Keep sharing good news without ads.
No description available
John Bunyan is known for his book called The Pilgrim's Progress which just until recently was the number two best-selling English book of all time. He wrote another allegory called The Holy War, a very interesting book.
I've only read about the first half, but it begins this way. In this gallant country of universe, there lies a pleasant and peaceful municipality called Mansoul. The picturesque architecture of this town, its convenient location, and its superior advantages cannot be equaled under heaven.
Once upon a time, a mighty giant named Diabolus made an assault upon this famous town of Mansoul. He tried to take it and make it his own habitation. The giant was the terrible Prince of Darkness. He was originally one of the servants of King Shaddai who had placed him in a very high and mighty position.
Knowing they had lost their positions and the king's favor forever, Diabolus and his rebels turned their pride into hatred against Shaddai and his son. They roamed about in fury from place to place to search of something that belonged to the king on which they might take their revenge.
At last, they happened to find this spacious country of universe, and they steered their course towards the famous town of Mansoul. Considering it to be one of the chief works and delights of King Shaddai, they decided to make an assault upon the town.
When they found the place, they shouted horribly for joy and roared as a lion over its prey, saying, now we have found the prize and how to take revenge on King Shaddai for what he has done to us. So they called a council of war and considered what methods they should use to win this famous town of Mansoul for themselves.
That's how the book, The Holy War, starts. And I would have to say the battle rages on today. You are in a battle, we are in a battle against the god of this age, against the prince of this world, against the prince of the power of the air, against the evil one, against the tempter, against the murderer, against the father of lies, against the great dragon, against the prince of demons.
Are you willing? Are you able? Are you capable to fight such a foe? Here's my charge to you as a pastor. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes and wiles of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly or high places.
Therefore take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand. Stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.
Great charges at the end of Ephesians. Paul has said, he has saved you, he has redeemed you, he has bought you by the precious blood of Christ. Great song today that talks about the love of God which was without cost.
And from our perspective it's without cost and that's exactly true. From God's perspective it cost a lot and he slayed his son, his dear son, his only son, the son that he loved and here we've been given this free and precious gift of salvation and there will be enemies who don't like that and we know who the enemy is and what are we to do?
As Francis Schaeffer said decades ago, how then shall we live? We fight against demons, against devils, against unclean spirits, against foul spirits. What are we to do? And if you believe the Bible's true, you'll believe that demons exist.
You'll believe that Satan exists and you'll believe that even though you can't see the invisible war, that there is a war. Now as we go through Ephesians verse by verse, I almost want to get to 614 but today is a loose ends tie up.
We're going to tie up loose ends. You could really teach spiritual warfare series for probably, I was joking before for 20 weeks but you probably could do that. And so today we're just going to take a step back, take a breath as it were, which will work out fine because many of the ladies that need to hear 614 and following will be back soon.
And we want to ask a few questions to help us think properly about God and his words, Satan, heaven and hell, demons. And so let me just give you several questions today that spin out of our series and then we'll look at the answers.
And I think they're answers that you'll at least be intrigued by as we get to know this subject of Satan and demons and spiritual warfare. Question number one, should you exercise demons out of people?
Should you exercise demons out of people? Now we've been attacking this from a variety of different perspectives but we want to ask it a little more directly today. Should you exercise demons out of people?
After all, if we've admitted that they exist, if they are alive and well, if they're trying to destroy God's work, what should we do? Origin in 210 AD exercised demons by calling the name of Jesus and the name of martyrs.
Some rabbis used to use torch lights, amulets, fumigations and even would make the person drink hell broths. Hellenistic exorcism, they would extract the demon from the nose. I wonder what kind of instrument you would use to do that.
This is a big deal because if there's a demon who's after you or the demon who's in you or afflicting you or possessing you or oppressing you, you want to get rid of it. So if there's a demon that's possessing someone, oppressing someone, we need to know what to do.
People would pray to Saint Modestos for animals afflicted during epidemics and they thought they had demons and they'd especially pray for demons who are in oxes, horses, donkeys, mules and sheep. Basil even mentioned exorcism prayers for insects which inflict damage upon vineyards and fields.
On the internet, I saw this week, quote, after calling each demon or group of demons out, take a deep breath and blow out through your mouth. Demons come out through tears, air passages like your mouth, coughing, yawning, mucus, runny nose, through the skin or through no visible signs at all.
No one knows all the answers but I know when you blow them out, it helps dislodge the demons. Poor Peggy is so full of cold, she's just spewing them forth right and left, right? In the apocryphal book that the Roman Catholics would consider as scripture, Tobias 8 says, Tobias remembered the words of Raphael and took the fish's liver and heart and put them on the embers of incense.
The odor of fish so repelled the demon that he fled. Everywhere you go, there's the issue of how to get demons out. What should we do? Just in December of 2004, the Pontifical University got together on a seminar, how do you get rid of the devil?
Quote, Reuters News Service, December 9th, 2004. A Vatican University said on Thursday, it will hold a special theoretical and practical course for Roman Catholic priests on Satanism and exorcism in response to what the church says is a worrying interest in the occult, particularly among the young.
This year, Italy was gripped by the story of two teenage members of a heavy metal rock band called the Beast of Satan who were killed by the other band members in a human sacrifice. The two-month course, which begins in February and will be limited to priests and advanced students of theology, will include themes such as Satanism, diabolical possession, and prayers of liberation.
We know it's a big issue, so what do we do about it? That's the question. Is the Bible sufficient enough to teach us what to do and how to do it? This is the preface to the Roman rite of exorcism that they would teach.
One, you should have the permission of the bishop, be of a mature age, and be a virtuous person. Two, take note if you're the exorcist because there are tricks and deceits and evil schemes of spirits that might lead you astray.
They are accustomed to answering falsely. Three, the possessed should hold a crucifix in his hands or have it in front of him. Whenever available, the relics of the saints can be placed on his chest or on his head.
The holy Eucharist should not be placed on his head or anywhere of the body of the possessed. There's a danger that it will be treated irreverently. The exorcist should perform and read the exorcism with command, authority, great faith, humility, and fervor.
Whenever he sees part of the possessed body moving or pierced or something swelling appearing, let him make the sign of the cross and sprinkle holy water. The summoning of the evil spirit should be, quote, unclean spirit, whoever you are and all your companions who possess the servant of God by the mysteries of the incarnation, the sufferings of death and resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I command you, tell me with some sign your name, the day and the hour of your damnation. Do not damage this creature or to my assistance or any of their goods. It says at the very bottom, and I find this interesting, when all have been recited, it can be repeated as often as is necessary until the possessed is completely free.
What do we do? And beloved, it seems to me as I read this and study it, the farther we get away from Scripture, the more the incantations, spells, sayings, prayers, fumigations, nasal extractions go up.
As you leave Scripture, you have to do something. My question today is, can we exercise demons or even should we? Remember last week when we looked at Jude and 2 Peter, where even angels like Michael is very cautious of what he does?
It reminds me of that old proverb, fools rush in where angels fear to what? Tread. That's exactly right. We remembered from last week that we don't cast out demons because Scripture trumps experience.
Even this week someone has told me, I have cast out demons personally, therefore it's true. The check on experience is truth. Truth always trumps experience. If you say you've done something or you've seen something, but the Bible doesn't teach it, then as David Wells said, autobiography trumps theology.
And again, this is just all review from last time. Let's go to a Bible passage, John chapter 14 and continue this almost lawyer-esque assault on why we don't think we should cast out demons and then what we should do in just a few moments.
But another reason why we shouldn't cast out demons is because John 14, 12 is not talking about exorcisms. People will say, well, people said this to me in India and they've said it here. If Jesus said this, of course it must be true and I affirm that Jesus said it, but the context has nothing to do with taking authority over devils.
It has nothing to do with this at all. Let's go to John 14, 12 as Jesus is trying to encourage the disciples that even though he will leave them, the work of God will go on and it will go on in force.
It will go on with great power, even though Christ isn't there. You can read the book of Acts to find that out. But look at John 14, 12. Truly, truly, Jesus said, I say to you, amen, amen, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also and greater works than these he will do because I go to the Father.
Now what's this talking about? If Jesus cast out demons, then that means you'll cast out more demons? Jesus fed the 5 ,000 men, so you'll feed the 50 million men? What does he mean? You'll do greater.
He's not meaning greater in power, but greater in extent. He's not meaning just greater in power, but greater in number. Think about it this way. You even get the privilege as a Christian to preach the gospel and God uses the preaching to save people?
The bad news is if you could heal someone, what do they still have to do? If you heal someone now from a disease because you think as Jesus could heal, so can I, as Jesus did it in a greater sense, so can I, there's still bad news and that bad news is they will one day after their healing still die and face God.
And so Jesus said there's going to be more to the extent and there's going to be more to the importance if he's taking care of blind and healing people and Jesus did, of course, forgive sins many times.
But when you look at the issue here, even as I quote Exposers Bible Commentary, there were more converts after the initial sermon of Peter at Pentecost than are recorded for Jesus during his entire career.
And Jesus is saying, disciples, the work's going to go on. He's not saying since I cast out demons, you'll cast out all the more. John MacArthur said, Jesus did not mean greater works and power, but an extent.
They would become witness to all the world through the power of the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit would bring many to salvation because the comforter was dwelling with them. But someone says, I still believe in demons because there's a verse in Mark, Mark 16, where you can cast out demons.
Let's go there, Mark chapter 16. And I'm just trying to cover every area because beloved, here's my bottom line. As Guido's father told me last week, let's make sure we do the right thing so we don't waste time doing the wrong thing.
That is to say, if we're running around doing all the wrong things, casting out demons and territorial spirits and having prayer walks and doing all these things, then we're wasting our time and our time should be spent doing what God says to do.
I thought that was very insightful. I said, I should have said that during my sermon. So a week later, I want to say that. Why do we study all the things not to do so we don't do them? And you would be surprised.
Like I said, even this week, there are those who still want to convince me that we should cast out demons. And I'm just trying to put it together today that I don't think we need to. I don't think we can.
What do scriptures say? Mark chapter 16. Hey, the Bible teaches it. What are we going to do? Does Mark 16 teach you today here in West Boylston to cast out demons? Mark 16, 17. These signs will accompany those who have believed.
In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will pick up serpents. And if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
I heard there was just a show on PBS or some discover kind of channel where they showed the Appalachian snake handlers and poison drinkers. What do we do with this passage? Well, first of all, can you see in your own Bible?
Do you see any brackets around 9 to 20? Do you see any little asterisks? Do you see a little footnote where it says these are not in the best manuscript? You probably should see that. There's about one third of the words in Mark 16, 9 through 20 that aren't from Mark at all.
In his other writing, they're not Markian at all. If you take a look at chapter 16, verse 8 and 9, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't, those two verses don't go together. Let's read a Mark 16, 8 and following.
And they were, they went out of the field, excuse me. They went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone for they was afraid. Now, who are the they's and the them's?
Well, you would think verse 9 of chapter 16 would say now after Christ had risen, who's the he? Who's the nearest antecedent? To whom does this refer? It doesn't seem to make sense to put those two words together.
Matter of fact, Mary Magdalene, who we've met several times in Mark already, is introduced as a brand new character. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons. But let me tell you why I really don't think, well, let's not go there yet.
Let's go back up to verse 10. Let's just walk through this passage and see it in context. Mark 16, 10. She went, reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning and weeping. And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
And after that, he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along their way to the country. And they went away and reported it to others, but they did not believe them either.
Talking about the road to Emmaus. And after he appeared to the 11 themselves, and as they were reclining at the table, he approached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen.
Verse 15, there's the call. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Here's a problematic verse as well. Theologically, he is believed and has been baptized, shall be saved. He whose disbelief shall be condemned.
And these signs will accompany. Cast out demons, speak in tongues, pick up servants and drink poison and they will not be hurt. Lay hands on the sick and they will recover. What's happening there? That seems strange to me.
That seems bizarre. Does Jesus ever teach in the Bible, beloved, that his followers are exempt from natural laws, like poison from a snake are strychnine? The answer to that is no. Why would we do that?
That's almost sounding presumptuous. I'm a man of God. Here's a thing of poison up here. And I'm going to go ahead and drink it. And I'm so holy that I won't die. Now, this has nothing to do with spiritual warfare, but this has everything to do with the ending of Mark chapter 16.
And it is so great. I love to teach the ending of Mark 16. Mark 16, 8. Why would you leave a gospel ending like this? If you can't pay attention to what I'm saying, if I haven't made sense, then focus on this one.
We'll jump all back together on verse 8. They went out, fled from the tomb. Trembling astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Now, who ends a gospel like that?
Matthew didn't. Luke didn't. John didn't. What, they were afraid? They live happily ever after. It's a much better way to end it. They were afraid and astonished. What's going on? So what's happened over the years?
The original manuscripts, no 9, no 10, no 11, no all the way to 20. Matter of fact, there's four endings because people don't like this ending. Who likes this ending? They were afraid. They were trembling.
And that's it. Who likes that kind of ending? So they began adding endings. But if you see why the ending should be there in the first place, you'll never say to yourself again, oh, Mark 16, 9 and 20 is even in the text.
It's not in the text. The people are afraid to say, you know, it's not in any of the best manuscripts. It's got horrible theology. But somehow, you know, it sounds like we're liberals up here cutting and pasting the text.
But look at why it should end here in 16, 8. They were trembling traumas. They were bewildered. They didn't say anything to anyone as a double negative in the Greek. So unique. It's so full of emphasis.
And if you start going through the book of Mark, this is worth it. I know you're not paying attention quite yet. You're just looking at me like, what are you doing? Where is this? What's going on with spiritual warfare?
Try studying this in the book of Mark. Supernatural miracle, fear, amazement, afraid. There's a supernatural miracle and the response to supernatural miracles, the people are going, wow, I can't believe it.
I'm frightened and I'm afraid. When there's a divine encounter, there is something that's going to happen. It's like we were watching the Jesus movie last night with the kids. And Jesus diverts all the fish away from Peter's nets.
Then he diverts them back all into the nets. They fill up the fish and Jesus is being looked upon by Peter. And I said, children, if you're Peter, what do you do? High five, Jesus. Our boat's full. Way to go.
You're the best. Kind of punch him on the arm. Yeah, way to go. What did Peter do? The supernatural event of God happens. And what's the response? Let me just highlight some of these. You can write them down.
You probably won't have time to look. Let me show you the pattern of the book of Mark. Mark 4, 41. And they were very much afraid and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and sea obey him?
The God of the universe is supernatural. He does something. And the response is the holy God of the universe. I'm frightened. 5, 15. And they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting down, clothing in his right mind, the very man who had the legion.
And they, the disciples, became what? This is over. Glad you did all that, Jesus. Running around crazy guys with knives, gouging themselves. And now they're going to gouge me. And the text says, and they became frightened.
5, 33. But the woman, fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. The supernatural healing, frightening. 6, 50. For they all saw him and were frightened, but immediately he spoke with them and said, take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.
9, 6. For they did not know what to answer, for they became terrified. A supernatural act of God. And you just stand there dumbfounded before the holiness of God. 10, 32. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem.
Jesus was walking ahead of them. They were amazed. And those who followed him were fearful. You have Mark who just writes in short, truncated verses anyway. He's just kind of choppy. And all of a sudden, at the end, you're supposed to walk out thinking, I can't believe what I've just seen.
There's been the resurrection from the dead by God Almighty. And I'm stunned by that. The mystery and the grandeur of the death, burial, and now resurrection. And there's just shock. The wilderness, the bewilderment.
If you saw this response, it would be predictable. Jesus does something with supernatural power. There's a response of fear and afraid, being afraid and awe all the way through. And so now you have the resurrection.
And how does it end? Now look at it. Verse 8 of Mark 16. And they went out, and they fled from the tomb for trembling. And astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were frightened.
We don't need anything more at the end of Mark that is written 300 years later, 400 years later, that has bad theology. All that to say, what's the point, pastor? The point is, if you're going to try to build your theology around a verse that at best may not be in the Bible, do you want to put all your cards on the table for Mark 16, 17 regarding casting out demons?
Furthermore, it's easy to do the tongue thing. It's easy to do the demon thing. But then why don't you do the snake thing and the poison thing? I don't want you to. And I don't want you to move to Appalachian Mountains and do that.
It's like I met Carl and Dee Burnett the first time. And he was telling me, you know, when I moved to New England, it was churches that had bean suppers all the time. People would actually pay five bucks to go to a bean supper.
I thought, I just don't get that around here. But I understand the fellowship and the cost of beans and everything else. You know what they do in Kentucky? He said, you need to come down where we are.
You know, we have to kind of get people in the church, a little church growth. We have squirrel boils. And so you just get a bunch of squirrels, you boil them and you eat them. How many people here have ever heard of a squirrel boil?
Some has, John has. There's no consistency in saying, I'll take the tongues part, I'll take the demons part, but I won't take the poison part and I won't take the serpents part. Listen, that, all the words that Mark doesn't even use, and especially the believe and be baptized stuff, you have to at least say to yourself, should I really consider these verses as scripture when the church fathers, when the original manuscripts are just not in there?
What should you do if you ever meet a demon possessed person? Someone says, run. What do you do? This is an all long introduction leading up to that. If you meet someone who's demon possessed, I believe they're demon possessed people.
I believe there are fewer today than there were in Jesus time. But what do you do? I just told you what you can't do. So now what do you do? Well, turn to Colossians chapter one, and I want to give you the answer.
And here's the answer. Preach the gospel. Evangelize them. Proclaim the truth to them. If I was jumping ahead of myself in Ephesians 6, 17, see, I would say, use the word of God, which is the sword of the spirit.
You know what? You meet a demon possessed person, you preach the gospel of them. Well, what if they just have mental illness? Well, I think the gospel will do that as well too. You preach the gospel to these people.
Look what happens when the gospel is preached and God saves Solon, Sayonara, Satan, and his dominion. We know this. This is one of the best verses in the Bible. It's one of those that you should put on your screensaver.
It's so beautiful. There's a true part. And then there's something that's just really dear and tender and sweet as well. Colossians chapter one, verse 13. In a book, Colossians about Christ is superior.
Christ is preeminent. Christ is sufficient. Colossians chapter one, verse 13. He goes on to say, for he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. When God saves you, you're taken from one domain, darkness, evil, wickedness, and you're placed into another domain of light and of the dear son of God.
And by the way, when you look at this passage, when you are rescued, when you are liberated, the Greek word says, you're liberated from someone or something, and you're taken out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son.
That's not a good way to translate it. Hey, Gracie, you're gonna have to sit down right now. Sit down. I'm dad and mom today. If you're not awake, now you're awake. Okay, you sit down and you don't get up again.
I couldn't put her in the nursery because she's got a cough. And while we're just putting all our cards out on the table, if you have a sick kid, don't put your sick kid in the nursery. Why? Everybody else is gonna get sick.
Your other observation could be, well, I'll put my sick kid in nursery just because I want them all to get sick so their immune system's better in the long run. You got a sick kid, you can't put him in the nursery.
That just, you know, we just shouldn't do it for the love of other people. Even if you have to call down your kid in the middle of a sermon. It's only the second time I've ever had to do that. You're taken out of darkness and you're transferred to the kingdom of...
Now, if I was going to teach with contrast, I would say, you're gonna teach it this way. God takes you out of darkness upon salvation and he puts you into what? Light. That's what I would say. He takes you out of darkness and he puts you into light.
But something's way better than that. That's true. But look at how he says it. And NES messes this up. Transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. That's not the best translation. King James does a lot better job.
New King James. I didn't check King James. He transfers us to the kingdom of the son of his love. He translates us into the... He puts us into the son of his love. A better way to say as the Hebrews would say, his dear son.
He takes out of darkness. Satan's captured you to do his will. Second Timothy says, of all unbelievers. That's the big lie, by the way, of being an unbeliever. I have my free will. And second Timothy says, you're doing Satan's will.
He takes you out of that slavery and bondage. And he puts you into light. Yes, but he puts you into the son of his love. And his son, his dear son's love. And then he can't help himself. He just has to praise him as he explains him more.
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Beloved, if you preach the gospel and God saves them. Whether they're inhabited, possessed, oppressed. Infiltrated, infected. Whatever it might be with demons.
He transfer you and he puts you into the realm of his son. The son of his love, his dear son. It's a great way to do it. Why don't we turn to James chapter four? And I'll further make this point. If you meet a demon possessed person.
Preach the gospel to them. What if they're demon possessed and not mentally ill? What if they're mentally ill and not demon possessed? What if they're the same? You don't even have to answer any of those questions.
You meet somebody who's obviously not a Christian. What do you do? Judge not lest you be judged. Someone said that to me this week. I can't, a couple weeks ago. I can't judge. I don't know if I can judge their fruit.
Beloved, that's coming from too much Christian radio. Where we're not to be fruit inspectors. Here's the idea with fruit and judging fruit and judging others. I may not and you may not judge them to eternal hell or eternal heaven.
That is Christ the Lord's prerogative. But you can judge people. How about this? We do it all the time. You meet someone and you say, well, they don't act like a Christian. Here's what the Bible says Christians do.
They don't measure up at all. They don't even seem to try. I hope you make that judgment. Not you're going to hell, pal. But you're saying that person based on how they live and what I know. It seems to me they are on their way to perdition.
And I need to preach the gospel to them. So if you meet someone who's all messed up in one shape or another. What's the best thing to do? Preach the gospel. And God can use the preaching of the gospel.
His ordained way that faith comes by what? Hearing a message about Christ. Romans 10 17. You preach the gospel. And if God is so pleased to save, he takes them out of all the slavery to Satan and moves them over.
Look at James chapter 4 verses 6 and following. Now, again, this is another complicated verse like Mark. And so I'll try to make it less complicated. But James is written to Christians and unbelievers as well.
James is a sermon basically of 104 verses with 52 commands. Now, am I naive enough to think as I look around that everyone in this congregation is saved? I'm not that naive. Because God has already told me there are wheat and chairs.
There are Christians and non-Christians. That even James at the end in chapter 5 verses 19 and 20 says, If one among you gets saved, there's great blessing to that. Turning them from sin. James is preaching the sermon and people go to these verses.
And these are the screensaver verses for Christians in their devotional life. I don't think chapter 4 verses 6 through 10 have anything to do with Christians. They have to do with becoming Christians.
This is a call to salvation. There are 10 imperatives. Do this, do this, do this, do this. And they're not ongoing. Keep drawing near to God, He'll keep drawing near to you. That's a true fact. But that verse doesn't say it.
Coming up there in verse 8. These are in time, short little staccato military style. Repent, believe, trust, follow. You say, how can it be a call to salvation if there's no death, burial and resurrection?
Well, how can there be a call to salvation if Jesus says, Enter the narrow gate for the gate is wide and broad that leads to destruction. There's no death, burial and resurrection there either. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.
There's no death, burial and resurrection there either. James is smart. He's a pastor and now after giving charges to the believers, he's going to call the unbelievers to salvation. And I could refer you to the tape I preached on this five years ago if you want more detailed information.
But here he says, first of all, look at what he says first in James chapter 4 verse 7. Tied in with this whole demon thing and Satan thing. And what if someone is demon possessed? What should you do? You preach the gospel of them and you could say this, Submit therefore to God.
Submit to God. He opposes the prideful, but he gives grace to the humble. Submit, line yourself under. By the way, when I think of submit, here's what I think of submit. I think of being on a raft in the pool.
Just kind of floating. I met somebody in California when I first moved there in 1982. They were newlyweds and they were about 21, 22. And they said, when we get home from work, we have float therapy. We're not allowed to talk to each other for the first 20 minutes.
We just have to go into our little pool, lay on the thing and just float. We can let our toes touch kind of thing, but we can't do anything else. Then after we've kind of internalized all this, then we can begin to talk.
When I think of submission, that's what I think of. Just, uncle, I'm in a hold by another wrestler. I submit. All kinds of passive ways of submission. Submission means you take up your allegiance to a superior officer.
That's the idea. There's an allegiance that I used to have towards another. Now I take it up to this one, the superior one. And in our society of asserting ourselves, we don't get this. We're going to line up underneath the commanding officer.
And if you're underneath Satan, then line up under God. That's what he's saying. You could say that to an unbeliever, couldn't you? Submit to God. Don't submit to Satan anymore. And then with a jackhammer kind of burst.
The flip side, he says, what in seven resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Take your stand against Satan. And this military metaphor keeps on going this slander and he'll flee from you. So put yourself under God and resist Satan.
It's the positive side and the negative side. All that to say, beloved, if you meet someone who's an unbeliever and they look like they're demon possessed or they look like they're demon oppressed or they don't even look like they have a demon.
What's the course of action? Why is it that Jesus on just a few occasions exercise demons? Why is it that I think of only four times in the book of Acts? If my memory serves me that the apostles cast out demons.
And why is there not one other demon cast out in all the other epistles? It's amazing. I found the third Sunday in Lent is called Akulai, which is also translated as exorcism Sunday. How about exorcism Sunday is replaced by preaching the gospel, the greatness of our Lord, the sin bearer, the substitutionary savior who's been raised from the dead.
If you meet somebody and you don't know how they're acting, preach the gospel. Well, let's ask the second question. Can Christians be demon possessed? You think a Christian can be demon possessed? You think a demon can come in and inhabit me and control me?
You have to ask him on that one, I guess. By the way, if you don't know my preaching style by now, here's my preaching style. Comic relief. Take a breath. And you shouldn't, you know, pastors should never tell a joke.
If I tell a joke, you have my permission at the door to say, pastor, you told me you should never tell a joke. Too many comedians lose their job every single week, and you're not a good joke teller. So no more comedy like that.
I do believe in comic relief, and it's usually at my own expense to try to give you a breath before we're on to the next thing. But telling jokes we don't want to do, but it's okay to just take a little laugh.
And especially with all this, I mean, satanic warfare, Satan would love to sift you. What do we do? Some people think that Christians can be demon possessed because Acts 5 .3, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?
Others think 1 Corinthians 5 .5, I've decided to deliver such a one in church discipline to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 2 Corinthians 12 .7, some people think this means possession.
And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, Paul said, to keep me from exalting myself.
Demon possessed, can a Christian's life be dominated by a demon? Can a Christian's life be so controlled by a demon, he can't say yes to God, no to sin? If I do my studying right, the word demon even means this I found interesting.
Plato thinks it was derived from a word that means knowing or intelligent. But other scholars say, no, that's not right. It comes from a word that means to divide or assign or disrupt. Wouldn't a demon love to get into your life and disrupt you?
Wouldn't he like to just take over your life? But I don't think a Christian can be possessed at all for several reasons. And I don't mean to do this every week, but you're gonna have to come back next week to find out.
Where am I with time? How can God who possesses you, who owns you, who have sealed you to the day of redemption, somehow say, well, Satan can control that Christian. And we'll have to get to those passages next week about rejoicing that God owns us and he sealed us.
Turn to Ephesians one for the final bit of verse, and then we're just going to have to be dismissed. I have an announcement I need to make right after the sermon. So let's just do this right now. If you turn to Ephesians chapter one, verse 13, back in the book of Ephesians.
Beloved, don't worry that Satan could take you over. If you're a Christian, you don't have to worry about it because he owns you. My father in the seventies got a little engraving tool and everything in the entire house, he put L-H-A, Lee Henry Abendroth.
Maybe you go to the farm and there's something that the farmer puts in the coals and then puts on the back of a cow. And that's called a what? Branding iron for the Barkay Ranch or whatever it's called.
God branded you with his seal of ownership at salvation. And you mean to tell me that Satan could somehow take you over? Ephesians chapter one, verse 13, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
God owns you. God is committed to possess you to the end. Dionysus, a false God had a sign. And if you follow Dionysus, you would get a little Ivy tattooed on yourself. I am owned by that God. This is a mark of identification.
God takes care of his possessions. With all the power in the universe. No accessibility. The same word is used here in Daniel 6, 17. And the stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet ring.
Ownership, possession, inaccessibility. Matthew 27, 66. And they went and made a grave secure and along the guard, they set a seal on Jesus's tombstone. Inaccessibility. Revelation chapter 20, verse 3, they threw Satan into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him.
Same word, no accessibility. Ownership. We don't have to worry about Satan. God owns us. God is committed to us. For me, when I own things, I lose them easily. I walk around and if you watch me long enough, you'll see when I get out of the car, I do this and I do this.
I do this and I do this. Why? Because I'm always losing things. And I want to make sure I have my keys and I have my wallet. And here the omniscient God of the universe says, I've sealed you and I've sealed you with the Holy Spirit of forgetfulness.
The Holy Spirit of promise. The God who never changes. The God who will take care of us. I never, beloved, run around saying things like this. I can't believe Satan's after me. I can't believe he's going to get me.
I know he's going to get me. I can tell. The church is starting to grow and all kinds of issues are happening that are positive and new people and people are starting to disciple and people are starting new ministries and we're going to do this.
I know Satan's after me. Oh, why? Oh, why me? I never do that. Now, it would be naive if I didn't think there's spiritual warfare. How shall I act? But if you notice in Ephesians chapter six, it doesn't say, stand firm in the Lord and worry.
Stand firm and bite your nails. You know, kids, my kids do it. They're nervous. And what do they do? Stop that. You know, have you ever seen a kid watching a show on TV and they're biting their nails?
That's probably too intense of a scene for them to watch because they're scared. Here's this great God in heaven who does whatever he pleases. We don't have to worry. We are sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
And I don't think we need to worry. I don't think you need to run around thinking, how are the demons going to get me? What are they going to do? God's sealed perfection was perfect. John five, verse 18, the epistle says, we know that no one who is born of God sins on a regular basis as a lifestyle.
But he who is born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him. The evil one can't really grab you. The evil one can't really lay hold of you. Why? Because God protects us. And touch doesn't mean just kind of a tap.
Satan won't, Satan can't touch you. Satan can't touch you. When, when I shoot a basket over Luke, I touch him and I go, Satan just can't even touch you. This word touch means grab. It means to seize. It means to put you in a headlock, full Nelson.
God protects us. Second Thessalonians three, three, but the Lord is faithful. He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. So we don't need to worry. We don't need to stay up all night thinking, I can't believe Satan's after me.
And Ephesians one, 14 goes on to say, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own. What possession? How can you be possessed by Satan? If God owns you. And how about this?
To the praise of his glory. Beloved, how can you be Satan's possession? That means you could lose your salvation. I've got a question for you. If you think you can lose your salvation, you've got a major problem.
And here's the problem. You think you got your salvation. How can you lose? Which isn't yours? Can here's a better question. Can you lose your salvation? Can God lose a Christian? We've been given the Holy spirit as a promise.
He owns us. God can't lose a Christian. Salvations is not a possession of ours. It's God's possession. Well, let's pray. And then let's make the announcement. Father, thank you for our day to day. Thank you for that.
We get to worship you. And father, how would we worship you without the Bible? What would we do? What would we say? How do we talk? How many times would we ascribe to you things that weren't true? Yet you've given us this precious book.
And father today, even at the risk of driving this point home again, maybe too far. Father, use these words today. Help us to be good evangelists. When we run into all kinds of people, demon possessed or not.
Father, you haven't even told us how to determine if someone's demon possessed even. Yet help us to be good purveyors of the gospel. And we'll know you'll take us all the way home. When you start a good work, you finish it.
And father, help us to preach the gospel to get people at least out of the kingdom of darkness placed into your dear son, your son of your love in Jesus name. Amen.