Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Morning everybody. Good to see you this morning. My name is Craig Jarvis. I'm the lead pastor here at Village Church East, and it's my, uh, privilege to be able to bring the word of God to you this morning. Uh, this actually is a combo from our last Sunday because there was just too much information to cover in one Sunday. So, uh, rather than keeping you here for two hours last Sunday, I'll just keep you here for an hour and a half. Last Sunday, an hour and a half this Sunday, and then I get two, three hours out of it. So there you go. Uh, I wanted to, uh, just highlight, um, we have a lot of exciting things coming up. The reset Sunday that's coming up, uh, week after Labor Day. I hope everybody's planning on being here. We really would like for this to be kind of a, a gathering for everybody that's kind of been off on the summer or doing summer stuff, or your kid's been involved in summer, uh, activities.
Speaker 0 00:00:48 And this would be our time to come together and just kind of highlight our ministries, give thanks to God for what he has done through our church the summer. It's been a busy summer, uh, but we've had amazing opportunities, doors that have opened for us to get into our community like never before. And I don't expect that to stop, which is very exciting. So, uh, we've got the bike repair coming up. Hopefully you'll, uh, sign up for that. If you can change a spare tire or help me change one, that would be great. Uh, we got some work to do on bicycles, but we're gonna keep this going. And on reset Sunday, you'll hear about that ministry and many others that we're excited about, uh, kind of enhancing as we go through 2024. Can you believe we're going to 2024? It's crazy. Uh, but that'll be reset Sunday.
Speaker 0 00:01:31 I hope you'll be there for that. And then I want to give just a, a plug for the Sunday after that, uh, we have, uh, a, a unique opportunity. We have a missionary coming in, uh, and he is from Uganda and he works with, uh, children who have been, um, abused and, uh, actually, um, um, used in sacrifices but survived. And, uh, there's a lot of interesting, uh, things that he's gonna share with us about his life in Uganda and his ministry. Uh, it is an amazing ministry like you've never heard before. Uh, we'll give you more about that in, uh, letter that's coming out this week to give you an update, uh, an uh, uh, uh, heads up as to uh, maybe what you can prepare for as you come into that Sunday service together. But that's the Sunday after reset Sunday. And, uh, it will be a powerful, powerful time. Um, I'm excited for us to be able to have somebody of his caliber to come in and share that Sunday with us. And, uh, he's excited too. So I can't wait to see him. His name is Peter. You're gonna love him. Uh, but anyway, I just want to give you that little plug. Alright, let's dive into our second part of the, uh, uh, sermon, uh, message on discerning demonic spirits. And here's your intro. How many of you think our world is changing really fast? Yeah, you think so? Well, you are right.
Speaker 1 00:02:59 Uh, it is actually changing faster than it ever has in human history because we, we did not have the internet until Al Gore gave it to us in the nineties. So it has not been around that that long since one person got that <laugh>. So, so, uh, that actually, uh, opened up this, I think it's just a fad. I don't think it's gonna be here too much longer, but no, I'm just kidding, <laugh>, that that whole thing, computers and that kind of thing has changed our world. You can have an idea in your mother's basement. Uh, you know, you haven't had a job for 40 years and you can have an idea posted on the internet and people thousands of miles away can buy it within five minutes. It's, it's a crazy opening, challenging new world. Never been like this before. And I hate to tell you this, but the world is changing and it will continue to do so.
Speaker 1 00:03:49 There's nothing that's gonna stop this ball from rolling in the process. The days of yes and no are gone. Now. We have entered into a, a, a pattern of life where there is a lot of gray area. There's a lot of, a lot of space about, uh, what we, what we could or could not get involved in. And we need to have a really sharp, spiritually grounded mind in order to understand what we should or should not get involved in. Some of the things that have just come out within the last couple of years are, how should I feel about marijuana? How should I feel about gun regulation? How should we feel about abortion? How should we feel about who to elect? How should we feel about sex outside of marriage? How should we feel about lgbtqia plus, how should we feel about diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Speaker 1 00:04:44 How should we feel about schools and workplaces instilling these ideas into our children? How should we feel about all of these things? Well, I hate to tell you, but there is, there are answers to all of these things, but you have to dig, you have to work for it a little bit more than we have had to in the past. Listen, God is not the author of confusion. There is an author of confusion. And who is that? The devil. The devil is the author of confusion. And he has confused this world to the point where they don't know which way is up anymore. Good has become bad, bad has become good. The people who are doing the right things are now the people that are doing the wrong things. Everything is topsy-turvy. And you wanna know why? I just look at it all and I just go, the world is confused and the devil is the author of confusion.
Speaker 1 00:05:35 But do you know who the person of order is? God is the God of order from the beginning of the Bible to the end. Everything is orderly, laid out, and God is a God of order. So we need to be able to discern where these attacks are coming from first and foremost. And sometimes I think like all of these different ideas are just like these, these ideas that we hear about. They don't just come out of the dark. They come from somebody who's been influenced by something or somebody else. And it's almost like Satan is trying to work through all of these different avenues and all of these different people to get all these different ideas out so that other people can buy into them. And all of a sudden it becomes popular and we go, Hmm, everybody's thinking that way. I guess I should too.
Speaker 1 00:06:21 And I think what Satan is doing is he's wetting down a bucket of spaghetti and he is throwing it against the wall to see what's gonna stick. And some things are sticking in society that I'm going, how did that ever get to stick in society? Because that's wackadoodle. And I found a verse that kind of brought a little bit of clarity to my mind. I wanna start with it and end with it today. It's in Psalms 11 verse one. In the Lord I take refuge. How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain. For behold the wicked bend the bow. They have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do you love that? Don't you feel like Satan is taking shots in the dark or taking spaghetti and throwing it on a wall just to see what he can hit, what he can pierce through, what he can damage, what he can destroy.
Speaker 1 00:07:27 This verse I love because it says the wicked bend the bow, they fitted their arrow to the string, they shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. And if the foundations are destroyed, what will righteous do? I think Satan is looking to chip away at any foundation that looks like it comes from the word of God, any truth that looks like it comes from God himself. Satan is looking to chip away and tear that foundation down chunk by chunk. And the verse ends by saying, if the foundation is gone, what will the righteous do? The last two, last few Sundays on discernment, we talked about discerning gray areas, discerning god's will, discerning heart motives. We've talked about all of that. And now this two part se series or this two part message on discerning demonic spirits. And I think, uh, I think I wanted to do this because I, I think a lot of these ideas actually come from the depths of the evil one and we don't really understand it.
Speaker 1 00:08:37 And it's important for us to discern why God or or what is of God and what is not of God and build a strong foundation that way. Keep in mind Jesus spoke on hell, Satan and demons more than any other subjects in the Bible. Uh, you may think to yourself, well, Jesus talked about love a whole lot. Not as much as he talked about hell, demons and, and Satan. That was his favorite subject. And the reason I think is because he wants us to be aware that our foundations are constantly going to be attacked by this realm of influence. I think Jesus thought we have a spiritual enemy at work in the spiritual realm fighting against us, trying to influence our lives so that he can chip away at the foundations of our lives. And today we must discern whose influence we will follow. Many of these ideas we struggle to find answers for today are actually birthed from the demonic realm.
Speaker 1 00:09:41 Listen, if you wanna do real research, don't research an idea. Research who put the idea forward, you'll be amazed. I'm telling you, you'll be amazed. I no longer look up, you know, what does b l m believe or, or what does, uh, what is the d e I that they teach in schools? What I look for is who came up with that idea? And if you look for who came up with the idea, it'll rock your world. Because most of the time those folks are seriously flawed in their sense of righteousness, justice, and truth. And they push these ideas forward into society and all of a sudden it becomes popular. People buy into it. And we don't realize who was influenced by whom to bring those ideas forward. So I wanna talk about how do we look at something and identify whether it's a demonic influence, whether it came from the demon rum or whether it's just a bad idea.
Speaker 1 00:10:44 Last Sunday we talked about how do I learn about the reality of demons? How does God want me to feel about demons? How does a demonic realm bleed into our physical world? We talked about all of that today. What I want to talk about is where do demons attack? Why do demons attack humans? How do I discern something correctly is a demonic attack? How do I help others recognize it might be a demonic attack? And what specific behaviors does God reveal to me that would leave me open to demonic attack? So first off, where do demons attack Scripture teaches that demons target for destruction, anything that mirrors or points to God or his word. Lemme say that one more time. Scripture teaches demons will target for destruction anything that mirrors or points to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to God or his word. This is his goal.
Speaker 1 00:11:39 These are the foundations. So this is where he will attack demons have seven primary goals that God tells us about in scripture as to where he primarily will begin to try chipping away at the foundations. These are the primary areas where the demons attack demons will attack the things they hate the most. And here they are because they're given to us in God's word. Demons hate Jesus. <laugh> anything that resembles Jesus or what Jesus really taught in scripture, demons will, demons hate and they will attack demons. It's a reminder of their soon destruction. By the way, Jesus has won the battle on the cross. They have lost. They don't have a choice. They're going to be destroyed. Anything about Jesus just reminds them they're doomed. Jesus. They hate. Number two, they demons hate your body. The reason they hate your body is it reminds them of God.
Speaker 1 00:12:38 You are created in the image of God. Therefore, they hate your body. They will try to do anything they can to get your body to do their will. That's why sexual, uh, promiscuity is so blatantly obvious in every generation of, of the, of the worldwide existence, because that is a way they can use your body to destroy your heart and destroy your mind and destroy your soul. They hate your body. You are the image of God fallen As many as we are redeemed, if we accept Christ as our savior, but we are the image of God and they hate your body. Number three, demons hate your redeemed mind. They hate the fact that the spirit of God can give you his thoughts, can give you God's thoughts. Your mind is their primary goal because that's the way they control you. And if your mind is given to Jesus Christ, they lose.
Speaker 1 00:13:32 They hate your redeemed mind. Number four, they hate your marriage and all romantic relationships <laugh>. You wonder why, uh, sexuality is so attacked in the world today and so confusing and only getting more confusing. I I don't know how long the L G B T Q I A list plus is gonna go, but we're just gonna keep adding things on there it is confu. I I actually, I I kid you not sat down and tried to think of myself. Well, if somebody is like, like not, you know, if they're gay and they're trans and they're, and I'm trying to think of it and I'm thinking to myself, then what are they? And I get confused. I get confused. No wonder they're confused. Demons hate your marriage. They hate all romantic relationships. Why? Because it mirrors the gospel. We love one another because God loves us.
Speaker 1 00:14:25 True. Yeah. We are only able to love one another as God loves us because God loves us. Therefore, when we love one another, they seek to destroy that chip away at it. Confuse that. Number five, demons hate your children. They hate your children because children are like these little sponges. And you can, if you want to, you can grow them up and remove obstacles from their lives and bring them into a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it, right? These children. And Jesus, by the way, when he talked about children, he said, suffer not the little, remember, suffer not the little children to come unto me, like adults backed off. These are really important. They, they're just little, little sponges. And if anyone messes with these little ones, tie a millstone around your neck and throw yourself into the water.
Speaker 1 00:15:16 You remember all of this. Demons hate your children. And if you're thinking to yourself, like, I'm thinking to myself, man, it's not even subter anymore. Demons are attacking our children. You would be right. Demons want your children and he's going after them full throttle these days. Number six, demons hate your church <laugh>. Why? Because your church is where the gospel is proclaimed. This is where you hear the truth. They don't want you to know this stuff. Uh, and most people don't get preached this stuff on a regular basis that maybe not at all, maybe this is the first time you're ever hearing it, but we need to know about it. And the only place it seems like this is ever taught is in gospel preaching. Churches, demons hate the church because it's a growing body of Jesus Christ. It's the bride and it proclaims the glory of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 00:16:11 Every song we sang this morning, he hates number seven, demons hate your elders <laugh>. They do. So, uh, this is by the way, when it says in the Bible, not many of you should desire to be elders, you know, teachers or anything like that is because the, you have a big target on your back. If he can take you down, that's, that's a feather in his cat. But if he can take me down, he affects all of you one person to get everybody else. They hate your aldos. It's a frontline of defense. And when I bring God's word to you, it's only more challenging for him. And if you look around this area, I hate to say this area, Carol, stream and surrounding areas, you will see church after church after church, after church, after church. Fall, fall, fall, fall. And how do they fall? Elders down.
Speaker 1 00:17:03 He is on the attack. He is not hiding it any longer. And this is the list he works on. Number two, why do demons attack human beings? Well, human beings live out the character of their well. Demons live out the character of their leader. So why do demons attack humans? Because they attack anything that Satan attacks that he would hate. They seek to kill, destroy, slander, accuse, deliver, uh, uh, devour. All of these things are in scripture because this is the way Satan behaves. Therefore, this is the way his armies behave. They must destroy humans. They must go against humans because they're committed to destroying the image of God on the earth.
Speaker 1 00:17:54 A tree is not made in the image of God. A monkey is not made in the image of God. A fish beautiful as they are, are not made in the image of God. You are made in the image of God. And if Satan can destroy anything, he would destroy the image of God first. Pollute it, twist it, confuse it, destroy it. These demons influence us on behalf of Satan and they influence us to do things they are not permitted to do. Now, this little bit bit is gonna rock your world a little bit. So walk with me here for a second. They can't destroy you or they would, but they can influence you to destroy yourself. Isn't that crazy? They can't make you impotent for Jesus Christ, but they can influence you to make bad decisions so that you are impotent for Jesus Christ. You see, they can't do it themselves, but they can influence you to do it.
Speaker 1 00:18:58 They can't make you believe anything but you can. You can choose what you believe. They cannot usurp the authority of God, but you can. Isn't that crazy? Satan has to ask permission to do anything that he wants to do going against God's authority because there's one other thing on the planet that can do that without asking God's authority. And you know who that is? Get a mirror and hold it in front of your face. We are made in the image of God, therefore we can usurp God's authority. Satan can't even do that. But he can influence you to do it because you have the ability to do that. How do I know that Satan hated Jesus? True or false? Satan wanted to destroy Jesus. True or false in the temptations, in the wilderness. Why didn't he just wipe Jesus off the face of the earth?
Speaker 1 00:20:01 He couldn't. He didn't have the authority. So what did he try to do? He tried to get Jesus to disqualify himself. He said, if you bow down and worship me, I'll, I'll relinquish my control over the planet. <laugh> And Jesus wouldn't do it. Isn't it interesting that Satan cannot do anything to you, but he can influence you to do it? And he will try constantly. Satan will only influence me as far as I give him access. You cannot be influenced to do anything that Satan wants you to do unless you give him access. All right, let's move on. Did you like that one? That was a good one, right? We gotta go. How do I discern correctly something is a demonic influence. Listen, Peter thought he was defending Jesus, right? When he defended Jesus, Jesus said, I have to go to the cross. I have to die.
Speaker 1 00:20:57 I'm gonna be put up with the cross by sinful men and I'm gonna die. Peter said, not on my watch. Jesus had explained to Peter at least twice that we know of before this, that he had to die. He had to go to the cross and shed his blood so that the sins of the world could be forgiven. Explained it in detail. But the week before Jesus died, he gives Peter the speech one more time and Peter said, not on my watch. That's not gonna happen. I know you've said it. It actually says that Peter pulled Jesus aside and rebuked him. He said, stop talking like that, that you, you gotta stop saying those things. 'cause you need to understand none of your disciples will ever let that happen. And even if they do, uh, those guys that have to come through me first, that'll ever happen on my watch.
Speaker 1 00:21:45 Jesus' response to Peter was telling because Jesus didn't say, Peter shut it. What did he say? Get the behind me. Satan. Satan Peter was influenced by the demonic realm. He didn't even know it, but Jesus did. So the question is, how do I discern correctly that this is a demonic influence? Number one is this thought false to scripture? Take a picture of this. This is a good, this is a good list. Is this thought false to scripture? Is this thought false to the glory of Christ? Is this thought false to Christ? Honoring love for others? Is this thought false to purity? Is this thought, does this thought grow the fear in me or my faith in Jesus? Does this thought grow, love and unity or hate and division? And finally, is this thought serving to make sin attractive and make holiness unattractive? This is a great list to help you understand if the thought that you are struggling with comes from the demonic realm or it's just a bad idea. These come from the demonic realm. If you get into a situation where you have to be right so that you crush the other person in the process and destroy their soul, that is against anything taught in scripture. And it might just be from the demonic realm. This list is great because it helps us have a checklist for understanding where our thoughts would be originating from. The bottom line is this church, the influence of Satan seeks to bring my flesh to life.
Speaker 1 00:23:39 I come all, all, all, all of those things very naturally. If you hit me, I want to hit you back. If you say bad things to me, I wanna say bad, bad things back. That's very natural. That's my flesh. That's what I gotta kill. That's what I gotta insert truth so that I stop thinking lies so that I insert order so I'm stopped being confused. This is what I deal with on a regular basis. But these are the weaknesses Satan will seek to to exploit. If he can get that crack in the door just a little wider, he'll invade your house.
Speaker 1 00:24:12 The influence Satan seeks to bring is, is he just wants to bring my flesh to life. This is the fruit of the flesh versus the fruit of the spirit. In Galatians five 16, if you're indulging the spirit of the flesh, then you are leaving yourself open to demonic influence. Let me say that again. If you are indulging the spirit of the flesh, you are opening yourself to demonic influence. You are literally opening the door to some guy in in, in camo with a AK 47 standing at your front door thinking to to to that you are letting in somebody with a box of chocolates. This is a person that wants to destroy you. You need to lock the door, slam it shut, bolt it shut, walk away from the door and call for help. Because when he gets that crack, if the door's shut and bolted, it's hard for him to get in.
Speaker 1 00:25:01 But if he can get the crack, he can get his foot in and then he can get his whole body through. And before long you're end up doing his bidding and you think you're doing God's bidding. I have seen it way too often, people doing what they think are the righteous things to do, but they look at that list, they can look at the list that was just up there and they know that they're betraying something or more than some one thing on that list. And they think to themselves, yeah, but in this case it's needed.
Speaker 1 00:25:33 The crack in the door is all Saint Meads. If you're careful to shut the door and fleshly desires, you will be controlled by the spirit. Galatians five 16. But I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. All Satan needs is a crack. And then he gets his foot in and then he gets his whole self in. And before you know it, you're doing stuff you never thought you'd dreamed you could possibly do or say. You begin to think to yourself, how could I have ever done that? How could I have ever said that? What will I do now?
Speaker 1 00:26:15 Indulgence creates a foothold. Satan's primary means of influence is to entice my flesh to go further. My flesh can go this far. His job is to push that flesh even further. So he looks for weak spots. He lies about what God thinks, he lies about the outcome. What will happen to me then He offers me more than I could possibly imagine. <laugh>, it sounds just like what he did in the Garden of Eden, doesn't it? Satan comes to, comes to eve in, in the garden. And, and this this tree, this tree has like got fruit on it. And, and he says, look at this tree, why don't you eat some of this fruit? And and she goes, ah, I'm not allowed to eat that fruit <laugh>. And he says, why? What's God holding back from you?
Speaker 1 00:27:04 And we think to ourselves, yeah, what is God holding back? You see, beyond that tree were thousands of other trees, thousands of other things that she could eat. Thousands of things that God had given to her freely. And instead of looking at it that way, she thought this one tree, God was holding something back. He lies about what God thinks. Then he lies about the outcome. Did God say you would really die? Is this thing gonna really destroy you? It, it feels good. This isn't really gonna hurt you that much. And he simply knows that if he can get you to indulge, you will join him in competition against God.
Speaker 1 00:27:54 The first time you gossip, it's fun, you indulge. It's not so bad. Nobody really knew what you said except for the person you were talking to and the conversation didn't really go that bad. So then you gossip more. You see all you need to give to Satan is that little crack. And then when he sees how much you enjoy it, he'll come in and he'll go, let's make you a gossiper. 'cause you enjoy gossiping. The first time you lie, it's not so bad you're saving your skin. You might need to lie just to just, just to get by, just to get the extra paycheck. I don't know. Whatever you need it for. The crack is open. Satan sees a weakness and he walks in. And before long brothers and sisters, we become liars.
Speaker 1 00:28:46 I counseled a man that was caught in adultery. He dropped his defenses, had a beautiful family, wonderful kids, and out of a moment of weakness and letting his guard down, he ended up in a spot he shouldn't have been. And he committed adultery. <laugh>. The next day they found him, he was a mess. They had to send him home from work. They thought he was having a nervous breakdown. He since has repented and made those things right with with God and with his spouse. They have a stronger marriage than they've ever had before. By the way she forgave and he repented and he became a different human being. He gave that weakness over to God. He put, you know, you know better than masking taper around that door, he glued it shut. He's not gonna open it again. And I said, what was the crack?
Speaker 1 00:29:38 How did the crack happen? And he said, I started looking at porn when I was a teenager. And that crack just grew and grew until he had an opportunity and he took it. And he never ever thought he would be that person. But all of a sudden he finds himself in that position. You see all, all you need to give the devil is a crack and he'll take the rest on his own. Satan influences us in order to create an access point. Temptation is his attempt to see if we have an access point. And if he can find that access point, he'll exploit it. He seeks to exploit our weaknesses. Take your example from Jesus in the wilderness. Speak truth. When you're tempted <laugh>, you remember what Jesus said. He said, why don't we make the stone into bread? And Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I love that Jesus inserts scripture every time he's tempted and we we should do the same. Run to your foundation of truth that's found in God's word. Run to the truth of God. Run to prayer, run to fellowship with him. Don't let sin steal you from the presence of those who worship God like you. That is the crack he will exploit. First, he will make you enter into the sin that you never thought you would do and then avoid all the places where you can heal fastest.
Speaker 1 00:31:08 And so you avoid being around Christians, you avoid being around situations where you're, you think you're gonna be uncomfortable. Those are all lies from the evil one. All lies run to the truth of God. Run to prayer, run to fellowship. Listen, Jesus tells us the same thing in Matthew 26 41. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Read it with me church, if you would please. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. This is not anything new. This was written 2000 years ago and it still applies to everybody sitting in a chair or watching online today. Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So how do I help others recognize they might be under a demonic influence? Well help them clinging to truth constantly. When you see error, fix it with truth and the truth comes from God's word. So when you see errors in thinking, fix it with God's word, not with logical thinking, but with the truth of God. Satan loves deception. God loves revealing truth.
Speaker 1 00:32:21 So we ask ourselves these simple questions. Have they believed false information? Have they neglected or suppressed what we know to be true? Have they been blinded to what is obviously revealed in God's word? I'll give you one verse with this. Two Timothy two, correct your opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. These next few words haunt me to my core. Here's what God's word says, that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do. Whose will church? There are Christians who acts in ways thinking they are doing God's will, when in reality they have been so duped that they are actually doing the devil's. Will I have experienced this firsthand <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:33:24 And it's scary to watch people who have given their lives to Jesus Christ, who have taught classes, who have led seminars on different things in scripture, all of a sudden get to a spot where there is a weakness. The crack is opened, Satan comes in and they are so encaptured and enslaved by him at that point they actually think they were doing the will of God when they are doing the will of Satan. That's why we are told, watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation. Watch and pray. All right, some. So whats last week we did two. Be aware of the power of your enemy and your ally not gonna go over those again other than to give you this wonderful verse in James four seven. Submit yourselves in to God. Resist the devil and he will. What church? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Speaker 1 00:34:20 If you do this right, you've got the power. You've got the power, you have the power if you do this right. Number two, differentiate the weapons of fight against the flesh and fight against spiritual war. That's in two Corinthians two 11. Don't be outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs and you're not ignorant of his designs because your pastor is preaching to you what his designs are this morning and last week. Here's the two for, here's the third one, but the first one for this week. Know and reject the behaviors that will unnecessarily leave you vulnerable to demonic influence. <laugh>, oh man, this is a good one. Know and reject the behaviors that will leave you unnecessarily vulnerable to demonic influence. Hebrews five 14, solid food is for the mature, but for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to what church distinguish good from evil. Oh man, do you know that you have the ability to distinguish good from evil? Somebody may come up to you and they may go, oh no, you're way wrong on that, that that was old school thinking. But now we're on, we're we're, we're, we're working off this page now. And you might look at that and you might go, well I understand what you're saying, but if it was wrong 10 years ago, it's still wrong today. Isn't it <laugh>? Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:35:48 The powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. So this leads me to my final question and that's this. What specific behaviors does God reveal to me that leave me vulnerable to demonic attack? You may be sitting there thinking to yourself, well I have a lot of bad ideas. How do I know they're actually demonic ideas? There is a list of seven things that you can find in the New Testament that tell us what specifically you will be attacked regarding things that will leave you vulnerable if you don't tweak them up. Number one, becoming an elder. But being too young in the faith. No elder should ever serve in the church if they're young in the faith because that's the cracks the devil looks for. One of the first ones. How do I know that? 'cause it says in one Timothy three, six, he must not be a recent convert.
Speaker 1 00:36:49 Elders or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the what condemnation of the devil. These are specific areas cracks that Satan looks to go through. Number one, don't have an elder in your church. That's too young in the faith. Number two, becoming an elder with a bad reputation in the world. <laugh>, this is, this is uh, so depressing isn't it? As an elder I wanted to say first Timothy three seven. Moreover, elders must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace and into a, and here we have the words again. Snare of the devil. You got a guy that's not thought of well of people outside of the church. Not just in the church. You might be opening the crack in your church to a demonic influence. Number three, refusing to forgive. Second Corinthians two 10. Anyone among you whom you forgive, I also forgive indeed what I have forgiven. If I forgiven anything has been for your sake in the presence of Christ so that we would not be there. It is outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs. If we are unwilling to forgive 'cause we gotta be right dog on it. <laugh> 'cause I am right and they never apologize. And I'm not gonna apologize first 'cause I didn't do anything wrong. Be careful. That is a crack. Satan loves to exploit. Always be willing to forgive.
Speaker 1 00:38:18 This is an area that Satan will exploit. Number four, ignorance of demonic tactics. Second Corinthians two. We already read this. Anyone whom I forgive, I'll forgive indeed. Go down verse 11. So that we would not be outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs. In other words, we need to be very aware. If we are not aware that there's demonic realm, that's a crack. Believe it or not, if you've got a Christian that doesn't believe that there's spiritual warfare going on, that's a crack. Satan will look to exploit. Number five, not keeping short accounts with sin. If Ephesians 4 26 be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun down. Go down on your anger and give no what? Church opportunity to the devil. This is a crack. If you wanna be angry, that's fine. It says be angry. But if you don't cut that off quick, that's a crack that Satan will look to go into.
Speaker 1 00:39:15 And you will become a person that you never imagined you'll become because you harbor anger in your heart. Number six, withholding intimacy from your spouse. Ouch. But it is one crack. Satan looks for he's smart. One Corinthians seven, five. Don't deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a limited time. This is talking about the sexual relationship in a marriage between one man and one woman. Clear throughout scripture. Don't deprive one another except perhaps agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves to prayer and then come together again. So that read it with me church. Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Speaker 1 00:39:58 If you're married, you have a responsibility to have a sexual relationship with your partner. It is your God-given gift and responsibility. What's the first thing you do when you get angry with your spouse? <laugh>. Not tonight. Not tonight. Jimmy <laugh>. Right? Why? Because that comes so natural to our flesh. It's a crack. And Satan will exploit that. So how do you get around that? Keep short accounts with sin, talk it through, make those things go away quickly. Forgive one another. Do all those things like you should. And all of a sudden the sexual relationship will fall into place. Number seven, false ideas. Two Corinthians 10, four For the weapons of our warfare or not of the flesh, but we have the divine power to destroy strongholds, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. And we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Speaker 1 00:40:53 Satan will look to change your mind on things and into ways that he wants you to think. Our goal is to stay in God's word and capture every mind to the truth of Christ. Listen, Satan can rarely influence the self-controlled praying Bible saturated believer. Rarely it will happen last. So what here it is. Don't be afraid. When you're in Christ and he is in control, you are protected. If all of this has caused a little bit of anxiety in you, uh, there's a demonic realm. They hate me. They're looking for cracks. I don't know what to do. Fear not. Remember those words that Jesus constantly said, fear not. When you're in Christ, he is in control. You are protected. Satan is seeking to find an access point to you. But Jesus will always give you a greater access point out. Satan is always looking to get an access point into you.
Speaker 1 00:41:55 Jesus will always give you a greater access point to get out. How do I know that? I go back to God's word. I steal all this stuff. You realize from the Bible I'm not. This is all. That's why I love putting verses up here. I can't come up with. This is gold. Listen to this verse one Corinthians 10 13. No temptation has overtaken you. That is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of what church. Oh the way of escape that you will be able to endure it. Satan will look for an access point in Jesus always gives you an access point out. You are never under his control evil. And he can't do jack on his own. He needs you to help him.
Speaker 1 00:42:48 You remember that? He can't do it on his own. He will use you as far as you let him in. So shut the door. Short accounts, shut the door. We are in a battle. Demonic spirits cannot overcome God's spirit. Jesus said, A house with a foundation that's built on a rock will stand against the power of the evil one. He doesn't have any power over. You speak the truth against evil. Influence stay in the truth to assure clear thinking. Share the truth, to minimize demonic influence on your family and friends. Psalm 11, one to three, I read it for you one more time. Listen to this. In the Lord I take refuge. Say it with me. 'cause this is, this is the whole thing. Uh, the, the, the, the psalmist should have put this at the end, but he puts it at the beginning because this, this is the summary of everything.
Speaker 1 00:43:43 Here it is. Say it with me in the Lord. I take, that's it. How can you say to myself, flee like a bird to the mountain. For behold to wicked bend the bow. They have fitted the arrow to the string. They shoot in the dark at the upright and heart hoping to hit something. And if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? And if you go to the end of Psalm 11, the very last verse, here's what we read, for the Lord is righteous. And he loves righteous deeds. The upright shall behold his face. We are in a war. Treat it like you're in a battle and treat every opportunity that
Speaker 2 00:44:30 He seeks to exploit sin in you for an opportunity for you to glorify God. Let's pray. Father, I'm grateful for everything that you've told us in scripture and all the verses I left out, which are many, many, many from the beginning to end, from genesis to revelation. How you have revealed to us this battle in the, in the heavenly realms that you tell us about. That goes on constantly. We cannot see, but we are constantly influenced by it. The evil one wants nothing more than destroy us and our children. And so Father, help us as a church. Help us as the church in this generation to stand for truth unashamedly to stand on the rock so that when the winds blow and when the rains come, our foundation will stand.
Speaker 2 00:45:28 May we be unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is the power of God under salvation for all who believe. May we remember that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. That's you. May we remember that greater is you who is in us than He that is in the world. It's not us, it's you. So work through us and change this confused dying world. Our children depend on it. So Father, use us as you would help us to live, as you would help us to think as you would help us to love as you would. And in doing so, may you influence us instead of us letting the devil exploit us. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
