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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good morning and welcome. Let's find our seats. Take our song books. Turn to song 160. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Song number 160. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 160. Crown him with many crowns. 🎵Music🎵 Let's sing it out on the first. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 And hail Him as I match this King throughout eternal life. One sixty on the second. Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side. Rich wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified. No angel in the sky can fully bear that sign. But downward bends His wandering eye at mysteries so bright. Crown Him the Lord of life, through triumph o'er the grave. Who was victorious to the strife, for those He came to save. His glories now we see, who died and rose on high. Who died eternal life to bring, and lives at death may die. One sixty on the last. Crown Him the Lord of heaven, one with the Father known. One with the Spirit through Him given, from yonder glorious throne. To Thee be endless praise, for Thou for us has died. Be Thou alone through endless days, adored and magnified. And we want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning. We're so glad that you are with us. We of course have a wonderful service lined up for you today. And we'd like to begin the service with a word of prayer. So let's bow our heads together and let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you and we thank you for lying us together today. Lord, we do thank you for this church. We would bless this time that we have set aside for singing and for prayer and of course for preaching. Lord, we pray that you would help us to draw closer to you. Help us, Lord, to be Christians and to live like Christians, to grow like Christians. And we pray, Lord, that you would bless this service. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Turn to song number 17. One, seven. Song 17, one day. Sing it out on the first. One day when heaven was filled with His praises, One day when sin was as dark as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, Felt amongst men, my example is He. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away, Rising He justified freely forever, One day He's coming, O glorious day. One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain, One day they nailed Him to die on the tree, Suffering anguished, despised and rejected, Marrying our sins, my Redeemer is He. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away, Rising He justified freely forever, One day He's coming, O glorious day. On the third, one day they left Him alone in the garden, One day He rested from suffering free, Angels came down or His tomb to keep vigil, Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away, Rising He justified freely forever, One day He's coming, O glorious day. One day the grave could conceal Him no longer, One day the stone rolled away from the door, Then He arose over death He had conquered, Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away, Rising He justified freely forever, One day He's coming, O glorious day. You're singing while we sing this last one out like you're saved, alright? On the last. One day the trumpet will sound for His coming, One day the skies with His glories will shine, Wonderful day my beloved one's bringing, Glorious Savior this Jesus is mine. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away, Rising He justified freely forever, One day He's coming, O glorious day. Good singing. Amen, alright, well let's take our bulletins, we'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Matthew 6 33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, And all these things shall be added unto you. And that's a good verse there, we like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10 30 a.m. And we're glad you're with us, of course, on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church. We do invite you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for the evening service. The evening service is different than the morning service, different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached, just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the Word of God. And of course we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning time is on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional times on Thursdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. So if you'd like to go soul winning this afternoon, there'll be an opportunity for you to be able to do that. And if you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, on Sunday mornings, we are currently in a sermon series on the subject of the spirit world. And we've been studying the spirit world in the Bible. We've had a sermon on heaven, a sermon on hell. Last week I preached a sermon on angels. And today, just in time for Halloween, we're going to study demons in the Bible. And that way you can actually find something biblical that's scary to learn about. And next week we'll talk about the devil as well. And then we'll end this series with the subject of spiritual warfare. So we encourage you to join us, of course, for all of those. But today we're going to be talking about devils, plural, or demons. And then tonight we're starting a brand new, just a three-week sermon series. And it's called God is not a Republican, but the Devil is a Democrat. And anyway, that's a long title, but I couldn't think of anything else. So we're just going to spend three weeks, of course, leading up into the election. And obviously I want you to be back in church tonight. We always encourage you to be back in church tonight. Just let me just tell you right now, if you're going to get triggered by preaching on Republicans, then you may just not want to come tonight. So just keep that in mind. But hopefully you're more mature than that. And hopefully you just love the Bible. And if you love the Bible, it should solve a lot of problems. But it's interesting to me how many Christians don't care about the Bible. It's always an interesting thought. But anyway, come back tonight as we look at this for the next few weeks before the election. And then Harvest Party is on Thursday, October 31st at 6 p.m. And we'll have our annual chili cook-off and games for all to play. There will be a $50 gift card for the first place winner if you compete in the chili cook-off and a $25 gift card for the second place winner. If you're going to compete, you need to have your chili here by 6 p.m. And every year when we do this, we always have like 25, 28 chilis. So there's just a lot of chilis to organize. So we need to get the judges their samples before we can have everybody else eat. So we just need to make sure that you are here by 6 p.m. If you show up after 6 p.m., you know, you can't compete. We'll still eat your chili in the potluck, but you can't compete, all right? So just know that. And there will be games for the kids, all sorts of games, different things, cornhole and ping pong and whatever. But there will also be the ladies and men's basketball game. So ladies, there is a sign-up sheet in the foyer if you would like to play basketball. And then homeschool group, there's PE class this Thursday. So make sure you make a note of that. And then there's other things there for you to look at. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of October, today is our deacon, Brother Oliver Gonzalez's birthday. So happy birthday to him. And then tomorrow is my brother and my sister-in-law's anniversary, Abraham and Karen Jimenez, on October 21st. And then later this week we have Liliana Pettis' birthday on October 22nd. And we have Noelle Rosenberg's birthday on October 23rd. Ji-Yoon Lynn Davidson has a birthday on October 24th. And Emma Gonzalez has a birthday on October 25th. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And I think that's it for all of the announcements. So let's go ahead and we're going to take the chorus of the week and we're going to sing Rejoice in the Lord as we prepare to receive the offering this morning. And let's go ahead and sing it out. On the first. God never moves. Sing it out. On the first. God never moves without purpose or plan when trying his servant and molding a man. Give thanks to the Lord. Seems long. In darkness he giveth a song. Oh, rejoice in the Lord. He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified. Come forth as one. Good. Sing it. Sing it out on the second. Let's just slow it down just a tad bit on the second. I could not see through the shadows ahead. So I look at the cause of my savior. Instead, I bow to the will of the master that day. And tears let away. Good. Sing it out. Rejoice in the Lord. He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified. I shall come forth as one. Good. Sing it out on the last. Now I can see testing comes from above. God strengthens his children and purges him blood. My Father knows best. In his care, He will take what I will bear. Rejoice in the Lord. He makes no mistake. He knoweth the end of each path that I take. For when I am tried and purified. I shall come forth as one. Amen. All right. Before the guys come up, I do want to remind you that we, of course, are a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. However, we do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service, or windows set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's being distracting during the service, or if you need some privacy, we would encourage you to use those rooms. If you're not sure where they're at, you can look at the back of the bulletin. You'll see a layout of our church building. It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are, where the daddy room is. It'll show you where the restrooms are. And also, we want to remind you to please make sure you turn your cell phones off, or place them on silent during the service. And right now would be a good time to just look at your phone and make sure it's off, so it doesn't go off in the middle of the sermon. And we appreciate your help with that. And we'll go ahead and have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. We thank you that you meet our financial needs. And Lord, we pray that you would continue to meet our needs. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Turn your Bibles to Revelation, chapter 12. Revelation, chapter 12. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand. And an usher will bring you one. Revelation, chapter 12. We will read the entire chapter, as is our custom. Revelation, chapter 12. Just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible. Revelation, chapter 12. The Bible reads, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not. Neither was there place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that his hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together and for this day. Please give pastor strength. Bless the sermon. Let it edify us and glorify you. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, well we're there in Revelation chapter number 12, and of course on Sunday mornings for the last several weeks we've been doing a study on the spirit world, and we've been learning about the spirit world, and we've had a sermon on the subject of heaven, a sermon on the subject of hell. Last week we learned about angels, and this morning we're going to learn about demons, or the Bible calls them devils. I use the term demons because it's something that people use and know, and also next week I'm preaching on the devil, so I don't want to confuse people on that subject. There's actually a lot on the subject to deal with, and here in Revelation 12 there's a lot about the devil, which I'm not going to cover because we're going to cover that next week, but I want to focus in on the devils, or the demons, and I want to begin by just giving some general teachings on demons. I'm going to give you what you need to know about demons, but before we get there we need to kind of understand some things about demons, so it might be a little bit of a longer introduction than usual, but let me just give you some thoughts with regards to demons and what the Bible teaches, some general teaching on the subject, and of course if you want to take notes you can take notes. We always encourage you to take notes. On the back of your course this week there's a place for you to do that. First of all, the first thing, just kind of the general thing you need to know about devils or demons, and I think most of you probably already know this, but it is that demons are angels that followed Satan, and again next week we're going to talk about the devil. We'll talk about the fall of the devil, but when Satan fell he took with him a certain number of angels that rebelled against God, and those are what we now know or refer to as demons, what the Bible refers to as devils. You're there in Revelation 12. Look down at verse number 3. Revelation chapter 12 and verse 3, the Bible says this, And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, and I don't have time to go into that. We'll talk about that next week, but that's the devil. In fact, in verse 9 of the same chapter, we're told that the dragon is that old serpent called the devil and Satan. So the red dragon there is being a representation of Satan. The Bible says that there behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head, verse 4, and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven. And if you remember when we talked about angels last week, we talked about the fact that the word angel is sometimes referred to as a messenger, but oftentimes angels are also referred to as stars in the Bible, and again, I don't have time to show that to you. You can study that out on your own, but you'll notice that stars are oftentimes used to represent angels, and here the Bible tells us that the dragon, that his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and that third part there is a reference to the fact that the devil took a third part of the angels with him and did cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So we see here that demons, when we're talking about demons in the Bible, demons are angels that followed Satan. Now just real quickly, because the Bible references a third part of the angels, and next week when we talk about the devil, I'll explain to you why I think it was a third part, but the Bible gives us a number here that he took a third part of the angels, which became devils, with him, and I want to just quickly answer this question, and we're going to answer several questions as we go through the sermon this morning. But one of the questions is, how many devils are there? How many demons are there? And you're there in Revelation 12. If you flip back to Revelation chapter 5 and look down at verse number 11, God actually gives us a number. He doesn't give us a number. He gives us a general idea of how many angels there are. Revelation 5 and verse 11, the Bible says this, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. So here God is telling us how many angels are round about the throne. He said, I heard the voice, this is John speaking, of many angels round about the throne, the beast and the elders, beam the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. 10,000 times 10,000 is 100 million. 10,000 times 10,000 is 100 million. And then we're told add to that number. So there's 100 million plus and thousands of thousands. Now here's where the number gets a little general because when the Bible says thousands of thousands, it is referring to, for example, 1,000 thousands is 1 million. But here we're told thousands, plural, so it could be two thousands of thousands, three thousands of thousands. We're not told exactly how many thousands of thousands, but we know that 1,000 thousands is 1 million. And we know that it's gonna be less than 100 million because obviously we're already given that number as a cap. So we don't know for sure. But if we just went with just 1,000 thousands, which we know it's more than that because it's thousands of thousands, just to play, just to give a real basic low ball number, that would be 101 million angels that are around the throne of God, according to Revelation 5-11. At least there's more than that. But let's just take that number, 101 million. Now we know that at this point though, when Revelation 5 is being written, obviously the events that are being described in Revelation 12 have already taken place. The devil has already fallen. The angels, he's already taken a third part with him. So what we know is this, that number, 101 million, which is a very basic low number, we know it's more than that, but we'll just take that number for now. That's gonna represent two thirds of the angels that stayed with God. So if we take that and figure out what would one third of that be, then what we find out is that there are at least 50 million, 500,000 demons. 50 million, 500,000, if you wanna round it out, 51 million demons. So that shows you that there's a lot of devils out there. There's a lot of demons out there. And so Satan has a big army of devils that are helping him with the work that he's doing on this earth. Of course, there's way more human beings on this earth and there are devils, but we know that there are a lot of devils. And one of the reasons that we should know this is because we know that the devil is not omnipresent. He's not everywhere at once. God is omnipresent, but the devil is not. So if the devil needs to be somewhere, he needs to go there to be there. But he has a lot of help. He has at least, we know, over 51 million angels, demons that are helping him with his evil work. So we see that demons are the angels that followed Satan. And then secondly, and go with me if you would, keep your place in Revelation. I know it's not hard to find, but just keep your finger there because we're gonna come back to the book of Revelation throughout the sermon. That's the last book in the New Testament. And go with me to the book of Matthew, which is the first book in the New Testament. And then do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something in Matthew because we're gonna come back and forth between Matthew and Revelation quite a bit. So I want you to be able to find those. Of course, they're not hard to find. First book in the New Testament, last book in the New Testament, Matthew and Revelation. But go to Matthew chapter 22. And let me just say this. And I'll tell you this upfront that this is my opinion. I'm proving it to you from the Bible. I think this is true, but this could be up for debate and I don't have a problem with that. But the second thing that I would want you to know about demons and the angels, it's this, that they made their choice corporately. When it comes to the angels that followed God and the angels that became devils or demons that followed Satan, the choice that they made was made corporately. And I believe the reason for that is we find a hint of that in Matthew 22. If you look down at verse number 29, Matthew 22 and verse 29, the Bible says this. Jesus answered. And this is gonna be more of a Bible study at least here at the beginning, just so you're aware of that. The Bible says Jesus answered and said unto them. Now Jesus is being asked a question. I don't have the time to get into the context. You can look at it on your own if you'd like. But he's being asked a question about marriage and specifically about how marriage works in the resurrection. And Jesus answers by saying this. Jesus answered and said unto them, ye do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. He's being asked a question about how marriage is going to work in the resurrection in our glorified bodies in heaven. And Jesus says, you're wrong. The premise of the question is wrong because in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. He says, but are as the angels of God in heaven. So he says, we in our glorified bodies in a future state are going to be not angels of God, but we're going to be similar to the angels of God in the sense that in heaven, people aren't given to marriage or are not given in marriage. They don't get married. But what I want you to understand from this verse is this, that according to the Bible, angels don't get married. They are not given in marriage. They don't get married. They don't have families. They don't have children. I don't have time to go off on this rabbit's trail, but that disproves the dispensational teaching of Genesis 6 where people try to teach that the fallen angels married women and did these things when God specifically tells us that angels do not get married. Fallen angels do not get married. They're spirits. They don't have physical bodies. They cannot have children. It makes for good movies, but it's not what the Bible teaches. So in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God. And here's what I want you to understand. Angels and demons, when we're talking about demons and devils, we're talking about fallen angels. They do not reproduce. They don't get married. They don't have children. They do not reproduce. In fact, when they were created, they were created corporately. And if we go back to the Genesis account, when God created the heaven and the earth, and then he created the other heavens and all of those things, what we would find is this, that the angels were created in that creation week. And when they were created, all angels, all of them were all created all at the same time. Whatever that number is, 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands, we don't know what the thousands there is, but whatever that number is that God knows, all of those angels were created all at the same time. And what we mean by that is this, there aren't new angels being created. There aren't new angels being born. I know the Catholic church teaches you that there's these little fat baby angels up there, but that's just not true. It's not, the Bible doesn't teach that. In the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. So angels do not reproduce. They were all created corporately. Now, the reason I bring that up is because that is a distinct difference from human beings. Human beings were not all created corporately. Only one man, Adam, and his wife Eve were created, and then they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply. We are descendants of Adam. We were in the loins of Adam. We came from Adam, but we were all birthed at different times. We were all birthed at different times, of course, and this week, I had taken my kids to the park, and my daughter was making friends with some of the kids there at the park, and she was just playing with them, and they were trying to figure out who was older, and my daughter was trying to explain, because she's six years old, and the other girl is six years old, and they were trying to figure out who's older, and my daughter was explaining to her, like, I know you're six, I'm six, but we weren't born on the same day. I was born on September 18th. When were you born? And she's like, I don't know when my birthday is. So anyway, even if you don't know when your birthday is, you were born at some time, all right? And angels do not reproduce. They are all created corporately. Human beings do reproduce, and we're not created corporately. We were all born at different times, even if you're six years old, and you don't know when your birthday is, we were all born at different times. So here's the point. When angels had to make their choice about heaven and hell, follow God or follow the devil, that choice was made corporately. They made that decision as a group, and according to Revelation 12, one third of them chose to follow the devil, and we'll talk next week about why probably that one third followed the devil, and two thirds of them chose to stay with God and follow God. So angels made their choice corporately, and that is opposite of human beings. Human beings, we do not make our choice on believing on Christ, heaven, hell, God, the devil. We don't make our choice corporately. We make our choice individually. Individuals choose to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. We're born individually. We choose individually. Angels were created corporately, and they chose corporately. Now, if you kept your place in Revelation, go with me if you would to the book of Jude. Jude, verse number six, there's only one chapter in Jude, Jude chapter one and verse number six, and just let me say this as well, and these are all kind of just general things about angels, excuse me, about devils, which are fallen angels, but the demons are angels that followed Satan. The demons are angels that made their choice corporately, and then let me say this, demons are fixed or locked into their choice. Demons are fixed or locked into their choice. In Jude one six, the Bible says this, and the angels, which kept not their first estate, so they didn't keep their first position in which they were created, but left, and we know from Revelation 12, they left with the devil, they left with Satan, but left their own habitation. He, referring to God, hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. So what the Bible is telling us here is that once the angels made this choice and they chose to follow the devil, they made that choice corporately as a group. They had to all decide, what are you gonna do? Two thirds stayed with God, one third went with the devil. Once that choice was made, they were then fixed into that choice. They were locked into that choice, and the Bible says that they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of that great day. That doesn't mean that they, when it says reserved there, it's like I have a reservation at a restaurant. I'm not at the restaurant yet, but I've got a reservation there. They're not necessarily in hell right now, but they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Go to 2 Peter, if you would, 2 Peter chapter number two. If you go backwards from Jude, you have 3 John, 2 John, 1 John, then 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter number two, and look at verse number four. 2 Peter chapter two and the book of Jude are actually parallel passages that are very similar and deal with the same subjects. And I want you to notice what 2 Peter chapter two says. 2 Peter chapter two and verse four says, for if God spared not the angels that sinned, so there were angels that sinned and God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be, notice the word reserved. So that hasn't necessarily happened yet, but it's as good as done. They are fixed in that choice to be reserved unto judgment. So here's what you need to understand about the bad angels, the sinning angels, the fallen angels. The bad angels are, maybe to help us understand this, they are equivalents of a reprobate. In the same way that a reprobate has crossed a line with God and they are eternally lost, the fallen angels are reprobates. We shouldn't call them that because they're not human beings. They don't have an option for salvation, but they are the equivalent of being a reprobate in the sense that they are fixed in that decision. They are locked into that choice. In fact, I'm doing the reverse of what Jude and Peter were doing because the book of Jude and the chapter of 2 Peter, chapter two are actually about reprobates. And they are chapters that are teaching us about how human beings can become reprobates. And the reason that angels are being brought up in those passages is because God is actually explaining to us that in the same way that the fallen angels are fixed into their choice, a reprobate, a human reprobate can be fixed into his choice. I'm using the reverse argument, which is still a true argument to help us understand in the same way that we know a reprobate, if you know a reprobate can be fixed into his eternal loss, damnable state, in that same way, the fallen angels are eternally lost. They are fixed into that choice. Now, let me give you the opposite. Go back to Matthew chapter 22. If you kept your place in Matthew, Matthew chapter 22, look at verse 30. We already saw this verse, but I want you to just see it real quickly. Again, Matthew 22, verse 30. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels. I want you to notice these words, of God in heaven, are as the angels of God in heaven. Now, why does he take the time to say the angels of God in heaven? Because there are some angels that are not of God and are not in heaven. These are angels of God in heaven, but that distinction tells us there are some angels that are not of God and are not in heaven. So in the same way that the bad ones are the equivalent of a reprobate who is eternally lost, you should also understand this, that the good ones are the equivalent of a believer who's eternally secure. In the same way that you and I as believers, when we're saved, we're secure in Christ, we're once saved, always saved, we could never lose that salvation, the good angels that chose to stay with God became the angels of God in heaven. And they are secure in their state. They couldn't stand if they wanted to. The choice was made, and once the choice was made, they were fixed in that choice. And there are resemblances to our salvation. They're not the same as our salvation, but they're resemblance to our salvation in the sense that when a person gets saved, they're saved forever. They're eternally secure. And when a person becomes a reprobate, they are lost forever. They are eternally damned. Let me give you another proof of that. Go to Matthew 25 and look at verse number 31, if you would. Matthew 25 and verse 31, the Bible says, Matthew 25, 31, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, look at these words, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he set up the throne of his glory. So notice, when Jesus returns, he's coming back with the holy angels. But there are other angels that are not holy. In fact, we read, 2 Peter 2, 4, for if God spared not the angels that sinned, there are some angels that sinned, and there are some angels that are holy. The good guys are the holy angels. They're the angels of God in heaven. The bad guys are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of that great day. So these are just some general things to understand about demons. Demons are angels that followed Satan. Demons are angels that made their choice corporately. That's different than human beings. We make our choice individually. We're born individually, but they make their choice corporately. And demons are fixed, and angels are fixed, or locked into that choice that they made. They're either holy angels or they're fallen angels. Now, just real quickly, let me answer another question by way of introduction, and then we'll get into the sermon, okay? I'll try to go quickly through the sermon, because I know the introduction is long. But let me answer this question. What does the Bible call demons? Now, our society and our culture calls them demons, and I use that term. Honestly, I don't really use that term. I only really use that term when I'm preaching about it, just because I think people know what that means. And if you put the word demon in a sermon title, it just gets more clicks or whatever, so especially during Halloween. But go to Matthew chapter eight. Matthew chapter number eight. What does the Bible call demons? The King James Bible calls them devils. So I just want to be clear about that. The King James Bible calls them devils. I think modern Bible versions may use the word demons. Someone's gonna email me saying that I read the NIV or something. Matthew eight, look at verse 16. When the event was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils, devils. Now, next week, we're gonna learn about the devil, Satan, that old serpent, the dragon. There's the devil, but then there's his devils, and the Bible calls them devils. Here in Matthew eight, 16, we read about someone that they were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits in his word and healed all that were sick. Now, I want you to notice there that the Bible calls them devils, and then it also calls them spirits, and he cast out the spirits. So the Bible calls them devils. The Bible also calls them spirits. Go to Matthew chapter number 10. Matthew chapter number 10, because if you remember last week, when we learned about angels, we're learning this week that demons or devils are fallen angels, and we learned last week that angels are spirits. Remember Hebrews 1.7, he maketh his angels spirits. They are ministering spirits. So we know that angels are spirits, and devils or demons are fallen angels, so they are also spirits, so they are called spirits. The Bible says here he possessed, that they were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits. Matthew 10 one says, and when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave them power against, look at these words, unclean spirits. So when the Bible says unclean spirits, what is it talking about? It's talking about devils, talking about demons. They're not the holy spirit, of course, but they're not the spirits that we call holy angels either. These are unclean spirits because they're devils. Look at Luke chapter nine. If you're there in Matthew, you go past the book of Mark into the book of Luke, Luke chapter nine, and look at verse number one. Luke chapter nine and verse one. The Bible says, then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils. Okay, that's a quote from what we just read in Matthew 10 one. Matthew 10 one said, when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits here it says, then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils. So notice that these terms are being used interchangeably, unclean spirits, all devils, and to cure diseases. Look at Luke chapter eight. If you flip back one chapter, chapter eight to verse two, the Bible says, and certain women which had been healed of, notice these words, evil spirits, evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene out of whom went seven devils. So here we see evil spirits and devils being used interchangeably. So in the Bible, when you read the words unclean spirit, evil spirit, also the term familiar spirit is used, then this is all referring to devils, to demons, and they are also called devils in the Bible. So as you read these things, you just realize that this is all referring to the same thing. All right, you're there in Luke chapter eight, and that's all the introduction. Now let's just get into the sermon. And I'm gonna, like I said, I knew the introduction was a little longer, so I'm gonna try to move through the three main points of the sermon as quickly as I can. But let me give you these three main points. Now that we understand what devils are, we understand that they followed Satan, they're fallen angels, they followed Satan in his fall. We understand that they made their choice corporately, they got fixed into that choice. We understand that they're called unclean spirits, familiar spirits, they're called evil spirits, they are spirits because angels are spirits. Now let's talk about what we need to know about demons. Number one, if you're taking notes, you wanna write this down, maybe you can do that. Number one, demons possess people. Demons possess people. In Luke chapter eight and verse 26, we find probably the most detailed story about a demon possession. There's all sorts of demon possessions. I mentioned in the Bible, but this is probably the most well known and the most descriptive. In Luke chapter eight and verse 26, the Bible says this, and they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee, and when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man which had devils. Long time. So I want you to notice this man that meets Jesus, the Bible says he had devils, and what we're being told here is that he was demon possessed he was possessed of devils long time, and then we get these characteristics of someone who has a devil, someone who's demon possessed. Notice the first characteristic the Bible says, and wear no clothes. He wear no clothes. So according to the Bible, a demon possessed person, a demon possessed man was naked, and this is an attribute of being demon possessed, but I would say this, it's not only an attribute of being demon possessed, it's an attribute, if someone being possessed with devils makes them want to get naked, then what you should know is that nakedness is something that the devil is promoting, and we live in a culture where people have no shame exposing their bodies, exposing their nakedness, and that is an influence of the devil. The devil is the one that wants people to walk around half naked or whatever, and here we're told that this man who is demon possessed wear no clothes. Why don't you notice a second characteristic we see about this demon possessed man. Not only was he naked, but also he was fascinated with death. Look at what it says there at the end of verse 27. Neither abode he in any house, he didn't live in a house, but in the tombs, but in the tombs. So we see again that not only is this demon possessed man wearing no clothes, but this demon possessed man is infatuated with death. He is fascinated with death. In fact, he lives in the tombs. He lives in a graveyard around death people, and by the way, this is one reason that I believe Christians should not celebrate Halloween, because Halloween, you say, well, what's wrong with Halloween? It celebrates death, and the devil is the one who is fascinated with death, who celebrates death, and we as Christians, the Bible says, Jesus said, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. So you know what, as a Christian, I don't need to celebrate death, because I'm never gonna die. One day they might look at this corpse, and they'll say it's dead, but don't cry for me. I'll be in heaven with the angels. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So we see that this man wear no clothes. We see that he abode in the tombs. He was fascinated with death, and look, today, there's cultures of young people who are just fascinated with death and the devil, and they run around half naked, and these are all influences of demons and devils. Look at verse 28. And when he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, what have I to do with thee? Jesus, I want you to notice this. He says, Jesus, thou son of God most high. So I want you to notice that not only does a demon-possessed man, not only was he naked, not only was he fascinated with death, but he was also aware of religious truth. He was aware of religious truth. When Jesus showed up, he recognized Jesus, and he said, what have I to do with thee? So he's not friendly to it. He's hostile to it, but he understands it. He acknowledges it. What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God most high? The Bible says in James 2.19, you don't have to turn there. It says, thou believeth that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. So one thing we need to understand is that the devil is aware of religious truth, and you know what, the devil, he's obviously against God, and he obviously doesn't understand the end of himself and what the future has for him, but the devil does know the Bible, and the devil does know religion and religious talk, and we'll talk about it next week, but the devil has his own prophets, and he has his own religions, and he is aware of religious truth. So don't think, well, just because someone is saying things that sound religious, that must mean that they're not being influenced or connected by the devil. No, devils, even demon-possessed people, will say things, they are aware of religious truth. The devils also believe and tremble is what James said, and this demon-possessed man said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. Look at verse 29, Luke 8.29. For he had commanded unclean spirits to come out of the man, for oft times they had caught him, and he was, and notice here another characteristic, he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and break the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness. So I want you to notice another characteristic here that we see of a demon-possessed man is that he had above normal strength, and the Bible says that he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and the Bible says he break the bands. So he was crazy, he's insane, he's doing all these things, and they try to keep him bound, they try to keep him chained, but he's breaking the bands, he's breaking the chains, why, because he had above normal strength, and the Bible tells us that a demon-possessed person has this above normal strength. There's also another characteristic in Mark, you don't have to turn there, I'll just read this for you, but the same story in Mark tells us, Mark 5, it says, and always night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. So Mark tells us about the same legion, demon-possessed individual here, that he cut himself. So these are all characteristics, and look, today, there are young people into rock music, into death, into nakedness, into cutting themselves, these are all influences of the devil. And I'm not saying that every young person that does these things is demon-possessed, although they might be demon-possessed, but even if they're not demon-possessed, they're being highly influenced by the devil, and they're highly being influenced by the devil's music, for sure. So these are all things, characteristics we see about the devil, nakedness, fascination with death, cutting themselves, being aware of religious truth, above normal strength. Let me give you another example of a well-known demon possession or a story dealing with that in the Bible. Go to Acts chapter 19, if you would, you're there in Luke, you go past the book of John, into the book of Acts, Acts chapter number 19, Acts chapter 19, and look at verse number 13, Acts chapter 19 and verse 13, the Bible says, "'Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits.'" So here we got these vagabond Jews, and they want to play the role of an exorcist. They want to call over them which had evil spirits. So remember, evil spirits is a devil. That's the term that's used for them in the Bible, one of the terms. So they wanted to call over them which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "'We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.'" So you got these Jews who are trying to be copycats of Paul. They go find some demon-possessed people, people with evil spirits, and they stand over them, and here's what they say. They say, "'We adjure you by Jesus.'" And it's funny to me because they don't say, "'By Jesus our Lord and Savior, by Jesus whom we preach.'" No, they're like, "'We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.'" Like, they're like, we're just trying what Paul has done. Verse 14, "'And there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests which did so, and the evil spirit answered and said.'" Now notice, remember, these guys show up, and they're trying to boss around these evil spirits, and they're saying, "'We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.'" And then the evil spirit responds to them, "'Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?'" He says, "'I know who Paul is, and I know who Jesus is, but I don't know who you are.'" And again, we see that these devils have, they're aware of religious truth. They said, "'I know who Jesus is, Jesus is impressive.'" He said, "'I know who Paul is, Paul is impressive.'" He said, "'You seven, you're not that impressive.'" Who are you? Look at verse 16. "'And the man in whom the evil spirit was.'" The Bible says, "'Leaped on them.'" Now remember, there's seven men here, seven sons of Sceva. He leaped on them and overcame them. One guy jumps on seven guys, overcame them, and prevailed against them. He beats up seven of them. So what do we see? Above normal strength. So that they fled out of the house, don't miss this, naked and wounded. So again, we see nakedness, we see wounding, like the cutting himself. The demon-possessed man's not naked and cutting himself. He's getting them naked and cutting them, wounding them. He overcame them. He knew who Jesus was. He knew who Paul was. So we see that these are characteristics of a demon-possessed person. And I will tell you this, and you've probably heard the story if you've been at a church for any length of time, but several years ago, a demon-possessed person came to my house. And it was of the Lord because it was actually, it was at a time, it was on a Thursday, and I was out soul-winning in the afternoon. And my wife actually had an appointment with several ladies of the church. They were gonna get together and prepare things. I wanna say it was a Mother's Day thing or some sort of ladies event. They were gonna get together. And they were supposed to meet at my house with my wife to do this, but so many ladies had signed up to help with this event. Last minute, they decided to change it, and they actually met at the church building, which was of the Lord, because my wife was at the church building, not this church building, the church building that we were at at the time, with all the ladies of the church there. And she had my kids. And then, of course, I was soul-winning. So nobody was at our house. But at the time that this happened, there was supposed to be my wife, all my children, and several ladies from the church. But they weren't there by God's providence. He protected us from that. But this guy shows up to my house. And the reason we found out about this is because, I wanna say it was Ms. Cricket. She saw cops at our house, and she calls my wife, and she's like, there's all these cops at your house. And by the time we were told about this, and we went there, everything had already been done. But we have cameras in our house, because when you get as many death threats as I do, you install cameras in your house. And so we had footage of all this. This guy comes to our house, starts, the first thing he does is he tries to just open the door, and to just see if it, so always lock your doors, all right? Because he just tries to open the door. It's locked. He starts pounding on the door. Starts pounding on the walls. Starts taking his clothes off. All of his clothes. When I say all of his clothes, I mean all of his clothes. Down to his birthday suit. Down to the way he was born. Completely nude. He goes to the bathroom on the front steps of my house, and he's screaming and yelling. And here's what he's saying. He's saying that there is a portal in my house that leads to heaven, and that he needs to get into the house because there's a source to heaven. And he's also talking about the fact that I'm a pastor, and that he knows that I'm a pastor, and he knows that I can help him, and all these things. And this guy was just demon-possessed. First of all, he was aware of religious truth. He was like, I know who Jesus is, and I know who Roger Jimenez is. He knew that I was a pastor. He showed up to our house for that reason, and he was fascinated with death because he was just talking about how he's gonna die, and there's a portal to heaven. I'm like, there's not a portal to heaven, but there's a King James Bible that can teach you how to be saved. There's a Bible's Way to Heaven pamphlet in the house that can show you how to be saved. But he's talking about these things. And of course, people notice that there's a naked guy in front of my house. So they called the cops, and literally, all these cops show up, and it took, and we had footage of this, it took these four huge, big, muscular cops, it took all four of them to wrestle him down. This was just like a skinny white guy. And it took these four buff guys, and they were struggling. They couldn't get him down. And I'm watching this video, and I'm thinking to myself, this is Luke chapter eight! I mean, this is the guy's naked. He's like overcoming the cops. He almost got away from them, and the only reason that they were able to finally, four huge cops could not suppress him, but they finally just tased him. And they tased him, and then they were able to get him handcuffed or whatever. He just has this supernatural strength. I mean, it was crazy insanity, but the Bible's true. And it's literally like Luke chapter eight just happened right on the front porch of my house. So anyway, demon-possessed people are real, and obviously, people can be on drugs too, and all those things are connected. They're all connected to each other. Let me real quickly answer this question as well. How many demons can possess a person? In Luke chapter eight and verse 30, I want you to notice that Jesus asked him, the Bible says Luke chapter eight verse 30, and Jesus asked him, saying, what is thy name? And he said, legion, which in the first century world, under the Roman Empire, a legion was a division of three to 6,000 soldiers in the Roman Empire. So when he says, legion, to Jesus who's living under the Roman Empire, a legion is 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers. So this guy is saying like, I've got like 3,000 to 6,000 devils inside of me. He says, legion, because many devils were entered into him. And then if you look at verse two of the same chapter, Luke chapter eight and verse two, the Bible says, and certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils. So notice that a demon possessed person could have multiple devils, could have a legion of devils, could have seven devils, and all of that. Now let me just say this, and I don't have time to get into this, and go back to Revelation, if you would, Revelation chapter 16. But let me just say this, I believe that God gave the apostles, that Jesus gave the apostles specific authority to cast out devils. I do not believe that any of us have that authority. I think that was something that was specifically given to the ordained apostles that Jesus created, made as apostles. So if you know of a demon possessed person, I would be careful about walking up to them and saying, I adjure you in the name of Jesus, which Pastor Jimenez preaches, come out of him, because the devil might be like, I know who Pastor Jimenez is, but who are you? And you know, so just be careful, they might just beat you up, get you naked and wound you. So I don't think that this is something that we can do. Now I do think that you say, well, how do we combat demon possession today? I'll talk about that at the end of the sermon, but I just don't, you know, I don't believe Benny Hinn is casting out devils, or whatever, Rod Parsley, or whatever crazy charismatics out there. It's something Paul did, it's something Peter did, and it's something the apostles did. And the Bible specifically says that he called the 12 and gave them authority to cast out devils. So I don't believe it's something that we're supposed to do today that we can do today. I do think that we can combat demon powers, but not through casting out devils, that's something that was given to the apostles. So number one, we talked about demons possess people. Number two, demons possess principalities. Demons possess principalities. And I'm gonna try to move through this quickly. But in Revelation chapter 16, this of course end times, but I think it highlights something for us. Revelation 16 verse 13, the Bible says this, Revelation chapter 16, if you would, and look down at verse number 13. Before we read it, let me just define for you the word principalities. Principalities is a word used in the Bible, and it means a position of authority. We would use the word like a prince, but a prince is someone who has a position of authority, a chief ruler, something along those lines. In Revelation 16 and verse 13, the Bible says this, and I saw three unclean spirits. So the first with Legion, it was like thousands, with Mary Magdalene, it was seven, here it's three. So notice there's just multiple spirits. And I saw three unclean spirits, look at these words, like frogs, all right? So to me, that is alcohol. It reminds me of the beer commercials where you had the three frogs. Well, you know what, if you drink spirits like alcohol, you might be controlled by an unclean spirit. So don't drink alcohol, kids. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon. Now, who's the dragon? That's the devil. And out of the mouth of the beast, who's the beast? That's the Antichrist. So that's a political leader, a political principality. And out of the mouth of the false prophet, who's the false prophet? That's a religious leader. So notice, three unclean spirits, one comes out of the dragon, that's the devil, one comes out of the beast, that's the political world leader at the time, and one comes out of the false prophet, that's the religious world leader at the time. And what we learn is this, that demons possess principalities. Now, we're gonna get more into that, not next week on the sermon of the devil, but the week after that on the sermon of spiritual warfare. So I'm not gonna spend a lot of time getting into those details, but just know this, that demons possess people, and demons also possess principalities. They control political leaders, and they also control high religious leaders. They are in control of those people. That's why the Bible says in Ephesians 6, 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So look, people like to talk about the elites and all these conspiracies about the elites and world leaders, and look, all those world leaders and elites, they're bad people, but what we need to understand is that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Those individuals are being controlled by devils. They're being controlled by principalities. They're being controlled by the rulers of the darkness of this world, and they're even the major world religions and the major leaders of the world. Look, the pope, Gandhi, all these individuals that are just these high world religious leaders, they are being controlled by the devil. First Timothy 4, 1 says this, you don't have to turn there. It says, now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So we see that demons possess people. Demons possess principalities, but then let me give you a third one this morning, and it is this, demons possess powers. They possess powers. Remember, we talked about angels, that they're supernatural beings. Angels have supernatural strength, which is why demon-possessed people can at times have supernatural strength, but notice here in Revelation 16, and look down at verse number 14. We looked at verse 13, look at verse 14. Revelation 16, 14, for they are the spirits of devils. Okay, the context is what we read about in Revelation 16, 13, and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, and then we're told here, for they are the spirits of devils, look at these words, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather them to battle of the great day of God Almighty. So look, oftentimes people will, they'll find some false prophet, some Benny Hinn out there, which a lot of these guys are false charlatans. They're just, they're faking this stuff, but even if they're not faking it, even if they really do perform some miracle, that should not just automatically convince you, because the Bible says, for they are the spirits of devils working miracles. So look, the devil has power. The devil has the ability to do miracles. So just because somebody can do miracles doesn't mean that they are a prophet of God. You say, well, if somebody can perform a miracle, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're a prophet of the Lord, then how will I know if they're a good guy or not? Look, the way that you know if they're a good guy or not is the only way that anybody knows if anybody is a good guy is are they preaching the Bible? Are they preaching the word of God? Because if Benny Hinn is getting up and slapping people across the face, and they're falling and they're whatever, but then he's preaching a work salvation and preaching you can lose your salvation and preaching you have to repent of your sins to be saved. Let me let you in on a little secret. The guy's gonna die and go to hell. Is everybody's cast out of so many devils? Yeah, because he's got a devil, or that guy probably has a legion of them. The spirits of devils working miracles. Look, don't you think that the 400 prophets of Baal, who were, by the way, cutting themselves, just like the guy in Luke eight, and calling out to their God, look, they were fully expecting fire come down from heaven. You say, why were they cutting themselves and doing that? Because they'd done it before. Pharaoh had magicians that copycatted some of the same things that Moses did. Now, that came with limits. They weren't able to do everything, but they were able to do some of it. Why? Because they can perform supernatural miracles. And let me let you in on a little secret. There is coming one day a false prophet that will unite the entire world in a one-world system, and will point people to worship the Antichrist. And the Bible says that the false prophet will perform miracles. So just because, and he won't be a charlatan, I do think those will be real miracles. So you and I need to just understand, just because somebody can do something supernatural, or maybe it seems like they can do something supernatural, does not mean that they are a prophet of God, or a prophet of the Lord, because demons possess people, demons possess principalities, and demons possess powers. They can perform supernatural miracles. Go to Deuteronomy chapter number eight. Real quickly, we gotta finish this thing up. Deuteronomy chapter eight. In the Old Testament, you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter number eight. And look at verse number 10. Deuteronomy chapter number eight and verse 10. So they can perform supernatural miracles. But let me just say this, and this is why I plan to preach this sermon and the next sermon right around Halloween. Not only can they perform supernatural miracles, but they also are the source of power for the occult. The occult is real. Witches are real. Harry Potter is not real. But what Harry Potter represents is real. Deuteronomy 18 and verse 10. The Bible says, there shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughters to pass through the fire. Deuteronomy 18, 10. Or that useth divination. Say, oh, no, that's just make-believe. Those are just things we watch on TV. That's not real. If it's not real, then why would God literally put it in his law? There shall not be any things to pass through the fire. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughters to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Say, witches aren't real. Well, tell God that. Verse 11. Or a charmer, or a consultor with a familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. So look, these are all things that have to do with the occult and we as Christians should have nothing to do with it. And again, you say, why can't I celebrate Halloween? Well, I mean, you can do whatever you want. Obviously, nobody can force you to do anything. But why should you not celebrate Halloween? Well, number one, because it celebrates death. But number two, it celebrates the devil, celebrates the occult. I mean, what is Halloween all about? Witches, and warlords, and mummies. It's all death, it's all the occult. This is not something Christians should do. You say, what should a Christian do? They should go have chili. You know, they should play basketball, you know. You say, why do you have a harvest party? You know, one of the reasons we have a harvest party is because I don't want to be the Christian who's just telling people, no, no fun. No, no fun, no time ever. You know, we should say, hey, this isn't something we as Christians should do. We should not celebrate death. We should not celebrate the devil. We should not celebrate these things. But we can do something that's Christ-honoring, and godly, and fun. We can play basketball, we can play cornhole, we can play ping pong, we can have a chili cook-off, we can have candy, we can have a good time without celebrating the devil, and without celebrating death. So, witches are real. And by the way, let me just say this. My opinion, and this is my opinion, but you know, we saw in the New Testament that the devils, they're called evil spirits and unclean spirits, but they're also called, and we see it here in the Old Testament, familiar spirits. And a lot of times when they're called familiar spirits, that has to do in the context of like a charmer, a consulter with familiar spirits, a wizard, a necromancer. You know, this whole idea of like, look, Christians, and again, I feel like, do I even have to say this, but then I'm always surprised at the things that I have to say. Christians should not be going to get their palm read. Christians should not be going to get their cards read. You say, but I went to a card reader. Please don't admit that. But I went to a card reader and they knew about my Aunt Plutie. Okay, how did they know that? Well, here's how they knew that. That person that charged you to do that had in them a familiar spirit. They were demon-possessed. And that spirit, you say, well, what does it mean familiar? That spirit has a whole network, remember where we started the sermon, of at least 51 million devils out there. So they're like, here comes brother so-and-so, the idiot, to ask about card reading because he wants to, you know, go to Vegas or something. And he wants to know about the future. And then the familiar spirit just, you know, I mean, we have cell phones. I don't know what these guys, what the devils have. I'm not saying they have cell phones, but they must have a way to communicate. We know that they can, the Bible says about angels that when they run, it's like a flash of lightning. We saw that last week. So these people are just, these devils are communicating and saying, hey, his Aunt Plutie died three years ago. And they're just familiar. They know these things because they're a familiar spirit. So anyway, don't get sucked into these things. It's devilish, it's not of God, it's not something that Christians should be into or should be doing. Go to Mark chapter number nine. If you kept your place in Matthew, you have Matthew, Mark. And let me just finish this thing. Here's the conclusion. So in the introduction, here's what we learned. Demons are angels that followed Satan. They fell with Satan. Demons are angels that made their choice corporately. We as humans make our choices individually. We choose heaven and hell individually. They had to choose corporately. And once they chose, they were fixed or locked into that choice. One third of them became the equivalent of reprobates. They're locked into that, reserved into hell. And then two thirds of them became equivalent of believers. I'm not saying they are believers. I'm just using that as an illustration. They became the holy angels of God in heaven. They got locked into that. What do we know about demons? They possess people. And their characteristics are nakedness, fascination with death, cutting yourself, hurting yourself, aware of religious truth, above normal strength. These are things that the Bible highlights for us. We know that demons possess principalities, political principalities, religious principalities. We know that demons possess powers. They can perform supernatural miracles and they are the source of power for the occult. So let me just end, because I've been answering some questions throughout the sermon. Let me just end with a couple of questions and we'll be done. Number one, can a believer be demon possessed? Can a believer be demon possessed? And the answer is no. A believer cannot be demon possessed. But I'll just read to you from 1 John 4.4. 1 John 4.4 says, ye are of God, little children. This is talking to believers. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So the Bible calls these demons evil spirits, familiar spirits, unclean spirits. But if you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit. And greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So in order for a demon to possess a Christian, he would have to kick out the Holy Spirit, which is never gonna happen. Because we are sealed unto the day of redemption. So can a believer be demon possessed? No, a Christian cannot be demon possessed. But unsaved people can be demon possessed. Now let me just say this, because I think people sometimes, just because somebody is demon possessed doesn't mean they're a reprobate or they can never get saved. Now sometimes it does, let me say it this way, sometimes reprobates are demon possessed. But an individual, I mean there's lots of people in the Bible that were demon possessed and got saved. For example, the guy that we read about in Luke 8, Mary Magdalene, all these individuals were demon possessed and they got saved. So number one, can a believer be demon possessed? No. Number two, can a believer overcome demonic powers? And the answer to that is, you know, obviously the answer is yes. But let me just ask it this way. What, if somebody's demon possessed, how do we deal with that today? I think the best way to deal with that is just to get them saved. Because when they get saved, the Holy Spirit comes in and the unclean spirit goes out. In Mark chapter nine and verse 28, the Bible says this, And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, why could not we cast him out? Just talking about Jesus had given them authority to cast out devils. But this specific situation, they weren't able to cast him out. And they asked, and Jesus does obviously, they asked Jesus the question, why could not we cast him out? And the answer to the question is this, Mark 9 29, and he said unto them, this kind, because there's different kinds. And we'll talk about it not next week, but the week after, there's an authority structure, or maybe we'll talk about it next week. I'm getting confused on my sermons right now. But there's an authority structure within, there's some devils that are stronger than other devils, there's some angels that are stronger than other angels. And he said, this kind can come forth by nothing, he says, but by prayer and fasting. And what I would say is this, the way that we can overcome demonic powers is through prayer and fasting. And let me just say this, Christians cannot be demon possessed, but they can be demon oppressed. And what I mean by that is that they can't, the devil and devils cannot come if you're saved, they cannot come into you and make you do things, make you say things, possess you. But they can go to war with you and they can oppress you. And an example of that is Job. Look at all the things that happened to Job. Was Job demon possessed? No, but was Job oppressed by the devil? Absolutely, the devil was coming at him, coming after him, was hurting him, was hurting things around him. Even his physical health, he wasn't demon possessed, but even his physical health was hurt if God allows it. So look, there are times, I believe, in our lives when there is demon oppression for Christians. Not possession, but oppression. You say, well, what do I do? Pray and fast. See, Jesus told his disciples, he's saying, Jesus, they're trying to cast out this devil, they can't do it. Jesus shows up, cast him out, no problem. And they're thinking like, well, it must be because you're Jesus, because you're the son of God. So they asked the question, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus says, it's not because I'm the son of God, although he is the son of God, he says, I'm just more prayed up than you are. I'm just more right with God than you are. And Jesus is telling them, you can have the same power, you can have the same victory over demonic oppression. Look, people over the years have sometimes said to me, it feels like I'm in this season of my life, it feels like there's just this cloud over my life, it just feels like there's just like all this demonic oppression in my life. And I don't doubt it. But you know, in those times, that is time to really get right with the Lord, to get close to the Lord. That's a time for prayer and fasting, because this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. So we can have victory over demons. Jesus has already given us the victory. But in our personal lives, not possession, you say, what about possession? Prayer and fasting, for those that are possessed, get them saved, get the Holy Spirit to move in, get the bad spirits to move out. For those of us that are saved, oppression, we're being oppressed, we're being attacked, we have a major attack upon us from the devil or from devils, prayer and fasting. Look, during times of oppression, this is not the time to get real proud and arrogant and haughty. This is a time to humble yourself, to pray, to confess sin, to get right with the Lord. The right answer is always this, get right with God. It's always the right answer. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Heavenly Father and Lord, we love you, and we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this study, and these are things we need to be aware of. We need to be aware of the fact that there are devils out there, and there is the devil that we're gonna learn about next week, and he wants to destroy us. He wants to destroy our lives, and we need to not be ignorant of the devil's devices. We need to know about the demons and the things they do, and Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be aware of it, and Lord, help us not to be something that scares us, but something that drives us to prayer and fasting, something that drives us to humility, to confession, to getting right with God, to getting more of the Holy Spirit flowing through us so that we can combat the oppression of Satan. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen. All right, we're gonna have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. I just wanna give you a couple reminders. First of all, don't forget that if you'd like to sign up for the Harvest Party, if you want to not worship the devil, and look, if you don't come to the Harvest Party, it doesn't mean you're worshiping the devil, obviously, but we'd love for you to come to the Harvest Party. It'll be a nice time, and we've got sign-up sheets in the back. You can sign up to bring cornbread, sign up to bring dessert. Ladies, if you wanna play basketball, there's a sign-up sheet for you, and then I wanna encourage you to come back next Sunday and bring somebody with you. Look, next Sunday, we're gonna be talking about the devil, and we're gonna learn about the devil. The Bible says we should not be ignorant of his devices, and it's right before Halloween. You've got friends and coworkers and neighbors that are talking about Halloween, and you should tell them, hey, you should come to church with me so you can learn about something biblical to really be scared about, and maybe it'll scare you enough to get saved. So we're gonna learn about the devil next week, so I wanna encourage you to be here for that. Make sure you're here. Bring somebody with you, and then tonight, we're starting this brand-new sermon series just three weeks right before the election. God is not a Republican, but the devil is a Democrat. We're gonna, tonight, look, I'm just gonna be real honest with you. Tonight, I'm talking about God is not a Republican. Next week, I'm talking about the devil is a Democrat. All right, you can probably guess how those sermons are gonna go, but let me just tell you up front, if you get triggered by preaching against the Republican Party, just, I don't know. I don't wanna tell you don't come, but just be ready, okay? I'm actually, you know, I never know how these things go. I'm really not planning on preaching against Trump, all right? I had somebody walk out of the sermon last week as I said something about Kamala Harris, and they walk out of the sermon, and I'm thinking to myself, like, no, I hate Trump too. But anyway, I'm really not planning on preaching about Donald Trump tonight, so don't worry about that, but if you're triggered about the Republican Party, my spiritual gift apparently is to trigger people, so if you really are into the Republican Party or Fox News or whatever, you might want to be careful about that. Republican Party, oh, also this, if you're a racist, you might not like the sermon tonight, which I know some of you are racists and don't know it, but anyway, just giving you all those heads up so that you know what's coming, and we'd love for you to join us tonight at 6 p.m. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. My brother Matt, come up and lead us in a final song. Turn to song 252. One, two. ["The First Noel"] Song 252. Wider than snow, 252 on the first. Lord Jesus, I long to be perfect, behold. I want thee forever to live in my soul. Break down every idol, cast out every foe. Thou wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Wider than snow, yes, wider than snow. Thou wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat. I reap blessed morn at thy crucified feet. By faith for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow. Thou wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Wider than snow, yes, wider than snow. Thou wash me and I shall be wider than snow. 252, on the last. Lord Jesus, thou seest I patiently wait. Come now and with me I shall be wider than snow. Thou wash me and I shall be a new heart created. To those who have sought thee, thou never said snow. Thou wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Wider than snow, yes, wider than snow. Thou wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Amen. Good singing. Before we leave here, if anybody has questions about salvation, church membership, or baptism, the pastor will be at the door. We'd love to talk to you. We'd like to you to someone who's trained to talk to you about that. Brother George, would you close in prayer for us? One, two, three. You