The Enemy's Hinderance - 02/24/2019

Park Meadows Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Thank you so much for David for the opportunity to be behind the pulpit here and giving me that That the privilege and blessing.

00:07

Thank you We're Paul. Thank you for all you do at your school I know it's a blessing for us to have

00:12

Johannes there, and he always has stories when he comes home Thank you for what you do here, and thanks for your prayers for you know in India is now the 10th

00:24

Most dangerous country to to go to it never was like that, but we didn't with the new government

00:30

That's the way it is, but um There are about 100 to 200 pastors that just need you know they live 360 days of the year in fear and so these four or five days is all the refreshing and Rejuvenation that they can get so it's a it's a blessing just to go and do dear

00:51

We are working on a ministry to help as brother David mentioned. We are working a ministry to help train the untrained

00:58

That those who do not have the means to go to a seminary or a biblical Institute But have a calling and have a heart so I just need that so that is what we're working on presently

01:09

So we can share more as time goes by of how the Lord is leading to that Okay, well let us begin this morning with a word of prayer for myself and for us blessed

01:21

Jehovah Lord above Lord Almighty We bless you we honor you we praise you you are

01:29

King you are God, and there is none like you Father we pray your protection

01:34

We pray your spirit to instruct us to teach us Lord open our eyes

01:41

And we understand may you speak O Lord for your glory in Jesus name

01:47

Amen You know if you are in the will of God There is something that you can be assured of if you are following God be assured that Satan is close behind and Satan cannot stop

02:09

God State Satan cannot thwart God's plan But he can hinder us

02:18

You know first Thessalonians 2 18 Clearly mentions that and coming from the Apostle Paul.

02:24

I just read it to you Wherefore we would have come unto you even I Paul once and again but Satan hindered us

02:37

You know we love the sovereignty of God I mean That's how I got to know brother David and we shared from years back

02:43

Our topic that brought us together was the sovereignty of God and that's beautiful and God is in charge and God is in control and Hallelujah, we rejoice

02:51

But we cannot keep our eyes off the enemy as well

02:57

I've always wondered about Paul's statement here Why would he mention it?

03:02

How is it possible that Satan could hinder the great Apostle Paul? Isn't God in control

03:10

Isn't he sovereign? Sure, he is sure. Yes, but the reason the reason this is in Scripture is so we be alert

03:20

Yes Because let me tell you people we we must we must

03:26

Be alert in regards to our enemy We do not focus on him

03:33

We focus on Christ, but we do not keep our eyes off him either Why?

03:40

So we can detect where we need to resist the enemy Number one, you know also so we are not pawns in his hand

03:50

Doing his dirty work So we can we need to be alert because he is working behind and For us to know that we must continue the work of the

04:03

Lord hindrance or no hindrance We must continue

04:09

That is the only answer You know and reason we bring it up because We need to be alert of this and it is in Scripture to it

04:19

It it strikes me how many times this is mentioned in Scripture when the

04:24

Apostle Paul encountered people trying to hinder his ministry and dissuade his hearers

04:30

He saw the hand of Satan in Acts 13 10. I just read some of these for you so you can take note of scripture

04:37

So just listen That's what Paul attributed it to when he looked out over an unsaved audience

04:44

He blamed Satan for their lostness Acts 26 When the

04:51

Apostle lamented to young Timothy that those who reject the gospel are caught in what the sneer of the devil

04:59

Second Timothy 2 26 Likewise when men and women confessed

05:05

Christ as Savior Paul saw it as a clear blow to Satan's Empire Colossians 1 13 through 14 when

05:16

Paul encountered troublemakers in the church He discerned a crafty hand of Satan in that Romans 16 verse 17

05:26

When he became sick He believed Satan had a hand in it.

05:31

He referred to his illness as a messenger of Satan to buffet him Second Corinthians 12 7 when he was unable to visit a

05:42

Thessalonian church as we read We wanted to come to you, but Satan hindered us When Paul exercised church discipline on an erring member a member who was not not doing right

05:54

What did Paul do he what did he say? He was turning such a one over to Satan first Corinthians 5 5

06:05

When married couples in his churches had poor sexual relationships

06:12

Excessive bringing temptations upon your lives towards immorality Guess who he blamed?

06:20

Paul blamed such lapses on the devil first Corinthians 7 5

06:27

When the Apostle came across Gentiles worshiping idols Satan was behind it.

06:34

He said first Corinthians 10 20 striking many times

06:39

When he found Christians harboring bitter unforgiving attitudes towards others He saw the hand of Satan He instructed

06:48

Ephesians then never go to bed angry. Don't give the devil that sort of foothold

06:59

He told the Corinthians to forgive the man who had sinned against them Why? Less Satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices

07:12

And I could go on just more Turn with me to the book of Isaiah 36 the passage you look at this morning

07:24

Isaiah chapter 36 I Tell you that book of Isaiah is something It is rich theology and I made a mistake of starting to preach

07:34

Isaiah in in the church I was in verse -by -verse and I Had to pause

07:41

I Had to pause and say I need a break from this Okay, I said 36, let me just give you the context as we look into this a

07:52

Syria was on the march The Assyrian army had conquered both Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel devastated the countryside and The cities of Judah fortified cities there and all that remained beloved was

08:08

Jerusalem and if the Assyrians conquer her

08:16

Judah is destroyed as a nation just as Syria and Israel were

08:23

Syria was a world empire and they had wiped out Israel now Judah and Jerusalem was left

08:29

King Hezekiah was on the throne and these were desperate times for King Hezekiah But you know what

08:38

Judah was not going to be conquered or destroyed by the Assyrians why that was the prophecy

08:43

That was God's Word Israel. Yes Judah now not by a

08:48

Syria, but it will be by Babylon, but not by a Syria. So that was a promise of God Will Judah and Hezekiah believe that?

09:00

Or would they listen to Satan's word? Typified here

09:05

I believe in Sennacherib the king of Assyria and his envoy

09:11

Rabshakeh in Isaiah 36 there are similarities beloved in the way

09:17

Rabshakeh spoke to Israel in this passage and The way sometimes

09:24

Satan speaks to us As we can detect We can learn from Hezekiah and his servants how we should respond as well when he comes with his lies and threats

09:37

Isaiah 36 verse 1 Sennacherib king of Assyria starts to apply pressure Verse 1 now it came to pass in the 14th year of King Hezekiah That Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defensed cities of Judah and took them

09:56

First tactic of the enemy just sheer force Just took them seize them period

10:04

First thing he tries to do if possible Just here for secondly intimidation verse 2 and the king of Assyria sent

10:12

Rabshakeh from Lashish to Jerusalem on to King Hezekiah with a great army and He stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the

10:24

Fuller's field he started creating fear by a large army and Notice where he stands

10:34

It says by the conduit of the upper pool He was standing beloved at the crucial water supply

10:43

Which if he cut it He would cut the lifeline for Jerusalem that intimidation fear and Verse 3 and 4 then came forth unto him

11:00

Eliakim Hezekiah's son which was over the house and Shebna the scribe and Joab as Esau's son the recorder and Verse 4 and Rabshakeh said unto them

11:10

Say ye now to Hezekiah look at these words Thus says the great king the king of Assyria What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

11:22

Hmm here beloved is the principal attack of the enemy attack against our faith

11:33

Our trust what is this that you are trusting? You trusting

11:45

See in the book of Kings the parallel passage to this Hezekiah had rebelled against Sennacherib He actually had and so a party the king of Assyria had heard

11:56

Some strategy that Hezekiah had or some something Some plan against him

12:03

How dare you rebel against me? It's what Sennacherib is saying.

12:09

You must be trusting somebody thinking that you can defeat me Do you really think so don't you know who

12:17

I am? Who are you trusting That's what

12:22

Rabshakeh asks him Listen beloved Satan does not want you to trust anything

12:39

Satan wants you to be completely demoralized trust less That's why the first spiritual attack is against our faith

12:50

What did the serpent tell say in the garden you can't really trust him right

12:58

He's keeping something from you questioning trust Why?

13:04

Because our faith gives us security Our faith is the foundation

13:13

Faith first John 5 forces is the victory Our faith this is the victory that overcomes the world our faith

13:26

Ephesians 6 16 taking up the shield of faith to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one

13:35

All the greats mentioned in scripture Hebrews 11. How did they conquer? by faith

13:41

The scriptures say we live by faith Faith is the key to the

13:47

Christian life This is why Satan will go there first And That's where we will be regularly attacked to yank out that carpet that rug from under us

14:00

So you have nothing to stand on as Christians if we have no faith beloved we have nothing

14:14

Because we live by faith in Someone we do not see

14:20

That we're going to a place that we have not seen That's faith we live by that and Hezekiah had confidence

14:32

Are we putting our confidence in our Lord or just going with the flow We need to ask ourselves regularly.

14:39

Who am I trusting or what am I trusting? Regularly You see that Because if we're weak in this area, what do we do?

14:51

We need to ask the Lord. I believe but help my unbelief and Faith comes by hearing

15:00

You need to be regularly under the teaching under the Word of God.

15:05

That's how faith comes. You don't just work it up It's a gift For six

15:14

Though thou trusts in the staff of this broken reed on Egypt Whereon if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it

15:23

So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him Now this is actually a good point a true point if you depend upon Egypt you will be pierced

15:35

Egypt is like a prick that if you lean your hand on it, it's just gonna go through and You know

15:40

Egypt. It's kind of a type of a human help No human resource can ultimately help us

15:49

But God is our very present help and our source of help and deliverance in time of need

15:57

Now look at verse 7 the other attack that Satan does he attacks our behavior Look at verse 7, but if thou say to me

16:07

We trust in the Lord our God How good is is it not he whose high places and whose altars

16:16

Hezekiah has taken away and Said to Judah and to Jerusalem you shall worship before this altar.

16:24

Oh, this is a very interesting verse We see the enemy here Misinterpreting and attacking

16:33

Something that Hezekiah did he attacks our behavior Now he says notice that Hezekiah had removed the high places and the altars of Jehovah.

16:44

That's what he said But that that was not so that was either ignorance or deliberate misinterpretation or a deliberate lie

16:56

Hezekiah had removed the high places, but what high places the high places of the idols and He strengthened the worship of Jehovah at the temple one central place

17:11

Removing the high places and removing those altars is exactly what Hezekiah should have done it but the general tries to twist this around and He tries to reason that now because you removed all these altars

17:27

God is not going to help Israel You see it's it's it's interesting how the pagan mind thinks

17:38

Because hey in the commander's thinking Hezekiah's reforms have displeased

17:44

God So he should not expect help from the Lord God of Israel He's saying look at all the places there used to be where people would worship

17:57

Now since Hezekiah came there is only one place The tabernacle or a temple central worship you see in his mind more is better Hey more gods more

18:10

More high places the better So Hezekiah you took them away The Lord God of Israel must be pretty sore at you

18:20

It must be pretty upset You can't depend upon him now

18:27

It just makes me think it's interesting how you know beloved the world is watching us and it's interesting how they conclude

18:35

Erroneously or whatever, but they come to conclusions Especially about God They come to conclusion based on what we do and the enemy uses that in their minds

18:50

To twist the truth and spread lies, but we must continue It must do so Hezekiah had done the work and he had to continue

19:01

Because you know there was a The book I'm just going through now very interesting.

19:07

I recommend it is called the Red Sea rules And we like a quick passage from there.

19:12

It's just very Help me to keep note of that. How do we what's our response to the hindrances of the enemy?

19:20

We keep on We keep going We do not have the option to stop

19:26

We keep doing the work Says listen when we rebuff the enemy in the name of Jesus Christ when we stand our ground

19:38

When we resist his wiles and claim the victory of faith When we shake off discouragement in the name of our

19:48

Lord Satan falls from heaven faster than lightning. He is drowned in the

19:57

Red Sea of the blood of Jesus Christ Continues every time we resist the slightest temptation we honor

20:07

God Every time we overcome even the smallest problem by trusting and obeying our

20:16

Lord Jesus Christ God is glorified in our lives Whenever we choose character over convenience

20:27

Faithfulness over ease Honesty over deceit we bring honor to the

20:35

Lord himself When we serve him with watertight obedience even in small things

20:44

God is glorified just as at the Red Sea we keep on we follow his way

20:59

Because as long as we're in this world the enemy will continue attacking and as long as we are in this world we continue to work

21:06

What will continue? In this world you will have tribulation fact, but we continue

21:17

Move on because we have everything and everyone

21:24

God Almighty In our favor Now the next tactic of the evil one verse 8, you know, the devil always has something to offer

21:38

Look at verse 8 now therefore give pledges I pray thee to my master the king of Assyria and I will give thee 2 ,000 horses if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

21:54

Whoa Well My goodness, let's make a deal. I've got a bargain for you.

22:04

You won't be able to resist this one. In fact, it's so good You won't have room to handle it

22:11

You don't even have 2 ,000 men I'm gonna give you 2 ,000 horses, but at what cost

22:19

Just give pledges just surrender Align yourself with us Look what

22:26

I can give you you are in such a poor miserable position. You have nothing and I'm giving you all this

22:35

Now, is that a deal or is that a slap in the face? Interesting, you see in his deals the devil always tries to magnify our weaknesses

22:50

Always That is why it is so essential that we know and believe how rich we are spiritually

22:59

It's critical Ephesians says you've been blessed. You've been blessed with every spiritual blessing

23:07

Okay, because Satan magnifies our weaknesses nothing but you know what he also magnifies what he has to offer

23:18

Look at verse 9 how then How then will thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants and put thy

23:29

Trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen You know what he's saying?

23:35

Look, I'm just a small guy. I'm just a minor official I'm the least of my master's servants and look how much

23:41

I'm offering you So if I can offer you that can you imagine what my master can offer you?

23:50

That's what he's saying Magnifying what he has to offer. Look what I'm capable of giving you

23:56

Just think the power that Sennacherib king of Assyria has

24:01

There is no way the Egyptians can match that It makes much better sense to deal with us.

24:08

You would be foolish to refuse Don't use faith use human reasoning

24:18

Listen beloved sometimes Satan wants you to think with human reasoning instead of biblically Beloved this is too common.

24:27

It is scary This is happens a lot the use of human wisdom human reasoning

24:35

Instead of wait, what does God say? first Corinthians 2 5

24:43

So that your faith would not stand on the wisdom of men But on the power of God But you know what the punches keep coming and the commander saves his best thrust

25:01

I believe for last Look at verse 10 and am

25:07

I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it The Lord said unto me

25:15

Go up against this land and destroy it. My goodness. How can you argue with that now? Hey the

25:21

Lord sent me Admitted hezekiah

25:27

God is on my side And You don't have him now

25:35

Look look at all the deception. I Mean, this is this is a pretty big temptation

25:41

I believe for hezekiah a great lie for him to just give in to It would have been easy for hezekiah and his men to believe this one after all

25:51

Hadn't the Assyrians been widely successful of course

25:58

Look at all they conquered Look at all their achievements Surely God must be on your side

26:07

Didn't they have the most powerful army surely God must be on your side And how about the icing on the cake the

26:15

Lord told me so Wow, see the devil is not afraid to use

26:21

God's name Even in that and how many problems have happened by people saying

26:26

God told me so I Joke with my wife that I was tempted to tell her that God told me so to marry her but But she would not give in to that one because you know,

26:43

I'd be loving anybody can say that and It's probably not wise to say that Because if you ever go wrong once That's it

26:55

We have what God says. We don't need somebody to tell us that God told him that we have it in his word Because it doesn't matter a hoot who says the

27:02

Lord told me so the scripture says by their fruit you shall know them How many of you here are

27:10

Lord of the Rings fans? You recall the voice of Saruman Don't listen to his voice

27:18

Gandalf warned lest you come under his spell Because Saruman had an ability to talk in such a way that made his arguments sound like one's own

27:33

Now verse 11 Then said Eliakim and Shibna and Joah unto

27:39

Rabshakeh speak. I pray thee unto thy servants in the Syrian language

27:44

For we understand it and speak not to us in the Jews language in the ears of the people that are that are on the wall

27:53

Hezekiah's envoys are afraid and they tell Rabshakeh Hey what you're saying just speak to us privately in a in a language that we can understand

28:02

Don't tell everybody It's going to affect the morale of the men of Judah speak in Aramaic the

28:10

Syrians are Do you think the adversary will listen to that now? Verse 12 and 13 but Rabshakeh said hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words

28:23

Hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall? That they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you

28:32

Verse 13 then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the

28:38

Jews language and said Hear ye the words of the great king the king of Assyria So he spreads the fear spreads the threats demoralizing psychological warfare

28:54

You notice twice he mentions the great king of Assyria verse 14 through 15

29:02

Thus says the king Let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you

29:10

Verse 15 neither. Let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord Saying the

29:15

Lord will surely deliver us you see how he attacks the trust again This city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria Do not believe that the

29:26

Lord what Hezekiah says He's saying don't believe the

29:32

Word of God God said it will not be destroyed. He's saying don't believe it and Very interesting notice what he said in verse 15 do

29:46

In verse 14 let not Hezekiah deceive you This speech was intended to make

29:56

God's people not listen to godly leaders But to listen to false ones

30:07

He belittles Hezekiah's leadership a spiritual leadership Because beloved

30:13

Satan always attacks godly leaders Seeks to smear the name of godly leaders so the people can listen to carnal leaders and worldly ones

30:26

Don't listen to Hezekiah he's going to deceive you verse 16

30:33

Hearken not to Hezekiah for thus says the king of Assyria make an agreement with me by a present and come out to me and Eat ye every one of his vine and every one of his fig tree and drink ye everyone the waters of his own cistern

30:49

Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land a land of corn and wine a land of bread and vineyards

30:58

Another One another great temptation or attack He promises the people of Judah the men of Judah plenty of food

31:08

If they just surrender Relocation to a land of equal fertility

31:15

Come to a land come. I will take you to a land like your own land You see the devil always appeals to comfort peace and prosperity

31:29

Nothing wrong with that by giving it by God, but the appeal is away from God of course

31:35

Spurgeon said listen to what Spurgeon says Satan never brushes the feathers of his birds the wrong way

31:43

He generally deals with us according to our tastes and likings

31:53

What's my taste? What's my liking? That's where I gotta be careful

31:59

Because he never brushes the feathers of his birds the wrong way Just give it to me says rupture.

32:07

Okay. Let me take it on our land. My kingdom is just as good as yours in fact better You see

32:14

Satan promises to give what God gives Imitation is his favorite but a perverted imitation

32:29

Spurgeon continues If the difficulty in your way is Rather contrary to yourself than for yourself

32:38

Then it comes from God hmm Be that if the difficulty is rather contrary to yourself

32:47

Than for yourself, then it comes from God, but if what now is a hindrance brings you gain pleasure

32:57

Advantage in any way rest assured it came from Satan Because he offers an imitation

33:05

The true one God gives comfort peace joy prosperity and blessing sure But Satan's one is an imitation the peace and the comfort he offers is not internal.

33:16

It's external the joy he offers is Temporary fleeting and it's based

33:25

Not on God It's the imitation verse 18 through 20

33:34

Beware Less hezekiah persuade you saying the Lord will deliver us.

33:40

Oh Boy had any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria Where are the gods of her mother our father?

33:51

Where are the gods of sephirot and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Verse 20 like a final knockout punch, you know

34:01

Who are they among all the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand?

34:08

That the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand That blow was to completely wipe out any trust in God The gods of the other nations have not been able to protect them.

34:26

What makes you think he's gonna protect you Hey Your God is just like one of them

34:37

Can't protect you either He what he did was made our

34:42

God like others put our God in a group and And for anyone who had any spiritual understanding at that time to see it

34:53

Judah should have started planning their victory party right now The moment rupture

35:02

K crossed this line, you see it's one thing to speak against Judah It's one thing to speak against the people and the leaders.

35:09

It's another thing completely To mock the Lord God of Israel His way and to count him as just another

35:19

God He simply overstepped his bounds right there and there was no way that God would let him off the hook for this one

35:33

He has offended the Lord God in a way that he will soon regret Verse 20 who are they among all the gods right?

35:42

He mentioned Satan tells the whole world What what does he tell us?

35:47

What does he tell the whole world? when we evangelize He tells everybody that the

35:53

God of Israel the God of the Bible is just like other any other God and just join in with us and Not only that he classifies

36:04

God's people in the same category as other people He says look

36:10

Jerusalem You just like any like any other nation out there Jerusalem will be taken just like other nations will be taken you guys are no different Do you think he cares about you?

36:27

He's saying if he has not done it for the big countries the big nations. Why would he care for little

36:34

Jerusalem? Why would he care for the little church?

36:40

Why would he care for you little Christian? He cares for you because that's what he says and that's what he does and You are a chosen generation.

36:54

Holy his sons his bride. You are not like others because of his grace

37:05

But Satan wants you to believe you just like anybody else and your God is just like anybody else, too

37:11

That's why we need to know our God If not, we will believe like others do and those who know their

37:19

God will soar verse 21

37:27

But they held their peace and answered him not a word For the

37:32

King's commandment was saying answer him not That's good, they did not try to argue with rupture.

37:38

Okay, it's it's useless in fact It's dangerous to try and match wits with demonic logic

37:45

You can't do that How much better to keep silent and trust

37:50

God instead of trying to win an argument? Don't talk with the enemy

37:57

He will talk you into destruction misery and chaos You don't listen.

38:04

You don't consider you don't answer I Remember what the psalmist said in Psalms of even 70

38:12

I wait in silence for my God Doesn't have to control things and make it on he waits in silence

38:24

FB Meyer says Silence is our best reply to the allegations and taunts of our foes

38:32

Be still Oh persecuted soul Hand over thy cause to God It is useless to argue even in many cases to give explanations

38:44

Be still and commit thy cause to God FB Meyer verse 22

38:54

Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah that was over the household and Shebna described and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder

39:01

To Hezekiah with your clothes rent and told him the words of rapture. Okay, I Like that they did not go and argue with him, but they went to their

39:10

King What should we do? We should take the lies of the enemy and take it to our

39:18

King Don't talk to the enemy Talk to our King about the lies and Believe him go to Jesus Now what did

39:31

Hezekiah do? What is it that we need to do chapter 37 verse 1 and It came to pass when

39:39

King Hezekiah heard it that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the

39:47

Lord got a response Hezekiah went to the house of the

39:52

Lord seeking God Look at verse 2 and he sent

39:57

Eliakim who was over the house Over the household and Shebna described and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth notice

40:06

Unto Isaiah the prophet a son of Amos. I love this.

40:11

This is fascinating Isn't that isn't that something I am facing the most powerful army in the world at this time

40:20

Hezekiah is Would not the normal response be let's get the generals together

40:26

Let's send messengers to other countries to help us Let's see what we can do.

40:32

And where do you go Hezekiah to a prophet? That's good

40:42

That is powerful You go to the man of God to hear the

40:48

Word of God in a situation like this That is understanding the root and the solution of the problem

40:58

Beloved it's always spiritual first What we need to do and what we need

41:07

It's a clear word Don't we? hope direction comfort

41:14

We can live with the consequences sometimes we can endure but we need a definitive and changing promises of God and With that we continue to run and persevere and even soar and become more than conquerors

41:33

Hezekiah went to God and cried out in prayer Verse 14 he did that too

41:39

You see it's not your battle the battle is the Lord's We need to be like watchmen

41:48

Watching alert and what does a watchman do when the army comes does he take his little rifle and shoot?

41:55

No He calls the commander the general and the general fights

42:03

He rescues he delivers We go to the general we go to our commander

42:11

And with his strength and power he leads us Let's remember who is in charge go down to verse 16 37 verse 16 of verse 15

42:22

Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord saying look at this verse 16 Oh Lord of hosts God of Israel that dwelleth between the cherubims thou art the

42:33

God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth Thou has made heaven and earth

42:40

There's a rich theology in this prayer one verse right here Notice Lord of hosts, but is he saying you control armies?

42:52

Then he says God of Israel. Oh You're our God remember We are your people remember

43:03

And then he says enthroned We are dwells between the cherubims. You're in throne here.

43:08

You are the highest power the most high God you are still on your throne and Then what does he say?

43:15

I love this thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth thou has made heaven and earth thou art the

43:22

God thou alone You are you alone are God and all the kingdoms of the earth are yours you are over everything

43:30

Yes, even a Syria and yes, even over this bozo That's my interpretation.

43:38

Sorry Okay, so that's why

43:43

I come to you. He knew who was in charge And he took it there because when you know the promises of God and you listen to the voice of God We cannot do better than our

43:58

Savior Our Savior defeated the enemy three times. Oh by answering him

44:04

Not a word, but by listening to what the father had said in his word Now if Jesus did that Do we have another strategy let me close go back to this book a passage here

44:28

We have a great God beloved, but we have an enemy let's not forget that But we always make a mistake listen when we acknowledge the

44:39

Lord and keep our eyes on Satan, uh -oh Let me repeat that we always make a mistake when we acknowledge the

44:46

Lord and keep our eyes on Satan Far better to acknowledge the devil while keeping our eyes on Christ For all his insights and explanations about the evil one

45:01

You know, this is interesting the Apostle Paul with all that he mentioned as we began the message today

45:07

With all that he mentioned about the evil one. Do you know where his focus was on? Christ In the

45:15

Pauline epistles alone just in the Pauline letters, okay the word Jesus occurs 219 verses the word

45:26

Lord occurs 272 verses In 272 verses and the word

45:33

Christ occurs in 389 verses the word

45:40

Satan on the other hand Occurs only in 10 verses and the word devil only in 6

45:53

Where was the focus of Paul? When things are going badly when you feel trapped between the sword and the sea

46:03

When you're under assault Acknowledge the devil but keep your eyes on Christ He will see you through he will make a way he will carry you over to the other side because he has one

46:17

He is our commander Let's pray. Oh Gracious and Almighty God You are

46:25

Lord and there is none like you We bless your holy name Thank you

46:31

Lord that we are in this world under the power of the evil one But you are in us and you are with us and you have overcome and we belong to you to you be all praise