Know Your Enemy: Remedies Against the Devil’s Devices (6) Prayer | James 4:7

ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church

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So this is a continuation and I think a conclusion to the series.

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I've been preaching on regarding the devil this is a bit a larger series on the world the flesh and the devil and As you can see from the sermon title, it's knowing your enemy remedies against the devil's devices

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This is part six and it's going to focus Particularly on the remedy of prayer the importance of prayer

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But I'm going to take some time to lead up to that. So Where this also builds on the previous messages, so if you haven't heard the previous ones, please go back and listen to them you can join the me we group and I can send you the links if you're if you need to if you want to go back and listen to those as well and I wanted to point something out that I shared on our on our church group

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That I recently saw Tucker Carlson's interview of Site Saibu Kelly.

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No, it's sorry. It's naive. Okay. Naive. Okay. He is the president of El Salvador and It was an excellent interview very eye -opening stuff very very fascinating stuff you can watch it on YouTube and I'm not sure that he's a

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Christian. I think as Wikipedia says that he believes in Jesus that he prays to Jesus but One thing was certain is that he clearly recognizes the reality and the importance of spiritual warfare even in society and in politics and you can see the in our political atmosphere even in our country

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The reality of the spiritual nature of politics how things are so spiritual clearly spiritual

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They've always been spiritual, but now they're so clearly spiritual because the political agendas that are being pushed are either so harmful and wicked and perverse like the

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Democratic agenda and and you see in a spiritual agenda being promoted to undermine

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God's God and his law and his will and so it's it's it's just the reality of spiritual warfare and the president's naive he's dealt with all kinds of political corruption and persecution very similar very similar to what

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Donald Trump is going through in our country and Naive is the one who restored the country his country from the death grip of the satanic ms -13 gang he was explaining how this gang here is explicitly satanic and How they control they control the prisons and this is the case in a lot of Latin American countries the the the gangs

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Actually control and run the prisons. It's it's it's a rigged system. It's it's rigged through and through When you take over the criminal justice system, you don't have law and order.

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You don't have peace and so He in addition to that he had to maneuver the rigged election system

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That was controlled by the corrupt party in El Salvador his party In fact got canceled twice and he had to join another party

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Twice in order to try to get run for the presidency on the last day.

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He managed to pull it off and One thing that really stood out is that he was able to do this even though in spite of all the corruption

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I found that very encouraging that he proceeded to do things the right way and not try to go through the established law and order even though it was being abused and Just tossed by the wayside by the corrupt ruling party

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His priority he told Tucker is to seek first God's wisdom

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To seek God's wisdom and That's precisely what

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Solomon did you remember how Solomon asked for wisdom to rule

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God's people and that's what every single ruler should be doing and you see the results of What that leads to is that he seeks

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God's wisdom in prayer and he even prays with his cabinet members they pray together and They recognize the reality of spiritual warfare and the country has turned around completely

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It is the safest country in the Western Hemisphere now and you used to be the most with the capital murder of the world essentially run by gangs and so This is a powerful testimony to and and a lot of encouragement to what's going on in our country and how you see the agenda the satanic agenda from the

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Democratic Party and trying to destroy Trump it's it's you can just so clearly see that there's the spiritual element to this and what's going on and so And it's just like the hymn that we sing

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Says as well how firm a foundation The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose.

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I will not I will not desert to his foes That soul though all hell should endeavor to shake

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I'll never no never no never forsake amen, so That is why it is so important to take things to the

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Lord in prayer like our other hymn says that we sing So I'm going to finish Describing specific aspects of what the devil is and does as well as the remedies to fight against them and his devices so I Previously covered

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Thesis number five that the devil is a liar and a deceiver This is obviously something we need to be well aware of he is a liar and the father of lies and who deceives the whole world and disguises himself as an angel of light as Do his ministers whose end will be according to their deeds?

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That's according to 2nd Corinthians 11 and keep this in mind as I as I go throughout the sermon

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Whose end will be according to their deeds justice will ultimately be served

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It's going to come for you one day It will come for you and our duty our remedy is to die daily to self to die to our flesh

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And we need mature full systematic doctrine of the whole counsel of God in order to fight against the devil's deception and deceptive devices

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Number six was that the devil is persistent. He is a winter soldier.

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He is not a quitter. He doesn't give up we therefore must be subject to God to resist the devil every single time and he will flee from you

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James 4 7 and We must build up our faith by growing in the grace and knowledge of our

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Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. That's 2nd Peter 3 18 Then and we also covered thesis number 7

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Which is related to the previous one About the devil's persistence and that is that the devil is insidious

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The devil is insidious The devil and his evil spirits like the book of Enoch says and like the word says also use covert spy warfare and to subtly

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Gradually insidiously Subvert and undermine our lives society culture and the church itself sometimes over several decades

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Because he's persistent inch by inch he moves more towards lawlessness in order to make sin and lawlessness increasingly acceptable in Society to the point where it becomes blatant and openly accepted and this is a powerful

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Psalm that Bears witness to this that we all should memorize because it is exactly what is going on today

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Psalm 12 8 the wicked strut about on every side when vileness when wickedness is

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Exalted among the sons of men. This is the devil's agenda for evil men and Imposters will grow worse and worse

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Deceiving and being deceived at 2nd Timothy 3 13 and you see even in the church

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The church's temptation to compromise to compromise Which diminishes its witness and his effectiveness in?

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the world One of the ways in fact that you see the devil operating as the god of this world is through the very insidious scheme of What's called presentism presentism and I learned this from dr.

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Phil in his interview with Trump that recently took place and it's it's it's presentism is a an

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Attitude towards the past Dominated by present -day attitudes and experiences and mentalities.

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So Basically, it's really a shallow dismissal of and disdain for the past.

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That's what it is That's present. That's what I preached on when I was doing the the series on Christian the church history and how

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We tend to have what CS Lewis also called chronological snobbery we think we're so much better than the past than those of the past and This is also why the

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Middle Ages which is from the period of 400 through about a thousand or 1400

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AD they were denounced as the Dark Ages by the

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Renaissance humanists because they had this sort of chronic chronological snobbery and so Christ however

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Commanded us to judge righteously Not superficially

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Amen Not according to mere appearances like John 7 24 says but within proper

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Context historical context covenantal context what was going on at the time?

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We need to know the context in order and so that we do not distort reality

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It is a sin to distort reality that is lying to yourself and to others

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Lying is a sin That's the commandment thou shall not lie

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We shall not distort the truth or reality so We must

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Accurately assess things and it's that's with everything of course, and it's also when it comes to the political realm and The church and what's really going on with us like I've been preaching this whole time

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We need to deal with ourselves and be honest with ourselves and look in the mirror and see what's really going on with us

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And if there is something going on we need to deal with it and resolve it by God's means and so We must not commit the sin of presentism of chronological snobbery and We must also not give up and not compromise and expose the enemy instead we must expose

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We must read we must we need spiritual eyes to see what's going on What's really going on beneath the surface and sometimes on the surface that there is a spiritual agenda

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The prince of the power of the air has an agenda that he's promoting in Society and he's trying to use to also infiltrate the church

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Because men from amongst your own selves like Jude says will creep in unnoticed from among you to try to lead to try to lead people astray leave people away from the truth and so We must take the offensive like Jude also says to To exhort us to contend earnestly to fight not just defend but fight

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For the faith, which was once for all handed down to the Saints. Amen So we cannot fight the devil

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However on our own power or authority all authority that we have is imputed to us

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It is given to us by God himself through Christ through our union with him our spiritual union with Christ is how we have authority to Cast everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ including demons

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That is spiritual warfare. We subdue Wickedness in our lives and we have authority to do that and in our family and those whom we have influence over It's like Ephesians 5 says especially in verse 11

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Do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead even

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Expose them call them out fight fight For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret

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So we in order to do that, we must not be deceived. We must not distort reality.

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We must know what's really going on Now the final thesis that we were gonna that I was touching on About the devil is that he is a traitor

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He is a prideful usurper one who takes over illegitimately and a false accuser who himself uses traitors and employs them as well as prideful usurpers and false accusers all of whom will meet an untimely end

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Because the devil is a vicious false accuser who fights dirty he does not play fair He doesn't play fair.

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He is a sore loser that constantly cheats and exploits all our weaknesses like a roaring lion persistently insidiously seeking who key who he can devour and That's talking about us

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God's people We have to be careful to defend ourselves and to fight back

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We know that the devil betrayed God himself and accused him to Eve and Adam in the garden we know that he

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Used evil women and men like Cain Nimrod Jezebel Ahab diatrophies

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Judas all these vile wicked men That he uses to impose his agenda in the world.

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He uses means And he continues to use men and women like these in order to attack us our family and the church

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He continues to do that now Something that was also very illustrative of this was in the interview that dr

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Phil did of Donald Trump, it was a very good interview and I highly recommend it

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It really does a good job of cutting through the fog of war and the political propaganda that's being pushed everywhere

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And we have to be careful to see what's really going on. We have to be careful to see that there's clearly an agenda

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Why are why is everybody in the political establishment trying to destroy him?

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There's an agenda going on. We need to see that this is spiritual and I'm not saying that Donald Trump is a

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Christian Okay, I don't know if he's a Christian I Hope that he is but I don't know but it's clear that There is satanic agendas that are trying to impose itself in our society and that they are trying to take over our nation and undermine everything that it stands for Historically, and so this is a form of chronological snobbery.

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We think we're so much better But in reality we are so much worse and Dr.

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Phil himself doesn't even endorse Trump and Yet he clearly sees the agenda and what's really going on and he saw the trial

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The trial was a was a totally sham trial. It was totally rigged But and yet I see people on Facebook Christians who say that Oh justice was served and all this and that it's like, okay

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We cannot be deceived. We cannot be deceived by what's really going on Because that will influence and affect the decisions what that we make including our decision to potentially vote so we must equip ourselves with the truth and know what's really going on and Again that the interview does a good job of showing how the

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Democratic Party and our federal government is so corrupt That they don't even care to hide it anymore

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It's blatant how they shamelessly attack and vilify Trump and those who try to support him

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When they are ten times worse than everything that they do We have to be careful not to see with partiality

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Everything you see the Democratic politicians and agenda do is is ten times worse in every single respect everything

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We cannot be deceived brothers and sisters Remember that evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived and so That's what's often been called

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Trump derangement syndrome, right? We're And sad to say that Christians also suffer from this.

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They're so fixated on calling Trump out Not even paying Attention to the broader agenda the spiritual agenda that's going on especially through the

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Democratic Party and so we need to be careful to understand that and To to understand and to sympathize with what's going on Because we ourselves as a church have also been fallen prey to this false accusations.

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The devil is a false accuser and So it is important to give honor and credit where it's due

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Even though a man may not be a believer like Trump and so We cannot have a twisted version of reality

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That is very important It will cause us to to do foolish and sinful things because that itself is sinful

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Now, like I said, I don't know if Trump is a believer. He's obviously not a saint But it is objectively true that our country was way better off when he was president including for Christians in the church and we need to recognize that and give credit where credit is due and This is an important remedy and takeaway from this that we as believers must not be deceived by the devil's lies and propaganda because they are everywhere and obviously

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Depending on who becomes president next it is going to have very real consequences for us as believers and for the church very real

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The consequences are already playing themselves out in our increasingly wicked and perverse society.

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And so Whether it's religion culture education or politics, it doesn't matter

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Do not be deceived by what's going on and of course be blameless especially those of us who are positions of leadership of Influence and of authority and we all do as parents we all do

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So we must all be careful. Now, let's turn to 1st Peter chapter 2 to see More what

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God's Word sheds light on this issue 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 18. In addition

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We must expose the enemy's agenda just like John the Baptist called out the political ruler of his day

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He called out Herod for his immorality it's the same thing that we are called to do as Believers who see with spiritual eyes

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Now 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 18 says Servants be subject to your masters with all fear not only to those who are good and considerate but also to those who are crooked even to those who are crooked

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For this finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up on their sorrows when suffering unrighteously

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For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated you endure?

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There's no credit for that because you deserve it, right? So but if when you do good and suffer for it and you endure

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This finds favor with God That's very important principle to live by The devil fights dirty remember and will dig up your past and exploit you with it

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Even when you've already been forgiven and redeemed by and restored by God so This is not again.

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Look at what's going on with the agendas the political agendas We see how it's very similar to how

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Democrats are using Trump's alleged past sins against him Even though Trump denies these specific accusations about Having affairs and all of that stuff he nevertheless has admitted to sleeping with other women or attempting to So the moral of the story here is do not give the devil an opportunity to use and to abuse you

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But deal with your sin the right way properly We must deal with our sin

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With sin both ours and other sins biblically refuse to be a victim repent reconcile and regroup and rejoin the fellowship

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Get plugged in obviously fellowship with a sound church that Preaches against sin that deals with sin biblically church discipline and that's what?

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happens when you fall and Like in situations with Trump who has a very he has a sinful past we all do

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We have to be honest with that We all do but when you are guilty of these kinds of sins the devil will try to use that against you so We need to be mindful of that not to give a foothold to the enemy

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Not to give the devil an opportunity like the word says And like I said

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It is important to be Understanding and sympathetic of what's going on? I don't know if Trump is a believer like I said

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But he too must repent and believe the gospel if he hasn't already or he will likewise perish even if he is a far better President okay, so we need to see reality for what it really is

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Now the remedies like I mentioned the last time as well. We are called to be faithful loyal Humble and truthful not by our own strength or efforts, but by God's grace and means we must not forsake our

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Savior not desert him like the hymn says and We know that we are not we won't because God is the one who will never forsake us, right?

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He's the one who will preserve us to the very end and so We must be very watchful

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Therefore very careful of who we trust and Who we allow into our lives and to our children's lives

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Influences and all of those things not just people but also influences Music entertainment social media anything that has it that can influence us news

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Be careful with the news my goodness the news is so corrupt in the u .s. We have to be careful with what's going on and watch for these agendas

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So we need to learn from Like like Martin Luther said very wisely and I quoted him last time that every betrayal begins with trust

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Every single betrayal begins with trust Just like Judas did

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So we need to learn from scripture from scripture and Church history like I preached the sermon series on church history

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I recommend highly that you go back and listen to that If you haven't had the chance to to do that to learn in order to learn from the mistakes of others

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In the history of the church and in the scriptures like the scriptures say these things were written for our instruction

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Just like in the life of william tyndale Who was too trusting of that traitorous wretch of a man henry phillips

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Henry phillips now christ warns us That the sons of this age are more shrewd more crafty than the sons uh than the sons of light

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They are more crafty in the ways of the world Than the sons of light than believers and by the way

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Uh Tyndale Actually did have a true friend

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His name was thomas point who actually tried to warn him against the wily devices of henry phillips

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But tyndale sadly lacked discernment and failed to be wise as a serpent

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John fox in his famous book of martyrs Highly recommend that book to you all

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Reports that tyndale was simple and inexpert He was unfamiliar and naive in the wily subtleties of this world

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In the subtleties of the devil in the insidiousness of the devil That's why

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It is so important to understand this as a church the devil's devices and how he operates

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These are the side the wily subtleties of satan's insidious schemes his devices And tyndale was too unsuspecting.

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He was too ignorant of satan's devices and it cost him his life It cost him his life

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Hmm we cannot afford to be ignorant Like the apostles paul says and you know, what happened was that?

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Henry phillips befriended tyndale He befriended him and tyndale took him right in And he was all enthusiastic about it because he was educated.

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I believe they went to the same I think he was an oxford educated man, and he was very well articulated and all this stuff and he just he

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He really gave a good first impression and yet Something about him wasn't right and his friend thomas saw it

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But tyndale sadly was not Privy he was not perceptive enough to see it and so Uh henry phillips

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When tyndale was being persecuted like I mentioned he uh Tyndale had to flee but henry phillips knew where he was

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So he had been working with the cat with the catholic authorities with king henry the eighth Uh agents as well

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And he reported it to them where he was and they found him And they they captured him and they executed him.

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They burned him at the stake so It is it is

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This is a very Very critical and important lesson to learn

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Not to be deceived to watch who we allow into our lives. We cannot afford to be ignorant

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We cannot afford to be ignorant in the words of the apostle paul himself

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Don't be ignorant right Do not be deceived. I would not have you to be ignorant brothers and sisters

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Judge for yourselves and do not be ignorant We must be properly informed

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And be careful with the sources of information that we receive whether it's news whether it's pastors whether it's teachers

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Whatever it is. We need to recognize when there's an agenda going on so It may bring some consolation however to know that henry phillips his own end was in In accord with his deeds like second corinthians says like that of judas

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It's a sobering story with many important lessons After he betrayed tyndale phillips spent the next few years fleeing from king henry the eighth's agents

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Um who reached him in rome and then in paris where he arrived all together ragged and torn

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And where he stole clothes from an old friend who had helped him before He once returned to london, but was forced back to louvain

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And by 1542 he passes from history as a prisoner under threat of losing his eyes or his life

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Disowned by his family by his country by almost every prince on the continent and even by those with whom he

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Collaborated in his terrible crime. He died so The their end will be according to their deeds like the bible says the devil betrays his own

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He uses them up chews them up and spits them out He's a traitor

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So let's turn now to first john chapter four first john chapter four very important passage

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In first john chapter four And i've been reading from the legacy standard bible.

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That's the version that we use as a church Very similar to the new american standard bible first john chapter four starting in verse one

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Beloved do not believe every spirit Do not believe every spirit.

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Don't be so unassuming But test the spirits To see whether they are from god

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Because many false prophets have gone out into the world by this, you know, the spirit of god every spirit that confesses that jesus christ

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Has come in the flesh is from god And every spirit that does not confess

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Jesus is not from god This is the spirit of antichrist Of which you have heard that is it is coming

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And now it is already in the world You are from god little children and have overcome them because greater is he who is in you?

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Than he who is in the world Amen to that gospel promise there They are from the world

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Therefore they speak as from the world and the world hears them we however are from god the one who knows god

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Hears us the one who is not from god does not hear us from this. We know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error

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So don't be too trusting Test and discern everything like the word says examine all things in every spirit every source

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Everything where you get information from test it and scrutinize it because by god, you know

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There is no question that so much of the information today is spun by lies

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Satanic agendas and deception Because the devil runs this world

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It's no surprise. It should not be a surprise. We are not to be ignorant of satan's devices Let's turn now to matthew the gospel of matthew chapter 7

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In the gospel of matthew chapter 7 we have one of christ's most important warnings with respect to This issue the gospel of matthew chapter 7 verse 15

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Where god's word says beware of false prophets

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Who come to you in sheep's clothing? But inwardly are ravenous wolves savage wolves

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You will know them how? by their fruits Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

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No Even so every good tree bears good fruit But every bad tree bears bad fruit a good tree cannot bear good fruit

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Nor can a bad tree bear good fruit Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire

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So then you will know them by their fruits

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Now this is talking specifically about teachers by false prophets by spiritual

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Those who claim to be spiritual, okay But are promoting an agenda that is ungodly and contrary to scripture

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We test the spirits and the false prophets Therefore by their fruit, this is a very important lesson by their fruit by what they say believe confess teach and do

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And whether their profession is consistent with their lifestyle and in addition to that What are the consequences?

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Of their actions what what impacted their ministry their lifestyle their works their teaching have

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That's how you examine the fruit. What are the impact or the consequences? of what they did teach profess and do what what they taught so This brings to me to a very important public service announcement

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That applies to all of us Especially to those who are pastors to those of us who are pastors and church officers

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Okay Because we need to guard ourselves and the flock from these ravenous wolves

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In sheep's clothing And carefully assess who we allow

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Into our lives and into our church and who we allow to become members

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Okay, we need to deal with We need to be carefully vetting these things

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In our lives and in our church and you know Speaking of testing and discernment discerning

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So the mormons came knocking at my door this past week And uh

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One thing that really Is very disturbing Is how sly and deceptive they are?

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And how they easily prey on the unsuspecting Unsuspecting they take advantage of people because people a lot of people that they

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They knock their doors. They don't know what they're really about and uh thankfully,

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I was able to record the encounter so we can share it and use it to to learn about evangelizing to them and things like that, but um when

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I started to ask some questions the discussion got very interesting because They started off by saying oh, well, we're here to share the good news you know the gospel of christ and So and I asked them

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I asked the first thing I asked them was how do you get right with god? And they said well, you need to repent and believe the gospel and it's like whoa.

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Okay Well, that sounds great That sounds like what we say, right? and so Um, but I started to ask a little bit more.

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It's like, okay. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by repent and believe and all this stuff? and so I started to try to pry a little bit more and I quoted to them their own articles of faith, which says basically that we are called to believe and to repent um

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Uh that we we are uh to follow christ, but it is so yeah

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We are saved by believing him by believing in him After all that we can do

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After all that we can do So there you see the element of works being introduced into the gospel and they also demand baptism

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They're very they're very emphatic about baptism that you have to get baptized um and so um

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They're they're the but but you have to know that because they're not going to tell you those things They're going to sound like they're going to sound like protestants like christians when they come to your door

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And so we need to see the agenda Past that and know ahead of time

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Study it ahead of time to know what they're trying to really promote Because they are very deceptive they come to you with the bible and the book of mormon

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Now the book of mormon is bad enough But they also don't tell you that they hold to the pearl of great price and the doctrine and covenants

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And there's some really abominable stuff in there As well because the mormons believe in eternal polygamous marriage

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And sexual reproduction in heaven When they become a god of their own planet if you're a good mormon

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You become the god of your own planet and you eternally populate it with your wives your polygamous wives very similar to islam in certain ways but this is this is

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Completely far removed from this is polytheistic earthly minded perverted

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False religion and yet they come to you to your door saying believe the gospel

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And if they tell you jesus christ died for your sins And that he he went he had a virgin birth and he died for your sins.

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It's like they don't believe in the virgin birth They believe that god was a man and had sexual reproduction with mary

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And that lucifer was this was the brother of christ It's all kinds of perversion, but they don't tell you that up front right, so This also gave me the opportunity to apply what i've been studying what we've been learning about the devil and his devices though because recall that the fallen watchers

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Who fell from heaven? Who who went after strange flesh?

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and impregnated the women in uh, genesis 6 They went after strange flesh

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And this is exactly the same sin that mormon false teaching promotes

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It is a perversion of scripture and the exact same sin that the fallen watchers were judged for in jude 2

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In in jude the letter of jude and in second peter chapter 2 Because it says that they they abandoned their heavenly bodies and they took on corrupt fleshly bodies in order to have sexual reproduction with women and it's the same thing that mormons are aiming for to become gods and Continue to engage in sexual reproduction

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It's sad how they are going to be judged precisely for Believing the very sin

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That god judged the fallen watchers and angels for This is important stuff.

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It's an importance because they they were telling me. Well, what where does it come? Where do we contradict the bible?

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It's like are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? You believe you're going to become a god and now they don't tell you that they don't tell you

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Hey, did you know that you can become a god? No, they don't tell you that they say. Oh, you need christ.

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You need to believe the gospel Because he died for your sins. They don't tell you these things so very important lesson there now

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I wanted to conclude this uh series with a very extremely vital powerful and necessary and precious remedy against satan's devices and that is prayer prayer

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Okay, we need to be in prayer Individually and as a church regularly.

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We need to pray for ourselves for our families for each other for our enemies

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For those of us whom god places before our sphere of influence For the persecuted church

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There's so many things to pray for We need to be in prayer and a good prayer app that I actually started using is echo

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There's an echo prayer app you can put on your phone and you can record Things to pray for because I forget sometimes i'm like, oh my gosh, we need to pray for uh, uh

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So many folks that we don't have regular contact with as well um so it's it's very important to Use those means to to engage in prayer because the bible tells us and we need to remember some of us

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There's there's I hope I hope this is this is not the case with us, but we struggle to pray sometimes because Well prayer actually works.

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And so the devil doesn't want us to pray obviously our flesh our flesh doesn't want us to pray and Sometimes we may we need to be careful to check ourselves and actually believe that prayer works

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Prayer actually works Remember the prayer of a righteous man availeth much amen prayer

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Of a righteous man those who believe in christ and have been made righteous by faith by what christ has done

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Have an effective powerful remedy Which is prayer

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We have the means To fight against the enemy it is prayer and to uh

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And to grow in the knowledge and grace of our lord and savior. We seek those things through prayer For god to guide us so that we can engage in the proper means we ask him lord

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Show me the truth help me to figure and it's not just he obviously he's not just going to reveal it to you by osmosis

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Right, we need to ask his guidance show me lord what sources of information

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I need I should be looking at What is a reliable news source a reliable source of information so that I can know what's really going on What's really going on politically?

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What's really going on in the church? What's really going on with these people or these people that come to my door and they try to present to me something that seems like It's sound when it's not

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Prayer is important for the lord to Ask the lord to give us the wisdom and to guide us to take hold of the proper means to equip us so It is crucial for spiritual warfare, especially

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Intercessory prayer Intercessory prayer Very important In fact immediately after the apostle paul

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Lays out the importance of putting on the full armor of god He then admonishes us to be praying in verse 18 at all times

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Be praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the spirit

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And to this end being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints for all the saints petition prayer

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As well as on my behalf Paul's behalf that words may be given

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To me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness The mystery of the gospel

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That's verses 18 of ephesians 6 through 19. So we must petition for all the saints

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Especially those in our church for us for our families including for the lord to give us boldness

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Especially god's ministers to make known the mystery of the gospel Pray for boldness pray, you know y 'all we need your prayers

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Pray for your pastors. Amen We're under spiritual attack

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Our ministry is under attack our church is under attack we are under attack we need to pray for each other

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We need intercessory prayer because the devil will attack And he has been attacking

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And we need to pray and be encouraged and know When we when we come to god in prayer like hebrews says we know that he is a god who can accomplish

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And help us in our time of need. We believe that god can see us through We don't doubt we know

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Amen we must Pray for each other and pray for your pastors paul himself the apostle paul the the man that god used to write most the most of the new testament and to literally plant the early church

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He asked them for prayer Because spiritual warfare in the kind of ministry that the that the bible calls us to do is dangerous

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If you're not careful So let's turn now to first timothy chapter two first timothy chapter two verse verse verses one through eight

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I want us to really get a proper understanding of what intercessory prayer is

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Okay, we need to define our terms As like I always say we got to define your terms in order to really understand

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What is going on and what is being taught? so First timothy chapter two verse one.

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First of all, then I exhort that petitions and prayers Requests and thanksgivings be made for all men for all kinds of men

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For kings and all hawaiian authority So that we may lead a tranquil a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity

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What is this telling us y 'all pray for trump Pray for trump for what he's going through and pray for god for biden

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That god may judge biden and these wicked perverse men who are trying to destroy our nation and our lives in the church

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We need to pray rightly so This is good and acceptable in the sight of god our savior who desires all men

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To be saved now Remember now, this is not saying all men. This is all kinds of men

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And to come to the full knowledge of the truth for there is one god and one

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Mediator between god and men the man christ jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all uh that The the witness for this proper time

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Therefore I want them. No, sorry. This is verse eight Therefore I want them in in every place to what?

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to pray lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension without schisms without division

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Very important passage to understand what prayer is and intercessory we are called we are commanded

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To intercede in prayer for our rulers for kings and those in authority that's what paul is talking about for all kinds of men not just People who are in our social class but men of all kinds men in authority rulers

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Those and those who are not rulers For the poor for the persecuted for all kinds of men amen, so Now the word here for requests in verse one requests and thanksgiving the word requests

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Is the word that means? Uh to have a meeting with It's to meet with to counsel with We meet with god in prayer.

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That's what prayer is hence to address to in prayer in supplication and Intercession Okay.

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Now, what does intercession mean? The very basic definition of intercession is to pray for others to pray for others

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Beside ourselves We make supplications and prayers for others

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And this is how We operate as god's army when you're in an army you have to communicate

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And you have to you have to communicate so that you can operate on the behalf of others So that the proper

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Requests can be made to others So that they can act on behalf on your behalf

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So this is a now there is a very powerful example Of the early church interceding in prayer on behalf of peter

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In the book of acts chapter 12 verse 11 if you want to turn with me there as well This is a powerful story to the importance and effectual righteousness of prayer the reality of prayer

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The impact of prayer acts chapter 12 starting at verse 11 when peter came to himself

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He said Now truly I know that the lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of herod and from all that the jewish people were expecting

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They all wanted peter to fail The jews wanted peter to fail and now

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Look at what's going on in our political atmosphere. They are passing laws the anti -semitism act

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They are trying to pass laws to essentially ban The new testament because it says things like this

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That the jews because when they preach to the jews they said this jesus whom you crucified or saying things like The jewish people were expecting peter to fail

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Well, that's anti -semitic That's the wickedness of the democratic agenda sadly and hypocrites who call themselves republicans now, but Verse 12

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When he realized this he went to the house of mary the mother of john who was also called mark

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Where many were gathering together and were praying? They were praying an intercessory prayer and when he knocked at the door at the gate

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A servant girl named rhoda came to answer and when she recognized peter's voice because of her joy She did not open the gate

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But she ran and reported that peter was standing in front of the gate and they said to her you must be out of your mind

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And it's like But she kept insisting that it was so They kept saying it is his angel.

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It's not really him But peter continued knocking it went and when they opened the door they saw him they were astounded

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They couldn't believe that their prayer actually worked But motioning to them with his hand to be silent

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He recounted to them how the lord had let him out of the prison and that is a powerful supernatural

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Act of god because peter was completely on lockdown He was completely locked down and god sent an angel to get get him break his chains and get him to bypass the guards

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Who were awake? And they executed the guards afterwards So they were had him on lockdown

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And yet look at the power of intercessory prayer. This is the kind of prayer we need to be doing

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For those who are being persecuted like brother reza We need to pray for them and believe that god will act on their behalf amen, so God because god is our ultimate intercessor.

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Now, let's turn here to luke chapter 22 Luke chapter 22.

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We have another case with with uh, simon peter the apostle peter And so in luke chapter 22 in verse 31

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Uh, we read simon simon Behold satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat

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But I have prayed earnestly for you I have interceded on your behalf

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That your faith may not fail and you once you have returned strengthen your brothers

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Uh strengthen your brothers But when he said to him lord with you i'm ready to go both to prison and to death

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And he said I say to you Peter the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know me now very important lesson here notice what christ specifically prays for In his intercession on behalf of peter

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He does not pray For the sifting to be removed or taken away

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He doesn't pray for god to take it away Because all who desire to live in godly in christ jesus will suffer persecution that is a guarantee

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That's what second timothy verse 3 chapter 3 12 verse 12 says So we are guaranteed to suffer persecution because we are living in a wicked last and evil day in an evil world

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It's guaranteed That's not what he prays for He also does not pray

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Uh, he also doesn't tell peter that he's on his own amen But look at what god reveals about the awesome look at what this reveals look at what christ reveals about the awesome god whom we serve

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Even though we may fail our lord like peter did by thrice denying him

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God still forgives us In part to humble us no, so god still forgives us

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Restores us and continues to use us for his glory

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God is so powerful and so awesome and so gracious and merciful that he not only predestines our failures

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He predestines them In part to humble us and to sanctify us and ultimately for our good

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But he also continues to use us to bless others because jesus said to strength god's purpose for peter was to uh, what does it say here it says to strengthen your brothers

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Even though you're going to fail me Even though you're going to deny me God is going to use you to strengthen your brothers

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And so you can say look you can be You can be a testimony to god's grace very important lesson passage now hebrews chapter 7

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Verse 25 I think we'll end with this here. We'll end with this here It's just amazing how the lord has been uh leading me to so much

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So much so many things to cover here. Um But I will probably wrap this up next week with uh

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Conclude it and then wrap it up and then Start the next series on the flesh. So but hebrews if we turn with me to hebrews chapter 7 hebrews chapter 7

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We conclude with this verse with this passage hebrews chapter 7 verses 23 through 25

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God's word says and the former priests on the one hand existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing

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But jesus on the other hand because he continues forever Holds his priesthood permanently

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Amen Therefore He is able to save forever to the uttermost

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Those who draw near to god through him Since he always lives to make intercession for them

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Always lives to make intercession for them. So this is this is an amazing gospel promise this passage provides

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The gospel reality promise and assurance in light of even in light of the other warning passages in hebrews

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It's amazing that christ is our ultimate eternal intercessor. That's why we don't need priests anymore to offer up sacrifices

01:00:01

In contradiction to what the catholic church says that's why we don't need those things because christ is our high priest who has made us priests and ambassadors a royal priesthood that also engages in like Intercessory prayer on behalf of others

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He has given us that office that mission that Spiritual warfare in order to fight against the world the flesh and the devil himself now

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Notice here as well that It is it is so clear that christ always lives to make intercession for us

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And because this this passage Also basically refutes those who claim that we can lose our salvation

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How are we going to lose our salvation if christ is always living to make intercession for us?

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When people say things like that they are mocking and undermining and spitting on christ's effectual role and office of intercession

01:01:08

You're saying that god is not an effective intercessor And jesus himself says

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I will never let them From my hand they will never leave me depart from my hand

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They will never leave me or forsake me Because I will never leave them or forsake them

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Because he who began a good work in you will finish it. He will bring it to completion. Amen Because christ is our intercessor.

01:01:38

We cannot lose sight of that remember always Beloved that christ is your intercessor and therefore he will not fail you even when you fail

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Yourself and others christ intercedes on your behalf even when peter failed him Three times denied him

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Yet christ still restored him and continued to use him and gave him the privilege of using him as his apostle so Remember always of course that the most foundational remedy and resistance against all our enemies

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The world the flesh and the devil is the cross the gospel Because that is what makes christ our ultimate intercessor because he offered up himself his life on that tree

01:02:32

To bear the curse to shed his blood so that our sins can be forgiven and we can have full forgiveness and remission of sin

01:02:41

And that is why he is our ultimate intercessor. He is our high priest That intercedes always on our behalf without fail

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Christ cannot fail us. Amen So with that, let's go ahead and close out with a word of prayer

01:03:02

Intercessory prayer Precious heavenly father. We thank you lord for this beautiful Lord's day and the opportunity to worship together as your people to gather today

01:03:12

And fellowship and worship and in the preaching of your word and the means of grace lord We ask that we lift up to you in intercessory prayer father.

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God these these uh Brothers and sisters who have been so heavily persecuted and even our rulers father

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God like trump and like naive bukele and those people who are trying to do the right thing Even though they may not be believers

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We do ask that you reveal yourself to them and that you reveal the light of truth to them in christ Jesus in the gospel.

01:03:38

We ask that you would Help them to endure and for for the enemy to be subdued for the wicked

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To be subdued and to be brought to justice father god We ask that you would bless and those who are being persecuted like brother reza that you would supernaturally lord that you would bring

01:03:55

Your people and and your aids your your ministers your angels to the to his aid to their aid and to find them so that they can lead them to Uh greener pastors lord we ask father

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On behalf of those who are sick and those of us who have been suffering uh heavily the persecution by different means through lawsuits and Demonic attack and so many

01:04:24

Attacks that so many of us are going through lord. We ask that we lift up these these these people lord these folks in prayer

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On your so that you can operate on their behalf lord because we believe father We believe that you are our ultimate intercessor in christ.

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Jesus who never fails us who never leaves us nor forsakes us lord we ask that you uh

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Continue to help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior and to take hold of these means lord

01:04:51

Of these remedies to fight the world the flesh and the devil and to continue fervent in prayer

01:04:59

For those who need us lord that we would pray for each other that we would pray for this church and for this ministry

01:05:05

To continue to stand fast and to grow and to continue to advance your kingdom

01:05:11

Like your your your your lord like our lord says in the lord's prayer father and so we pray

01:05:18

As the larger catechism says that that you would so overrule The world and all in it subdue the flesh our flesh and restrain satan order all things

01:05:31

Bestow and bless all means of grace and quicken us to watchfulness

01:05:36

The soberness vigilance in the use of them that we that we and all his people

01:05:43

May by his providence be kept from being tempted to sin or If tempted that by his spirit

01:05:52

By your spirit we may be powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour of temptation or even when we fall

01:06:00

Raised again and recovered out of it and restored out of it and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof

01:06:08

That our sanctification and salvation may be perfected And that satan may be trodden underfoot trampled underfoot under our feet and we

01:06:19

Be fully freed from sin temptation and from all evil forever and this we pray in christ almighty

01:06:27

Name through his intercessory power and office amen Thank you for listening to the sermons of thorn crown covenant baptist church where the bible alone and the bible in its entirety

01:06:41

Has applied to all of faith and life. We strive to be biblical reformed historic confessional

01:06:47

Loving discerning christians who evangelize stand firm in and earnestly contend for the christian faith

01:06:54

If you're looking for a church in the el paso texas area or for more information about our church Sermons and ministries such as semper reformanda radio and thorn crown network podcast