Things That Go Bump In The Night (3)

OPEN SERVICE BY HONORING THE VETERANS (READ SPEECH YOU WROTE)

Let me ask you a question this morning, or rather, allow me to pose a scenario for you. Suppose that I was in a dire need of some sorts and that one of you, or some of you, in this scenario, saw that need that I had and you went out of your way and put yourself out, to provide the money or whatever means was necessary to take care of me and to meet that need; if that happened, I would want to say to you, “Thank you, for what you did for me.”

And in time, if possible, I would want to repay you with whatever the cost and personal loss to you there was, which you incurred on my behalf. Even though you never asked for me to repay you, nor did you do it with the expectations or hopes of ever receiving back anything from me. You didn’t do it to receive public accolades and you didn’t do it out of compulsion or pressure by others.

And in time, if possible, I would want to repay you with whatever the cost and loss to you there was, which you incurred on my behalf. Even though you never asked for me to repay you, nor did you do it with the expectations or hopes of ever receiving back anything from me. You didn’t do it to receive public accolades, you didn’t do it because you our of compulsion or pressure by others.

The fact is, in this scenario, you did what you did for me, because you knew that it was the right thing to do and it was within your means to do so. Even at the cost of your own comfort and security, you still made the sacrifice and gave of what you had, to provide for and care for another person in need.

The Bible says, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” And it also says that we should not withhold good from those in need, whenever it is within our means to help them. That we are to do to others, as we would like for them to do to us!

And so, in this scenario, you gave freely to me, to bless me and to benefit me, at great cost to and to your family. And for that, I would want to repay you in whatever way that I could.

If it was money that you had given, I would want to repay it to you and even with interest for your loss.

If it was food, or shelter or clothing, I would want to make restitution, some how and in some way, to show you my deep gratitude for the gift that you had given to me.

But as it stands, in this scenario, you gave up something for me, which I could never repay.

You didn’t just give up some of your comforts at home, with your friends and family to benefit me, no, you gave up all of your comforts for me. You didn’t just hand me some money that you had worked to earn ,but instead, you gave up for me, your very right to work for that money and to pursue your career for your future, so that I might have comfort and the hope and potential for a future!

In fact, you didn’t just sacrifice the things of this life for me; NO, you actually sacrificed life itself for me!

How do I repay that?! How can I ever give back to you that which is not repayable?

The “you” in this scenario, are all of the men and the women, who have ever fought and served this great nation of ours. You gave up all of the rights that this nation affords to its sons and daughters, to walk onto foreign soil and make a stand in defending this nation’s freedom and also the freedom of others from around the world, who are weak and who are unable to fight and stand up for themselves!

You fought for the rights and the freedoms of others, at the loss of your own rights and freedoms!

You stood watch at the wall and gave peace and assurance to those behind you, even when your own hearts were full of fear and dread of the tyranny that lie before you!

You have stood in defiance of the world’s greatest tyrants and terrorists that history has ever recorded and in doing so, you have shown them all that this great nation that we call America, will never bow its knee or head to any other nation or world power!

We are a nation that was built and established by the men and women who believed that we are, “ONE NATION UNDER GOD”.

And that to the Lord God, Yahweh, Himself, do we kneel and bow before and to NO ONE ELSE!

And it is because of you and your great courage and sacrifice, that we can stand together today and boldly make this declaration to the evil that exists in the world powers around us, that we are Americans, the land of the free and the home of the brave!

You are those whom stories and poems and songs have been written of. You are the heroes and legends of whose accounts of heroism are forever recorded in the annuals of world history.

You are our grandfathers and grandmothers, our fathers and mothers and our sons and daughters.

You................ are our VETERANS!

And today we want to honor you and your family and to say, “THANK YOU”!

For in reality, our gratitude and undying love for you, are all that we could ever really give back to you for all that you have done for us and for this great nation!

(Ask for all of the men and women who have served in the armed forces to rise)

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WOULD YOU PLEASE JOIN IN WITH ME RIGHT NOW, AS WE PAY OUR HONOR AND RESPECT TO THESE GREAT MEN AND WOMEN, OUR NATION’S HEROES, WHOM WE PROUDLY CALL THE VETERANS OF OUR ARMED FORCES!

Over the last two weeks, I have been speaking about the subject of FEAR and of the things that pertain to it and in doing so, I have been asking the questions of, “why do so many people, especially Christians, love to pursue things that produce FEAR, in their lives?” And, “Why are people so intrigued with DEATH and destruction and the occultic?

Today, I will be closing this three part message entitled, “Things That Go Bump In The Night” and in doing so, my hope is that every single one of us will begin to evaluate the things that we are allowing to come into our homes and into our lives.

The Bible tells us in , “God is light and in Him is no DARKNESS at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in DARKNESS, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the LIGHT, as he is in the LIGHT, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

There are things that we encounter in our Christian walk, that we must pray about and seek Biblical counsel on, as far as them being “good” or “bad”, “dark” or “light”, “beneficial” or “non-beneficial”.

However, other things just openly scream out DARKNESS! And these things that do nothing but glorify the DARKNESS and the god of this world, the devil, we are to have not part in!

Horror movies and the like, that depict the macabre and murder and mutilation and anything like this, should be left alone by the Christian.

Even if you say that you are a true Christian and that you watch such things, but do not experience anything bad from them in your life and that it is just entertainment, you are on very unsteady ground!

These movies and activities that promote FEAR and DARKNESS and DEATH, are not from, or glorifying to God in any way, shape form or fashion.

And as to the man which I mentioned 2 Sundays ago, who is a top Hollywood movie producer, who produces these horror movies and says that he is a true Christian and that he uses these movies as a way to expose the darkness and to show the reality of its existence, I say, “HOGWASH”!

You don’t have to go any further than the news networks for a few minutes to see that the DARKNESS is all around us, in the world.

If you are a Christian, you will see and recognize the presence of the enemy and his DARKNESS all around you in the world that you live in. You shouldn’t have to go and support movies that are actually glorifying the DARKNESS, in order to recognize its existence.

As Christians, we are to do what Jesus did. We expose the DARKNESS by shining His glorious LIGHT.

When the LIGHT of Yeshua shines upon the DARKNESS, those who are engaging in the DARKNESS, scatter light roaches when you turn on the lights.

This is why people find it ridiculous when someone like me talks about things of horror, and demonic and occultic activity and and shows how that we are not to take part in them.

As I stated last Sunday, what Hollywood has done, to make these TV shows and movies seem right and equitable and morally OK for a Christian to view, is that they depict the LIGHT overcoming the DARKNESS, that is GOOD triumphing over EVIL.

And as long as the GOOD wins out over the EVIL, then these productions are morally beneficial to the viewer.

What people fail to recognize, as I mentioned and stressed last week, is that the problem with this mindset of GOOD triumphing over EVIL in these movies and TV shows and it being morally healthy, is that they have removed God and the truth of His glorious LIGHT from the equation!

Just because you show a priest sprinkling “holy water” and making the sign of the cross in a movie, does not count for the presence and the representation of God in anything!

If you want to glorify God, then truly show Him and His presence and the TRUTH of His sovereign and Holy Word!

Hollywood’s idea of GOOD winning over EVIL, is more accurately called, one shade of DARKNESS overcoming another level of DARKNESS!

There is nothing glorifying to God in a TV show about the devil, or about witches and there is nothing glorifying to God in a movie that is showing people being mutilated and tortured, or demons inhabiting people’s homes, or anything like that!

And the reason that so many are drawn to these things, is an answer that most of these people do NOT want to hear.

If you are drawn to and entertained by any of the things that I have been talking about (horror, macabre, demonic, occultic, FEAR driven entertainment, or any of the other things that people call, “just entertainment”, like nudity and sexually explicit material), then it is NOT the Lord God and His glorious LIGHT that are driving this interest of yours.

In fact, it is quite the opposite, it is the DARKNESS itself, which beckons you.

I am not saying that you are living in complete DARKNESS and that you are lost, but I am STRONGLY suggesting that you evaluate why you find the things that are opposite to the Kingdom of God entertaining!

The Bible CLEARLY tells us that our enemy disguises himself as an angel of LIGHT!

He doesn’t come and present himself as DARKNESS, but rather, he shows himself as LIGHT to those who think that they are looking at light.

Just because some man or woman on a TV show is wearing a nice suit and is holding a Bible in their hands and they tell you that it’s OK for you to do something, or for you to watch something, doesn’t make it right in the eyes of God.

You may think that it is acceptable and still in the light, but it could be screaming DARKNESS all the while!

And YES, I am even speaking on my behalf as well. Don’t you ever just take what I or anyone else tells you as being true, when it comes to the gospel message. READ IT FOR YOURSELF!

You are accountable for what you say and for what you do and for what you believe as to your spiritual walk with the Lord goes!

And although I promise to always teach you and share with you the TRUTH of the entire WORD OF GOD, it is still up to you to read that Word for yourself and pray to God and to allow His Holy Spirit to speak to you and teach you in all truth!

The moment that the TRUTH in your life becomes whatever “so and so” said or taught, shows that you are already in the process of being deceived by the one who disguises himself as an angel of light!

There are only two sides in the spiritual realm that exist all around us and around our physical bodies at all times, there is the spiritual LIGHT of God and there is the spiritual DARKNESS of the enemy!

And both sides are in constant battle for the souls of you and I.

And depending on which side you are more in tune with, will determine your thoughts and actions and deeds. As well as what you are teaching and declaring and propagating to others!

This is why we have people who are teaching just what my sister testified about 2 weeks ago, when she shared part of her testimony about her life in Wicca, when she spoke of how there are now people teaching and professing that you can be a Christian and also a practicing witch! (As long as it is “white” magic and not “dark” magic!)

There are no such things as “white” magic/“good” magic, “good” spells, “good” incantations, etc.

Witchcraft and the occultic are strictly forbidden by God in His Word.

READ VERSES IF I FEEL LED

, “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.”

, , “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community. “Men and women among you who act as mediums or who consult the spirits of the dead must be put to death by stoning. They are guilty of a capital offense.”

And also , “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery/witchcraft, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Do not be deceived into believing that you can have both LIGHT and DARKNESS active in your life! You can only serve one master!

And whether or not you believe in these two kingdoms and their existence round us, matters not and does not change their existence!

You can say all day long that you do not believe in tiny creatures that live on and in your body and that their are microscopic battles taking place on and in your body each and every day. BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that these little organisms are real and that both sides are battling over the health and the condition of your body!

The same is happening in the spiritual realm. There are two sides battling over the health of your spiritual body. Whether you believe it or not doesn’t change their existence!

There are people who travel all over this nation, teaching that they can scientifically prove that the earth is indeed FLAT. They have conferences where they convene and talk about this issue!

It doesn’t matter that they THINK that the earth is flat, it doesn’t change the fact that our earth is a sphere and that this sphere rotates on an orbital axis.

And make no mistake about it people, the enemy loves it when you do not have a REAL and genuine belief in him and who and what he is!

So, to move forward in today’s message, there are only the 2 spiritual realms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil! (LIGHT AND DARK)

In talking about these two realms and their influence on us and our lives, I wanted to spend the rest of the time in the message this morning, dealing with the reality of the two groups who are key players in these two kingdoms.

In other words, I want to speak with you briefly about the subject of ANGELS and DEMONS.

Who are they? What do they do? What do they want with us? Is their presence in our lives noticeable?

I will deal a little more with the issue of demons in this very brief period of time, simply because it is the area of the demonic that I want you to have a healthier understanding of.

The devil and demons are those in which we war with in the spiritual darkness and they are the ones who work to deceive you and I and to lead us away from our walk with the Lord.

So, without too much time and attention on them, let me say a few things about angels, as found within the Bible.

Who and what are the angels as found in the Bible?

In different periods of time, people have developed unnatural and unhealthy images and understandings about these created beings of heaven.

What do many people think of when you hear the word “angel”?

Do you see the little fat, naked baby with wings flying in the sky?

This image of an angel didn’t exist, until the Renaissance era, sometime between the 14 to 17 century, which was a warped image of a little cupid looking creature and the Biblical beings mentioned in the Bible who guard the glory of God and surround His throne!

The angels, according to the Bible, are created beings.

tells us,

Nehemiah 9:6 ESV

6 “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

And tells us,

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

So, in these two verses, we see that the host of heaven and rulers and authorities of the invisible realm, were created by God, through Jesus.

This is referring to the angelic beings that are from God.

There exists in most people’s minds, this image of winged men, when we see depictions of angels, right?

But do angels have wings?

Well, we know of two different heavenly beings that were created by the Lord and exist in heaven that do in fact have wings. They are, the seraphim and the cherubim.

The cherubim are seen first in the book of , where the fall of mankind in the garden has just taken place and Adam and Eve are being banished from the garden. The Bible says that, “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

So, in our first glimpse of the cherubim, we see them as powerful guardians. And that is consistent from then on in Bible. They seem to be watching over and guarding the holiness of God. Just as we saw one being placed at the east entrance to guard the way back into the garden, we also see them depicted as the beings that sit above the mercy seat on the arc of the covenant, as seen in , where God guided Moses in crafting two gold beings that sit on the mercy seat and faced one another with their wings stretched out to one another and touching.

The cherubim are described as having four wings, and four faces (a lion, a ox, a man and an eagle). They fly with one set of wings and cover their bodies with the other set.

They have the likeness of a man, according to and they also have hands like a man, under their wings.

The Bible tells us that God in enthroned above the cherubim and that He rides upon them.

So these beings are stationed around the throne of Yahweh, Himself, and as guardians of the holiness of God, they are powerful beings.

In , in fact we see one particular being who is described as being a cherub. It is the depiction that we believe to be a description of the devil, before he fell.

The Bible gives this description of the devil, before he fell: he was covered in precious gems and gold. He was created by God as the anointed cherub who guards and he was blameless in his ways, until unrighteousness was found in him and then he was exiled.

The other winged angels that we find within the Bible, are the seraphim. They are shown only in and they are described as having six sets of wings: two that cover their face, two that cover their feet and two that they use to fly with.

These angels are around the throne and they continually worship before God, as Isaiah records them calling out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory!”

The other depictions of angels, show them in human like appearance, coming as men to carry out the Lord’s will.

As in the case of the angel named Gabriel, who is seen in the book of Daniel and in Luke’s gospel. In both accounts, Gabriel comes to deliver a message from the Lord God to people.

It was Gabriel in who delivered the good news to Mary that she was to be the mother of the Christ child.

And it was Gabriel in the book of Daniel , who came and told Daniel that as soon as Daniel began to pray and humble himself before the Lord, his prayer was heard in heaven and God had sent Gabriel to respond and give Daniel an answer.

In this same account, it is Gabriel who identifies another angelic being by name, who is listed as one of the archangels, and that is, Michael.

Gabriel and Michael, are both listed by name in the Old and the New Testaments.

Michael is a warring angel and has an angelic host under his command, as seen in , where John sees Michael and his angels warring the great dragon, the devil.

The Bible tells us that angels are ministering spirits, as we find in , where the Bible says,

Hebrews 1:13–14 NLT

13 And God never said to any of the angels, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” 14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

They are created beings who serve the Lord God, the are messengers, they are warriors, they are worshippers, they are guardians , and ) and they bring comfort to those in need, as with Jesus in the wilderness, after His 40 days of being tempted and fasting and also in the Garden of Gethsemane, where an angel appeared to Jesus to strengthen Him, before His crucifixion.

We do NOT become angels, when we die, contrary to many far fetched ideas. The Bible says in , that we will judge the angels.

The Bible mentions that

This refers to the fact that we will rule over, or be higher in status in heaven than the angels, as we were created in the image of God and redeemed by the blood of the Son of God. Not the angels.

Angels are never to be worshipped! and Colossians 2:18 clearly shows this and God, Himself, openly declares that He and He alone is to EVER be worshipped!

And angels have free will, as evident by the fact that there are those who openly rebelled against God and who were, like the devil, cast down and out of heaven.

It is here that we get to the demons. Demons, as we recognize them, are fallen angelic beings, who rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven. , tells us that as the dragon (the devil) took one third of the stars of heaven with him, when he was defeated and fell. So, the angels that sided with the devil, were cast out of heaven. And although, we do not know the numbers who fell, suffice it to say, that it is a lot. tells us that there were millions of angels, just around the throne of God and says the same thing, “myriads and myriads and thousands of thousands”. So, there are millions and millions of angels still in heaven and that is after the 1/3 who fell in rebellion. So, there would most likely me millions of demons as well.

There are other references to those angels that rebelled against God, as in , where Peter records, God’s not sparing the angels when they sinned, but casting them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.

And also , where we read, “And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.”

So, just as the angels of heaven have assignments and created tasks that they perform for the Lord God, so also, do demons carry out tasks and orders for the devil, their leader, whom they followed in rebellion. There are levels of power in the devil’s army, as Paul makes mention of in , where he says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Demons are sent to deceive and to lie to us, to cause sickness and emotional anguish. They torment humans and their goal is drive us away from and keep us from coming to a relationship with the Lord God.

Demons are powerful beings, as are angels, BUT, if you are in fact a blood bought saint and true child of God, then you have been given ALL AUTHORITY over them, to remove them and keep them from hindering the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

In , we see the 70 disciples returning to Jesus and marveling by saying, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

And response, Jesus mentioned that He witnessed as Satan fell from heaven, and then He said to disciples, “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them.”

And in Jesus said this, before ascending back to heaven,

Mark 16:17–18 ESV

17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

To a true believer, a demon has no authority and power in your life. The Bible tells us that as God’s children, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God (we are marked and branded as God’s own) and that God’s Spirit resides within a TRUE follower of Yeshua!

And because of this, the Bible tells us we are not subject to the oppression and power of the demons, because, “greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world!”

In fact, the Bible tells us this in in referring to Jesus and His death upon the cross, it says, “In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

Demons cannot “possess” a true Christian! They can attack and come against you, but they cannot share and possess the same space and control a vessel that the Spirit of almighty God inhabits!

The Bible says that we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Jesus!

The Bible also tells us that because of this, we are NOT to have anything to do with the DARKNESS! (Parents and the TV in the house: READ FROM PHONE)

Paul said, “What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil?”, “And I don’t want you to participate with demons. You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.”

In other words, we are to have NOTHING to do with the DARKNESS, because even though a demon cannot possess a believer, they can most definitely come and torment your life, if you give them legal access!

Demons are what I like to call, “spiritual parasites”. Does everyone know what parasites are? You know, they are those small organisms that need a “host” to invade, so that they can survive and feed off of the host and use it as a vehicle to survive.

Let me show you a couple of examples of my analogy of demons.

SHOW SLIDES OF THE SACCULINA BARNACLE PARASITE and also the CRYPT KEEPER WASP ( it is a parasite inside of the parasitic oak gall wasp) SHOW HOW THESE ARE LIKE DEMONS IN YOUR LIFE!

Mention about Barbara’s mother and her possession (DO SO AS ANONYMOUS)

Mention about John Ramirez and his life in demonic activity and his prayer life to the devil and then Suzanne’s testimony of the powerful prayer and worship of the people in Haiti.

Here is thing guys, if there is something that is showing up in your life that is of the darkness: thoughts of suicide, rage and uncontrolled anger, depression and anxiety, sexually immoral thoughts on your mind, or thoughts of homosexuality and the like. If you find yourself just having no more interest in reading the Word as you once did and praying to you is all but non-existent, when you used to pray all of the time, then there is most definitely a demonic stronghold in our life. You have opened a door, or there was an open door at some point in your life and the parasite crept in and has begun to use you as its vehicle!