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All right, amen. So we're in Luke chapter 10. What we're going to be studying tonight is the subject of demons or devils in the Bible. The Bible does have quite a bit to say about the subject, and there's definitely a lot of misconceptions out there regarding the subject matter. So I figured it was a good time to go ahead and choose that as a study since we just got done with the cults that are by and large driven by devils. So you can see the thought process there. But we're going to start this thing off here in verse number 17. So up until this point, you've read how Jesus sent them out two by two, and they're basically doing kind of a pre-version of what we would call soul winning. And obviously today we do take her script, and there's definitely some differences, but this is a form of soul winning that they're doing, going house to house. And what are they preaching? They're definitely not telling people in this dispensation you have to turn from your sins. No, they're telling people that they need to be saved. They need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But remember, they're also able to do signs, wonders, miracles. And we're going to talk about that as well. So by the time you get to verse 17, they come back and they're excited. And let's look why verse 17, and the 70 returned again with joy saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. That's important there that they give Christ the credit right through thy name. They're not looking for self glory. They're not looking to get the new TV show and to become the next televangelist, but they're also shocked here, which should show us. I mean, because what does it say? And the 70 returned again with joy saying, Lord, even the devils. So they don't come right back and they're like, look at all the people that listen and got saved. They're actually shocked that even the devils listened to their word. And they understand why completely, because it's all through Jesus' name. Remember, they've seen Jesus doing these things and talking about them and teaching them and it happened before their eyes. So they're excited. And you know, who wouldn't be excited about this? So real quickly here, look at verse 18 and he says, and he said given to them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. And I often used to kind of wonder like, well, why is that statement in there? You know, it's kind of, it kind of just throws that in there, but you got to understand that nothing's in the Bible for Jesus randomly. Like, you know, the Holy Ghost just put this verse in there, you know, and it's just not for you to quite understand. No, there's a reason for that. And you have to remember what was the great sin or the great thing that brought the devil down and it was pride, right? And so oftentimes, you know, when we get excited about things that we're doing, there's a temptation for pride to creep in. Look at how many people I got saved. Look how many times I read the Bible. Look at how much I pray. Look at how much I do this. All great things to do, but you got to keep humble while doing it. And Jesus is saying, Hey, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. So he's reminding them of what he saw. What could happen if they don't keep themselves in check? I'll prove it to you further. Look at verse 19 says, behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. You have to be a special person in order to have this kind of responsibility and not let pride get to you. Let's, let's just be honest here. We're human. You get to sit here and tell me, Oh, there's no way pride would ever get to me. You've already fallen prey to pride. If that's your attitude. No, definitely. Now look at verse 20. He says, not withstanding in this rejoice, not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. See, that's the goal. That's the mandate. That's what it's always been about. Getting people safe, right? That's the idea here. And Jesus just reminding them, Hey, I beheld Satan as lightning, you know, fall from heaven as lightning. And don't forget about that. Don't let what I'm letting you do, letting you do right. This isn't automatic. See, people will come to this passage here in passages like it and say, see a full gospel church, a real new Testament church. If you had power, if you were full of the Holy ghost, you would be able to do the very same things, right? And so that's what we're going to do this evening. We're just going to take a look at that subject, but he's like, Hey, remember why I sent you here? It's so that you could get people saved, but by the way, rejoice that your names are written in heaven, right? Which proves that they were saved before the resurrection too, right? It is interesting here. All right. Keep your, uh, you can lose your place there, but go to Matthew chapter number seven, Matthew chapter number seven. And so, you know, a quick question that, you know, some people would might ask today is, are, are there still devil's day? Are there still demons today? And the answer is yes. You know, and if you've gone solo and you've come to this church for any length of time, you know, that to be true. We had at least one of them in here the other day on, uh, was it Sunday night? Uh, you know, that Muslim guy, you know, he, what did he do? He brought us a doctrine of demons, you know, saying the Bible's fantasies and fairytales and you know, he got packed up and shipped off, you know, easy way to look at it. You know, you think that he came in here under his own, you know, scholarly research and propagated those doctrines. No way. You know, he fell prey to doctrines of devils is what he was, you know? Um, so yes, there are demons today. We're going to see that here. Uh, and I'm just gonna read this verse for you real quick. Matthew 25, 41 says, then shall he say also to them that are on the left hand, apart from me, you curse it into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Obviously that has not been fulfilled yet. The Bible says that the devil's, uh, angels or his spirits basically do his dirty work. They go around and they teach false doctrines and they torment people and they do, you know, some pretty sinister things and you know, uh, it's just going to get worse as we approach the final day. Um, you know, I have, I have a story of my own actually that, uh, I'll tell you, I don't know if I've told this here, but when I was in Japan, uh, you know, he used to go soul winning and in Japan, the way it works is the government gives you a pass. Basically they give you one pass. It's just like plaque looking thing. And it's kind of funny cause it was like attached to like this pillow, but whatever, you know, and he, they give you one, right? And they say your whole church can go out and do soul winning. You get seven times a month and the way it works is you have to pick a spot on the street and you can't move. So if I pick this as my spot, I'm here for an hour. If the cop sees you move, he could come over and say permit. And then you got to walk to the one guy who's got the permit, which is the pastor. And you just lost 20 minutes possibly. Remember? Cause we'd meet up and we just disperse, you know, I just go where, where are the most English speaking people are going to be at is where a lot of us would wind up. So we can, you know, go by seven 11 and we're right by the gate there and catch him. But I remember this one Friday night, you know, Friday night soul winning. I don't know, maybe a half an hour into it. I'm just standing there. I did give somebody the gospel. They didn't get saved. My partner was right across the street. I see this girl, she comes around the corner and she says something. I felt like it was directed towards me. I still to this day don't remember. I look around and she's just staring at me and I, I'll never forget the look in her eyes. I was like, I don't, this is going to be bad. I don't know why, but something's going to happen here. She literally, so I'm standing, I'm standing right here. Let's say, right. She comes right here, crosses her arms, puts her foot like this and she's just staring at me and I could just feel this right. Remember I'm standing here, I'm trying to talk to people. I'm looking at my partner's like, what's going on there? I'm like, I don't know. And then she starts growling. She's like, you're making these weird just for a tiny petite lady. She was no bigger than Kylan making this lion type war. And my partner's like, it's like, you okay over there? I'm like, it's not like, it's not me, you know? And I, I figured she was drunk. Okay. I was like, this, this one's probably just drunk. I'm just going to try to mess with me or something, whatever, you know? So I turned, I was like, Hey, get out of here. You know, I don't have time for this. No response, no response at all. So, you know, I'm handing out these invites left, right. Trying to get, give the gospel to people. And my partner's like, you know, he can't stop looking. He's just like, he holds his hand out there and he's like, what's going on? I'm like, I don't know. You know, just, just don't worry about it. Finally, the growls start getting louder and louder and louder. And she gets a little bit closer and he's like, he's like, do you want to go get past her? I was like, no, she's just demon possessed. She flipped out. Then she flipped out. Then she wanted to start talking and she's just like, I'm not possessed by a devil. I'll knock you out. I'll choke you. And she started threatening me. So my partner who's three times the size I am is like, ah, he's like screaming, right? He runs and goes and gets a pastor. Who's a retired Marine. He comes booking around the corner. He grabs, he's like, brother, Joe, we got to go. He's like, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. And he was like, so when he done for today, so when he's done for today, I'm like, no man, we got to keep going. But you know, it was already too much of a disturbance. There were a lot of people coming around, but he told me, like he said, when I came around the corner and I just saw her, he's like the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Literally. He's like, I didn't even want to find out who her command was or anything. He's like, I just wanted to get you out of there. I thought she was going to eat you or something like that. But that's kind of like my big story, I guess, uh, out. So running into demonic activity, I'm sure you guys may have some of your own stories and I'm sure if I think back there, there may be, there's definitely others, right? I mean, look, let's face it. We've knocked on people's doors before and seen some pretty weird stuff, right? People know things about us that they probably shouldn't know. Like I believe that one person had told us he was a fagnostic. I believe he was probably possessed. You know, he just had this weird look at his eyes. No, thanks guys. I'm a fagnostic. It's like, I didn't even get the word Baptist completely out of my mouth before he said that, you know? So these things are out there. But the question is, is there a clear teaching in the Bible on how to cast out devils for the new Testament believer? And that's what we're going to take a look at here. So you're there in Matthew chapter seven and we're going to see here that, you know, there are people, tons of people that claim to cast out devils look at verse 22. I'll show you. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils. And in that it done many wonderful works, but notice that what these people here are doing, they're in line through, you know, they're about to be judged at the great white throne judgment. And these are what we would call Christian people, right? I mean, think about it. They're saying, Hey, in thy name, we prophesied, right? We cast out devils in your name, Jesus. And we did many wonderful works. Why are you going to send us to hell? What are the lake of fire? What's going on? But notice what they didn't say. We've turned many into righteousness. You know, they're not saying that. Why? Because they have the false gospel. That's why they have the same gospel that we see every day. Turn from your sins, follow the Bible, do this, do that, right? That probation gospel. That's what they have here. It's the same thing that Jesus was warning the disciples about, right? They come back and they're like, then the devils are subject unto us, right? You see the temptation there. It's the same thing really now. So there are people that go around claiming this Catholic priests, right? Exorcism, right? That's a, that's a big one there. Now as I was studying this out, I came across this article that says church attendance, uh, I guess, I guess nationwide for the Catholics is dropping, but for some reason than this, the necessity of exorcisms is going up. So Catholic churches are getting phone calls left and right. Not because they want to come to church, but because they want people to cast the demons out of their kids and out of their wives and their husbands and stuff. So I want to read this article cause I thought it was pretty interesting. It says though the Catholic church, um, has an attendance drop and has been on the decline. There's been a recent increase in requests for exorcisms and an increase in priests being trained by the Vatican to perform this ritual. Now let's stop right there. Did the apostles get training on how to cast out demons? No. Did they take an eight week course and go through demonstrations? No. You know, they were given the mandate. They were given the commission by Jesus Christ and they went out and they did it and there was no questions asked. They saw, obviously when they were doing these things, we don't know what exactly what that looked like, but there was enough evidence where everybody knew something happened. There was definitely a demon in that person. Okay. It goes on to say this, an average of 39% of Catholics reported attending church in the previous week, which was down from an average of 45% between 2005 and 2008 according to a 2018 Gallup poll. Exorcism is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person believed to be possessed. This practice is not just rooted in Catholicism, but as an ancient part of the belief system of many religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoism. And so, you know, by that statement, you're probably gonna have some of those people in line saying the same thing. Well, we didn't believe in your name, but we did cast out devils. Can't you give us a pass, right? You know, Buddha was the only light that we had. Billy Graham even said so. It was Billy's fault. They're without excuse. Okay. It's not, it's not going to work. It goes on to say this. The Catholic diocese says there are four main signs of the demonic speaking languages, otherwise unknown to the person. Well, that's funny because Catholics claim to speak in tongues as well. Some Catholic churches do do that. Demonstrating strength beyond the normal capacity of the person, elevated perception and having knowledge about things they shouldn't. I agree with that. I've, I've, I'll get, I'll give you a pass on that one. But then they say resisting anything that's sacred. This comes from Hollywood because what happened when Jesus approached Legion? What did the demon say? You know, torment us not, thou not before the appointed time. They weren't like, let's go, let's fight Jesus. Come on, step up. You're not going to find that kind of behavior in the Bible. Okay. Every time that Jesus would cast out a demon, they did what he told them to do, you know, and they, I mean, think about it, casting them out. Okay. You know, so resisting anything sacred. I don't, I don't see that in the Bible. Okay. Obviously they're evil spirits. I get that. But as far as them coming out and being like, Oh, a cross, you know, Oh, a King James Bible. Now I doubt it. And I'm going to show you that here in Acts chapter 19 momentarily. So it goes on to say this, um, Catholic priest Vincent Lambert from Brookville, Indiana said the first, uh, the first, uh, and final sign could cause a person to become violent and show manifestations. What describes a lot of people? Cause there's a lot of people that are violent. Manifestations are anything from eyes turning black, eyes rolling in the back of her, of their head foaming at the mouth or bodily contortions. That explains the circus people. I'm just kidding. I don't know. Now I will say this, that lady that was standing right next to me like this, her eyes did roll back into her head. I, you know, I know that's anecdotal, but that's what I saw. And you know, my pastor saw it as well. Uh, I, I can't explain it. You know, maybe she was drunk or maybe she was on spice. That was a real popular thing going on back then. You know, that drug spice or whatever. I don't really know, but I do know this, that drugs are a gateway into the demonic. There's a book out, uh, you could go see it at Barnes and Nobles or go, uh, go flip through the pages. It's called 10th planet jujitsu and it's by, uh, Eddie Bravo and Joe Rogan. And in the first few pages in there, they credit this Martian for showing them the 10th planet system. You know, how did they get that into that state of mind through psychedelic drugs and they're big promoters of that, right? I mean, anybody who knows that it's a fact. So I do personally believe that those drugs could be a gateway into the demonic, you know, uh, but it doesn't take away the fact that I believe that girl was definitely possessed because I'm saying this year, a Catholic priest Lambert, it says, it says father, but call no man your father. And I would call him a pedophile, but you know, yeah, I just thought of it. Otherwise I would've called him that before. So pedophile Lambert was a priest for 14 years before he was trained and appointed to be an exorcist by the diocese of Indianapolis in 2005. He tells people he got the job because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh, you got that right. You got that right, buddy. Lambert trained in Rome for three months with Franciscan priests, uh, participating in over 40 exorcisms, over 40 exorcisms. So keep that in mind. He got three months of training, so he probably thinks he's better than the apostles who got no training. Just said, go, Jesus said, go do it, get it done. And they got it done. But these guys have to go through this elaborate class where they got to take tests and study charts and diagrams and look for signs. Look, when somebody is possessed, there's no question about it. Right? I didn't question too much whether that girl was possessed. I, that eerie feeling when she first locked eyes with me, I knew something was wrong. And why didn't she cross the street to go with my partner who was definitely saved? I don't know. You know, she definitely tormented him as well. Uh, if you would turn to Acts chapter 19, Acts chapter 19, we're going to see that there really is nothing new under the sun. You know, I mentioned that a lot and we're going to see some vagabond exorcists, vagabond Jew exorcists in Acts chapter 19, basically doing the same thing that I just read for you. And these guys remind me of the Catholic priests today, you know, and let's see what happens to them. All right. Acts chapter 19, look at verse number 11. It says, and God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. Now, if you're honest with yourself by that verse alone, does it sound like something that is automatic to anybody who asks for it? No. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. Why? Because they were signs confirming science, confirming that he was an apostle and science confirming that there has been a change from the old Testament to the new Testament, just like we have been talking about first number 12 so that from his body were brought onto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them. So it's interesting that the Bible groups, again, the miracle of being able to cast out an evil spirit, a devil, a demon is what we would call today as being a special miracle given to a special person who had a special position being an apostle. Verse 13, then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists. Now it's interesting here. Who's speaking in this verse? It's the Holy Ghost. It's the narrator. It's Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Then certain of the vagabond, what does that mean? A vagabond is somebody who wanders from place to place. It says a vagabond or the vagabond Jews exorcist. So this is what they called themselves. So they went around co claiming to cast out evil spirits and demons and things like that, just like the Catholic priests do, just like a lot of churches do today. And it's not just the Pentecostals. You can go to any Protestant church and ask them if these things are real and they will tell you yes across the board. You will find it very, very difficult to find a church today that would put this in its proper perspective. Even when I was going to the liberal churches, they would preach against the Pentecostal. They would still say, but they've got the Holy Ghost in it, you know, and that's just something that's special to them. Nevermind the fact they tell you, you got to turn from your sins, right? They, they don't ever want to bring that up, but they'll always endorse it almost, almost all the time. Not a hundred percent, but most churches, I would probably say like 98% of them will say, yeah, they're, they're doing something. Who are you to judge? If they're saying they're casting out devils, I mean, you know, it could be, you know, that's their calling. Right. But then certain of the vagabond Jews exorcists took upon them to call over them, which had evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. Does it sound like they believe on Jesus Christ here? No, they're like, let's try this out. I think they probably saw this person were like, all right, this one's real guys. So we might want to try what Paul and them have been doing and see if it works. Get us our paycheck early. Verse 14, right? And there were seven sons of one Siva, a Jew and chief of the priests, which did so notice that which did so. So not only did they do this, but they also tried to cast out devils, probably I'm guessing on a regular basis. Okay. It doesn't say that, but that's kind of what, what's implied here. Verse 15 in the evil spirit answered and said, now don't miss this. Jesus. I know. And Paul, I know, but who are you? Right? He's like, look, I know the hand of God's on Paul and I know he's been casting my buddies out of people and it's really bothering me, but I can't do anything about it. Okay. And he's like, but you guys, you ain't saved and I'm going to clean your clock. Okay. First 16 and the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. So this one guy with an evil spirit beats up seven of these Vega bond, Jew bagging exercises. These seven Catholic priests here. This was their, this, I mean, these are the fathers of those Catholic priests. I'm I'd imagine they do the same thing. I don't know. It doesn't say what kind of a course they went through or if they took tests or if they had a three month or a six month course. I don't really know. All I know is they got beat up for trying to act and try to pretend, you know what? And you know what? You've seen that on a lesser level in this church. People come in here and put on a good act, try to pretend, you know, Oh Jesus, amen. This, that and the other thing. And then railing behind my back. Right. It's really not much different. You know, sooner or later, the pretenders get called out and they get found out. Right. You know, he says, Jesus, I know, and Paul, I know, but who are ye? Prepare for a woman. Now look at verse 17. Here's the result. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. That means every other name was put down, right? That's what that means. So look at the result of that. I mean, that's a great thing. And that's our goal as a Bible believing church is to magnify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and put down these false gods in these false doctrines that are so prevalent in our society. Verse 18 and many that believe came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also, which use curious arts, brought their books together and burned them before all men. And they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. You see what happens when the pretenders get found out the word of God increases and results happen. And we've seen that in this church, 30 salvations last year, we're already up to 10 and we're not even done with week two yet. That's not a coincidence. It's the way things work. Turn to Matthew chapter number eight, Matthew chapter number eight. And so, you know, again, the question is, is there a clear teaching in the New Testament in the Bible for that matter that we can look to, that we can point to that says, okay, in order to cast out devils, do this, do that or, or anything like that? No. Can you find out how to pray? Of course, Lord, teach us how to pray. You can find that in all books of the Bible. If you look hard enough, especially in the epistles, right? Can you find out how to run a church? Can you find out how to get people saved? Absolutely. Remember what Paul said, Trophimus, have I left in my lead? I'm sick. Doesn't that prove that he couldn't heal anybody, even having the special miracles on himself, that it wasn't an everlasting thing. It wasn't a continuous thing. They were for a sign. Remember second Corinthians chapter number 12. We read it last week. The signs of an apostle were rot among you. Paul had to remind the Corinthians of this, right? So these things were for a period of time that, and that's it. I don't believe that Christians today can go up and cast out devils. Where's the clear teaching. Show it to me, show it to me, email it to me, text it to me, call me, show me where it's at, and you're not going to find it. Sure. I mean, look, can we learn how to get people baptized? That's right. Does the Bible teach us how to run a church, how to properly use money and all the resources? Yes, but it doesn't teach you what to do or who casts out devils. Okay. It's important. Now I had you turn to Matthew chapter eight, and I just want to read for you Revelation 2, 2, which says this, I know thy works in thy labor and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou has tried them, which say they are apostles and are not, and has found them liars. So Jesus is commending this church here and saying, hey, I like how you tried these people who claim to be apostles and found them to be liars. And this is in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Now, how did they have the ability to try people that claim to be apostles? By the Bible, by the word of God, by clearly understanding the things that they had written up until this point. Right. I mean, I'm sure Paul, I'm sure Peter, I'm sure John, I'm sure Luke, I'm sure these apostles communicated that. And obviously there were 70 others, you know, as you read on in the Bible and they did signs, wonders. I mean, even Philip the evangelist did signs, wonders and miracles, right? But he didn't have the ability to transfer those gifts, which is why we read last week that Peter and John had to get sent to Samaria in order to pass that on. Signs of an apostle, not the signs of any old believer, right? Look, I think it's a better sign to go get somebody saved than do that any day. And Jesus confirms that in our opening text in Luke chapter 10. That's the greatest miracle. That's the greatest thing. And that's always going to be the main focus. Matthew chapter number eight, look at verse 16. It says, when the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils and he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were sick. And so what do we learn here real quick? What are these, what does it say here? Possessed with devils and he cast out the spirits, right? So these devils are spirits. The Bible says they're fallen angels. Verse eight, I'm sorry, verse 17. It says that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Zias the prophet saying himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. So even then, while Jesus is doing this, the Bible's telling us, Hey, these things are being manifested for you for a sign so that Isaiah could be fulfilled. It's a fulfillment of scripture. That's why you're reading about this in Matthew chapter eight, take a look at some further proof that there is demonic activity going on today. And we're going to get some insight here on exactly. I guess what their mission would be, what, what, what, what they're about, what their agenda is. First Timothy four, one says this. Now the spirit speaketh expressly. Now that means sharp to the point getting right to it. No misinterpreting this. This isn't something that people can look to and be like, Oh, well that's how you interpret that. No, the spirit speaketh expressly. Okay. Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, doctrines of devils. That is so important. This is the goal. This is what these demons do. You say, is there an increase in demonic activity? Yes, there is. If you don't believe me, go knock on some doors this week and you will see that when somebody says I go to a new Testament Bible believing church, but you got to follow the commandments. And if you don't, you can ask for forgiveness. And you ask him, well, what happens if you die before you get to ask for forgiveness? I don't know. It's up to God. Not up to you. Not up to me. That is a doctrine of demons. That bozo clown Muslim that told me the Bible was a fantasy on Sunday night, that idiot, you know what? Doctrine of devils. And did he have anything to back up his claims? Nothing, nothing. He made all these claims and I put them on blast. Show me, show me, show me. And I would not let him move on and say, no, no, no, no, no. You're not moving on. And so you show me right now what you just said. And he couldn't do anything. He said, can I go to Google? Go? Yes. I said, go to Google, but we're not moving on until you prove the claim that the Bible is fantasy. That you prove that Jesus said he wasn't God because here's what they'll do. They'll say, well, he says, can you show me in the Bible or Jesus said, I'm God and you must worship me. I said, can you show me where he didn't say that? Well, that's not really fair. Look, if you want to come in here and try to preach me a false gospel, I'm not going to play fair in your eyes. But the Bible says to contend for the faith, which was once and for all given to the saints. You know, I have a mandate. We all have a commandment. We all have the right to defend the faith. And he left out of here. And he's probably still thinking about that to this very moment. He said, well, you need to go see a doctor of Islam. I don't need to see a doctor of Islam because he's going to probably go need to see a real doctor after I'm done with him. All right. Verse number two, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. This again, the agenda of the devil spirits to turn as many people reprobate as they possibly can. Verse number three, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from means which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them, which believe and know the truth. So if you want to cook the iguana stew, cook it up. All right. But you'd have to have your head buried so far in the ground that you can see China to not see this as talking about the Catholic church. Verse number four, for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. But I mean, come on, what does the Bible say in verse three? Forbidding to marry. I mean, who does that? Does not the Catholic church do that? I mean, who are the perfect people to hire until ordained that don't want to get married? The pedophiles, the queers, right? And that's exactly what they do. And what do they do? They command people to abstain from means which God created to be received with thanksgiving. So you need to understand this, that nice little old Catholic lady that you talk to, or might be your neighbor, or might even be in your own family, is seduced by doctrines of devils. It's not that they're a little mixed up. It's not that they're looking to the only light that they have. No, they've been seduced by doctrines of devils. It's a big deal. This is demonic activity. Every single Catholic church that is having any kind of a mass or whatever they might have this week, guess what? Congratulations, you're a satanic service. Look, you don't have to go to Anton LaVey or Marilyn Manson's concerts, or there's churches, Satan to be a Satanist. Go to the Catholic church and get involved. Go to New Life and get involved. Go to Life Church and get involved. Go to the Pursuit and get involved. Those are satanic churches because they teach doctrines of devils. That's their goal. Who do you think is whispering in that pastor's ear? Who do you think is prospering them? It's not God. It's obviously demonic activity. And they by and large are the reason and will be the reason for the falling away. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter number 11. 2 Corinthians chapter number 11. And I'm going to get this guy ready here because we got something to look at here. You know, you already know we're going to be looking at a doctrine of demons. And it's just one verse, if I can find it in this small tiny print here. All right. All right. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, look at verse number 10. As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore, because I love you not, God knoweth. But what I do that I will do that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. So Paul's saying, hey, look, the people that want to, you know, press me for an answer and press me and try to accuse me of not having the words of Christ, you know, kind of like a lot of people do to us today. He's like, I'm not even going to spare them. He's like, I'm going to make them the occasion. Now look at verse 13. It says for such. So those types of people, he says for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. So again, you cannot transform yourself into an apostle. It is impossible according to the Bible right here. Do you believe the Bible? Yes or no. Amen. So the question is, are there apostles say no, there are people that call themselves apostles, but they're found liars every single time. Verse 14 and no Marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. So again, another tactic, another thing that they do, they don't just always go around possessing people and, you know, try to go up to solar, you know, I'm going to rip your head off or whatever, you know, that, I mean, you know, that's, that's the goal sometimes, but they've already got the unsaved in the snare to begin with. Right. Verse 15, therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works, Matthew chapter seven. That is what this is talking about here. But he says, Hey, the devil's angels, remember a third of the angels fell, you know, that's a lot of demons and a lot of devils and they don't die like we do. They roam around from person to person and they, they, they gather intelligence, you know, they, they look for the weak so they can tell the commander and he's like, wow, we can devour this person. You know, let's go wreak havoc in this church. Let's test shield of faith. Let's test Verity. Let's test these other churches and see what they're really like. But it says here, it's no great thing. So it's no marvel. It's no wonder if his ministers also be transformed into the ministers of righteousness. Now the Bible says that the angels, the ones that haven't fallen, that they're ministering spirits. So a fallen angel, remember the devil, what does he do? He does the opposite of what God wants. That's what he did. You know, he, I mean, pride is the exact opposite of what God desires for people. He does the opposite. So again, it's no marvel that his ministers would do the same thing. So you could say, okay, they're sinister spirits. They do the exact opposite to what the angels do. The angels go around and they minister and they look after the children and they look after believers and they help us out. There's a spiritual battle. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness, right? That's what the Bible says, and they help us in that fight. We don't know exactly all the intricate details. You know what? Someday we will, you can read Daniel and take a look at the battles that went on between the Prince of Persia and Gabriel was talking to Daniel and there's communication there about, hey, I was going to come to you Daniel, but I was hindered and Michael, the chief prince had to come help me. Right? So there's a little bit of insight there, but I think if we were to get a good glimpse inside the spiritual world, we'd all freak out. You know, right now that's probably what would happen. You'd probably fall down his debt, you know, but someday when we get to heaven, we don't know for sure, but you may find out, hey, at this moment in time, you may, you guys were all wondering why this and this happened. And it was because the angels saw this coming to you and protected you, right? With that being said, the goal and the desire of the demonic activity today is to produce doctrines of devil, get false converts and to get people for the army of the devil. Why? To run people off the cliff and to be choked in the lake of fire. Yeah, that's right. That's, that's really what it is. You say, what does that picture symbolize, you know, in the gospels where the demons, you know, come out of Legion and desire to go into the swine and they run over the cliff, you know, that's symbolic of what their agenda is. It's to get into as many people as possible and drive them over the point of no return to be choked in that lake. Right? So turn to Acts chapter number seven, uh, real quick here. We'll take a look at a sample. I thought this was interesting here. I was going to mention this when we were in Acts chapter seven and I realized I forgot. And I figured this would be the perfect time to look at it. So you turn to Acts chapter number seven. Okay. And look at verse 45, Acts chapter seven, verse 45. King James Bible says this, Acts seven 45, which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David. So, you know, the story we just studied it. You have Steven giving a testimony. He's trying to preach to the Jews that are upset about what he's doing about the gospel, but notice what it says here. I'm gonna read it one more time, which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles whom God drove out before the face of our fathers unto the days of David. Now I'm gonna read for you the amplified Bible, which says this, our forefathers in turn brought it this tent of witness in with them into the land with Joshua when they disposed or when they deep possessed the nations, which God drove out before the face of our fathers. So it remained here until the time of David. Did you see what's missing there? It's Jesus. Look at verse you keep looking at the King James. I'll read for you the new American standard and having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations who God drove out before our fathers until the time of David. NIV. Let me make sure the verse is here first of all. Okay, yeah, they did count this one. It says having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations of God and drove out before them. So again, is that not a doctrine of devils? Think about it when Stephen under the inspiration and the filling of the Holy Ghost is giving a recap of the Old Testament purposely includes the name of Jesus because that is a picture and a lesson that we can learn from when we read Joshua. That was a picture of Jesus Christ. But the scholarly types, right, the Hebrew and Greek only people say, well, well, well, wait a minute, that's not what Westcott and Ward said. We dug up manuscripts later on and you don't know the language. Look, you've all seen new world order Bible versions, right? If not, come see me. I'll get you a copy. If you watch that documentary, you know that the King James translators all spoke many languages. They understood. They didn't just study it in school. I mean, they spoke it. They knew it like you know English and they translated the word Jesus. Why? Because I'll bet you that that Greek word for Jesus, I don't even speak Greek. I'll bet you look up that word for Jesus and the rest of the New Testament and it's the same word. What the new IV people, these HIV toting freaks hate God's word and are hell-bent on destruction and sending people over the cliff to the lake of fire. That's why. And they attack Jesus every chance they get. And Jesus is the word and they don't have the spirit and you know the story, but I just wanted to show you that because I thought that was interesting and it proves my point. What are the devils up to today? Casting doubt on God's word. Trying to silence people. Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are ye? The more who are ye's that they have, the less success that we have. That's what it boils down to. The more people they can turn against God's word, the more people are going to end up in hell. And like I said, there's nothing new under the sun. Go to first Corinthians chapter 10 real quick. First Corinthians chapter 10. First Corinthians chapter number 10. Look at verse 20. We'll take a look at some more attributes here. It says this, first Corinthians 10 20, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. And so again, another tactic that they have, the demonic have, is to make everything else like Christ. You live in America, a lot of Christian churches, okay. Let's try to get them as close as possible to the truth, but then make sure we've got a hardcore 90 degree turn right to hell. If you go to a church this weekend and they're preaching out of the NIV or they're soft on the King James to the point where they think that's still God's word and so on and so forth, you know what, doctrines of devils. The Lord, the devil's tables there. That's the way I look at it. You know, anybody who wants to attack and downplay the word of God, I'll look at them as the enemy. Because they're sending people to hell in a hand basket. Now, real quickly here, go to Revelation chapter 18. Revelation chapter 18. One thing you're going to see as you read the book of Revelation is that demonic activity is going to get worse. It is no surprise. It is no surprise. While you're reading Revelation 18, we're going to read a couple verses out of Revelation chapter 9, starting in verse 20, which says this, and the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk neither repent today of their murders nor of their sorties nor their fornication nor of their thefts. If you say, why are you reading that? What's the big deal? Remember what we read last week when we talked about the pre-fib rapture. What happens before verse 20 in Revelation chapter 9? Hell's opened up. Locusts come out. People are like, hide us from him and set up on the throne. So even though they're being tormented day and night, there's pestilence like you could not believe. There's fires. There's just all sorts of, I mean, these here are the seven trumpets that are about that are going off. You know, the vials are starting to be poured out. God's wrath is waxing hot and they still, the people still want to worship devils. How did it get that way? Roots. And they're digging the roots in right now as we speak. And this is why our mission is so important to live right for God and to preach the truth no matter what anybody says. Because if we give up, guess what? It's just going to be bad. Yeah, it's going to be worse. And we don't want to let that happen. So again, real quickly, Revelation 18 one. And after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power. And the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mildly with a strong voice saying, Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen and has become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now it's not saying that in that moment all of a sudden happened. No, it took time. Yeah, it took time. I mean, is that not true about America today? Show me a politician that you can trust today. They all support the queers. Now they all support abortion. They all support drug use. They all support everything that is against the righteousness of God. That's right. By and large, you're seeing this country be filled up with every single devil and unclean spirit that's out there. Yeah. I mean, it's like the work in overtime. And I don't know for sure, but I imagine that right now they're not even having to work that hard. Yeah. I mean, with the public school system and the medical industry, I mean, you know, our country is just full of people that are ignorant and on drugs and just out of their minds. A perfect recipe for a reprobate society. So we got to move on here real quickly. Go to Mark chapter five, Mark chapter five, Mark chapter five. And I was also thinking about in John chapter 10, you know, when Jesus, you know, given the, you know, preaching the gospel, preaching the truth, you know, doing righteous things. And the Pharisees are like, you know, you've got a devil, he's a devil. And some of the people, the Bible records are like, look, these aren't the words of a devil. Okay. The devils, indeed, they do the opposite of what God wants. Unless you're filled with envy, then you're going to look at it that way. All right. So Mark chapter number five, I had to cut some of this out for sake of time, but we're going to take a look at one more passage here regarding devils. Mark chapter five, real quick, look at verse one, it says, and they came over into the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tomb, a man with an unclean spirit, right? That's a devil. That was, again, what we would call a demon who had us dwelling among the tombs and no man could bind him. No, not with chains. The Catholic church kind of left that out. I mean, they, they sort of said that when they're like, well, when you see somebody with supernatural strength or they didn't even say supernatural, they just said with, uh, whatever, you know, just more strength than a person should have. Well, you know, there are a lot of strong people out there that, you know, aren't possessed, but whatever. In verse four, because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broken to pieces, neither could any man tame him. You know, this reminds you, did anybody hear that story? I want to say it was last year. It was in England. These two girls, they got like hit by a semi-truck. Did anybody hear about that? And it got up and were like, didn't even face me. Yeah, it was a video on YouTube. I tried to find it again, but I couldn't find it. I don't know if I was just typing the wrong things or if it got taken down, but look, I believe that stuff still happens today. You know, I've seen people, um, I've watched documentaries in the past about these people, like in Thailand or India, you know, and there you go, nation full of all kinds of unclean spirits and devils. Then they'll do weird things like sticking these long things through their cheeks and just cutting themselves and, you know, doing things that should hurt or if not kill somebody. Yeah. You know, and they just keep on going. I mean, you got to kind of wonder, they possess for devils here. Verse number four again, it says, but, uh, because that they had, um, I'm sorry, because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him. Verse five and always night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting himself with stones. So again, it makes a point to tell us that he's in the mountains. Now, most people, you know, aren't going to live in the mountains unless they have some kind of a house or shelter, but the guy's basically living kind of like Nebuchadnezzar live while God turned his, you know, it's hard to heart beats, you know, just basically out in the wilderness all the time, not affected by the colder wind or anything, just being possessed, you know, and what is he doing? He's cutting himself just like the prophets of Baal did when, you know, they wanted to propagate Ahab's religion to Israel. Verse number six, it says, but when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and hid because the Catholic church says they don't like sacred things. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him and cried with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. Not exactly a Hollywood line here, right? They want a picture that the devil and his demons are the opposite of God and there's this, you know, war and God could possibly lose. That's not the case at all. You know, I mean, God doesn't even throw Satan in hell and tell him he has a baton. Get him out of here. You're done, you know. Look at verse eight, for he said unto him, come out of the man thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, what does thy name? And he answered saying, my name is legion for we are many. You know, some people point to this verse to talk about people that have this multiple personality disorder, you know, in some cases, and I'm just saying, all I'm saying is in some cases that could be true. Definitely could be true. There's not a drug out there that's going to solve that. You know, you can go talk to these psych wards and people, um, that they work there and they'll tell you, you know, these people have to be putting straight jackets and there's, you know, all kinds of troubles they cause and the drugs don't always work. Yeah. Verse 10, and if he sought him much, that he would not send them away out of the country. He asked why, because they're unclean spirits. They're not ministering spirits. They do the opposite of ministering. So if a ministering spirit is going to help you do something, what's the ministering spirit going to do to help you do the opposite, right? It's exactly what they're, they're just hell bent on, on destruction. And verse 11, again, now there was there nigh into the mountains, a great herd of swine feeding and all the devils beside him saying, send us into the swine that we may enter into them. And forthwith, Jesus gave the bleep and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. They were about 2000 and were choked in the sea. And I believe that to be a picture of what they do today. When they get into the churches, they get into people and they teach doctrines of demons. They say, Hey, you have to turn from your sins. You've got to repent of your sins. And people fall for that. They make the decision in their heart that that's the way it is. They harden their hearts to the truth and they become a new Testament, new evangelical pastor like Billy Graham. And what did Billy Graham do? He sent thousands and thousands and thousands of people running and hurting like swine spiritually into the lake of fire. That's exactly what he did. Verse 14, and they that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they came to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. So it's interesting to hear how it says and how and had the legion and it's interesting how the legion answered and said, you know, we are many. Verse 15, I'm sorry, verse 16. Jump to verse 16 says, and they that saw it told them how it would be felt to him that was possessed with the devil and also concerning the swine. In verse 17, and they began to pray him to depart out of their coast. Now they're not praying to him like you and I were, okay? They're praying meaning they're just asking him, please leave, please leave. No swine here, never happened, nothing to see here. This is a government operation going on here, right? That's exactly what you see. Sweep this right under the rug. Nothing to see here. We don't want to talk about it. Just leave. Instead of saying, obviously you're the one that has the words of eternal life. Yeah. Yeah. Right. They're more worried about their hiding their bacon from their bacon farm that they had that they just don't want to, to give it up. You know, and that's a, again, a picture of the world today. You know, you go to a community, you go to a neighborhood, you go to an apartment complex, you preach the gospel. And typically a lot of times the majority of the place that's going to be needed, they, the response, you know, just, just get out of here guys. Just, just go ahead and leave. Please just don't come back. You didn't get people saved here. You know, you didn't do anything and you know, that, that's the world we live in today. So real quick, let's go back to Luke chapter 10. So right where we started, this will make a lot more sense now. Luke chapter 10, verse 17 again, and the 70 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. Obviously, what did we learn? That is a special miracle for a special time for a special group of people. And that's not us. There's no clear teaching today that you can point to the New Testament and says, if a devil, you know, if somebody is under this kind of devil or whatever, do this. Yes, Jesus did bring up to the apostles, you know, when, when the, and he told them, you know, this kind come out, cometh out not by, but by fasting and praying, right? But still there's no teaching after that for us that says, hey, you know, do this, set up a three week class or a three month class or, you know, that you don't even, you, you start to see less and less of it by the time you leave Acts, right? By the time you get to Corinthians, it's just basically mentioned that they did these things. There's no directive to us with specific instructions on how to do it. You say, Oh, you just got to do it by faith. Just, just do it like they did. Yeah. Go ahead and show me, go and show me. You know, that demon girl that was in Japan tormenting one of the pastors, like she was still possessed. I didn't see no devil tomorrow because I looked at her and she just got more and more upset. Yeah, you definitely were. Verse 18. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven again. He's saying, Hey, look guys, be careful here. That shouldn't be the first thing out of your mouth when you come back from a mission trip. Okay. It should be about the souls, about salvation. Verse 19, be all that given to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. You know, go ahead and try playing with snakes today. What always happens to you to get bit, unless you're good at enchanting them with a flute or something, you're going to get bit. Yeah. Right. And if you want to start drinking, you know, that's the funny thing is these snake handlers, you know, they're always talking, Oh, you know, we'll fill the goal of the Holy ghost and we can handle these snakes. They don't bite us. They almost always get bit for once. But it's like, what about the verse where it says, you know, that they'll drink, if they drink any deadly thing, they shall not be killed by it. You think they would drink a Jim Jones's Kool-Aid? Drink some cyanide then. Drink 10W-30 more, the whole court. Start chugging it. They won't do it. No way. Because these were signs of an apostle. They were for a reason, a specific period of time. And that's it. Verse 20, notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. And that should be our joy. That should be why we're rejoicing, you know, and also that, you know, we're preaching the gospel and getting other people saved. There's nothing wrong about rejoicing that. I don't care what the world says. It's going to say, Hey, look, you didn't save anybody. Is that what Paul said? That I might save some. Amen. We do save people with the word of God. Because if you didn't go do it, they wouldn't have saved. Right. And Jesus sent you. That's the commandment where we can find clear, concise instructions on how to do it. Not casting out demons or devils. Okay. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Well, thank you so much for this teaching in the Bible, as with all of your truths. We pray you continue to fuel us with your zeal, Lord. According to knowledge, please bless the fellowship and the soul winning tomorrow. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.