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"Demons" Tagged Sermons

A TITANIC STRUGGLE

Let’s make sure we all understand the most fundamental principal:
God placed his new creation, made in His image, in a special place called GARDEN OF EDEN, and gave them dominion over the entire earth to subdue it and to populate it. It went south right from the get-go.
But God still intended to dwell with humanity. However, there would be opposition. As Michael Heiser points out: “Divine beings in service to Yahweh could defect. Enemies of Yahweh and his rule, from the human to the divine to something in between, lurked over the horizon. Heaven and earth were destined to be reunited, but it would be a titanic struggle.
In the meantime, any effort to recapture God’s original intent apart from God’s own strategy and will for restoring Eden would end in disaster. There would be no Eden utopia revived by human beings or other gods. It would be a painful lesson.” Dr. Michael Heiser
Chuck Swindoll in one of his commentaries writes that Christians often talk about “walking with God”, so much so that these words can easily become cliché.
He gives this advice, which I pass on to all of you:
What happens when we walk with God?
1. The discipline of silence increases our sensitivity.
When I am always moving fast, always making noise, always being active, I become insensitive. But when I am quiet, the veneer is peeled away. I become more sensitive to God.
2. The reassurance of His will decreases our anxiety.
When I spend time with God, my anxiety is washed away.
3. The submission of obedience proves our humility.
When I do what God says, I prove to Him I am willing to submit to His will. I listen to Him and obey. This interaction solidifies our relationship and brings us into closer communion.

The SPIRITUAL Showdown

We sometimes forget that there is nothing the rulers of this world, or the spiritual demonic entities, can do to catch God off guard. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knows the end from the very beginning.
“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” A.W. Tozer
When we talk about the spiritual showdown revealed to us in this 16th chapter of Revelation, we also talk about the spiritual warfare every Christian is involved. If we are not familiar with the entire Bible, which includes all prophetic passages (about 28 % of it is prophetic), we are ineffective when the enemy brings 100% of his plan to your doorstep. The whole world will find out the hard way.
The kingdom of God is the rule of God. God desires to rule over all He has created; the invisible spiritual realm and the visible earthly realm. He will have His way in both domains. How will He do it? Isaiah 14:12-27 God will bring the spiritual and the physical domain together for a final showdown to judge the spiritual and the physical rulers. The 6th bowl judgment is all about that final showdown which God promised in His word would come to pass. He will fulfill it in every detail.
Careful observation will reveal that this is the identical sequence which we find in the Garden of Eden story. It was there where God walked and talked with His creation. This spiritual showdown will set the final steps of God in motion to once again walk and talk with His creation on this earth.
There are 3 very specific demon spirits mentioned in this verse.
One comes from the Dragon’s mouth. The second one comes from the mouth of the beast. And the third one comes from the mouth of the false prophet. This trio is known as the TRINITY FROM HELL. The Dragon is Satan, the Beast is the Antichrist, the False Prophet is the religious leader.
This special place is in the plain of Megiddo. Megiddo is the Hebrew word corresponding to the Greek word Armageddon. This valley of Megiddo is 14 miles wide and 20 miles long. Certainly not large enough to be sufficient for the armies of the world. But the Bible does not tell us that that’s where they all will be at one time. The Greek word translated “battle” literally means “campaign”. Actually, the text in verse 14 literally means:
“ unto the campaign (or battle) of the day, the great one, the one of God, the Almighty One.” In other words, these words emphasize the fact that this period will fully demonstrate the omnipotence and sovereignty of God Almighty.
In other words, the whole world is assembled for this spiritual showdown. It will be the world, under the leadership of Satan, against God Almighty.
How God will do it, we will learn in the next few chapters. Remember, whatever God has written down in his Word, every prophecy, every promise, every single word, will come to pass just as He said. WE can certainly trust Him and His Word.

Preparing Christ’s Second Coming – Part One

We know that the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, is primarily the revelation of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Throughout the entire bible from Genesis to Revelation, the main theme is always the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah and the Redeemer of mankind.
The Apostle Paul declares that Jesus Christ has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. And he goes on to say that by Him, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah to the Jews, the king of the Jews, the Savior of the world, is the one who created everything that is in heaven and that is on the earth. All things were created through Him and for Him. And the book of Revelation is giving us the details HOW GOD HIMSELF IS PREPARING CHRIST’S SECOND COMING TO THIS EARTH. There is a condition that must be met before Jesus Christ will return to this earth to establish His VISIBLE KINGDOM.
According to Matthew, Jesus began His ministry in chapter 4. You can read this Gospel from chapter four until chapter twelve to find out that Jesus went around Israel proclaiming that He is the promised Messiah. The purpose of all His miracles recorded in those chapters was to authenticated His Messiahship and His message, the Gospel of the kingdom. In other words, all the miracles Jesus did were signs to the nation of Israel to challenge them to make a decision about Him. Everything changed regarding the purpose of His miracles and His message in Matthew, chapter 12, beginning with verse 22.
The people were not willing to come to a decision by themselves. They were looking for the answer from their religious leaders, the Pharisees. When they accept Him, when they authenticate Him, then we will accept Him as well.
Then, in verses 30-37 Jesus pronounced a judgment on the Jewish generation of that day. Why? Because that generation had committed the unpardonable sin: THE BLASPHEMY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Listen, the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was not an individual sin but a NATIONAL SIN. It was committed by that generation of Israel in Jesus’ day.
In other words, the content of the unpardonable sin was the national rejection of the Messiahship of Jesus while He was physically present, on the grounds that He was demon possessed. THIS SIN WAS UNPARDONABLE, AND JUDGMENT WAS SET. THE REALIZATION OF THIS JUDGMENT CAME IN THE YEAR 70 A.D. The Roman army destroyed Jerusalem, burned down the temple, slaughtered over one million Jews, and dispersed the rest world-wide.
It is interesting that from this point on in the Gospel of Matthew, special emphasis is placed on THIS GENERATION. Why? Because it was this generation that was guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Judgment was unavoidable, because there would be no forgiveness for this sin.
Listen, the book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish Christians who, because of persecution, were contemplating a return to Judaism. The book warned them that they must completely separate themselves from Judaism. If they failed to do so, they would be caught up in the judgment of 70 A.D. and suffer physical death. Only of they separated themselves from Judaism completely would they have the opportunity of escaping the judgment upon that generation. Of course, from Hebrews it is not known what the results were. But it is known from JOSEPHUS AND EUSEBIUS quoting HEGESIPPIUS, a Jewish Christian historian of the second century. These men recorded how the Hebrew Christians, in obedience to the book of Hebrews, separated themselves from Judaism. So when the revolt against Rome began in the year 66 A.D., the entire Jewish Christian community left the country and waited the war out in the town of PELLA, and the east bank of the Jordan River. Although 1,100,000 Jews died in this Jewish revolt against Rome, not one Hebrew Christian was killed. Because they did obey the book of Hebrews, they escaped with their lives, and they were freed of the judgment upon that generation.

The Root of Bondage or Freedom

We have already learned that all of us are subject to spiritual warfare; that Satan and his demons have built strongholds in our mind, that is, have make us believe certain doctrines that are contrary to the Word of God. And we all have learned from the Apostle Paul’s admonition that such strongholds, such doctrines that contradict the Word of God, must be pulled down, demolished, pulverized.
Last week we examined the reality of God’s sovereignty and that not even Satan can go beyond the boundary God has set for him. Now we have to look at what our responsibility is in all of this. The Bible is very clear regarding our responsibilities in the spiritual battle. While God Almighty has equipped us more than adequately to face our enemy, Satan and his demons, he also demands that we use the weapons supplied to us and stand strong in the battle.
THE MAJORITY OF OUR SPIRITUAL BATTLES SPIRITUAL ARE FOUGHT IN OUR MIND.THE MIND IS THE MOST STRATEGIC POINT WHICH WE HAVE TO DEFEND against the attacks of our enemy.
Satan will use people that look like followers of Christ, spiritual leaders who claim to represent Christ, but in actuality they represent Satan, attacking your mind with false doctrines, that is, doctrines of demons. If you choose to accept those teachings, Satan will then have successfully neutralized your mind to engage him in any spiritual battles.
In other words, Satan will attack your mind with the purpose to entangle us with a yoke of bondage. Do you recognize now that the root of bondage or freedom is found in the mind, the way we THINK?
In this parable in Matthew 15 Jesus give his disciples insight HOW GOD WORKS TO CHANGE THEIR HEART. By understanding spiritual truth, Biblical truth. The question of eating food with unwashed hands was used by Jesus to reveal the truth that everything has its root in the heart and mind of the person. The heart will be changed by the mind. And the mouth, the language you use, reveals what’s in your heart. Your language reveals a huge amount of spiritual information: Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
Because the Mind is the gateway to the transformation of the heart.
Without UNDERSTANDING GOD’S TRUTH, NO TRANSFORMATION TAKES PLACE. And understanding will only come through LIFE APPLICATION. Reading God’s word with no intention to apply it to our daily life is one of Satan’s most powerful tool to keep us in bondage. God’s intention is to bring us to freedom, freedom we can experience in every day life. Freedom that comes through transformation of the heart. That is God’s objective all along.
The root of bondage or freedom is found in our mind. The way we think. The way we UNDERSTAND GOD’S TRUTH.

Refuge In God’s SOVEREIGNTY

We have already learned that all of us are subject to spiritual warfare; that Satan and his demons have built strongholds in our mind, that is, make us believe certain doctrines that are contrary to the Word of God. And we all have learned from the Apostle Paul’s admonition that such strongholds, such doctrines that contradict the Word of God, must be pulled down, demolished, pulverized.
When we read these verses, we can easily come to the conclusion that the battle is entirely in our hands and in our power. However, as we will find out today, these weapons of warfare are MIGHTY IN GOD. And the battle of our mind, bringing our very thoughts into captivity, cannot be done apart of OBEYING THE WORD OF GOD.
Who is really in Control? You, Satan or God Almighty?
THE ANSWER MUST ALWAYS COME FROM THE BIBLE, which happen to be our standard for living.
God’s sovereignty does not mean that you have no responsibility in spiritual warfare. Although the ultimate outcome is not in question, what happens in your life will be affected by how you respond. Listen, Satan is not deciding what is going on in your life. It is God Almighty who has His own purposes for allowing the enemy access to your life, and God’s purposes are always only for your good.
Because Jesus found refuge in God’s sovereignty, the attitude was one of absolute obedience, the obedience unto death, having confidence in His Heavenly Father as Jesus Himself focused on the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).
Satan did warfare against Jacob and his sons. Satan’s intent was to destroy them all, so God could not fulfill His promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. After Joseph was sold into slavery, and the brothers struggled to survive in Canaan during a great famine, God finally revealed His ultimate purposes to those involved. Satan wanted to derail God’s purpose by using evil means, but God meant it for good. He will always turn into good what Satan means for evil. All our spiritual battles are in our mind. The way we think. Strongholds, Paul calls them. Do we think according to the Word of God or according to the things we feel or hear?
No exception.

Release The Four Angels

Remember, when this trumpet judgment occurs, the time for mercy will have passed; that’s the reason John sees the altar of mercy that has now turned into the altar of judgment. In other words, the complete rejection of God’s offer of salvation will now bring forth the final judgment of sin.People always say, the God of the Bible will never judge anyone. He is loving and merciful, forgiving forever. They forget, that the time of love and mercy will run its course, not because God wants it that way, but because MAN WANTS IT THAT WAY.
This is a picture of those who watched Jesus walking this earth, doing good, performing miracles, feeding thousands by multiplying bread and fish, healing the sick, raising the dead, YET AT THE END THEY ALL CRIED WITH ONE VOICE, CRUCIFY HIM. They have chosen to harden their hearts when they heard the Good news, when the Prophets of Old warned them they laughed, because they have chosen to worship DEMONS. But until that day, we are to proclaim the truth that the same God who will judge this world one day, is the same God that still extends mercy and grace to all humanity so that we might snatch them out of the fire.

Demons On The Loose

The first 4 trumpets set the stage for a demonic invasion upon this earth. When the 5th trumpet blows, the effects are being announced by the angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice: Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!
In the English translations of the Bible, we normally find the word Hell as the place of eternal torment. However, in the Hebrew text, which is the Old Testament and the Greek text, which is the New Testament, there are different words used.
While the locusts (demons) were literal, the pit is literal, the fire is literal and the torture is literal. How these demons do their work, we don’t know, but we do know that John observed a war-like, attacking creature. These creatures will bring a fear much greater then the sting of death, for men will desire to die but cannot.