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🎵Music🎵 You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good morning and welcome with finer seats take our song books turn the song 259 Song number two five nine We are singing Jesus saves 259 sing it out on the first We have heard the joyful sound Jesus saves Jesus saves spread the tidings all around Jesus saves Jesus saves bear the news to every land climb the steeps and cross the waves onward is our Lord's command Jesus saves Jesus saves 259 on the second wafted on the rolling tide Jesus saves Jesus saves tell to save far and wide Jesus saves Jesus saves seeing the islands of the sea echo back the ocean waves so keeper jubilee Jesus saves Jesus saves Seeing above the battle strife Jesus Jesus saves by his death An endless life Jesus saves Jesus saves seeing it When the heart for mercy craves sing and try 259 on the last give the winds a mighty voice Jesus Jesus saves let the nation now rejoice Jesus saves Jesus saves Highest hills and deepest caves This Amen and we want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this morning. We're glad you're with us Looks like we saw some music playing. All right, let's begin the service with a word of prayer and let's bow our heads together Heavenly Father Lord, we do love you and we thank you for allowing us together together today Lord We pray that you'd bless the time that we have set aside for Singing and preaching and fellowship Lord to pray that you'd meet with us this morning in Jesus name. We pray. Amen Turn to song 179 One seven Such love 179 on the first that God should love us in Such as I should yearn to change my sorrow into bliss or rest till he had planned to bring me night how Wonderful is love like this such Such wondrous love such love such wondrous love that God should sinner such as Like this That Christ should join so freely in a scheme Although it meant his death on Calvary did ever human time find nobler theme Ransom me such Such wondrous love Such Such wondrous love that God should love sinner such as I That for a willful Outcast such as I the father planned the Savior bled and died redemption for the worthless slave to buy Grace Defied such Such wondrous Such wondrous love that God Good on the last and now he takes me to his artist son He asked me not to fill a servant's place Country wanderings all are done wide open are his arms of grace such Such wondrous Good Amen all right well Let's take our bulletins will look at some announcements real quickly if you do not have a Bulletin please raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you if you need a bulletin Just put your hand up We'll get one for you the verse this week is a 26 3 that will keep him in perfect peace Whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee and that's a good verse that we like that if you open up your Bullet and you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. 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 of course under the preaching of the Word of God and then of course we invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for Our Wednesday evening Bible study and we're studying through the book of Psalms on Wednesday night We'd love you to join us. If you look at our soul winning times Our main sowing time is on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Soul winning Of course is when we got in the community we knock doors We invite people to church and we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested We have additional sewing 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 do that. Of course, if you look at the announcements and upcoming events Today we are concluding both our Sunday morning and Sunday evening Sermon series and on Sundays mornings we've been in a series entitled the spirit world and we've been learning about heaven hell angels demons and the devil and today we're going to conclude with a sermon on the subject of spiritual warfare and We're glad you're here. Of course for that and then for the last couple of weeks. We've been doing a little bit of a election themed sermon series and Tonight we're gonna conclude that tonight. I'm gonna be preaching a sermon Entitled a biblical perspective on a woman president and what the Bible teaches about these things and I want to encourage of course if you're Interested to learn about what the Bible teaches about these things to be here tonight as we finish up that series And then we want you to be aware that on Sunday November 17th is our worker appreciation Sunday and we invite you to join us for the special Sunday and we'll be Recognizing of course all the workers and volunteers of our church and if you are a worker or a volunteer we want to Acknowledge you and thank you on that day and if you're not serving in any capacity, then we want to give you an opportunity to be able to serve and to Participate in that and then if you notice there the wedding for Adam Ritchie and miss Emily Gessler is on Saturday, June 18th at 2 30 p.m And We're giving you that information in advance so you can save the date and also so you can give them a heads up if you Plan to attend you can let them know on your communication card so that they can have an idea of who's coming for that and then of course we want you to just remember the tithe challenge and Last month I preached a sermon on the subject of the tithe challenge And I just challenged our church family to be faithful with their tides and offerings and we just want to remind you of that If you notice there for the choir we've got choir practice starting for Christmas on Sunday November 10th at 5 p.m. Here in the auditorium. That's for the adult choir They'll start singing practicing for Christmas and then for the children's choir. They will start on Sunday, November 24th That's ages 4 to 12 years old and they'll be meeting in the playroom. They'll also be practicing for Christmas homeschool group They've got PE class this Thursday, November 7th at 10 a.m So don't forget about that and then there's other things there of course for you to look at if you look at the back of the bulletin birthdays and anniversaries for the month of November today is November 3rd, and it is miss Ariel Sheboyan's Birthday and also Gideon Gibbs birthday. So happy birthday to both of them and then later this week We have miss angel Vincent's birthday on November 5th Jonathan de Diosa's birthday on November 6 and Jocelyn Zuniga's birthday on November 8th praise report money matters all of those things are there for you to look at and Just real quickly if you are a first-time guest if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church We're so glad you're with us We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this Morning as you go on our main foyer there, you'll see a little table set up and on that table You'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us You for being our guests this morning There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have the one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church Made it's called being Baptist. It's very well-made very interesting We think you'll like it and we wanted to give this to you as a gift So, please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out And if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card Which is inserted in your bulletin if you need a pen You can just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen And we'd love to have a record of your attendance We would actually like to send you something in the mail a little gift in the mail But we need your information to do that So, please take a moment to fill the card out and here in a moment when we're done with the announcements We're gonna sing a song when we're done singing We're gonna receive the offering as the offering plate goes by you can drop that card in the offering plate And I think that's it for all of the announcements So we're gonna go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin And we're going to sing God will take care of you Be not dismayed. Whatever be tight to sing it out on the first be not dismayed Whatever be tight. God will take care of you Beneath his wings of love abide God will take care of you God will take care of you through every day Take care of you God will take care of you good sing it out on the second through Days of toil when heart that fail God will take care of you When dangers fierce your paths assail God will take care of you God will take care of you through every day We'll take care of you God will take care of you All you may need he will provide God will take care of you You ask will be denied God will take care God will take care of you Every All the way We'll take care of you Take care of you good sing it up on the last no matter what We'll take care of you Lean weary one upon his breast God will take care of you God will take care of you through every day All the way We'll take care of you God will take care of you Amen good singing before the guys come up just a quick reminder that we of course are a family integrated church What that means is that children and infants always walk them 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 that's comfortable seating They've got windows or monitors 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 So if you need some privacy We would encourage you to please use those rooms if you're not sure where they're at You can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of the 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 also, don't forget that if you What need to be baptized would like to be baptized need information about baptism You can let us know on your communication card on the back You can check off that you'd like information about baptism and we'll follow up with you in regards to that And then of course if you wouldn't mind Making sure your cell phones are turned off or on silent or vibrate so that they don't go off in the middle of the preaching We'd appreciate your help with that right now It'd be a good time to just check your phone and make sure it's not gonna go off in the middle of the sermon We'd appreciate that We'll 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 and we thank you for allowing us to gather together today Lord We pray that you would bless the offering the gift and the giver. We pray Lord that you would continue to meet our financial needs here and Lord we pray that you would meet with us as we Open up your word and as we study the Bible together help us Lord to have hearts ready to receive your word Ears ready to hear help us to minimize distractions in Jesus name we pray. Amen You You You You You You You Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 2 Ephesians chapter 2 if you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one Ephesians chapter 2 we will read the entire chapter as our custom Ephesians chapter 2 just keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible Ephesians chapter 2 the Bible reads and You hath he quickened who were dead and trespasses and sins Wherein in time past he walked according to the course of this world According to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience Among whom also we all had conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others but God Who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us? Even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace He are saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding richness of his grace and his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast For we are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that Which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands that at the time you were without Christ being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and Strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ For he is our peace who hath Made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us Having abolished in his flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contained in ordinances For to make in himself of twain one new man So making peace and he that might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross Having slain the enmity thereof and came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners But fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord in Whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the spirit. Let's pray Lord God Almighty Thank you for this church. Thank you for pastor. Please strengthen him Please let this sermon edify us and honor you in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray amen Amen Amen All right, we're there in the book of Ephesians Ephesians chapter number two And of course as we've been announcing it today we are Going to finish up our sermon series on the subject of the spirit world and we've been studying the spirit world It's been a doctrinal series. We've learned about heaven and hell angels demons last week. We learned about the devil and This week we are going to study spiritual warfare And really there's too much to say about spiritual warfare. We'll just kind of cover Some basic things and what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at three different aspects in regards to spiritual warfare, and I'll give you these different Points or headings up front if you'd like to have them up front We're gonna look at the ranks the rivals and the realms of spiritual warfare And we're gonna look at what the Bible teaches about these things and We'll begin here of course in Ephesians chapter 2 with the ranks of spiritual warfare And if you're taking notes, and I always encourage you to take notes on the back of your course the week There's a place for you to write Some of these things down now the reason that I say the ranks of spiritual warfare is because of the fact that We've been we've talked about this we talked about it last week when we learned about the devil. We are in a In a fight, that's what spiritual warfare is all about it's war But not a physical war a spiritual war and within that spiritual war There are armies. There is a military both For God and against God that are working towards that now you're there in Ephesians chapter 2 just flip over real quickly to Ephesians chapter number 6 and Look at verse number 11 Ephesians chapter number 6 and verse number 11 just to show you these are famous verses of course about the subject of spiritual warfare Ephesians chapter 6 and Verse number in fact look at verse 10 just for sake of context Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 the Bible says finally my brethren Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and then we get into the subject of This spiritual fight you and I find ourselves in put on the whole armor of God We're told that we as individuals have been enlisted Into this fight if you're a Christian if you're a believer you are a soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ And we are commanded here to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand the wiles of the devil That's our enemy for we wrestle not against flesh and blood I want you to notice there the Bible is teaching us here that our warfare that we engage in is not a physical warfare We're not fighting with flesh and blood human beings we wrestle not against flesh and blood But the Bible says against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places This is what we are engaged in the spiritual fight that we must Participate in and for that reason the Bible says in verse 13 wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God That you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand and of course the passage goes into The description of the armor of God and I've preached on that many times and and I won't go into that This morning, but I want you to notice that we are engaged in a fight there is a military that is against us and you yourself if you're saved this morning are in the military of the Lord Jesus Christ and This military has a ranking system. It has a chain of command. I'd like you to notice first of all this morning The ranks the chain of commands of the bad guys now if you go back to Ephesians chapter 2 and look at verse number 1 Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 1 the Bible says this and you have the quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world According to and I want you to notice this phrase the prince of the power of the air The prince of the power of the air now if you're saved this morning You're in the army of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ is your captain. He is our commander-in-chief He's the great king of kings and Lord of Lords But on the other side there is the prince of the power of the air and of course We know that that is referring to the devil himself But he is the one who's in charge of the other side. He's the commander-in-chief of The rulers of the darkness of this world He is the person in charge of what we would refer to as the bad guys the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of Disobedience and of course the children of disobedience is a reference to unsaved people and the idea is this that he is In charge of this world. He is the prince of the power of the air the word We just saw in Ephesians 6 we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against Principalities and the word prince has to do with someone who is first or in charge In a school the person in charge is referred to as a principal and here we see that He is the prince of the power of the air now Do me a favor keep your place there in Ephesians put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're gonna leave it And we're gonna come back to it throughout the sermon and I'd like for you to be able to get to it quickly And I'd like for you to go with me if you would to the book of Matthew Matthew chapter 9 It's a first book in the New Testament. So it should be fairly easy to find Matthew chapter number 9 and This morning is gonna be a Bible study where I'm gonna give you the doctrine In regards to spiritual warfare and then we'll end with some applications Matthew chapter 9 if you would Matthew chapter 9 in verse 34 the Bible says this but the Pharisees said Matthew 9 34, but the Pharisees said he and this is the Pharisees referring to Jesus Jesus has been casting out devils casting out demons the Bible says this is what they said He cast without Devils through I want you to notice what they said here the prince of the Devils now What they are doing is they're accusing Jesus of having the ability to cast out Devils and he's doing it through the power of the prince of the Devils They're literally saying that Jesus himself is demon-possessed or devil-possessed and that he's possessed by none other than the devil himself that he's possessed by Satan and of course Jesus rebukes them for this but I want you to notice here when the Bible tells us And when they refer to the devil as the prince of the Devils we saw in Ephesians 2 He is the prince of the power of the air. So we see that there is this chain of command within the system of The devil and his angels the fallen angels and we and I'm not gonna cover a lot of that We we studied the devil last week and the the fallen angels the demons the week before that But we see this chain of command Let me give you another verse go to Luke chapter number 11 If you would you're there in Matthew you go past Mark into Luke Luke chapter number 11 and verse number 15 now in Luke 11 15 we have the exact same story that we just saw in Matthew 9 It's a parallel passage But I just want you to see a different word that's used Synonymously with Prince because we saw in Ephesians 2 to that He is the prince of the power of the air We saw in Matthew 9 34 that they referred to him as the prince of the Devils in Luke chapter 11 verse 15 The Bible says but some of them said He casted out Devils again. This is them accusing Jesus of how he's doing this. He casted out Devils through Beelzebub Beelzebub and Beelzebub is the name of a false god and there's many false gods that are mentioned in the Bible that people believed in but Beelzebub is Satan himself and I don't have time to Go into all of that. You can study that out on your own but it's a reference to the Old Testament God of Baal and here he's being referred to as Beelzebub or Beelzebub and Here we're told that he casted out Devils through Beelzebub Which is Satan and then notice how they refer to him the chief of the Devils the chief of the Devils So we saw that he's the prince of the Devils here. We see that he's the chief of the Devils We saw that he's the prince of the power of the air the word chief means a leader or a ruler and the of course in Tribe of Indians the chief was the leader the ruler in the Air Force. We had a chief master sergeant. He's the top of all enlisted Individuals the word chief means to be in charge. You're the ruler you're the leader and here we're told that Beelzebub Is the chief of the Devils Satan is the chief of the devil So we see that there's a ranking system for the bad guys But let me show you real quickly that there is also a ranking system for the good guys now You have your place on Ephesians continue to keep your place there, but go with me if you would to the book of Jude It's one chapter right before the book of Revelation the book of Jude is just a one Chapter book very small book and it's right before the book of Revelation book of Revelation is the last book of course in the old in the New Testament Jude Chapter 1 and I'd like you to look down at verse number 9 Jude 1 9 so we saw the bad guys They've got the prince of the power of the air They've got the prince of the Devils or the chief of the Devils and then the good guys Jude 1 9 notice what the Bible says here yet Michael Now when it comes to angels there, there's there's not many angels that are named to us that are given to us by name Lucifer of course is one he's a fallen angel then we have Michael and Gabriel those are good angels And then we have a bad in In the book of Revelation that is also a good angel though some people think he's a bad angel because he's in charge of hell But he's actually a good guy in Jude 1 9 the Bible says and Michael But I want you to notice how Michael is referred to he's referred to as the archangel Michael the archangel and I'll we'll talk a little bit about that term archangel in a minute, but this Phrase seems to indicate some sort of a high rank he isn't just an angel, but he is an archangel This is also you don't have to turn here, but if you remember in 1st Thessalonians 4 16 the Famous chapter of the rapture the Bible says that the Lord himself shall descend with a shout with the voice of the archangel So we see that Michael is an archangel, so I want you to notice that there seems to be a ranking system Within the angels of course we know Michael is the leader of the angels the good guys and here He's referred to as an archangel, and I do want you to notice in verse 9 there It says yet Michael the archangel when contending with the devil, so I want you to notice that there's a contention here. There's a They're contending they're fighting they're at war when contending with the devil He disputed about the body of Moses does not bring against him a railing accusation, but said the Lord rebuke thee Do me a favor Continue to keep your place there in Ephesians and go with me If you would to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament Daniel chapter number 10 Daniel chapter number 10 I know we're flipping to a lot of passages, and that's probably normal around here, but I'd like you to Just see these verses Daniel chapter 10 towards the end of the Old Testament You've got the big books of the prophets the major prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel and then after Ezekiel you have the book of Daniel Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel and then the book of Daniel Daniel chapter number 10 I Just want you to notice this ranking system. We see within the good guys and the bad guys the bad guys He's the prince of the power of the air. He's the prince of the devil's he's the chief of the devil's the good guys We have Michael the archangel Which seems to indicate a higher rank than the other angels Daniel chapter 10 if you look at verse number 13? Daniel chapter 10 in verse 13 the Bible says this but the prince of the kingdom of Persia I don't have time to get into Daniel 10. It's it's a it's very interesting chapter You should read it on your own and study it out but this is actually a chapter referring to spiritual warfare and the prince of the kingdom of Persia is actually a Reference to a demon or a devil that is in charge of the kingdom of Persia and it says here But the prince of the kingdom of Persia what stood me one in 20 days, but lo This is an angel speaking about how he's being withstood by the prince of the kingdom of angels of Persia But then he says but lo notice what he says Michael So this is a Michael the archangel Notice how he refers to Michael one of the chief princes So we see that Michael is not just a prince because the Bible refers to these angels Both fallen and not as princes or principalities. That's why Ephesians 6 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood Who are we wrestling against the devil and his devils and his demons? We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers against principalities And here the Bible tells us Michael one of the chief princes. So he's not just a prince of principalities We know he's a he's an archangel came to help me and I remain there with the king of Persia Look at Daniel chapter 12 in verse 1 in Daniel chapter 12 in verse 1 So we see that Michael is referred to as one of the chief princes Daniel chapter 12 in verse 1 The Bible says this and at that time shall Michael stand up notice how he's referred to here the great prince Which standeth for the children of thy people and then of course it goes on to talk about Things regarding end times, but again, I want you to notice that Michael is referred to as the great prince So, let me just say this the Bible is clear about the fact that Michael is an angel He's the archangel Jehovah's Witnesses like to teach that Michael is Jesus and the reason they want to do that is because they want to lower Jesus to the place of an angel, but of course that is blasphemy the Bible says That that in in Hebrews It tells us that the father has never referred to an angel as a son Unto which of the angel said he at any time thou art my son to say have I begotten thee and we know that Jesus Is not an angel, but we do see that Michael is one of the top angels. He is an archangel He's referred to as the chief one of the chief princes. He's referred to as the great prince now you're there in Daniel Go backwards with me into the book of Ezekiel. Let me just show you something that I think is interesting and You may or may not think it's interesting, but I think it's worth noting especially since we're here in Daniel Daniel You're there in Daniel. So just flip back into the book of Ezekiel Ezekiel chapter 28 Ezekiel chapter 28 Now if you remember our sermon last Sunday on the subject of the devil We looked at Ezekiel 28 and we saw how Ezekiel 28 was about the devil it begins with God speaking to Him and referring to the fact that he was in Eden the Garden of God And I'm not gonna take the time to go through that we studied that last week and you can look at look at that on Your own but I want you to notice in Ezekiel 28 in verse 14 The Bible says this thou this is God through Ezekiel speaking to Satan He says thou are the anointed cherub That covereth so here in Ezekiel 28, we know that Satan Is was an angel. He's a fallen angel. His name is Lucifer. We're told that in Isaiah 14 here We're told that specifically what type of angel he was that he was a cherub Thou art the anointed cherub that covered but he wasn't just any old cherub He was a specifically anointed which the word anointed means that he was chosen. He was chosen He was anointed that the Bible says covereth the anointed cherub that covereth he says and I have set thee so Look at verse 16 Ezekiel 28 in verse 16 The Bible says by the multitude that I merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence and thou has sin therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mount of God This is of course referring to the fall of the devil and I will destroy thee but I want you to notice what he refers to He said I'm going to destroy thee Oh Covering cherub from the midst of the stones of fire. So in Ezekiel 28 in verse 14 Satan is referred to as the anointed cherub that covereth in verse 16. He's referred to as Oh Covering cherub. So he's a cherub, but he's not just a cherub. He's a covering cherub or a cherub that covers now I believe and let me just go ahead and I always try to be Careful to let you know When I'm going to give you my opinion and I'm gonna give you my opinion All right, so when I'm teaching you something straight out of the Bible That's the Word of God and you need to just take that for what it is but sometimes we give our opinions and and I'm this is just an opinion of mine and I think that We can draw this out from Scripture. But again, you don't have to believe this. It's just some an interesting thought but my opinion is this when you Go to the Old Testament to the book of Exodus and I'm not gonna take the time to do that Now you can do that on your own we studied through Leviticus and we studied through numbers And we studied through the book of Hebrews and in all of those books as we've studied it We've came across if you remember this Ark of the Covenant when God had the children of Israel in the wilderness Institute the Tabernacle and the tabernacle is divided into an outer core and then you've got the tent of course And the tent is divided into the holy place and then the most holy place or the holy of holies and in the holy place You've got the Ark of the Covenant which Represented the presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant was really just a fancy box a wooden box Overlaid with gold and it had poles and different things and certain things inside of it the Ten Commandments manna from heaven And and you know, it represented the presence of God This box had a lid if you remember and the lid had a decoration of it of two cherubims and if you remember the description of the Ark of the Covenant these cherubims were Images that were put on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant and specifically we're told that their wings were to cover Their wings were to cover the Ark of the Covenant their wings would Were would design in such a way that they would go over the ark and they would meet in the middle and they would cover The ark we know this that all of those things The tabernacle the holy place the holy of holies all of that is was a picture or a representation of the true Tabernacle in heaven the true scene in heaven and what the Bible seems to indicate is that in Heaven and we know that this is true In in heaven, we've got cherubims and seraphims that are prying out to the Lord day and night saying holy holy holy The Bible seems to indicate that the throne room in heaven where God himself sits has these covering cherubs these Cherubims that are covering this anointed cherub that covers which is why the Ark of the Covenant has two of them Covering the ark. However, we're told that Satan himself was an anointed cherub that cover it We're also told this and we're gonna see it here in a minute. In fact go with me real quickly to Revelation chapter 12 Last book in the Bible so should be fairly easy to find Revelation chapter 12 And Look down at verse number 4 Revelation chapter 12 verse 4 the Bible says this and his tail this is referring to Satan here he's being illustrated as a dragon and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and We know that the stars of heaven here and I'm gonna prove it to you in a minute But the stars of heaven are referring to the angels that when Satan went to war with God The angels had to make a decision and the Bible says that he drew a third part One-third of the angels followed him now that to me that's an interesting number because it doesn't say he drew half of them he drew one third of them and We know that there are two covering angels to cherubims that cover the Ark of the Covenant now But we know that Satan was also referred to as the anointed cherub that cover it or a covering cherub This was before he had fallen So my thought is this and it's just an opinion that it's possible that at the beginning there were three Covering cherubs and if Satan would have never fallen that Ark of the Covenant would have not had two But three cherubs that covered the throne room of God But of course the and that these three covering cherubs would be the ark angels because if you think of the word ark Arch what does it mean? The word ark is referring to a curved Symmetrical structure and this is the shape that these wings give over the Ark of the Covenant So the Bible seems to indicate and this is just my opinion that there was possibly three ark angels three covering angels that were all placed in charge of a third of the hosts of the angels and when Satan fell the anointed cherub that cover it or the covering cherub when he fell his tail drew a third part of the angels with him because those were the the third part of the angels that Were under his command and that's why we have those fallen angels again a lot of that is maybe opinion but I think it's interesting and I think it Seems to jive with the little snippets of information. We're given here and there throughout scripture Now you're there in Revelation chapter 12 We began by looking at the ranks of spiritual warfare. And what we see is that there's definitely a prince of the power of the air There's a prince of the devil's or a chief of the devil's and that there are there's Michael the archangel He's called the chief prince. He's called a great prince and we see that there's this ranking system But I want you to notice secondly not only is there a ranking system for spiritual warfare But there's also the rivals of spiritual warfare and we've already talked about this this a little bit this morning And we've talked about it in the past. Well, let me just show it to you again You're there in Revelation 12 look down at verse number 3 Revelation chapter 12 in verse 3 the Bible says this and there appeared another wonder in heaven And of course John is seeing this Imagery and it's all symbolic and it's telling him the history of what happened That brought us to this place Revelation 12 3 and there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great red dragon now The dragon is the devil. It's Satan and I'll prove that to you here in a minute But this is a representation of the devil and there and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head look at verse 4 and His the dragon's tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven We've already talked about that Probably in my opinion referring to the fact that there was probably to begin with three Archangels all having a third of the angels under their command and when Satan fell he drew the third part of the stars of heaven with him those became the fallen angels or what we now refer to as devils or demons and Notice the Bible says 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. We're talking about that here in a minute. Skip down to verse number seven I just want you to see the conflict revelation 12 and verse 7 and there was war in heaven. I Mean stop and I know it's easy for us to read these passages and just read through that but stop and think about that for a Minute and there was war in heaven the fact that this third heaven where God Lives where the throne of God is where the angels abide the Bible tells us that there was war in heaven And notice what it says Michael We've already seen him referred to as the chief prince or the great prince or the archangel Michael notice how he has angels under his command Michael and his angels fought This is the war against the dragon and the dragon fought notice and his angels so there's angels under the command of Michael there's angels under the command of The dragon the Bible says there was war in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his Angels verse 8 and prevailed not the dragon prevailed not neither was their place found Anymore in heaven verse 9 and the great dragon Now, how do we know the dragon is the devil because here we should always allow the Bible to define itself for us And here the Bible's gonna define itself for us verse 9 and the great dragon was cast out because there was found No place the Bible says was there in verse 8 he prevailed not he didn't win the war and there was There was neither place found any more in heaven So the dragon was cast out and then the Bible goes into all the different titles to make sure we know who is being referred To here. We're told verse 9 and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent What is that referring to the Garden of Eden where the serpent appeared to the woman? called the devil and Satan so it's real clear who we're talking about and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent Called the devil and Satan which deceived the whole world. He was cast out into the earth notice and His angels were cast out with him So that's how we know that the third part of the stars is referring to The angels because in verse 4 we're told and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to The earth verse 9 tells us that he was cast out last part of verse 9 and his angels were cast out with him so this is the spiritual warfare since revelation 12 7 There was war in heaven And the devil was cast out of heaven now that spiritual warfare has moved on onto the earth and this is what We're engaged in this is what we find ourselves in the midst of what we call Spiritual warfare if you remember Jude 1 9 you have to turn there, but remember we read it Michael the Archangel Was contending with the devil and that was on earth that was on earth for the body of Moses So we see the ranks of spiritual warfare We see the rivals of spiritual warfare the devil is at war and who is he at war with now We know in general. He's at war with God We understand that but specifically who is he at war with notice revelation 12 and look at verse number 13 Revelation 12 in verse 13 the Bible says this and when the dragon Now we already know who the dragon is right because the Bible's already defined it for us that old serpent Why is he called an old serpent because it was a serpent in the Garden of Eden Garden of Eden was right at the beginning Of creation you don't get older than that that old serpent the devil Satan gives us all his titles It doesn't refer to him as Lucifer because Lucifer was actually I know we like to make the name Lucifer some real Scary and evil and and and all of that, but Lucifer was actually his good name When he was a good guy God called him Lucifer when he fell God no longer first time as Lucifer and calls him the devil Or Satan or the dragon that old serpent now notice verse 13 revelation 12 13 and when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth So he's been thrown out of heaven now There was war in heaven, but he prevailed not right. There was war that's what Isaiah 14 is telling us about that Lucifer said in his heart. He said I will ascend into heaven. I will ascend above the stars of heaven I will ascend to the throne of God. He said I will be like the most high That's what he wanted to do he prevailed not he's cast onto the earth now this war that began in heaven is playing out on earth, and it's happening even right now and Who is the devil at war with revelation 12 13 and when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth? He persecuted the woman Okay, we'll talk about that here in a minute the woman But he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child now again. We could spend a lot of time on this I'm not gonna do that one day I'll preach verse by verse through the book of Revelation, and we'll cover all of it But let me just say this the woman here that brought forth the man-child. This is referring to the birth of Christ and the fact that the dragon Was cast unto the earth he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child So who is he at war with he's a war Satan is at war with Christ himself and We see this Specifically if you want some specific applications to this where do we see this war playing out? Well, we see it of course right before the birth of Christ When Herod is having all the children two years old and under put to death Because he's trying to kill Jesus He can't he doesn't know where Jesus is But he knows that Jesus had been born within two years and he's trying to just kill all the children and of course an angel Appears to Joseph and tells him to take Mary and the child and the baby to Egypt to protect the child This is what's being referred to when it says and when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child But look it's not just Herod we can go all the way back to Egypt when Pharaoh was trying to kill all the male Children of the children of Israel and and have them killed. Why why was that happening? Why has any of this happened throughout history? It's all been a war against Christ ever since Abraham Received that Abrahamic covenant that through his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and we know that's a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ the devil has been at war with that woman Which brought forth the man-child Trying to keep that man-child from being born But I want you to notice that not only is the devil at war with Christ But the devil is also at war with us This is why this should matter to you Maybe you're here this morning. You're like, well, this is all interesting. But what does this have to do with me? Here's what it has to do with you. The devil wants to destroy you The devil wants to destroy your testimony. The devil wants to destroy your marriage the devil wants to destroy your Rearing of your children the devil wants to destroy this church You May not realize it or care, but you need to know this the devil's at war with you in Revelation 12 and verse 17 the Bible says this and the dragon was wroth with the woman and Went to make war with the remnant of her seed He said well, who's that? Now remember the child is Jesus and now he's going to make war with the remnant of her seed Which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Why is the devil at war with me? What did I ever do to the devil? Well, if you when you got saved and you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ And you called upon him for salvation and you became a child of God you receive the testimony of Jesus Christ And because the devil hates Christ he hates you He's at war with Christ and he's at war with us He went to make war with the remnant of the seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ And of course, we know that this is all going to come to a climax in the end times We understand that but we also need to understand this that he is at war with us now This is why the Bible says go with me If you went to the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 3 first book in the Bible while you turn there Let me just remind you of 1st Peter 5 8 where the Bible says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil As a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour he's at war with you And he's not at war with you and he's not at war with me because you're special or I'm special He's at war with you and he's at war with me because we represent the Lord Jesus Christ and because the Lord Jesus Christ happens to love us Because God loves us and God cares about us because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever Believin in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God wants is going to be hurt When the devil destroys you his goal is to send as many people to hell to hurt God and hurt Christ and His goal is to those that he's already lost those that are already saved To disqualify them To make them a casualty in the spiritual warfare But the war is against Christ And against us notice the Genesis 3 15 this is from the very beginning We know that In the garden Satan had already fallen He's that old serpent and if you look at Genesis 3 15 after Eve Listens to Satan and Adam listens to his wife and the fall of man occurs God is giving them the consequences of sin and we won't go into all the details But let me show you what he says to the woman and to the serpent Genesis 3 15 God says and I will put enmity What enmity means open opposition open hostility I will put enmity between thee speaking to the serpent the devil and the woman referring to Eve and between thy seed the devil seed reprobates the children of the devil and her seed That's what we read about in Revelation 12 17 The remnant of her seed which keep the commandment of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel now. Let me just say this real quickly I don't want to get into this rabbit trail, but I just want to answer the question just real quickly I'm not even gonna prove it to you I'm just gonna tell you what I think and you can wait till I preach the revelation for me to prove it to you if That's what you need, but people often debate. Well, who's this woman? He makes war with this woman Who's this woman because some people believe that it's that it's Mary Mary gives birth to Christ and and and so therefore this woman must be married then others believe Well, it must be the nation of Israel and and the children of Israel because Jesus was physically a descendant of Abraham and came through the nation of Israel or some people say well It must be Eve because of what we just read Genesis 3 15 and I would say this that the Bible is so deep that I believe it's all three of them. I think the woman represents all of them It represents Eve in the sense that the devil is at war with all humanity It represents the children of Israel in the sense that yeah You can't I mean we just talked about Pharaoh trying to destroy the children of Israel all the way in Egypt All the way to the birth of Christ there has been at war a war against the children of Israel in the Old Testament Where the devil is trying to destroy them because of the fact that they would bring forth the Lord Jesus Christ and then of course Christianity we know that devil is at war with Christians We know that there's one day coming the mark of the beast which the whole point and purpose of the mark of the beast is Identify believers to kill them So I think that the woman at times is representative of all three and you may disagree with me and that's okay But we see that he's an enmity with All humanity the devil hates all humanity but specifically Christians Because he hates Christ so we see the ranks of spiritual warfare The bad guys the prince of the power of the air the prince of the Devils the chief of the Devils The good guys we saw Michael the archangel and probably a reference I think to the fact that there was that an archangel means that he's one of those covering cherubs. We know that Lucifer was one of those covering cherubs and the fact that Lucifer had a third of the angels under his command makes me think that there was possibly three covering cherubs that had Third part of each of the angels under their command and after Lucifer fell now we only have two possibly covering cherubs Which is why when Moses instructed to make the ark you have two cherubs that are covering the ark and you know Who is who are the two? I don't know if I have to guess I would say Michael and Gabriel Those are just the two that are mentioned the most Out of I mean, they're really the only ones other than Abaddon in Revelation But we don't know and and those are all guesses we talked about the ranks of spiritual warfare We talked about the rivals of spiritual warfare now Let's talk about the realms of spiritual warfare the realms of spiritual warfare now. You're there in Genesis 3 I'd like you to go over to Genesis chapter 28 Genesis chapter number 28 and while you turn there, let me just read to you a couple of verses or a few verses The realms of spiritual warfare and Just listen to this you go to Genesis 28, but just listen to this while you turn there the physical world and the spiritual world at all times coexist We exist amongst each other the spiritual world and the physical world or the invisible world and the visible world are in Existence at the same time and here's what I want you to understand the spirit world We've been in this series for several weeks now on the subject of the spirit world The spirit world is an invisible world that exists amongst us It's not like we're in the physical world and then somewhere Away from us. There's this spirit world. Now. We know that somewhere away from us. There's a place called heaven We understand that and there's even a lake of fire in the outermost parts Of space we understand that but when we're talking about the spiritual world it is existing amongst us This is why Ephesians 6 That's the key verse on spiritual warfare for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual weakness high places if you look at the teaching in Daniel and you Look at the teaching in Ezekiel. He's referring to Physical kings the king of Tyrus the king of Persia Physical literal politicians, but then he's referring to the devil and the demon that controls them Because there's a spiritual and a physical world. Look Joe Biden is a wicked individual He is a ruler of this world, but you know, there's a devil. There's a Joe Biden devil That's the ruler of the darkness that's controlling him That's just the reality There the the spiritual world and and there's one for Kamala, I mean there's probably lots for Kamala and there's and there's one for Donald Trump. I'm sure okay So whatever do what you want with that? This world is Controlled he's the lowercase G god of this world He's the prince of the power of the air So The physical world and the spiritual world it coexist I know we don't want to use that word now because of the bumper sticker, but I'm not I'm not talking about coexisting religions I'm talking about the fact that the spiritual world affairs the physical world. They they exist at the same time in the same place There's spiritual warfare going on right now, I'm sure The devil trying to distract you and keep you from hearing the truth of the Word of God You you're in Genesis 28, let me just read to you some verses Okay, and we've read these already in our series So I'm not gonna have you turn to them But I'll just read these to you to remind you Colossians 1 16 says for by him referring to Jesus We're all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth Visible that's the physical world and invisible That's the spirit world whether there be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him So in the same way that the physical world Has thrones and dominions and powers and principalities the spirit world also has Thrones dominions principalities powers and they overlap with each other so the physical world in the spiritual world at all times at All times coexist if you remember we read this story Earlier and again, I'm don't turn here. Let me just read it to you or remind you second Kings 617 Remember when the the servant of Elisha woke up one day and Elisha the prophet had so angered the Syrians that he wakes up one Day and he realizes that the entire Syrian army has surrounded them and is there to capture them And he's afraid and he's scared And he says to the prophet Elisha What are we gonna do and in second Kings 617 the Bible says and Elisha prayed and said Lord I pray thee Open his eyes referring to his servant that he may see and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man And he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha and He couldn't see it the servant because it was invisible But while there was a physical army around them There was this invisible army around the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha and here's what you and I need to understand we are at all times as We walk through this physical world. We're also In the spiritual world, it's invisible to us. We don't see it, but it's happening Look, you just need to understand it's part of the life we live in So when you're giving the gospel to that individual and you knock on the door and you find that individual Happens to be extremely interested in the subject of the gospel and and and and very receptive and you start preaching the gospel to them And they're engaged and they're learning they're saying and doesn't it always seem like right when you get Ready to bring it to an end and and lead them in that Sinners prayer that they might call upon the Lord doesn't seem like that's when the phone goes off the baby starts crying the dog bites Them, you know all these things You say what is that? It's spiritual warfare That's why you know, I think you know, the the Soul-winding partner needs to take the the bite, you know, put put your foot there. Let the dog bite you and I'm kidding All right, please don't do that It's spiritual warfare So the physical world and spiritual world at all times Coexist at all times, but let me just say this the physical world and the spiritual world sometimes intersects Let me just show you a few verses on this and I'm just gonna show it to you guys in the Bible and you do what you want with it. Genesis 28 10 Genesis 28 10 and Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. Remember this is Jacob running away from home and He lighted upon a certain place and tarred there all night because the Sun was set and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that place to sleep and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth and The top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it and behold the Lord stood above it and said I am the Lord God of Abraham my father and the God of Isaac and the land Where now lies? To thee will I give it to thy seed. I want you to notice that here we have a story where Jacob is in this certain place and those spiritual and the spirit world and the physical world Coexist at all times and there's always spiritual activity going on around us it seems that this is a place where it's not just a coexistence of the spiritual world, but an intersection of the spiritual world We're here in this place He says there's this ladder That reached to heaven and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it here in this place There seems to be this crossing over between the spiritual world and the spirit in the in the in the physical world verse 13 and behold the Lord stood above It and said I know the Lord is standing at the top of this ladder and he's saying I am the Lord God of Abraham My father and the God of Isaac the land and he's talking about the physical land where he's at The land wherein thou liest to thee will I give it to thy seed Genesis 28 13 look at verse number 14 in Genesis 28 13 verse 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and thou shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed notice the same Covenant being made here with Jacob who later be known as Israel And behold I'm with thee that that was made with Abraham and behold I'm with thee and will keep thee in all places whether thou goest I will bring thee again into the land and I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken Spoken to thee of now notice verse 16 and Jacob awake out of his sleep and he said Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not Now that's the fact that there's spirit There's a spiritual world Jacob says I just walked into this cave and there's all sorts of the spiritual activity happening here There's this ladder and angels ascending and descending and the Lord is in this place. He said and I knew it not Look at verse 17, and he is afraid and said how dreadful is this place? This is none other but I notice it the house of God And this is the gate of heaven So The Bible seems to tell us that though the physical and spiritual world Coexist and we interact as we interact in this physical world We also interact with the spiritual world the Bible seems to tell us that there are places There are certain places that seem to be places where the spiritual world in the physical world Intersect and in fact, he uses this term. He says this is the gate of heaven I want you to notice nothing in the Bible is incidental coincidental or accidental He says this is the house of God and This is the gate of heaven Now it wasn't it wasn't the physical cave. It's it's that this is where God was We know that later in the Old Testament the tabernacle is referred to as the house of God We know that the temple is referred to as the house of God We know that in the New Testament the Bible tells us that the house of God is the Church of the Living God the pillar and ground of the truth Look I believe that Bible believing churches real I'm not talking about fund centers that call themselves churches. I'm out real churches where Christian people congregate the Word of God is preached and where spiritual work is being done is a place where The spirit world and the physical world intersect What I think is interesting is that most Christians look I'm not talking about this physical place Jacob was sleeping in a cave with a stone as his pillow We're not talking about these beautiful beams and this beautiful building. We're not talking about these chairs But Jacob said God is doing something Something is happening here I walked into this place and and God is here and the work of God is being done here and something Spiritual and special is being done here, and he said The Bible says there in verse 16 and Jacob awakes out of his sleep and said surely the Lord is in this place And I knew it not I Wonder how many of you walked in here this morning? Distracted with your finances distracted with sports Distracted with life and fighting with your spouse or fighting with your children or fighting with whoever Walked into this place, and you don't realize that the Lord is in this place and I knew it not I missed it You're not awake to the fact That this life is not just about you and this physical aspect is not just about us, but there is more going on There's a spiritual battle going on He says how dreadful is this place? This is none other, but the house of God. This is the gate of heaven You know we need to get back to the place where we make the house of God a dreadful place again a holy place again When you wake up on a Sunday morning You don't just wake up and say well I I got to be there because I got to be there for orchestra and I got to be there because I'm an usher I'm On the safety team or I got to be there because I got to do this I got to do that But when you say I got to be there because I want to meet with God this morning Because I want to meet with God's people because it's a dreadful place and a special place It's where God meets with his people and I'm here to tell you that when you're at the grocery store There's an intersection between the spiritual world and the physical world when you're at your job There's an intersection between the spiritual world Physical world at the park there is that too But there are certain places on this earth where all of a sudden the place itself is not special But the presence of God makes it special where Moses walks up to a burning bush and the voice from the bush says take thine Shoes from off thy feet for the place without standards is holy ground What made it holy not the bush not the flame the presence of God? And you and I need to realize that what makes this place special is that God's people meet here and the word of God is Open here in the spirit of God ministers to us, and we ought to take it specially. It's a special thing Every time you knock on the door and ask someone if I can show you from the Bible How you know for sure you're on your way to heaven? And you open up the word of God all of a sudden that becomes a special place a holy place Please don't take your shoes off when you're preaching the gospel. I'm not saying that Some of you are weird, and you like to take things to extremes What I'm saying is that there's times when we intersect between the spirit and the physical world Where God begins to work? and we ought to look at it as a special place and a dreadful place and say This is the house of God. This is the gate of heaven This is where God a spiritual God meets with his physical people I Just wonder how many of us come in and out of this place Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night distracted and grumbling and Criticizing and upset and like Jacob we might say surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it now we see that sometimes the physical and The spiritual intersect they always coexist, but sometimes they intersect Let me give you some other examples go to revelation if you would revelation chapter 4 Revelation chapter 4 sometimes the Bible tells us sometimes Though the spiritual and physical they're there they coexist one's invisible one visible Sometimes the curtain is drawn back, and there's this interaction between the spiritual and the physical world You better believe it happens every time you're by your head with a sinner, and they call upon Jesus Revelation 4 and verse 1 here's John being caught up The Bible says after this I looked and behold I Want you to notice this I looked and behold The Bible says a door was opened in heaven See it doesn't matter how how fancy of a telescope you have it doesn't matter How fancy of a telescope scientist we can look up to heaven and look up to heaven We'll see the stars and the Milky Way we see the different planets We see all that, but you're never going to see the spirit world unless God opens the door Behold the door was open in heaven in the first voice Which I heard was as it were over trumpet talking me talking with me Which said come up hither, and I will show you things which must be here after Now that happened especially for John at the beginning revelation So he could see the events of the end times and write them down for us But let me show you when it all happened for all of us revelation 614 revelation chapter 6 and verse 14 the Bible says this and the heaven departed as a scroll When it is rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their place You know the Bible is telling us that after the rapture There's coming a time frame known as the wrath of God and the Bible tells us that at that time the heavens Will be rolled back as a scroll and they'll be for the first time in all of human history an open Interaction between the spirit world and the physical world that why do you think that hell gets open at all? I mean you've got these scorpions with heads of lions and a hair of women and all this stuff attacking men Why is this happening during the wrath of God because the heaven is departed as a scroll? God pulls back this curtain that separates the spirit and the physical world And every mountain and island were moved out of their place Let me show you another time this happens revelation 19 and verse 11 This is of course the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus Christ He's coming on a white horse and we are coming with him those of us that are saved the Bible says in Revelation 1911 he's coming from heaven a Spiritual place coming down to earth the Bible says that he'll set his foot down on the physical mount of olives And when his physical foot touches the mountain the mountain will split an interaction between the spirit and the physical and the Bible says in Revelation 1911 and I saw heaven open and Behold the white horse the knee that sat on him was called faithful and true and righteous. I see the judge and make Look at it It's always been this war spiritual warfare So we see the ranks of spiritual warfare. We see the rivals of spiritual warfare We see the realms of spiritual warfare and look you and I need to understand that The spirit world and the physical world coexist. We're always interacting between the spiritual and the physical. We're always interacting But there are special times in special places and the place itself doesn't make it special but the work of God makes it special Where the spirit world and the physical world interact? They intersect And this battle Rages on go back if you were to Ephesians chapter 6 We'll finish this up. I'll give you got several verses. I want to show you We talked about the ranks of the spiritual warfare the bad guys have their chain of command the good guys have their chain of command The rivals they're at war with Christ and they're at war with us the realms There's a spiritual war around us Elijah could see it his servant couldn't most of us couldn't I remember back in 2016 we had this big protest Well, we didn't have this big protest they had this big protest against our church and On that day the news outlets reported that there were Up to a thousand people here. I don't know if that's true or not. That's just what they reported I know that there was a sea of people not here. We're in building in Northgate Remember on that day, you know our little church was there And if you remember we the the police were there and they and they were the 200 police officer I think sheriffs and whatever were there and they had to create this pathway to allow people to come into church and all Around the building. I mean a sea of people again. I don't know what the number was They said it could have been a thousand people. I'm not sure if that's sure or not, but there was a lot of people But you know on that day if you and I would have had spiritual eyes I think what we would have seen is this host of protesters against our church We would have seen an army of angels surrounding our church Protecting us on that day Helping us on that day on that day engaging with us in this battle of spiritual warfare Ephesians chapter 6 we've already looked at these verses, but I just want you to see it again This is why the Bible says put on the whole armor of God Look tomorrow morning when you and I wake up We don't need to wake up and say oh, it's just Monday. What are we gonna do today? We need to wake up and realize I'm in a war today I'm in a battle today and because of it I need look you went when when when a soldier is deployed to a battlefield when during the fights and things in Afghanistan and Iraq when People don't deploy to Iraq and just wake up and say what what am I gonna do today? You know they woke up and and and they realize they're in a war zone I'm in a war zone, so I'm gonna put a breastplate on I'm gonna put a helmet on And what the Bible is telling us that you and I should wake up tomorrow morning and realize we are in a spiritual war zone Put on the whole armor of God That you may be able to stand against the wows of the devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places It's a fight that we must engage in Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 you're there in Ephesians you go past if you go backwards you go past escalations into 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter number 10 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 3 2nd Corinthians 10 in verse 3 notice it again References to this battle we find ourselves in 2nd Corinthians 10 in verse 3 for though we walk in the flesh That's the physical world For though we walk in the flesh look at it. We do not war after the flesh I'm not I'm not at war with a physical person Why for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal? The weapons of our warfare are not physical They're not of this world For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds We must engage in the spiritual warfare Now what does that mean? Let me just give you just quickly. I know I'm out of time But let me just give you these thoughts just real quickly go back to Ephesians chapter 2 if you would Ephesians chapter 2 And look look down at verse number 1 again. This is where we started What does this mean Ephesians 2 and verse 1 the Bible says and you had the quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins is that you this morning I hope it is You were dead in trespasses and sins now you're quickened you're saved you're in the family of God When in time past you walked according to the course of this world That should be the testimony of every Christian that before I was saved. I walked according to the course of this world not anymore According to the prince of the power of the air Look at the words the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh fulfilling Desires of the flesh and of the mind and we were by nature children of wrath even as others You say what does the devil want in this fight? You know what the devil wants he wants as many of the soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ To walk in the course of this world To Walk under the influence of the prince of the power of the air To fulfill the lust of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind if He can cause you to not engage if he can cause Christians to not be spiritual. He's one because it's spiritual warfare and As long as we're engaged in that which is carnal as long as we're engaged in that which is flesh As long as we engage in the desires of the flesh the lust of the flesh the thoughts of the flesh The carnal man the carnal mentality He's one If he can get Christians to just walk in the course of this world, he's one But what is it that's really at stake here? Go back to 2nd Corinthians if you would chapter 4 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 you kept your place there If you kept your place in 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and look at verse 3 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 3 the Bible says, but if our gospel be hid look nothing in the Bible is incidental, right? Coincidental accidental it's not just thrown here for no reason, but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost That's the context of verse 4 in whom the God of this world lowercase G God not big G. God a false God in whom the God of this world talking about Satan have Blinded the minds look at that word minds Of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them What is it that the devil is doing the devil is blinding the mind of them which believe not? What does it mean to engage in spiritual warfare we are under attack of spiritual warfare and What is at stake? the eternal souls of mankind How do we engage go to acts 26 real quickly and we'll be done acts 26 And look at verse 18 if you're there in 2nd Corinthians You just go backwards you go past 1st Corinthians Romans in the book of Acts acts 26 verse 18 acts 26 verse 18 How do we engage Because he wants you to just be distracted He wants you this is why Paul told Timothy that a good soldier of Jesus Christ It says they do not entangle themselves in the affairs of this life They don't get all caught up in the things of this world Acts 26 verse 18 Here's what the Bible says this is spiritual warfare acts 26 18 When we go out and we do this we are engaging in spiritual warfare to open their eyes What does the god of this world do he hath blinded the mind of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ Should shine unto them So what are we he's blinded them? What are we to do to open their eyes? To turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and Inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me I've said this before and I'll say it again everything we do everything we do at Verity Baptist Church falls under these two categories reaching and teaching reaching and teaching We reach people with the gospel we go out and preach the gospel We open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins But then we teach right Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel teach the gospel Teaching them to observe whatsoever. I've commanded you. Jesus said we teach people why why do we disciple people? Why do we have sermons like this series doctrinal sermons? Why do we do the things we do all of it is meant to engage and to help you grow in your? Spiritual life so that you will be a soldier that goes out and fights in the spiritual war for battle It happens when we go soul winning and it's happening right now when we preach the truth when we open up the Bible and we Teach the truth of God's Word and we open somebody's eyes to the truth of God's Word We engage in spiritual warfare You say why would we have a harvest party? We had a wonderful harvest party by the way I think it's probably the best harvest party we ever had I think it helps the fact that we had four acres to use that probably helped us a little bit You say why would we do a harvest party really one reason what only one reason? So you can develop friendships within a congregation of believers To Help you grow To help you get connected to help you get engaged so that we can get you ready and send you out into spiritual warfare It's reaching and teaching And the problem with the spiritual warfare is this that I think there's many Christians who are missing in action They're AWOL they're absent without leave I Hope that you and I will take the things we've learned in the last several weeks and say you know what? There is a heaven There is a hell People will spend eternity in hell. They don't hear the gospel The only way they can know about heaven is if somebody comes and preaches the gospel to them There is a devil he wants to destroy you and there is this thing called spiritual warfare And we must engage in it because we're in it whether we like it or not Spire heads and I were to prayer Heavenly Father Lord. We do love you And we thank you for allowing us To study these things in the Bible learn these things Lord help us to be cognizant of the fact that though we Do not see the invisible world it's there It's coexisting with us We interact with it And sometimes we intersect with it Help us to not come to a place like this without realizing that this is a dreadful place. It's the house of God It's the gate of heaven Help us not to come to a place like this and say the Lord was there and I knew it not Help us we have eyes Open not physically, but just to the thoughts and the ideas that we are in a spiritual fight And help us to engage properly The matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray Amen. All right, we're gonna have brother Matt Come and lead us in a final song, but I do just have some real quick final announcements. First of all, I Forgot to announce this during the bulletin time, but I want to announce it now miss Christine Ortiz many of you know She gave me permission to announce this she had a stroke and She and she it happened on Thursday. She's she's doing better. She's actually home now But she you know, obviously we just want to be in prayer for her and we're asking the church family to be in prayer for Her but we are setting up. My wife is setting up meals for mr. See we'd like to be a blessing to her over the next several days She she she just got home from the hospital and of course Don't want to have to worry about making herself food or anything like that So if you could help with bringing a meal, my wife has the sign-up sheet and she can get you sign up We'd appreciate your help with that If there's any ladies out there that would like to help bring a meal to miss Christine over the next several days we would appreciate your help with that and then of course just want to remind you that tonight we're gonna be finishing our Sermon series we've been doing this elect election themed series and we talked about the fact that God is not a Republican and we talked about the fact that the devil is a Democrat but tonight I'm gonna be preaching a sermon on the subject a biblical perspective on a woman president a biblical perspective on a woman president and I can promise you this if you love the Bible it won't be offensive to you if you Don't like the Bible then you know, that's I don't know about that. You should love the Bible But I want to encourage you to be here and we're gonna look at this of course We've got a woman that's running for president and I think we should ask Christians to know what does the Bible teach about that? What does the Bible say about that? And I'll say this it doesn't matter if it's Kamala Harris or Sarah Palin We need to just know what the Bible teaches about these things. So biblical perspective on a woman president tonight Sunday night I have a great sermon Service lined up for you great sermon. Hopefully lined up for you It'll be an exciting service most exciting service of the week Sunday night service So I want to encourage you to be here for that. You're gonna want to be in God's house This is a dreadful place where we get to meet with the Lord and we'd love for you to join us for that And then of course I want to encourage you to bring somebody with you next week and might somebody with you to church Bring somebody with you when you bring someone to place like this, you know what you're doing You're engaging in spiritual warfare and you're you're helping the good guys Reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ disciple people so invite somebody with you next week If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know Don't forget to see my wife if you'd like to help bring a meal to miss Christine Why brother Mac come up and lead us in a final song? Turn to song 262 To 62 You 262 sing it out on the first The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin the light of the world is Jesus Like sunshine at noonday his glory shown in the light of the world is Jesus Come to the light is shining for thee Sweetly the light has dawned upon me Once I was blind, but now I can see the light of the world is Jesus No darkness have we who in Jesus abide the light of the world is Jesus We walk in the light when we follow our guide the light of the world is Jesus Come to the light is shiny for thee Sweetly the light has dawned upon me Once I was blind, but now I can see the light of the world is Jesus He dwellers in darkness with sin-blinded eyes the light of the world is Jesus Wash at his bidding and light will arise Jesus Come to the light is shining for thee Sweetly the light has dawned upon me Once I was blind, but now I can see the light of the world is Jesus on the last No need of the sunlight in heaven were told the light of the world is Jesus Lamb is a light in the city of gold the light of the world is Jesus Come to the light is shining for thee Sweetly the light has dawned upon me Once I was blind, but now I can see the light of the world is Jesus Amen good singing before we leave here if anybody has questions about salvation church membership or baptism pastor be at the door He'd love to talk to you direct you to someone who's trained to talk to you about that Brother surge, would you close the prayer for us? Amen You