April 24, 2022 Sunday Worship Service (Steve)

I will thank you Chief, very much. You did a great job. Always does a good job him and Kayden both all the men do a good job. And we're thankful for the talent that we do have here as they lead and serve us and that we glorify God together through their service. So we appreciate them very much, that's going to God In Prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for the day. We thank you for the now. This opportunity. We have to study and hear a portion of your were finally, pray that the preaching today might reach the hearts of those here today and father that they might make a decision in their life to do, what is right to do, what you desire of them. Father. We pray father that you help us to understand the significance of the death of Christ in our lives. But also the resurrection that brings hope the hope of eternal life and so father, we're so very thankful as we have been just reminded of the the body and blood of Our Lord who died on our behalf, but he asked us to continue to win, souls through preaching and teaching father. We pray that we can do that not only from the pulpit. But for each one of us here today that we can share Jesus Christ with those about us, we know father that There's nothing in this life that we can do without Jesus Christ, and we're so blessed to have him in our lives. Father, help us to share him with other so that they too. Can have those very blessings and their lives. Father, forgive us when we are forgive us of the sins in our lives and father help us to do better as your children. We pray this to Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Talking about demons and demon possession. And we have to because we're starting the Life of Christ. And in the Life of Christ. Jesus has encountered these demons and he's encountered those acts as they're called those who are demon possessed. And on a number of occasions. He had healed those who were demon possessed. But as we think about the idea of demon possession, I want us to think about what the Bible says. And not what Hollywood says, right? I don't want us to think that demon possession is the Exorcist. All right, don't think about that. That's wrong. Do you have a session that we read about in scripture is far different than what Hollywood presenze and I'm moving you to understand that and I think that has affected many people in our society that they think that that is what demon possession is. In fact, there is no demon possession today and I was going to come right out. There is no demon possession today. There was we can read about that in scripture. So we're going to take two Sundays, to talk about demon possession. Today. We're going to have an introduction talking about demons in demon possession and how it relates to the Bible and how it relates to our lives. And then next week. We're going to talk about the ending of demon possession. And so hope that you will come to both of these studies and learn more about it. And, as we think about Dina possession, demon possession is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. There are two occasions that talk about a evil spirit being sent by God and a distressing spirit, being sent by God. That's not demon possession. Those are two different ideas and Concepts and then we come in to the dawning of the New Testament and you don't read about demon possession. But when you start reading about demon possession, you're starting to read about the ministry of Jesus Christ. In fact, the demon possession that we read about in The Gospel accounts takes place within those three years of his ministry. And after he returns back to the father, sitting at the right hand of the father. We read about three other occasions. Were the apostles were involved, Peter Paul? The Apostle's are involved in getting rid of a demon from these demon possessed people and after.

And after that, you just don't read about it. So, as we consider demon possessions, were thinking about that, which occurred in the Bible that which occurred with in Jesus of ministry and the apostles. It's interesting that in Acts chapter 11 beginning verse in the Bible tells us that they were to begin their preaching in Jerusalem. That's the apostles, begin their preaching in Jerusalem, then to Judea then to Samaria. And then, to the uttermost parts of the Earth. Beginning in Jerusalem and Judea, we find that Jesus is encountering demon-possessed people. And then Peter encounters, a demon possessed person, and Acts chapter 5, and then twice, Paul and counters to demonized people, Domani ex and his missionary campaigns or missionary Journeys. And that's beginning of actually Philip does sewing in Samaria. So either we go from Jerusalem, Judea, that's where Jesus was. And then Philip does his demon possession or he heals a man of being demon possessed in Samaria and then Paul comes along and now he's preaching to the uttermost parts of the earth. That is to the Gentiles and places Beyond. And after that, you don't read about it, any more, certainly, demon possession has been a thought and a figure in the minds of men since well, perhaps just the beginning of time. And certainly in Pagan, religions. You can read about all sorts of pagan religions through history, that felt that there were evil gods and they were good God, and that, the evil Gods had the ability to enter into the minds and bodies of evil people and they would do wicked things to the wicked people. And but you won't find that in the teaching of the Old Testament, you will not find that in the teaching of the law of Moses. In fact, the law, of Moses said to the Israelites have nothing to do with a spiritist. Have nothing to do with the occult, have nothing to do with the dark Forces of life. You stay away from them. And so none of them wherever possess that you can read about in God's were the only time that you read about these things as during the ministry of Jesus and beginning Ministry of the Apostles. And I want us to think about this particular passage in Zechariah 13:9 to I believe my name is. Don't even look at this passage when it comes to the idea of of a demon possession and demons being around today because this is a prophecy concerning the church. That's after I was talking about and he's already talked about a coming time when the church would be established on the top of the mountain. And now, he's talking about the church era at this time. And he says, she'll be in that day. Says, the Lord of hosts that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land and they shall, we shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets It all, if you look on television today, you can look at all these televangelists and you can see that a lot of them talked about being Prophets.

You have a lot of people in the religious World thinking that they are prophets. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean Spirit to depart from the land. You see, there was a convergence of Good and Evil, a Confluence emerging together of Good and Evil. When At the time of Christ. That's what Zachariah is pointing out. He's already talked about the coming Messiah that he was going to for his blood will be drawn from his vein.

And now you saying that day. In that day. And we find that, that is exactly what happened. It was to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. It was to prove that he had power over death, and it was to prove that he had power over the devil over evil, in fact and 1st John 3:8, the Bible tells us that Jesus came to destroy the Devil. And his Works. Revelation 20:10 says the same thing come to destroy the devil and his works. The Bible also says that Jesus bound Satan. Tie them up at work. You like this. He's in a straitjacket friends. He can't move. He does not have the power to do what he wants to do. In fact, he doesn't have the power that God allowed him to do what he wants. Did when God allowed it. He could do it, but when God does not allow, he's been bound. What you think about that. These are important matters because it's a whole group of people out in the world today that thing that these things go on today. A lot of fear in the hearts of people over this kind of thing. You can read about exorcisms and all of this other stuff and you can read about that. But it's everything is always done in secret. Everything is always done in a corner. Everything is always done in the dark. When you read about demon possession. Everybody do it. That is when you read about demon possession in scripture, you can read about the towns in The Villages and all the people that knew these people were possessed. And again, it was only to prove that Jesus had power over both death and the devil. In fact, Jesus, it is told that he has the keys of death and of Hades. He has the keys of both death and Hades. And that one day when he comes again, he's going to throw both into the sea into the abyss. And so we consider the idea of demons looking at some observations of demons characteristics of demons. And then we're going to talk about observations and characteristics of demon possession, but first, first and foremost, you got to talk about this guy. We got to talk about the devil, but that was a real deal. He's a real individual. We talked about a few weeks ago, talking about the devil and that he was personified. He is the personification of evil, there is a face behind evil and he is the father of all evil. He's the first to send it. So we'll talk more about that. But as we think about the devil, we can think that he is called, Satan is called the Devil. He's called Abaddon Papa lion, Great Dragon old serpent, the deceiver the adversary the accuser, Beelzebub Belial, the evil one, the enemy, the father of Lies a liar, a murderer. God of this world. The ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air and the tempter, all of those names. I replied to Satan the devil. That old Dragon, you can read about in Revelation, chapter 12 at Old. Dragon of old that serpent the devil in their, we find that John Nadeau the down specifically who the dragon was. So there's no description. Other than that of the devil. We don't know if he has horns. We don't know about his long tail. We don't know whether he's holding a pitchfork or not. Right? We are you go out on Halloween and that's what you find kids dressed up. As you know, people dressed up like Satan why? I don't know kind of goofy to me. You want to be like the devil but the description of Jesus in the Bible. Do you find some some obscure mentioning of his visit and things of that nature? But there is nothing that says he had, brown eyes, blue eyes. Nothing to say that he was black. We could just say that he was a Hebrew. We can also say they probably had darker-skinned and most of us, right. So what does it matter in the first place, but we have no description of Jesus. Yet. We have many famous paintings of Jesus, right? We haven't as a white feared, feared skin white guy with black hair and blue eyes. Right, you think of these the Brad Pitt of the day, I suppose, although Brad Pitt doesn't have black here. But in a picture with blue eyes and you have all those pictures, he's clean his roles, got nothing? No stains on the road. I wonder if that was true during his life walking through the towns and the cities of Judea. Probably not. And did he have a beer? Did he have long hair? Probably not just like the pictures to fit. It was a sin for a Jewish man to have a long hair. So what would Jesus be pictured with long hair? But yet over and over again, you find pictures of Jesus like that. So I say all that to say this that we are influenced by those things you do, when you think of Jesus, when he does paintings of Jesus and what he looks like in the books in the pages and different journals and magazines that you saw throughout your lifetime. Well, it's not him. That we know that the pictures of that, the picture that the Bible draws of Jesus is that he was nothing. Of appearance. Another words. He was a normal looking, dude. He wasn't a good-looking guy. All right, there's a difference between normal-looking. We like to say normal looking. All right, there's normal looking dudes. And then there's dudes, right? There's, there's some dudes that are good looking and I'm jealous and I roam where I'm kind of the latter part of it. The rest of the dues somewhere in that pic, that area. He wasn't like David. He wasn't good-looking guys with big guys.

Was like that. Probably for good reason, but as we think about the incorrect applications. For instance, is not time to go through this, but we have the first mention of Lucifer, simply means a day star. Jesus was called day started to know that.

The Morning Star Day star is Lucifer. That's the word Lucifer. Lucifer is not the devil. I know you hear that all the time, your TV over and over the news, everything people say, Lucifer, Lucifer.

Lucifer's the king of Babylon. You read Isaiah chapter 14, you have to read that and he can't miss it. It's the king of Babylon. And then you come to the Book of Ezekiel with a second time and it's the king of Tyre or tear. So we find here that there's a Miss applications of things. People assume things that they ought not to assume. So interested application here is wisdom. Let him who has no understanding calculate. The number of the Beast for it is the number of a man. Whose number is 666. How many times have we come across people? Using 666 as the sign of the devil? Who's the Beast? Right? You go to rock concerts, right? If people are doing this till the horde, the devil horns, and they're rocking out yet. The band, is this devil these breathing fire and he's got horns and all of that stuff and above is 666, the Devil's, it has nothing to do with the devil. What does it say? The number of a man?

A man, not a spirit being his number is 66, in fact some translations. A604. So the idea here is that it's being applied to a man and it was up to the people to readers to understand what that number meant. You attached. Hebrew letters are Greek letters. If you attach Hebrew letters, it's 666. If you attach, Greek letters is 612. And both arrived through what we history shows that 666 is applied too narrow. Write Caesar narrow. And that's in Revelation chapter 13. Do you want to go there the origin of Saint? Not. Exactly sure. Doesn't really specifically say there's a lot of assumptions involved and probably good a sound of something but but something has done the West. Divine nature, created all things. God, created all things we can read about.

And we also learn that through creation is Spirit how to roll. So God the God had divine nature, one divine nature, the one godhead or one God, created all things and that would include Satan. All things were said to be good. At the end of creation. He doesn't say well, some things are good. Some things are bad. He says hi. Everything is good. Jesus created was good. Satan was created good there for Satan soul from his original state. Scriptures do not explicitly say that he's a fallen angel yet. Angel smell. It doesn't say he was created an angel. Perhaps. Right. There was a hell made for the devil and his angels.

Whether or not the devils and angels, we don't know, we assume so probably a good assumption, but I'm not going to stick steak by solo on it either. So we just say I think so. My study judgment is this. Scriptures do not explicitly say, he's not a fallen angel either. So we just leave it at that. So the misapplied passages dealing with the Fallen Angel Theory. There. Jesus was talking with his disciples and they were coming back and they were all excited because Jesus gave them power and they came back and they were killing people, and they were driving out demons from people. And they were telling Jesus is all about of Jesus. Jesus. That's what we did just like little kids. This is what was going on.

Stop talking about demons.

Revelation chapter 12 refers to a spiritual battle between the church and Satan's forces. It's not talking that you're mentioned Revelation, chapter 12 talking about the dragon of the serpent of old and the devil right there. Jesus is pointing out that there was a dragon and he was the serpent in the garden, right? And he could transform himself into what he liked for that day. It was a serpent and he's the devil. He says, so we find these different things popping up. Otherwise, we start coming up with the imaginations in the Bible tells us not to think beyond what is written. Don't think because I love that. Don't think beyond what is written? The only time we get to think is what it's, what it says. It's what it says is a fallen angel who sinned because of Pride, and he may have sinned because of being in a position of authority and that's what 1st Timothy Chapter 3 and verse. 6 is talking about it there and says this is talking about Elders, the characteristics of of an elder. And that is not a novice. This is the idea that the elders should not be a novice lesbian puffed. Up with pride. He fall into the same condemnation as the devil. So evidently the following of Satan has something to do with pride. Perhaps he was made the Archangel right? Perhaps perhaps he had power over Michael. Power over Gabriel perhaps. He had power over all the angels with a big head, right? Possibly perhaps it's right. So you became puffed up and fell because of being cuffed up saying condemns us. And certainly that is, the truth was puffed up, and he did fall, and Satan does, condemn has elephant has member eliphaz. He was one of jobs, friends, friends, you know, when your friend comes up to you and says, what did you do you want to do something bad? Because God got to get you. How can you be in the situation? You must have really messed up. It's not how it works. And Joe do that, but Alex has a source that angel send, and certainly, we can read that and drove chapter for. So, there was a following of angels. There was something that was done. And so, if Satan was an archangel who fell due to Pride than this explains several passages, if Satan rules over, Michael it explains, Michaels failure to rebuke Satan. Number in, Jude. The book of Jude chapter 9 verse 9 chapter 1. It says here, that Michael refused to rebuke Satan, but he would wait on God, to do the review key. That is because God had anointed him at some point art, angel, if that be the case. And also remember David. He too waited for the Lord rebuke saw because he had been anointed by God as king. So when someone was anointed by God, you didn't have a right to go and condemn them in to make fun of them in to say all sorts of bad things about them. We tried to do that with our politicians, don't we? Right. We are not to do that. What are Democrat? Republican independent communist socialist, whatever it is?

Been appointed to serve. And therefore we have no right to treat them. Unfairly. Just the way David had every right to call Saul every name in the book, but he didn't. He left that for God. Associate with the Devil is not a demon Diablo, says the word for devil and is not d'mannose. It's not the same word, nor the same being. So let's talk about the characteristics of the Demons. They knew Jesus just like we read, they knew Jesus, isn't it? Funny how they said you're coming to get rid of it before the time. They knew that there was a time when they were going to suffer but it wasn't yet. And so they said why did you just throw us into the pigs? I'm so Jesus says, okay, throw you into the pigs. And then one of the pigs. Do they start running down the hill? Off the cliff and into the ocean and funny they could get away but they were drowned on the list and they're afraid of water. That's that's a myth. We don't know. Just bring it on out. They worship Jesus. They feared Jesus, they knew Jesus's torment, and I knew their Destiny, the abyss and so we read all of that. And we think about how Jesus came to them. And ask them. Who are you? They said Legion for. We are many. For we are many. So we find here that there was multiple hosts within certain people that were demon possessed. They were subject to Jesus, which by the way, when you think about all these exorcists and exorcisms that you can read about, sometimes in the news, sometimes in the paper, wherever you're going to read about some things where it takes a couple of days a week, a month to exorcise the demon out of the individual. And why is it always windy mean? We're looking at a bunch of examples that had thousands of demons Legion within a person but they take a week or so to get rid of the demon from the person. And yet when Jesus and the apostles came in just said hey.

It was no, you know, ritualistic things going on and wearing the robes and Burning Lights, and incense and candles, and all of that that did not take place. They were rebuked by Jesus and it had nothing to do with Jesus. They wanted nothing to do with Jesus and they believed in God. Remember what James says, you do? Well to believe in God, even the demons believe in God and tremble, that kind of tells me that faith. Without works is dead. That is faith. Without obedience is dead. That's the difference between Christians and demons. Demons believe in Jesus, but they disobeyed Jesus. That's why that fell. So they believed they had Faith only they believe because that works again, none in the Old Testament. Also the King James translation of demon as devil or devils and I think they make the mistake because there's two different words there. And so you always come across as Devils or devils are devils in those passages. There's over 100 testing. It references to Demons, or 70, plus times of demon possession, + 10 + x of evil spirits. Any ideas about the origin, the missing superstition? So what do people come to the Bible? They say there wasn't really anything like demon possession in the Bible. It's all myths. It's all Superstition. That's all it's after all men wrote, the Bible, there. Just funny stories. They're just stories to keep people in check and then people talk about well, Supreme race. So, who was the first man? Adam?

How to soak the pre of Democrats means something before Adam was created. Right, you can't read about that in the Bible. But that's from the fertile imaginations of man. And then The Offspring of angels and humans where the angels and humans got together and they had babies. Can you think of anything? So stupid?

A physical being have a conical relation with a spirit being.

Can you imagine how can you think about that? But that's the way people are. Fallen Angels, perhaps. That's right. Perhaps that is right. Now, there are a number of Scholars out. There was one of them. He was a member of the Lord's church back in the day and he thought they were disembodied spirits of dead wicked men. Dead, wicked men, don't know. We don't know if you go to the story of the rich man, and Lazarus was fine. So that no one could return according to Abraham. He couldn't send, you couldn't, send anyone back to help the people to help the guys, Brothers, five brothers that were still alive when he was in torment. Remember? He said they buried him. Just just send send someone from here to go back and tell my brothers to live righteously and don't come to this place where I am. And what did they say? They got the Bible.

They have the law and the prophets is what he said that they they can take you to solve Act. Again, in my ears. I hear that repeating. You can consult God's word for the information and not the fertile imaginations of many people because the fertile imaginations of people, or outlandish, to say the least who cast out demons Jesus Apostles disciples, 70 of them in in the gospel accounts, Believers, we can read about that. Peter Philip Paul. and then, We're going to get into the idea of next week, talking about the idea of demon possession and then can it happen today. Can that happen today? And my answer to you was no, but we're going to dig into that next week, but we do know this. This is what the Bible teaches us that we can overcome. The devil that we can overcome Temptation that we can overcome anything fraud in our way as an obstacle. That might deter us from Jesus Christ. And that is simply this. We need to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that we need to repent of our sins that we need to confess faith in Christ Jesus, that he is the son of the Living. God don't even have time for the remission of our sins and then being faithful notice. It doesn't say be perfect. Happy perfect. None of us are perfect. None of us will ever be perfect. That's why Jesus was sent because he was the perfect one for you and me, but he says be faithful being faithful. Means we're going to send, but Jesus is the answer for our sins. And so you can overcome the devil in Jesus. As it begins this way he that believe and is baptized. She'll be safe. Do you get to believe that if you don't? But that's the starting point with Jesus points out. Many have been baptized but many walk away. They want her. We're like sheep all have gone astray. The Bible tells us and sometimes we need to return and we returned by repenting over sins. We don't need to be baptized. We just simply repent and say I was wrong, and I am sorry for that. And I want to return. If you're subject to that, invitation today, want to come together as we stand inside.