Know Your Enemy: Remedies Against the Devil’s Devices | James 4:7

ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:01

I actually wanted to turn our attention briefly to the hymn, the second hymn that we sung,

00:07

Oh, Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer. The third and fourth stanzas here,

00:15

I wanted to read again. Oh, Lord, my rock and my redeemer, strong defender of my weary heart.

00:23

My sword to fight the cruel deceiver and shield against his hateful darts. My song when enemies surround me, my hope when tides of sorrows rise.

00:34

My joy when trials are abounding, your faithfulness, my refuge in the night. Amen. So that's in a nutshell what this sermon is going to be about.

00:44

I love how God's providence puts all this together. It's pretty amazing stuff.

00:49

So before I begin, though, I also wanted to share with you a conviction that the

00:59

Lord has laid on me about how I've been spending my time and not giving adequate time to my wife and kids.

01:11

And so I will probably have to make some changes to how I do my sermon preparation.

01:17

And what that basically will look like is that I may have to trim down the sermons a little bit or to break them up into smaller ones.

01:33

And as I've stated before, please feel free to give your feedback and to ask questions.

01:42

And you all know me, even though sometimes I preach with vigor and I get excited, it doesn't mean that I'm that way in person.

01:54

You know, I'm more than happy to discuss and to answer questions and explain why, as I've done with many of you all already.

02:03

So even if you disagree with something, let's discuss it. That's a good thing to help us sharpen each other and to keep each other sharp and edified.

02:13

And even though I do take great pains to study thoroughly and carefully, I still miss stuff.

02:21

And that interaction is a very important part of our edification and a powerful remedy against our enemies.

02:32

It builds us up. And in light of that, many of us are enduring a season, a very tough season of struggles, trials, tribulations, hardships, diseases, afflictions, difficulties, problems, problems and more problems.

02:53

It's been a very rough season for many, if not all of us. And so I do hope that this message will encourage you to embrace the hope and light of truth, which sets us free and to apply the remedies that God has given us to resist the devil and the rest of our enemies, our sworn enemies.

03:17

So remember, very important to remember that all things work together for good for those who love

03:25

God and are called by him according to his purpose. In Romans 8, 28, all things.

03:32

That is so important to remember when we are in these types of situations.

03:39

And if you turn with me to Romans chapter five, starting with verse one,

03:44

I wanted to go ahead and read that passage for us because it is incredibly hopeful for us.

04:00

Romans chapter five, starting in verse one, God's word says,

04:10

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

04:18

Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we boast in hope of the glory of God.

04:31

And not only this, but we also boast, we boast. It's something that we take hold of confidently in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope and hope does not put to shame.

04:57

Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the

05:03

Holy Spirit who was given to us. Amen. So these are very powerful gospel indicatives and promises to remind us of God's love for us, even in our afflictions and trials.

05:24

We cannot lose sight of the law and gospel distinction in our lives lest we despair and become overwhelmed by the enemy.

05:37

It is fundamentally important. It's like what William Perkins said, that the most basic principle of application is knowing how to distinguish the law from the gospel.

05:49

So important. And therefore, keep in mind, the

05:56

Lord does not test us to see if we are worthy of him or of his salvation.

06:03

That's a lie from the devil. That is false.

06:09

The Lord, however, often does test us in order to bring about or bring up our issues to the surface of our attention.

06:22

Like drawing water from a well is to bring out the issues in order to deal with them.

06:30

In the Gospel of John, chapter 15, verses 1 through 2,

06:36

Jesus said, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he cleans it.

06:49

He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. I'm reading from the

06:56

Legacy Standard Bible, by the way. So our Heavenly Father tests us, puts us through trials, even when they come from the devil himself, in order to purge us, to cleanse us, to prune us, to sanctify us, and to help us to grow in conformity and likeness to our

07:23

Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. He tests us in order to reveal our issues and to deal with them so we can resolve them.

07:40

Sometimes the trials themselves are the remedy that we need.

07:47

They are what we need in order to bring about those issues to our attention. Like I've preached many times before,

07:56

God is a God of dealing and solving issues. He solves problems.

08:02

Amen. Is Jesus the answer? He is the answer. So God uses trials to grant us and give us that self -awareness we need to see clearly and to respond appropriately.

08:22

Because sometimes we're not always aware of our own issues that affect us, especially internal issues.

08:35

Even as Christians, we can still carry burdens, baggage, generational curses, vain lifestyles, like 1

08:45

Peter 1 .18 says, from our past or our problems that we haven't fully discarded, renounced, and been delivered from.

08:59

And in order to be fully delivered, to walk out this deliverance, we need

09:06

God's means of deliverance, His remedies, or what I call the six

09:11

S's. The six S's. Number one is Scripture, but Scripture rightly preached, read, and prayed.

09:23

Number two is sound doctrine that agrees with godliness, like 1

09:30

Timothy 6 .3 says, or knowing not just what the Bible says, but what the system of doctrine that it also teaches.

09:42

Number three is sacraments, baptism, Lord's Supper. We need those means of grace.

09:50

Number four is self -awareness and self -denial, or a true knowledge of ourselves and putting our specific sins to death, specifically the ones that are affecting us.

10:09

Number five is sage counsel, or wise counsel, similar to what the character

10:18

Goodwill counseled Christian to do in The Pilgrim's Progress, when he said,

10:23

Ask to thy burden, be content to bear it until thou comest to the place of deliverance to the cross, for there it will fall from thy back of itself.

10:40

And lastly, number six, spiritual warfare. To rebuke the devil and his minions out of our lives, to give no foothold to the enemy.

10:56

Remember, if we do not deal with our issues, they will continue to ensnare us, to provoke us to sin, to hinder our growth in holiness and sanctification, and to leave an open door for our enemies to invade us.

11:13

The devil loves to take advantage of our unresolved issues.

11:21

It's one of the primary means he uses to gain a foothold in our lives.

11:29

That's why this is so important to understand and apply these remedies against his devices.

11:39

We must be carefully aware of these things. And as you can tell from the sermon title, which is to know your enemy, remedies against the devil's devices.

11:55

This was taken from James 4, verse 7. Be subject, therefore, to God.

12:03

Resist the devil and he will flee, run away from you. Amen.

12:12

The title was also taken, I took from the Puritan Thomas Brooks, who wrote an amazing book called

12:19

Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices or Schemes. Highly recommend that book to you all.

12:28

This sermon is also a continuation of the series that I've been doing on the devil and part of the larger series on knowing your enemy, the world, the flesh and the devil.

12:39

Except I had to flip the order around to the world, the devil and the flesh because I needed more time to flesh out the sermon on the flesh.

12:48

And if you haven't listened to the previous sermons in this series, please do so. I highly recommend that you do.

12:54

I covered lots of important ground that I'm not going to be able to repeat today. So I encourage you to go back and listen to those.

13:02

And I also want to give a maxim here, a maxim, a very important maxim that I've again,

13:12

I've preached on this before numerous times. In order to understand the present, we must study the past and how we got here today.

13:25

This is true whenever you want to understand any subject, person, idea, and so on and so forth.

13:35

We must dig into the history, whether it's church history, historical theology, your own family history, society, the economy, anything really requires us to really dig into the past and to see the trajectory because that helps us to see where it's going as well.

14:00

This is of particular importance when it comes to knowing our enemies, the devil and spiritual warfare.

14:10

Now, bear in mind that when I refer to the devil, I'm also generally including his posse, right?

14:18

His demons, those who fell with him. As for my last sermon, it was a continuation of the devil's history and his devices.

14:36

And now I want to tie up some loose ends with respect to that. I want to give first also a disclaimer about the gap theory that I was preaching on the last few times.

14:47

The elders currently do not have a consensus on what happened in Genesis 1, 1 through 2.

14:54

So the view that I took, which is a biblical gap creation, is a minority view.

15:03

But I'm used to it. That's all right. I don't mind being in the minority sometimes.

15:13

Several great saints of old were in the minority at times. Athanasius against the Arians and against the world, really,

15:19

Athanasius Contramundum. Luther against the entire superstructure of Rome stood. But these men, of course, were dealing with primary issues, with Christology, with whether Jesus was truly

15:31

God and fully God, and salvation. The Bible alone and justification by faith alone, apart from works.

15:43

So feel free to discuss these things and to duke it out, you know, duke it out. Feel free to ask us questions.

15:51

The reason I brought it up was so that we can better understand the enemy and to explain the history of Satan's origins and when he rebelled, as I mentioned earlier.

16:04

And we don't have to agree on everything, OK? This is a secondary issue. So there is room for discussion and for sharpening and for fleshing things out.

16:19

All right. So far then, regarding the devil, I've preached on the devil's origins, who he was before he fell, his pride, his mutiny or betrayal, his fall, his offspring, which is the

16:37

Nephilim giants, the hybrid giants and unbelievers. The difference between fallen angels who are locked up in Tartarus and demons who are the disembodied

16:51

Nephilim spirits who roam freely to this day, along with the devil who walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

17:02

Right. And these demons are also a continuation of the devil's offspring and devices, a prophetic fulfillment of the war with the seed of the woman who is

17:16

Christ and the spiritual seed, which are all of us believers back in Genesis 3 .15.

17:23

I also covered how the devil and his seed, both natural and spiritual, wage war against God's seed and his people throughout the entire

17:34

Old Testament with their various devices or schemes, including their use of Nimrod.

17:44

Remember him? To usher in a worldwide rebellion through the Tower of Babel and God's parallel creation and judgment of the devil and his angels and on unrepentant mankind through the flood and so on.

18:02

As well as also the problems in biblically conservative and reformed confessions and churches that downplay the importance and necessity of spiritual warfare, partly due to their belief in amillennialism or postmillennialism, as I covered in the last sermon.

18:25

Now, I want to set up some more historical context for what follows here.

18:33

The devil and his offspring, as I mentioned, continue to attack and corrupt mankind, spiritually and physically, throughout the

18:41

Old Testament. Because God had chosen Abraham, the father of all believers, as Galatians 3 and various other passages say, and his physical descendants, including

18:55

Israel, which was the chosen nation, to make them his special holy people and ambassadors to the rest of the world and to wage spiritual and physical war against the devil and his seed, yet ultimately to fulfill his plan to bring the serpent -crushing messianic seed, the

19:23

God -man Christ Jesus. And we see how

19:30

God called Abraham in Genesis 17, verses 1 through 2, where it says,

20:04

And then, in Deuteronomy 4, verses 5 through 8, we see

20:10

God's purpose for Israel, the nation. So if we turn there, let's take a look at what

20:16

God says there. Deuteronomy 4. Alright, so in Deuteronomy 4, starting in verse 5,

20:45

God's word says, And your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say,

21:16

Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

21:22

For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as is Yahweh our

21:27

God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which

21:36

I am setting before you today? All the patriarchs of the

21:42

Old Testament, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who was later Israel, and so on, were instructed by God to be a holy nation that loves and obeys

21:58

Him and, in part, to be an example to everyone else. However, there were some problems along the way.

22:11

If we turn to Genesis 9, verse 4, we see

22:17

God's disappointment with the nation of Israel. That it's really scattered throughout the entire

22:24

Old Testament, and in the New Testament as well. So in Deuteronomy 9, starting in verse 4, we read,

22:43

Do not say in your heart when Yahweh your God has driven them out before you, saying,

22:52

Because of my righteousness, Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land. And this is because they became stuck up and conceited, of course.

23:01

But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh is dispossessing them before you.

23:08

It is not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, that you are going to possess their land.

23:17

But it is because of the wickedness of these nations that Yahweh your God is dispossessing them before you.

23:23

Notice how emphatic He is that He states it twice in consecutive order. The same emphatic statement.

23:32

It's not because of you or your righteousness. In order to confirm the oath which

23:37

Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. So you shall know it is not because of your righteousness that Yahweh your

23:47

God is giving you this good land to possess. For you are a stiff -necked people.

23:53

That's the third time. The third time in the same address. Remember, do not forget how you provoke

24:01

Yahweh your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you went out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against Yahweh.

24:11

Even at Mount Horeb, you provoke Yahweh to wrath. And Yahweh was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.

24:20

Wow, that's some scary stuff. You don't mess with God. Amen? But that's precisely what the

24:27

Israelites did. They kept disobeying. If you can't say amen,

24:33

Pastor Vody says, you ought to say ouch. Because even though the

24:39

Israelites were fallen, depraved sinners, as we all were before believing the gospel,

24:46

God had nevertheless revealed Himself specifically to them. He had revealed

24:53

Himself to them. And it's like Stephen the martyr said in his defense, you who receive the law as ordained by angels and yet did not observe it.

25:10

So they still frequently disobey. And that's so much of what the

25:16

Old and New Testaments reveal, sadly. But it's all part of God's plan.

25:24

It's all part of His purpose. And the devil as well, however, was behind much of Israel's idolatry, disobedience, and rebellion.

25:35

We cannot forget that. He exploited their arrogance. Oh, well,

25:42

I'm high and mighty because I'm God's chosen people. He exploited them because of that.

25:48

He got a foothold in the nation of Israel precisely because of that attitude. They did not apply the most important remedy of all, the gospel itself, the power of God unto salvation, which causes us to obey and to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and faith in Christ Jesus, the promised

26:12

Messiah and Redeemer. That was the first step. And that's what God told them.

26:19

They needed to trust Him and believe in Him. It's like Paul says in the

26:24

New Testament in various places, Abraham was justified by faith apart from works of the law.

26:34

So this is also consequently why many Old Testament leaders in the

26:39

Bible slayed these giants, these Nephilim giants, and destroyed many nations completely because they were corrupted by the devil and his demons.

26:55

Now, in the New Covenant, however, there is a sharp transition, a sharp change.

27:06

Drastic changes happen. And we need to be aware of that. This is important for us to understand in order to prevent dangerous imbalances in our doctrine and our lives.

27:19

In general, the Old Covenant was more physical, more literal, more temporal.

27:29

Generally speaking, okay, not exclusively, generally speaking. The New Covenant, on the other hand, generally speaking, is more spiritual, more otherworldly, more eternal.

27:48

And to prove this point, let's turn to Hebrews 12, starting with verse 18.

27:57

Hebrews is a very important letter that contrasts the sharp differences and distinctions between the

28:04

Old and the New Covenants. In Hebrews 12, starting in verse 18, we read,

28:25

For you have not come to a mountain like Sinai, that can be touched, and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, basically judgment, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words, which was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

28:48

For they could not hear, they could not bear what was being commanded. If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.

28:58

And so terrible was what appeared that Moses said, I am full of fear and trembling.

29:06

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living

29:12

God, the heavenly Jerusalem, not the earthly one, the heavenly one, and to the myriads of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, a better covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

29:46

Amen. So this is law and gospel distinction at its very finest.

29:55

Remember, too, that Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world.

30:02

If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be delivered over to the

30:11

Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here. John 18, 36.

30:19

Very important to understand. Because failing to properly distinguish the differences between the old and new covenants leads to major errors.

30:32

This can cause us to misunderstand as well how the devil himself has changed and adapted his strategy, his warfare, and his schemes in light of these covenantal changes.

30:49

So we need the remedies of sound, systematic doctrine and hermeneutics, rightly interpreting the

30:58

Bible, including the law and gospel distinction. It is of utmost importance with respect to these matters.

31:08

Now, in light of this, let's look at the

31:14

British -American and Puritan Mary Rowlandson, who lived from roughly 1637 to 1711 as an example of this.

31:25

Some of you all may have read her work. I learned about her in college in an early

31:33

American literature course that I had taken. This is an important lesson, a very important lesson of how doctrines have serious consequences, good or bad.

31:46

In her famous book, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, she

31:53

Americanizes and localizes her Puritanical beliefs of the covenants to the personal encounters she had with the

32:03

Indians during King Philip's war. She was one of the people that were captured and sees the entire course of events as God's will.

32:14

She believes that the American Puritans are under a sort of reworked or renewed version of the old covenant as opposed to a substantially new and better covenant because they had prophetically superseded the

32:34

Jewish nation of Israel according to them. That's why they called the city Salem after Jerusalem and things like that.

32:44

Therefore, she literalizes her enemies, her spiritual enemies by demonizing the

32:52

Indians themselves. And so far from wanting to love them and convert them and pray for them, she desires for God to annihilate the, quote, murderous wretches for what they did to her and her community.

33:11

Okay? This has consequences, I'm telling you. So, okay.

33:17

Now, disclaimer, okay? Important disclaimer. Not all Puritans believe this.

33:24

The Puritans were a somewhat theologically diverse group all the way from the

33:31

English side to the American side. There are many outstanding Puritans that are very profitable and we should all know and read intimately.

33:42

Many. Thomas Brooks, like I mentioned earlier. John Owen. Thomas Watson.

33:48

There's just numerous Puritans that are just an absolute blessing and joy to read. But there are also bad

33:57

Puritans. Okay? There are bad guys. Some of which are also false teachers like Richard Baxter.

34:05

Okay? John Owen and Richard Baxter, they went at it. You can look into that history as well. But... I will ask rhetorically who you think

34:17

Mary Rowlandson is. One of the good ones or one of the bad ones? But ask yourself as well.

34:24

Is this how we are supposed to portray our natural enemies? Even those who physically harm us?

34:33

Is this what God has spoken? In stark contrast to Rowlandson, the

34:42

New Testament says that Christ is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises.

34:51

For in that God says a new covenant, He has made the first one old and obsolete.

35:02

Because that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away. According to Hebrews 8.

35:09

Verses 6 and 13. The entire chapter of Hebrews there, chapter 8, explicitly shows us the contrast between the old and the new covenants.

35:19

And whereas Romans 2 .29 says that Christians are true, inward, spiritual

35:28

Jews whose circumcision is that of the heart, the inner man, in the spirit and not in the letter, not physically.

35:43

Rowlandson nevertheless adheres to the belief that she is part of a new literal, national, physical

35:51

Israel which supplanted the previous Jewish nation of Israel. And so consequently, much of the

35:59

Old Testament still applies to them. And a lot of movements, especially in our tradition, in the

36:08

Reformed tradition, are guilty of over applying the

36:13

Old Testament or diminishing the differences, the major differences between the

36:19

Old and the New Covenants. This is even embedded in the Westminster Confessions, the

36:24

Presbyterian Reformed Standards. This is something that we have to be careful with because it leads to contradictions and imbalances if we are not careful.

36:36

Now, needless to say,

36:43

Rowlandson's theology is horrendously bad typology. We are not a new literal nation of Israel.

36:52

We are not an earthly nation of Israel. We are the church, not the nation of Israel like the

36:59

Old Testament was. And it is narcissus at its best or worst, depending on how you look at it.

37:08

Narcissus, if you remember, is narcissistic eisegesis where you make the

37:15

Bible all about you and about your little self -centered world.

37:21

That's what they did. It's very dangerous and false.

37:27

Now, does that sound familiar? Like what we just talked about? Who else was guilty of doing that?

37:34

This is the exact same problem that the Jews themselves had. The same exact problem.

37:41

They became self -absorbed, proud, and the

37:46

Lord rebuked them and punished them severely because of it. This is one of the main reasons why the

37:54

Jews fell into the snares of the devil. It leads to hating our natural enemies instead of loving and praying for them, as Christ commanded in his

38:07

Sermon on the Mount. But let's examine ourselves carefully here.

38:14

Even though we might see this and go, well, that's very extreme. I would never do that.

38:20

Even though this is an extreme example, are we nevertheless falling into the trap of despising people, of despising someone instead of dealing with the real enemies, which are spiritual?

38:40

Are we focusing too much attention on people, negative attention on people?

38:45

Do you have any animosity, bitterness, hatred, resentment, partiality, bias against anyone, even when it may not be warranted?

39:03

Have you examined yourself carefully, even if they didn't do anything to you?

39:09

And this stuff happens in churches. Y 'all, that's why I'm preaching this. We need to be careful to deal with these issues.

39:17

Even in New Testament churches, when sin was not properly addressed, it happened. When we don't address these issues, they are going to plague the church.

39:28

Like Paul says, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. We must be careful with these things.

39:37

And these sins were running rampant in our old church. If y 'all remember that, there was baseless slander, false accusations back in old paths.

39:48

All over the place. It was an absolute nightmare, a mess. The devil had taken a foothold and taken over that church, sadly.

39:58

So, we need to have a healthy, zero tolerance policy in our church and take a stand against this.

40:06

Amen? We must guard against this. We must deal with these issues biblically so, therefore, forgive and reconcile.

40:17

Be reconciled. And get right with God, if need be.

40:24

We must strive to live peaceably with all men, including our natural enemies, wherever possible.

40:35

Whereas the New Testament says that Christians should despise and fight against our spiritual unseen enemies, namely the devil.

40:48

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, according to Ephesians 6 .12.

41:02

Yet, Rowlinson instead denounces the Indians with their black faces as the physical enemies of God's chosen people, the

41:11

Puritans. By calling them bloody and merciless heathen enemies, hellhounds, infidels, ravenous beasts, barbarous and black creatures, madmen, and by twisting the imprecatory passages and Psalms of the

41:27

Old Testament in order to invoke God's punishments and curses on them. Boy, why don't you tell us how you really feel,

41:37

Mary? Right? I mean, this is horrible. Didn't Jesus clearly teach us to love your enemies, to bless them that curse you, to do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you, according to Matthew 5 .44.

41:58

This sinful attitude, bias, prejudice, leads to a premature rejection of our natural enemies.

42:10

Instead of applying the remedies, the proper remedies, of love, prayer, and evangelism.

42:17

We're not supposed to be invoking curses, y 'all. We're supposed to be invoking love, evangelism, and prayer.

42:24

That's the proper solution. This is what happens when we get this mixed up. When we don't properly make sense of the

42:31

Old and the New Covenants, and we have false teaching enter our minds, we can make serious errors when it comes to identifying who the real enemy is.

42:47

We can be self -deceived as well. But there is a balance, okay?

43:03

There is a balance that we need to make clear. Because we can still defend ourselves and our loved ones against natural enemies.

43:15

Even with lethal force as a last resort, if necessary. This goes back to the doctrine of the lesser magistrate.

43:24

Okay? I don't have time to get into that, but we can talk more about it if y 'all like. It's very important to understand this.

43:31

Especially if lives are in danger. If lives are in danger, we can and should defend ourselves.

43:41

Because 1 Timothy 5 .8 says that if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

43:55

That's a serious charge. That is one of the most serious charges in the whole Bible. You are worse than an infidel, than an unbeliever, if you do not provide for your household.

44:07

Now, let's think about this. We provide for our families by also protecting them.

44:17

Amen? And consider this, that we also cannot provide for and protect our families if we are dead.

44:27

So we should protect ourselves and each other. Okay? It's important not to get caught to an extreme or an imbalance like the pietists do and say, oh well, you know, we just let everything that happened happen to us.

44:44

That's not the appropriate thing to do in every situation.

44:50

Okay? However, this does not mean that we should hate and despise them, our natural enemies.

44:59

Right? That doesn't mean that we're supposed to hate them or despise them. On the contrary, we are called to love, to evangelize and to pray for them.

45:11

So we have to maintain these balances. Okay? It's very important to maintain these book and doctrines in proper balance.

45:19

Okay? So let's now go ahead and sum up the matter. We need balance and discernment when it comes to dealing with our natural and spiritual problems and enemies.

45:38

Our Heavenly Father tests us through trials, even when they come from the devil himself, in order to purge us, to prune us, to sanctify us, to help us to grow in Christ.

45:49

To sanctify us. In order to give us self -awareness of our issues and to resolve them.

45:56

Let's deal with our issues and get them resolved. That's why we also need each other.

46:04

Because sometimes we can't see what's wrong with us. And God uses the means of His people, the

46:11

Church, to help say, Hey, you know, there's something going on. Are you okay? I've been noticing a pattern here.

46:17

That's why we need each other. That's part of what the Church is for. To sharpen, to bear each other's burdens.

46:26

We all need the remedy, the very important remedy of balance between the natural and the spiritual.

46:37

To avoid extremes and self -deception. And to avoid giving a foothold to Satan.

46:47

Obviously. In addition, now in addition to contending against spiritual enemies, we are also called, however, to judge and expose religious hypocrites and false teachers.

47:01

Okay? If there's one type of people that we don't show any love, or in a way you can say we love them by exposing them and condemning their heresy as well as them, because that is what the

47:18

Bible says we must do. Matthew 23, when Jesus deals with the Pharisees, or Galatians, when

47:25

Jesus deals with the Judaizers, and He says, if anyone, even if we bring a different gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be eternally condemned.

47:36

So we don't show love to hypocrites, religious hypocrites, and false teachers. Those people need to be exposed and judged.

47:43

Or like in Revelations, when the Ephesian church judged these apostles to be false.

47:50

We have to guard against these people. That's basically the one exception that we have to be aware of.

48:00

In addition to defending our lives if necessary, as a last resort. Now, in order to understand the devil today, like I said, this is why we must study his past and how he got here, so that we also know where he's going.

48:17

The devil often uses people. He uses people, usually unbelievers, but also sometimes misguided or ill -prepared believers.

48:32

He can use them as well. In order to...

48:40

Lost my place here. My apologies. He uses them in order to foster natural enemies in our lives and to distract us from the real enemies.

48:54

The world, the flesh, and the devil himself. This is very important to understand.

49:03

Satan will put people, he will use people and bring them into your life in order to distract you and focus your attention on a natural enemy or person that is not your real enemy.

49:14

We have to look past that. We have to look past that and say, wait a minute, something's going on here.

49:20

Why is this happening? We need to constantly and consistently apply the remedies of sound, systematic doctrine and hermeneutics of proper biblical interpretation, including the law and gospel distinction, the most fundamental of all in our lives in order to resist the devil as well.

49:48

The most important remedy and resistance against all our enemies is the cross, the gospel, the power of God unto salvation.

50:02

Amen. And in order to live out our deliverance, we need

50:08

God's means of deliverance. His remedies, the six S's.

50:14

Scripture, sound doctrine that agrees with godliness and to avoid false teaching that leads to sin and gives the devil a foothold in our lives like it did sadly in Mary Rowlandson's life or like in the

50:29

Jews' lives. Number three, the sacraments. Four, self -awareness and self -denial.

50:37

Five, sage or wise counsel. The church. That's why we need each other.

50:45

And six, spiritual warfare to resist and rebuke the devil and his minions out of our lives.

50:54

We fight them off. We rebuke them with the sword of the spirit, the word of God and the full armor of God.

51:03

That's another one, I guess, that you can say. Unfortunately, it didn't fit into the

51:08

S's. But the full armor of God, of course, is a requirement. And in fact, as a takeaway,

51:16

I would definitely strongly encourage you to memorize Ephesians 6,

51:22

I believe it's 12 through 17. That discusses the armor of God.

51:28

I encourage you all to memorize it and to put it on. Put it on in the natural.

51:34

The helmet of salvation. The breastplate of righteousness. The shield of faith.

51:40

The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Girding our loins with the belt of truth.

51:45

And preparing our feet with the gospel of peace and of good news. Amen? Now, let's close this out with an amazing passage from Romans chapter 12, again, starting in verse 19.

52:01

It's turning to Romans chapter 12. I'm sorry, Romans chapter 12, verse 9 and 14 through 21.

52:14

This really captures the entire sermon very, very nicely.

52:26

So Romans chapter 12, starting in verse 9 and then skipping to verse 14. Let love be without hypocrisy, without bias, resentment, animosity, judgment, bitterness, without all of those things.

52:42

Be sincere. By abhorring what is evil and clinging to what is good.

52:49

Bless those, verse 14, bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.

52:55

I guess Mrs. Rowlandson forgot this passage. Rejoice with those who rejoice.

53:03

Weep with those who weep. By being of the same mind toward one another. Not being haughty in mind, like the rebellious

53:11

Jews were. Never paying back evil for evil to anyone. Respecting what is good in the sight of all men.

53:22

If possible, this is very important. So far as it depends on you.

53:30

So far as the ball is in your court, being at peace with all men.

53:36

Strive to live at peace with all men, including our enemies.

53:43

Never taking your own revenge, beloved. Instead, leave room for the wrath of God.

53:50

For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the

53:56

Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he is thirsty, give him a drink.

54:03

For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

54:16

And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. Let's go ahead and bow our heads in prayer.

54:23

Our gracious, heavenly, almighty Father, thank You so much, Lord, for the blessing of worship and fellowship with Your people in this

54:34

Lord's Day. We ask, Father God, that we do pray and lift up to You those who could not be here today for whatever reason, and especially because there are so many trials and hardships that are affecting us,

54:47

Lord. And we know that You know more than we do ourselves how much we are in need and what we need and exactly when and how we need it,

54:55

Lord. And we ask that You help us to trust in You, Father God, to help us to understand why it is that these trials are taking place and so that we can also, if there's something that we need to call attention to in our lives, if there's doors that we need to open or close, we ask,

55:12

Lord, that You help us to identify those issues and to deal with them, to bring a biblical resolution and closure to them,

55:20

Father God. We thank You once again, Lord, for all of Your grace, the means of grace that You've given us, the overwhelming peace and grace that You have bestowed on us,

55:30

Lord, as the ultimate remedy that You have given us through Your Son in the gospel of Christ Jesus.