well he's doing it, the Jews are saying to Jesus rather, he's
doing it by the devil. Look, that's obviously wrong. That's not right. But my point is saying
is that that's a rational argument because people can cast out devils by the power of
the devil. But obviously Christ isn't doing that because he's God and doesn't need to
do that and that's blasphemous to say that. And Jesus actually turns around on them. He
says in verse 20, he says, and if I beelzebub, which is the devil cast out devils, by whom
do your children cast them out? You know, I've always stumbled on that verse. I'm like,
what does he mean by that? But I think what he's saying is like, well, if I'm casting
them out by devils, then who are you doing it by? Cause we can't, you know, a kingdom
of David cannot stand, right? He's saying, I can't be cast by the power of the devil
because you are. That's what he's saying. That's not possible. He's not possible for
me to do it. If I'm doing it, then by whom do your children cast them out? So what Jesus,
I believe is actually showing us is that people can cast out devils by the power of the devil.
And what it is, it's a spiritual dog and pony show to deceive people, to rope people into
false religion. Well, you know, I just, you know, I went to that Catholic church and I
saw, you know, that statue of Mary bleed, you know, blood, bloody tears. You know, there
was my, everyone talks about that one time when, you know, we went there and my grandma,
my grandpa saw, you know, that statue of Jesus and the head turned, the eyes moved, you know,
so I'm a Catholic now, right? Well, it's demonic. You know, probably, you know, people probably
have stories like that, where they saw some, you know, spiritual things, quote unquote,
yeah, it was spiritual. All right. By the power of Satan to rope you into a false religion.
Because let me, let me just let you in on something. The Roman Catholic church is damming
people to hell by the billions folks. They claim one seventh of the earth's population. If they
have that that's billions of people, I mean, down through the centuries, how many souls,
how many billions of people have gone to hell because of the Catholic church? I wonder how
many of those souls are, you know, they became Catholic because of some, you know, miracle.
Or some exorcism. Or they saw something at a church once or had some experience
and knew that it was the truth. Look, you run into people like this all the time.
They start saying, oh, I believe the Bible and they say, well, why do you believe the Bible? I
was, you know, I got in a car accident and I saw an angel. How do you know you're going to heaven?
Well, you know, I died and I saw a bright light. You know, we run into people like that all the
time. Are you 100% sure you're going to heaven? I've already been there. I mean, what soul winner
has heard that one? Yeah, several people. Well, I've already been to heaven. They always say,
like, the smugness. I've already been there. It's like, well, you know, unless you let go
of your pride, that's, you know, that's as close as you're ever going to get. I'm glad you got
a glimpse, buddy, because that's it. You know, you need to shut your trap and actually listen to what
the Bible says, listen to what the Word of God actually says, and not because, you know, you had
some neurological reaction after ODing or something. It's like, well, what were you doing
before that? You're like, what, how did you end up in the hospital? And all I'm saying tonight is
that, look, exorcisms, these miracles and things, these, you know, things with the demonic world,
it's all real. Just, we shouldn't have any part with it. And the people that are, you say, well,
if we read in the Bible, other people are doing it. Well, a lot of times they're doing it
to fool other people into a false religion.
Go to Luke chapter number 10. Luke chapter number 10. You remember Jesus commissioned the 70 and
sent them out to go preach the gospel, right? And he gave them power, as we'll see here in verse 17,
it says, and the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject
unto us through thy name. Right? Now he didn't send them out there for that intent,
but they go out there and they find out like, Hey, we have the power. Well, that was, well,
you know, they did because they were the 70 that Christ sent out. They were the 70 that Christ
himself commissioned in the flesh. They heard it come out of his own mouth, right? He said,
you go preach the gospel. So again, these special miracles, the exorcisms and things,
yes, there was a time I believe when Christians, when believers were to do that. But my friend,
that was like, I believe passed away within one or maybe two generations
just to get the church off the ground. Okay. And to show people the power of God in the earth.
And they're saying, you know, I, Lord, we, we, even the devils are subject unto us.
And he sent them, I beheld the Satan light falling from heaven as light and falling from heaven.
I love that how Jesus just kind of like takes them out of the knees, right? Brings them down
a notch or even the devils are subject unto us. Well, I beheld Satan falling his lightning from
heaven. Right? And that's something that has yet to happen. So Jesus is even speaking,
you know, from a, from a place that's outside of time, God's omnipresent. And this is a good
example of that, that he's outside of time. He's saying, I have beheld Satan falling his
lightning from heaven. That happens later when Satan, devil and his angels are cast from heaven
and he's come down to the earth having great wrath for, you know, the other short time.
And his place in heaven is found no more. We know that the devil in book of Job goes before
the Lord God in heaven with the sons of God there. And he could go from heaven to earth,
even right now, to some degree. He's not in hell right now. Bible doesn't teach that, but he will
be. And then notice verse 19, behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and
over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nothing by any means hurt
you. Notwithstanding, he said, is that pretty cool? I mean, think about that. That's pretty cool.
To be able to tread on serpents and scorpions. I mean, today I was just walking around at work
and I'm like, you know, and it was like part of the town where it was kind of off on the edge
of town where it was like up on a mountain. And I'm thinking, you know, okay, it's cold enough
where I think all the rattler snakes are hibernating at this point. They're probably
going and finding the dens because it's cooling off. You got to look out for them when it warms
up. When it first gets hot out and warms up, that's when all the snakes and the creepy crawlies come
back out of their dens, right? But I'm thinking I'm just walking like, man, I better watch where
I'm walking in case there's something coiled up, right? I mean, it'd be great to have this power
here in Tucson. We can just go walking around any time of year and just be like, you know,
I'm not even worried about it. I can just tread on that. If I stepped on a rattlesnake, I'd be like,
no big deal. It wouldn't bother me, right? So this is pretty cool. You shall tread on
serpents and scorpions. I mean, we could really use this here. And over all the power of the
enemy and nothing by any means shall hurt you. Wow. Notwithstanding, Jesus says, in this rejoice
not. He says, I know that sounds cool, but that's the least of it. He said, notwithstanding in this
rejoice not. Don't get all excited about this stuff, he's saying. Look, this is really practical
when you think about it for them. When he's sending them out because, you know, here,
obviously for us, this is a little more relevant because we actually could run into some of these
beasts out there, right? But this is back when there's very few people. Like even today,
you don't really run into these creatures until you get to the edges of town often.
I know there's exceptions and stuff like that, like new construction and stuff like that,
where those animals haven't been driven off. But think about it, back then, there were so few
people living and the population densities, the zones aren't that big. This is a lot more
practical of a verse. Don't worry about serpents, don't worry about scorpions. I mean, that was
something they probably had to legitimately think about all of the time as they're tromping around
in the wilderness. And he's saying, notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. What we should actually
get excited about is that we're saved. You know, Christians today, they want to get all excited
about exorcisms, they want to get all excited about the occult, they want to get all excited
about, you know, just doing all these miracles or whatever, and all these strange things,
quite frankly. But let's not forget how amazing it is that our names are written in heaven.
Look, there's a book in heaven, there's a literal book in heaven right now with your name in it.
Your name is, I mean, what do you think Jesus is saying here? Oh, he's just, you know,
being overly dramatic. No! Because we know later in Revelation, they bring out the books
and he looks for people's names, and some people's names are blotted out of the book of life. There's
a literal book of life in heaven, and if you're saved, your name's in it and it's never going to
be blotted out. That's something to get excited about. And all I want to say tonight is, like,
I understand the appeal of these things, but these things don't matter. The appeal of the exorcisms,
the appeal that, you know, quite frankly, we shouldn't even desire, we shouldn't even
speak of those things which are done in the secret. We shouldn't even be worried about that
stuff. Don't get wrapped up in all of it. What we should be more concerned about is heaven.
That's what I like to think about. You want to think about something interesting or cool
out of the Word of God? Think about the New Jerusalem. Go read about it. Maybe I need to
do a series on that, keep people interested around here. You know, start talking about something. I
know the end times prophecy stuff has been a long time coming. But that's something to rejoice over.
Man, I'm saved. Your salvation should never get old to you. And look, the longer you're saved,
the more propensity people have to take that for granted. It's kind of like, yeah, I'm saved,
I know I'm going to heaven. We get used to that. Isn't that crazy? It's like, yeah, of course I'm
going to heaven. But do you remember what it was like when you first got saved? You remember what
it was like when you first learned about the things of God, when you first understood the
truth of heaven and hell and the blood of Christ? You know, never let that get old to you.
Go to one last place, Jude. I'm in there. Jude chapter one. I won't even go to chapter two
tonight. Just Jude one. Some Bible jokes. Some of you get it. Keep yourselves, it says in verse 21,
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal life. And if some
have compassion making a difference, this is what we're here to do. Have compassion on people and
make a difference. You want to really make a difference in the spiritual world? Preach the
gospel, my friend. You really want to make an impact? You really want to take on the devil?
You really want to fight the demonic forces of this world? Go preach the gospel.
That's the most powerful thing you could do. I mean, that's greater than any exorcism.
It's greater than any, you know, snake handling or snake charming. It's even more impressive,
I have yet to see it as somebody, it's even more impressive of, you know, drinking Drano.
As much as I'd like to see that, as much as I'd like to see one of these charismatic clowns get
up and like, today's the day. Where's the Clorox? As much as I'd like to see that, you know, even
if they can make that come to pass somehow, I'm still more impressed with people getting saved.
It never, it, look, it doesn't, it doesn't surprise me that the gospel works.
It doesn't surprise me that if we actually go out there with the word of God and preach it to,
that people get, that doesn't surprise me. But you know what? It never ceases to amaze me.
It never ceases to amaze me the simplicity that is in Christ to watch people just comprehend
the word of God, how the word of God and the Holy Spirit just works in someone's heart
and they accept Christ as savior. So simply, so easily, with childlike faith, that never gets old.
And that is greater than any other miracle that you could ever hope to perform in this world. And
it is a miracle when you think about it. You are, when you preach the gospel, get somebody,
you are bringing somebody back from the dead. People whose spirit was dead has been revived
through your preaching of the gospel. That's amazing.
Have compassion, he says in verse 23, and others save with fear. It's Halloween, right?
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. Yeah, you know what? Satan is real.
The demonic forces of this world are real. They're all poltergeists. There are demons. Yeah,
those things flying around, they probably are there and they're probably satanic.
In fact, they are satanic if they're there. And they're there just to deceive you and take you
down a road to hell. You got to be afraid of that stuff. I mean, I remember thinking, I mean,
I remember, you know, I grew up in the eighties. I watched Unsolved Mysteries. I went to the school
library and checked out all the books on aliens. I knew the difference between the grays and the
white aliens. I read all the stories about, you know, chips being implanted in this couple and
chips being implanted in this person and all these strange things, the spontaneous human combustion.
I remember reading up on all the stuff and you know what? And it always is, but as much as I
was intrigued by it and what always made me feel afraid, afraid of that stuff. You know, what's
really scary about that stuff is that it's satanic and it's there to deceive you. Save people with
fear, pulling them out of the fire. I mean, that's a perfect picture of salvation, isn't it? That's
what we're doing. It's like we're going up and preaching to somebody who's sinking down into hell
and it's like, do you believe you're a sinner? You know, for the wages of sin is death and the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus. It's like you're pulling them out of the pit of hell
and setting them on their feet on the pond of spiritual rock, which is Christ.
It's powerful. I mean, you say, oh, that's, you know, you're just being dramatic. That's spiritually,
if you could see that, that's exactly what you're doing. Someone who's sinking down into hell and
you're grabbing them and pulling them out of that fire. Did you did it? And how did you do it?
By handling a snake, performing an exorcism, drinking Drano, healing the sick. No, you did
it because you just, just obeyed the first command that Christ gave in the great commission. Go and
preach the gospel of your creature. All this other stuff, that was for them. The treading on serpents,
the nose thing will hurt, harm you. Look, there might have some application to us today.
You know, maybe we, you know, we might get to heaven and find out that we were out a lot of
these reservations and other places like that, that we stepped right over a snake and didn't
even know it. You know, maybe, maybe we, you know what I mean? Maybe we'll look back and see all
the times where God just miraculously, you know, spared us. I mean, good night on the way over
here tonight, we pulled out of my place of work. My wife picked me up. If she had stepped on the
gas two seconds earlier, I don't know that she'd be here tonight. You know, and I attribute that
to God. I'd like God, you know, saved, probably kept us from that happening. Some idiot just
flew through a red light at like, I'm not kidding, 70 miles an hour and slammed into the guy pulling
out of the gas station right next to us. And I honestly, I don't know if that guy, the driver,
I'd be surprised if the driver made it. I don't know why I brought that up, but you know, there's
going to be things, you know, praise God, glory to God that he protected us. I believe that he did.
And I bet there's going to be a lot of times like that when we get to heaven, we're going to look
back and whether it's through our own negligence or just through circumstances beyond our control,
God's going to say, we protected you here. I protected you here. I protected you here.
This didn't harm you. And praise God for that. But you know why a lot of times that stuff's
going to happen is because we're his children and we love him and we're serving him.
Just go serve God, go pull people out of the fire. You know, we'll figure out all that cool stuff
when we're sitting in heaven, which is going to be a trip. I mean, that's going to be pretty cool
in itself, man. Right? So don't, don't get hung up on all this, this stuff. You know, tonight,
that's what the world's hung up on. And they're making a mockery out of it. The Bible says all
they that hate me love death. And they're celebrating death today. You know, they're
going to have their day of the dead around here. They're going to go out there and celebrate
Halloween. They're going to go out and just worship ghouls and goblins and make light of
that stuff. That stuff's scary because it's real. There really is a demonic world, but praise God,
we don't have to get wrapped up in it. We don't even have to concern ourselves with it. All we
need to be concerned with ourselves with is doing the work of God and serving him. Let's go and
close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you again for this church. Thank you to these
folks that have come out tonight. Lord, I pray you would continue to help us to have a right
priority in our lives, Lord, that we would not get entangled with the affairs of this life,
that we may please you who have called us to be a soldier for Christ, help us to endure hardness,
and Lord, help us to do the work that you've called us to do as a church. In Jesus' name,
we pray. Amen.