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all right we're in Daniel chapter number 10 look down at your Bibles at verse number 12 it says here then said he unto me fear not Daniel for from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God thy words were heard and I am come for thy words but the prince of the king of Persia kingdom of Persia what stood me one in 20 days but lo Michael one of the chief princes came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia skip down to verse number 20 it says then said he knowest thou where wherefore I am coming to thee and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia and when I am gone forth lo the prince of Grecia shall come and the title determine this evening is what Satan can and can't do part two and really if I were to subtitle it would simply be puppeteering the rulers of this world okay now you can stay there in Daniel chapter number 10 I'm just gonna give you just a brief overview of what we went over this this morning as far as what Satan can do and I didn't get a chance to finish even like a half of the notes that I had this morning and I really spent a lot of time with what Satan can do to unsafe people and we talked about how in John chapter 10 the Bible tells us that Satan comes as a thief to steal to kill and to destroy right what does he do he steals the key of knowledge he tries to steal the ability to know what it is the word the right way of salvation that it's by faith but it's by grace through faith how does he do that through institutions he does that through through secular colleges and schooling through the wisdom of this world to try to impede people from coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ now look there's people out there who love truth but the fact remains is that if they don't come to the saving knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ they can love truth all they want they will be forever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth and that is an avenue that Satan can use to try to keep people from getting saved I mean you see it on social media all the time people who believe like us in regards to you know Zionism or even end times Bible prophecy they understand the agenda of our government and pedophilia and all these wicked schemes that Satan is using but yet they're wrong in salvation you know they believe you have to repent of your sins so these people think that they're righteous they think they know the truth but they don't because their foundation is faulty and that is an avenue that is a category that Satan uses in order to get people off of what the true way of salvation really is so he deceives to provide a different way of salvation he seeks to silence the righteous you know through what's called hate speech right they try to silence those who are rightly dividing the word of truth who are preaching the Word of God they try to you know he uses people to make us look back right all these guys are a bunch of hate preachers they hate the homosexuals they want to kill them you know they're anti-semitic the racist against the Jews you know they the list goes on and on and what he'll do is he'll use people like that's the slander righteous Christians so that the world who are the people who are not saved will be basically they won't come to us for the truth you know they'll be turned off to the truth and that is an avenue that he uses there he comes to steal to kill the righteous and also to destroy and what was that it's basically the fact that God uses Satan as a tool of destruction right now and I'm gonna talk about that later on in the sermon now we also talked about what can Satan do to the unsaved well he can infiltrate and blind the minds of the masses he does this through world system religious institutions through the love of money he can possess the common people you know I mean we've run into possessed people here I've run into possessed people in my personal life and the vast majority of them were on drugs the vast majority of them were on PCP they were on some sort of mind-altering substance that caused them to be to behave in a different way and we can see according to the Bible that they're just possessed by a devil they're possessed by demons he uses mind-altering substances like drugs he also uses music right he uses gangster rap and rock music and country music you know yeah I'm saying it's probably true you know causes them to get depressed because their dog died and you know they got a barbecue skin stain on their white t-shirt or whatever you know he uses the occult right Satanism and Ouija boards and things of the occult divination you know these things that what's the sensory deprivation that was called right as a means to get people off the truth okay he uses this to possess the common people and we talked about that this morning but he also can use and puppeteer the rulers of this world and use them to carry out his agenda and that's where we find ourselves in Daniel chapter number 10 look down at your Bibles again verse number 12 or look verse 13 says but the prince of the kingdom of Persia this is not referring to a literal physical prince it's not referring to a ruler though that is commonly used as a physical person who's ruling over a state or a region this is a spiritual battle that we're seeing here it says but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one in 20 days but lo Michael one of the chief princes came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia verse 20 then said he knowest thou wherefore I am coming to thee and now return to fight with the prince of Persia and when I am gone lo the prince of Grecia shall come this is referring to demonic forces that I believe operate as a hierarchy in the spiritual realm that Satan uses and delegates to different regions of the world to rule over them and place spiritual strongholds in that area to impede people from believing the gospel to impede people from hearing the Word of God to hearing the truth so when it talks about the prince of Persia and the prince of Grecia I believe these are referring to actual devils demons they that Satan is using to create strongholds in an area now this is true in the in the life of Daniel or excuse me in the time period of Daniel but it's also true today you know America has a demon over it and I don't know if it's Satan himself it could be and we're gonna look later on where Satan had influence over a region of land okay but whatever it is whoever whatever demon it is they're being successful you know this nation is not becoming more Christianized it's actually becoming more de-christianized and that's because the agenda is being fulfilled through these demons that are over this nation now go to Ephesians chapter number 6 here Ephesians chapter number 6 Ephesians chapter number 6 so we see here that you know the Bible's telling us that there are these dark forces that are working behind the scenes in the spiritual realm that are influencing leaders of this world you know and look you look at the actions of the leaders of this world you look at the actions of the dictators and the tyrants of the emperors of Rome and Roman history you know these people were demon-possessed you know these these emperors Julius Caesar you have Nero and different emperors who were just give it over to vile affections they were reprobates they were sodomites they were into pedophilia there were tyrants who pleasure and killing common people and enslaving them I mean this is the they're inventors of evil things and you know Satan uses them to oppress people from not just living a normal life but also keep them from hearing the truth okay now look at Ephesians chapter number 6 and verse 11 it says put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood so right off the bat we see in verse 12 we should never try to take up arms against the government right you know obviously we understand Trump is wicked and you know this new fag that's that's running for president is wicked we understand that we know that that every governor most every governor if not all of them are wicked politicians are very wicked and but here's the thing our agenda should never be well let's go ahead and create anarchy and fight against the government because in all actuality we're not in a physical battle we're in a spiritual battle that is what God emphasizes within his word is that we are fighting a spiritual battle and he says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities that's another word for Prince against powers that's authorities against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places ie the president of the United States ie every single ruler and dictator and you know Prime Minister of this world these people are being influenced by demons we're fighting against them but not in a physical battle you say how do we fight against these Devils and these demons and these rulers by preaching against them by helping people to come to the knowledge of the truth this is the war that we're interested in we're not interested in getting into a physical fight with politicians or trying to physically harm people to try to win this war why because these things don't matter everything's gonna burn we care for and emphasize and focus on the souls of men but the souls of men can only be rescued from the fire when we help them to understand on a mental basis the truth go to 1st Chronicles chapter 21 and make no mistake about it we are wrestling with them because it tells us we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against and he goes through this hierarchy right here this is what we're fighting up against this is what we're fighting this is what we're wrestling up against you know and look the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds so how do we pull down strongholds by sending up a local New Testament Church in a city right and training soul winners to go out and preach the gospel by having a red-hot fiery preacher behind the pulpit ripping face on sin calling a spade a spade you know preaching against the sinfulness of this world opening the eyes of the people who have been blinded that's how we fight those are the weapons of our warfare okay and in fact when you go through the spiritual armor in Ephesians chapter 6 probably the most important piece of armor is actually an offensive weapon which is the sword of the Lord sword of the Spirit right they we use to expose to reprove rebuke and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine so let me give you an example they look at 1st Chronicles chapter 21 verse number 1 and Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel now keep in mind that numbering the people was a very sinful thing in the eyes of God in fact he commanded the Kings not to do that now why did he command them not to number the people why did he command him don't number the soldiers because of the fact that he wanted his people to depend on him to win the war okay he wanted his people to have faith in him that he can win the war the war is the battles the Lord's it's of the Lord right so numbering the people is insinuating that God cannot do it himself that we need to make sure that we have our ducks in order kind of thing and so Satan we see here provokes David who's a saved man he provokes him to number the people and David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people go number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan and bring the number of them to me that I may know it and Joab answered the Lord make his people a hundred times so many more as they be I mean when you got Joab you know trying to tell you to like don't do that I mean you know you're going down the deeper path right there when Joab was pretty conniving he's pretty like wicked himself I mean he's like murdering people left and right when he's like hey man don't do this I mean I even I wouldn't even go as far as to number the people right he's a job said the Lord make his people a hundred times so many more as they be but my Lord the king as they are they not all my Lord's servants why didn't does my Lord require this thing why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel now we can't give job too much credit because later on he acts like he numbers the people and then he doesn't even bring the full number so he basically like disobeys David you know I mean but we see here that Satan not I'm not the Prince of Grecia not the Prince of Persia Satan himself takes it upon in himself to move and provoke David to number the people to disobey God now if he can do this to a safe person how much more can he do this to someone who is not saved some wicked politician who's prior long ago became a reprobate you know and obtained that seat of authority through wicked means you know through flatteries and an unjust gain and for the sake of money because they're greedy a filthy lucre how much more can you use someone like that you know and look you say well how can I practically apply this we obviously understand that Satan and his minions are responsible for influencing the politicians of our day how do I apply that to myself don't put your hope in politicians amen don't place your hope in any politician well what did you say they're Christian they're lying to you they're lying look you think of like Nebuchadnezzar who even I believe them Nebuchadnezzar got saved later on but prior to that he's giving glory to God but he's still making making a statue of himself you know I mean he's just kind of flattering the people of God like oh you know your God is the greatest guy and then he you know edifies the statue and commemorate commemoration of himself so after he's given the vision he's like hey you know he gives that he gives him the vision of something that's gonna take place in the end times and how does he take it as that's a good idea for a statue here and he ends up making this image of himself or just like man you missed the whole point of the image in your dream it's supposed to signify what's gonna take place in the end times right you know we should never place our faith in politicians in the White House and the reason I say this because a lot of Christians do you know I come from the old IFP and I've heard that many times over you know your vote counts and make sure you vote and you know go for the guy who who's closest to the Bible the Republican of course are the closest to the Bible yeah really you know when they voted it they wanted to vote in some Mormon what's that Mormon guys name rom Mitt Romney I would tell people like isn't he Mormon yeah but he holds the values what values isn't that guy didn't like but aren't they like into polygamy and stuff like don't they serve like another Jesus but here's the thing the reason why they want to vote in someone who's closest to the Bible is because they want politicians to fight their battles for them they want these unsaved wicked people to fight the battles that they're supposed to be fighting they want the politicians to preach the sermons that they're supposed to be preaching you know they want the politicians to ban the homos and don't let them get married and stand up for Christian values that's what you're supposed to be doing buddy you're not supposed to place your faith in politicians they're not the pastors of the land in fact they're being influenced by demons and they're influencing the nation and a bunch of dumb Christians you know to to side with them and you know what you wonder why so many Christians are just desensitized to the Word of God why because they've been so ingrained with the ideologies and the news talk and the rhetoric of the politicians they no longer hear truth you know be truth is being taken from them because they place their faith in Egypt they're placed their faith in the shadow of Pharaoh and of Egypt and guess what Egypt in the shadow of Pharaoh is gonna be their shame so how do we apply this stuff well we recognize that these politicians presidents whoever they're being influenced by demons therefore we should not place our faith in them okay and I hate it when Christians trying to make it seem like oh but America is a Christian nation and you know Trump though he's not a Christian you have Mike Pence who's like the he's like the Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar and these and these kings it's like what in the world are you talking about you're living in Lala Nate America will never be like Nate the nation of Israel of times past where it was like a theocracy and they revered God almost isn't God we still trust on the dollar bill it's a different God it's Satan it says in God we still trust next to the the eye of Horus what did Egyptian the Egyptian pyramid hello are we awake as a pagan images in the back of the dollar okay so don't don't fool yourself into thinking that what Christians need to do today is just take it upon themselves the responsibility to fight the battles that God has deputized us to fight priests us all about how we're gonna turn things around God's never called us to save America God's never called us to save any nation he's called us to save the individuals found within nations because that's what he cares about you know he cares about the spiritual nation you know the chosen generation that's who he cares about you know we got to make sure that we we protect America and American values and and policies no we got to make sure we protect biblical policies and values regardless of what race they are regardless of where they come from we want to get them saved and help them to adhere to the Bible men go to 2nd Thessalonians chapter number 2 2nd Thessalonians chapter number 2 and that really at the end of the day that's what it is Christians and pastors have become afraid to stand up on truth so they go to the unsafe politicians hoping that they'll stand up for truth for them oh if we don't say anything we're gonna lose our rights you know if we don't excuse me if we don't vote for them we're gonna lose our rights you know no you're gonna lose your rights if you don't exercise your rights that's how you lose your rights so you need the permission of some politician to go soul-winning to preach against the homos you know your faith is not in God your faith is not in the Bible okay and I don't know where the Baptist Church is veered off obviously it's before I was born because I was born into this where churches were just you know Zionist and they were just all about the politicians and the Republicans and all this you know and it was just kind of like known that if you're Baptist you're Republican that's when I when I when I went to church if you're Baptist you're just automatically Republican you know growing up spiritually in my old church you know I'm neither Republican nor Democrat I'm a Christian I'm a Bible believing Christian and then I'm new YFB amen like Republican or Democrat is nowhere in the categories I don't want to be associated with anything like that okay look at second Thessalonians 2 verse 7 let's let's look let's see where this political movement is gonna take us verse 7 says for the mystery of iniquity doth already work only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way and then shall the wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders I wonder if the Antichrist is gonna be like Republican or something you know to just deceive Christians because the ultimate politician of this world the ultimate one who's just gonna bring peace is who the Antichrist according to them bring peace right the one who's gonna rule over everything the one who's gonna have the New World Order who's gonna inherit the New World Order is the Antichrist this is where your politics and politicians are heading so the application there is that we should never place our faith in politics hey if they make some if they make some rule or some law in our favor great you should you should make it all in our favor okay and shame on you if you don't but don't expect me to thank you if you do make them our favor don't expect me to just grovel and worship you because you took the homos out of the White House good you should have yeah you should do much more than that oh what if they started you know helping us as Christians great but I was gonna do it anyways because God has already told us we can do these things God has already commanded us to preach the Word of God God has already told us to preach the gospel to every creature therefore we don't need the permission of man to do those things okay so that's the end of that list okay so that's what Satan can do to the unsafe now what can you do to the saved well just let me briefly mention two things here obviously he can tempt us okay we see that with Jesus Christ that he tempted Jesus Christ let me read to you from go to Luke chapter 22 I'm gonna reach you from 1st Corinthians chapter 7 verse number 5 it says defraud ye not one another except it be with consent for a time that ye may give yourselves to fasting in prayer and come together again that Satan tempt you not for your incontinence see so we see here that Satan can actually tempt us you say well that's pretty basic I already know that well the reason I'm stating that is because a lot of Christians want to blame Satan for the sins in their life but Satan can't make anybody sin you know you can't blame the devil for your decision to sin why because he could only tempt you to sin and even in that case he's using your own weaknesses against you okay look at Luke chapter 22 verse 31 it says and the Lord said Simon Simon behold Satan hath desire to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I've prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when our converted strengthen thy brethren so I you know what we see here is that Satan does tempt us with sin but he also tempts us with trials when we have you know maybe our faith is weak maybe we're not strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and we're tempted to compromise our biblical convictions Satan is desiring to sift us as wheat and this is in the manner of which he can do it okay whether it's our own weaknesses maybe it's because we're afraid maybe it's through discouragements maybe it's through depression anxiety you know trials of life the the the circumstances of your the situations in your life he can use those against you but at the end of the day he can't force you to do anything because you're saved okay and not only that he can deceive us okay I was talking with some of the guys after service Sunday morning service and we're talking about Zionism you know and I was telling like I remember when when I was the Zionist at one point okay now who said what you were too I remember like uh and I wasn't like a hardcore Zionist like I didn't have like the the star Rem fan tatted on my back and stuff and the flag on my mug or whatever like that wasn't I didn't really care for those things okay but I just thought cuz I've always heard of the Jews were God's chosen people that's just what I've always thought and I remember I talked to a friend of mine and somehow we're getting in the conversation and he's just like ripping on Jews he's just ripping up and I was like whoa dude I was like dude those are God's chosen people and he was like what and he just started like going off on me he's like they adhere to religion you know the Jews adhere to the religion of Judaism and and you know that's the religion of the Pharisees and they killed Jesus and I'm just like what the heck is this guy talking about but he really opened my eyes and he was just like study it out and I remember and look at this point I was probably saved for like like six or seven years so I had read the Bible through many times over you know in Bible College you're like required to read the Bible many times over in Bible College but just in my personal reading and I remember studying the issue out and I thought to myself man I can't believe I missed this and like honestly I was embarrassed to be quite frank with you I was embarrassed I was I was like ashamed because I'd read the Bible so many times I'm like how in the world could I miss this like you know I love the book of John I'm like John 844 how can I have missed that Galatians 3 Galatians 4 Romans 2 Romans 9 3 11 you know Revelation 2 they would say there are Jews and are not but of the synagogue of Satan and I remember kicking myself thinking how in the world could I miss that and I was kind of like kicking myself just kind of frustrated because I just missed it and then I kind of realized I was deceived and I don't know what I can't explain to you what that feels like I guess if I were to try to express what it's like to be deceived it's basically like you're looking at something and you're not really looking at it and you just kind of read over it and you don't really think about it now obviously it didn't help that they weren't teaching doctrine at our church especially in regards to the Jews you know and in fact they weren't teaching for it and they weren't teaching against it so it was kind of good in that sense because of the fact that you know Zionism wasn't like ingrained in me like a whole lot but that helped me to understand that yeah Christians could even be deceived even in the simplest most clearest doctrine sometimes due to preconceived ideas and oceans and I think what it is is that you know in our church in the old IFB because it wasn't challenged we didn't want to study it out there's no reason to study it out like the pre-tribulation rapture it was never challenged it was just kind of all across the board everyone believed that therefore you just didn't study it out but once you came to that the truth of those subjects in those topics and it's just like the world is all over and then when I began to read the Bible after that I'm like it's like on every page every parable every book one of the major themes of the New Testament is replacement theology one of the major themes of the New Testament and then you just like the scales from fall off from from your eyes you know but it really helped me to realize that even Christians can be deceived because I was deceived okay and that's why I try to be merciful to people who are Zionists but they're they're saved you know they're just deceived and they need someone to tell them the truth now I really don't have mercy for those that after you show them the truth they're just like stubborn and stiff-necked and they just rather not they just rather look away and not look at it and not adhere to it at that point you're just being dumb you're just being stubborn you're being stiff-necked you're being obstinate you mean you know you're basically just rejecting the truth is what you're doing you know because when someone showed me the truth it was offensive but then it's just like well it's right there I want to believe the Bible that's what it is but Satan can deceive you and you know Satan has deceived many Christians in a lot of different areas okay and you know you think of dispensationalist dispensationalism for example you know he used the Schofield reference Bible to deceive many people okay now that's like foreign to our generation as Christians now because it's like one the world how can you be deceived by that but you know when it's accepted all across the board by every Christian you know one questions it that's how you get deceived by it you know and so he can tempt us he can deceive us he said how do we overcome that deception well thankfully there's always someone who knows the truth and when that person comes along with the truth accept it if it's the truth that's how you can overcome it but here's the thing if you choose to reject the truth even if you're a Christian that's dangerous ground for you because at that point God will begin to remove knowledge from you and look I don't want knowledge to be removed from this brain I'm thankful for the knowledge that I've been given that I've been taught that I've learned I mean since we started a church I felt like just within myself I've grown just being here myself studying I feel like I've grown I don't want to lose that therefore if I'm wrong I want to I want to know that I'm wrong and learn that which is right okay so he can deceive us go to a first Thessalonians chapter number two it look no Marvel right he's the father of lies he has perfected the art of lying how through mixing lies with truth okay and that's a whole sermon in of itself so he can tempt us he can deceive us hey he can hinder us too okay and look I'm thankful that this is in the Bible because of the fact that the Apostle Paul is one of the greatest Christians of the New Testament and he himself has stated that Satan hindered him look at first Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 18 for ye brethren became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus for you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen even as they have of the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us this guy sounds like an anti-semite and they please not God and are contrary to all men forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sin all way for the wrath has come upon them from the upon them to the uttermost but we brethren being taken from you for a short time in presence not in heart and ever the more abundantly to see your face with great desire wherefore we would have come unto you even I Paul once and again but Satan hindered us now I want you to notice that in context how did Satan hinder them through the Jews because he says there that the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus their own prophets have persecuted they pleased not God a contrary to all men forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved so how does Satan hinder God's people he does it through wicked and unreasonable men that's how he can do it okay go to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 3 I'll read to you from Romans chapter 15 verse 20 it says here I'll read to you for verse 21 says but as it is written to whom he was not spoken of they shall see and they that have not heard shall understand for which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you look at 2nd Thessalonians 3 verse 1 finally brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you so what do we want when we go out and preach the gospel what do we want to happen when we go to Santa Maria we want the Word of God to have free course in other words it's able to just shoot straight to the heart without any hindrances without any road bumps without any wicked or unreasonable man trying to hinder the Word of God we wanted to just have a straight shot right not have to go through any barriers blockades speed bumps just a free course into the heart of the sinners that they can get saved verse 2 and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not faith but the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil so how does he hinder God's people through unreasonable and wicked men this is these are known as reprobates now look reprobates can hinder us a little bit but they're not gonna stop us there's a big difference so before the fags and the reprobates get on like yeah we're gonna try to Hindu good go ahead but you're not gonna stop me you can try to hinder the sowing but we're gonna keep sowing you can try to hinder the preaching by by reporting the videos but we're still gonna preach more there's always another sermon to preach we can always preach on Romans 1 we could always preach on second Peter chapter 2 we could always preach on the book of Jude we could always preach on Leviticus 2013 you can hinder us but you can't stop us but it is it can be a hindrance you know from doing the work of God that's how what Satan uses he uses his puppets his reprobate filthy puppets to try to hinder us not stop us because they can't he say well what about people in time past who have stopped well the reprobates didn't stop them they stopped and may there be a lesson to us that Satan can't stop us we can only really stop ourselves you know by allowing yourself to become discouraged afraid lazy apathetic towards the things of God that's the only thing that can stop you you know sometimes your greatest enemy is yourself you are your greatest enemy you are the one who can keep you from doing what God wants you to do not Satan don't blame it on the devil oh it's the devil made me do it no he did it you did it it was you you can keep yourself from bringing to the Bible you can keep yourself from praying you can keep yourself from soul winning you can keep yourself from standing from the truth you God has given you a free will to do what he wants you to do it's your choice these reprobates can hinder us but they can't stop us okay look they hindered Paul okay these wicked and unreasonable men go with me if you would to Hebrews chapter number 12 if you wouldn't so what can he do we can't stop us but he definitely can hinder us and that's why we got to make sure that we understand that because we're going into war we're going into battle that we're prepared they were strong you know don't approach this Christian life halfheartedly haphazardly where you're just lazy in your Bible reading lazy and your beliefs lazy in your disciplines you know we're soldiers amen and we're not to entangle ourselves in the with the affairs of this life you know the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ has chosen us to be soldiers amen and as soldiers we need to make sure that we're prepared that we have the whole armor of God then we're not lacks in our Christian life okay now what else can he do well he can be used by God to chase in and even destroy us now think about that for a minute okay think about the fact that Satan is your enemy and he would love to just destroy you he hates you he hates me he hates Christian he hates people just in general obviously but he definitely hates Christians but the only thing that's keeping him from really destroying us is God and what's keeping God from doing is what us based upon our decisions so just as the Bible tells us that the thief cometh not before to steal to kill and to destroy he's an instrument of destruction that God can use in our lives to destroy us okay look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 6 it says for whom the Lord loveth he chasin it and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth that we're chasing and scourge is just another word for whoop beat you spank you swatcha okay that's the urban definition okay Jason just means like he's disciplining you okay if he endured chastening God deals with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not but if he be without chastisement wherefore all our partakers then are you bastards and not sons and what's the teaching there is basically saying look if you're in sin and you're getting involved in wickedness and God is not chastising you at all then you're a bastard you are a bastard what does that mean God is not your Heavenly Father because God promises that he says there whom the Lord loveth he chasin it and guess who he loves his children okay so how to confirm that you're saying one of the ways to confirm that you're safe well if you're out in sin and you're doing crazy stuff and God's just not touching you with the 10-foot pole you probably not saved now you say well I believe them Lord Jesus Christ and I have not been chasing what then brother me here well God's just being merciful to you and it's of the Lord's mercies that you are not consumed so you know what allow the goodness of God to lead you to repentance amen it says here verse 9 furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live for they barely for a few days chasing us after their own pleasure but he for our prophet that we might be partakers of his holiness so the Bible tells us here that God chastens us he chastises us he scourges us how does he do it through Satan he allows Satan gives him permission to gives him the admission to come and destroy our lives whether it's financially whether it's physically you know whether it's just the circumstances of life and look if you know it you know it okay when you're being chastised of the Lord you know there's been times in my personal life when I know bad things are happening and what I have in the back of my mind God's chasing me right now he's chastised the hand of the Lord is against me right now and he uses Satan to do so so Satan just doesn't have unfettered access to us to just kind of whoop us and bully us around no he's a tool of destruction go to first Corinthians chapter number five first Corinthians chapter number five if you would so what are you trying to do brother but here I'm trying to scare you trying to steal fearing you because look I mean it's great going to heaven but I just don't want to go yet I you know I'm looking forward to heaven I'm looking forward to you know the streets of gold I'm looking forward to the millennial rain and being there with God and everything but you know what I kind of I kind of want to stay still you know I want to be with my family still I want to see them grow I want to do works for God therefore I want to be obedient so I'm not chastised of the Lord okay look at 1st Corinthians 5 3 it says for verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that had so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when you are gathered together in my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such in one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus so notice that what is he destroying the flesh how does he do it he has all kinds of avenues in which you could do it sicknesses cancer allowing you to die a horrible death in a car accident I don't know just he could do it any way he chooses and look that's why it's important that we follow first Corinthians chapter 5 amen and that we excommunicate people who are involved in these things because of the fact that the reason he's doing this is for because of what we read in Hebrews chapter 12 so we can be partakers of his holiness that's the purpose of it the destruction of the flesh humbles you and it causes you to seek God and get to repent and come back amen but it shows here that Satan is actually the one who's doing it okay go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 I read to you from 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 19 it says holding faith in a good conscience which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck of whom is harmonious and Alexander whom I've delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme now I don't know if harmonious and Alexander are saved but I do know this you know they were blaspheming and they were prior destroyed I don't want to know how I don't want to know how Satan could do it unto me if I do that I don't want to know well you know what are the avenues that he can use I'd rather just steer clear of that and live in obedience unto the Lord okay look at 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 7 unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure now I believe in my personal opinion that this is a very unique situation to Paul in the sense of you know he was probably tempted to be become very haughty and prideful I mean he's being given a lot of revelation he saw the third heaven right he saw things that were unlawful to speak he's used to pen down the majority of the books of the New Testament he was used in a great way therefore to keep him humble there was given to him a thorn in the flesh but you know what we can apply this on a smaller scale to ourselves and even to our church to make sure look I don't want the thorn in the flesh amen I rather just try to exercise humility as much as I can you know and I want to make sure that we as a church exercise humility as well because in all reality you know at the end of the day God is using our church and thank God for that we've seen a lot of people say we're gonna continue to see a lot of people say God is doing a great work within our church but less the messenger of Satan right be sent to buffet us we need to make sure that we remain humble because the reason of the messenger of Satan's being sent is to keep him humble okay so here here are your options stay humble or be humble either stay humble or God will humble you either way it's gonna get done I'd rather do the first one I'll just try to remain humble and try to deflect the praise to those who have invested in my life deflect the praise to God understand that you know in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing it's because of the people of our church because of the fact that you know that thorn in the flesh it could be anything for our church it could be anything for you why because at the end of the day Satan is used as a tool of destruction for us at times okay go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 so what else can Satan do to us well he could also get an advantage of us he can take advantage of us how by using our weaknesses against us okay now look at 2nd Corinthians 2 10 it says to whom you forgive anything I forgive also for if I forgave anything to whom I forgave it for your sakes forgave I in the person of Christ lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices now in context what is the device that Satan use uses against us well in context we see that it could be bitterness you know throughout the years I've seen a lot of Christians get bitter okay they get the root of bitterness in them and they trouble many because of it they become unforgiving towards other Christians and they can't even see that Satan is actually taking advantage of them because of that you know someone someone hurt them in their lives someone offended them someone didn't render to them honor for whatever reason you know they were they were they were shortchanged on something in life something happened that didn't work to their benefit and they become bitter towards someone okay look that's possible to any of you here that's possible to happen to me that's possible to happen to any of us but we need to make sure that we forgive those people in the person of Christ what does that mean be kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you so we do it because of Christ but we also do it so that Satan doesn't get an advantage of us so this is the attitude we need to have when we're defrauded when we're wrong when someone does wrong unto us father forgive them for they know not what they do he said what if it was a reprobate you know you don't have to forgive reprobates console yourself and knowing that God's gonna burn on me man that's a different category you know you like I know reprobate they violated me or you know they violated someone that I love and I'm bitter towards them you know I wouldn't necessarily call that this type of bitterness that we see here God does not command us to forgive reprobates because he's not even gonna forgive we're talking about people that God will can potentially forgive okay reprobates cannot be forgiven their sins are not gonna be blotted out okay they're gonna burn in the lowest hell we're talking about people who just generally are sinners and maybe have wronged us in times past how about other Christians who have offended you I'm sure within the last two years someone in this church has offended someone in this church okay don't look around Marcus and David you know someone has offended someone you've offended someone someone has offended you what am I supposed to do forgive them let's Satan get an advantage of you okay hey ladies okay well she didn't say hi to me she used to say hi to me you know oh she looked at me weird why are you guys laughing do you have you heard that or something or what I'm just making up potential scenarios okay you know oh she didn't do this or they didn't do this for me you know they're not my friends or they're not working to reach out to me just forgive them and move on and look if someone's not and this is as far as I know this is not happening in our church but if someone is not befriending you in our church why would you want them to be your friend yeah thanks Jacob I don't know if that was like a personal testimony or you just gave yourself away there buddy everyone if you can please just go talk to Jacob after service take him out to eat or something you know why would you want to go say why would you go find another friend don't be bitter towards them you know don't be bitter make sure you forgive because Satan can use that as a device against you you know and the Bible says no weapon formed against me shall prosper but you know what except for the weapon do you create yourself except for the device that you create yourself God you know Satan can use that against you and cause you to stumble and fall now I'm gonna briefly go over some of the things here go with me if you would to go to James chapter number one actually I'm sorry go to Ephesians 4 Ephesians 4 I'm gonna skip some of the points here these are pretty pretty self-explanatory you know he can accuse us which he does the Bible tells us that now what is it the Satan can't do well he can't take away our salvation amen we're eternally secure and and in Christ we have eternal security we have the Holy Spirit of God living within us and with that being said he can't possess us either okay we can never be possessed by Satan because of the fact that the Holy Spirit of God is sealed within us unto the day of redemption now he can definitely influence us the Bible says of Ananias and Sapphira that Satan had filled their heart to lie right I believe that's for in reference to the influence that Satan can have on a Christian but as far as possession is concerned I don't believe that's possible the Bible tells us you know 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 okay he can't make us sin as I mentioned the Bible tells us but in James 1 14 but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and entice then when he had lust that conceived that bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death number three he cannot harm us without God's permission or without us giving place unto him look at Ephesians 4 verse 25 wherefore putting away lying speak every man's truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another be angry and sin not let not the Sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the devil go to James chapter number one so here it tells us to be angry but don't sin and then he kind of reiterates that and states it in a different way by saying let not the Sun go down upon your wrath showing us that when we have wrath we're actually sinning against God okay and in fact we're giving place to the devil what does it mean to give place you're giving him permission to come and basically influence you because in the heat of passion when you're wrathful you have the potential to be tempted to maybe physically harm someone you know punch a brother in Christ or whatever you get mad at someone who's like and then you just feel bad about it afterwards and whatever it's happened I've seen I seen brothers fight before you know and I'm not talking about like you know underground boxing matches that's completely okay okay I'm talking about like when you're bitter towards people and then you just go and punch someone in the mouth or whatever hey I remember back in my old church they used to have underground boxing over there you know back at the staff house they used to have boxing gloves and the guys would just go at it and then one time I'm not gonna say who it was but he's my brother-in-law you know he was he was getting down with someone and then like his uncle was basically the president of the college and they were doing it like after hours like midnight or something like that and they were just going at it and then all of a sudden he just walks in and they're like oh he's like what are you guys doing he just kind of like ripped him because he didn't like that stuff or whatever but you know I thought it was good so but you know it's consensual you know then they're not mad at each other you know there's just a little blood never hurt anybody okay so but I'm talking about physically violating someone you know I'm talking about physically violating someone when they don't want to be harmed or because you have wrath on them that's wrong okay and the Bible says that he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that rule the spirit that he that taketh the city you know the person who can't rule his own spirit is like a city that is broken down without walls why because at that point you can become you had the temptation to become wrathful and look if you have a temper which most men do you need to learn how to control that temper be angry and sin not let not the Sun go down upon your wrath don't give place to the devil look at James 1 verse 19 says wherefore my beloved brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God so what does work the righteousness of God being angry and sinning not you know displaying anger but not necessarily wrath because at that point wrath can can evolve into violating someone okay at that point you can give place unto Satan and he can influence you into doing that what you it's not pleasing inside of the Lord go to Matthew chapter 25 that'll be the last scripture so what is it that he can't do to us well he can't take away our salvation he can't possess us he can't make us sin he can't harm us without God's permission or without us giving place and then lastly this is pretty self-explanatory he can't avoid his impending doom okay and look you know when you get mad about the things of this world and all the stuff that's taking place just remember Satan's going to hell he's gonna we talk about splitting hell wide open he's like the main one who's gonna split it you know he I mean look at Matthew 25 verse 4 41 says then said then shall ye say unto them on the left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels the Bible says that hell everlasting fire was specifically prepared for the devil and his angels what does that mean he's reserved it for them okay and we won't get into all the other scriptures but that's just a way to good a good conclusion to the matter that yes we understand that Satan has a lot of power he can have a lot of authority he's he's the god of this world he can yes he can cause people to not hear the gospel not understand the gospel they end up going to hell he could even hinder Christians to a certain extent he can tempt us deceive us but at the end of the day he's gonna be going to hell okay and at the end of the day he's a tool that God is using for his purpose and so what is it that Satan can and can't do listen to this morning sermon and listen to tonight sermon if you didn't catch it all right let's bow our heads and have word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for all the descriptions that you've given to us the doctrines that we've seen here help us Lord to take this not with the grain of salt but help us to to ruminate upon it to think upon it to meditate upon it and to understand our responsibility to fight this spiritual battle and may we never be so haughty to think that we can just take Satan on one-on-one you know that's not the kind of battle that we should be doing you know we fight behind the pulpit we fight as we wear the spiritual armor as we shot our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace we preach the gospel and see people say we pull people out of the fire we exposed heresy we expose reprobates and we try to bring people to the light to the truth of your word and I pray you continue to protect us place a hedge about us and use us and Lord if you so desire to open up that hedge that our flesh may be destroyed that you can insert a thorn in the flesh I pray you give us grace and help us to sustain the infirmities that we will experience in this lifetime and may all be for your honor and for your glory we love you so much we thank you praise things in Jesus name