(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I did forget one announcement, Phoebe in prayer, we're meeting with a landlord tomorrow about getting a building. So, and if it all goes well, which I'm pretty sure it will, as long as it doesn't try to tell me what to preach or anything like that, we'll probably be moving in there in the next two weeks. So just be in prayer about that and we'll go from there. So we were doing our series in prophecy. We'll come back at a later time and scoop up the stuff that I didn't cover, like Babylon and the false prophet and the millennium and all that stuff. But we're starting a new series this morning called Know Your Enemies. And so what we're going to do is we're going to take a look at who our enemies are, what they do, where they are and how they attack us and how we are supposed to respond according to the Bible. And so it's going to be a four part series. Starting with this morning, we're going to be talking about the devil and his armies. Next week will be fear and doubt. And the week after that will be about the old man dealing with the flesh. And then after that will be about death. So I'm looking forward to that. I hope you are as well. If you would keep your place there in Matthew 13, cause we're going to come back through it throughout the entire sermon, but find your place in Ephesians chapter six, and then also find Numbers chapter 22. So Ephesians six and Numbers chapter 22, we're going to be kind of flipping all over the place today. So just get the fingers ready because we're going to go through this stuff here. So you might ask yourself, okay, well, why talk about the devil? What's the big deal here? You know, aren't we supposed to like not talk about stuff like that? Well, the Bible talks a lot about Satan, about the devil and about his enemies. And the Bible has a lot to say about this stuff. And to understand the magnitude of the devil and his armies, I'm just going to read for you Revelation chapter five, verse 11, which says this, it says, and I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders. And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. So if you put that all together, if you do the math, that's 102 million in the devil's army, right? 102 million. Well, the Bible also says that the dragon withdrew or he took out one third of that 102 million. So that leaves you with 34 million devils. So think about that. You also got to remember, right, that the devil is not omnipresent. He's not everywhere all the time. He has his army, he has his minions, he has the way that he likes to do business and we as God's people need to understand that so that we don't get devoured by him. But there's just think about that for a second, 34 million devils. I mean, how fast can one devil go to and fro throughout a community? You know, as you read through the gospels and you read about how these devils, you know, jump from person to person and fled, I mean, they're, it's pretty incredible. You know what I mean? It's something that, that I don't think a lot of people understand the magnitude of that. I don't think a lot of people really take it serious and look, we don't want to be a church like that. We want to understand these things. If you look, if you just do a quick search in the Bible, just type in the word, like a devil, Satan, Belial, Prince, you know, a serpent, dragon, you know, you're going to come up with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of verses about our enemy, the devil. And so why this sermon? Well, here's another point. Jesus said in Matthew 16 23, this is what he said. He said, but he turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me for thou savors, not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. So Jesus Christ himself said that the devil is an offense to him. It's an offense to us and to everything they belong to God. And so that is why we need the sermon. That is why we need to understand what the Bible teaches about these things. Uh, if you're there in Ephesians chapter six, look down at verse number 10, Ephesians chapter six, verse 10. So you say, okay, well, why else? Why else do we need this? Big deal. Look at verse number 10 says, finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now if you read that carefully, you can see that that's not optional, right? He doesn't just pick certain people there. If you're saved, there is going to come a time in your life where the devil is going to bring his wiles, his tricks, his snares, his traps. He is going to try you at some point. And what he's saying is here, the, the, the solution to this is to put on the whole armor of God to be all in. If he can see that you have one foot in one foot out, he's like, I got you, I'm going to devour you. Right? He's dealing with a lion. What does a lion do? He goes around and seeks for that which is weak and easy meal. That's what the devil's like. Look at verse 12. This is for, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now turn to Numbers chapter 22. So Paul's giving this warning here and he's saying, Hey, it's not just people that you have a problem with, right? It's not man versus man when you really get down to it. He's saying we wrestle against, not, not against flesh and blood, but against these principalities. What's that? You're a principality. We wrestle against the governments, right? Not just the governments, the people that run them, but rather the spirits and the princes that control them. You might think, okay, Trump, you know, an Obama and the Rothschilds and these people are enemies and they really are. But what you have to understand, it's the prince that's behind them that we're really wrestling, right? Because they are controlled, they are, uh, they are, are told what to do. Rather they are a push. They are guided by these spirits. And that's basically what's Paul, what Paul here is saying. He says against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And this is nothing new here. This has been around since the beginning. Let's just take a look at an example here in the Old Testament. So Numbers chapter 22, look at verse number 36. So this is a story about Balak and Balaam. So Balak is this prince, this ruler, this king, and what he's doing is he's trying to hire Balaam, who's a prophet. He's trying to hire him to curse God's people, right? But if you know the story, you know that God's not going to allow him to do that. And so look at verse number 36 it says, and when Balak heard that Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utter or in the utmost coast. Verse 37, the Balak said unto Balaam, did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? Wherefore comest thou not unto me? Am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor? You know, if you're familiar with Matthew chapter four, where the devil takes Jesus up into the high mountain and he basically tries to tempt him, it's the same thing here that Balak is trying to do to Balaam. He's like, Hey, don't you know that I can promote you? Don't you know that I have money? Don't you know that I can set you up for success if you just do what I want? Now look at verse 38, and Balaam said unto Balak, lo, I am come unto thee. Have I now any power at all to say anything? The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak. And Balaam went to Balak and they came unto Kirjath-Huzath. In verse 40 it says, and Balak offered oxen and sheep and sent to Balaam and to the princes that were with him. And it came to pass on the morrow that Balak took Balaam and brought him up into, now don't miss this, into the high places of Baal that thence he might see the utmost part of the people. And that's the same thing that the devil did to Jesus. He brought him up into the spiritual city and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said, look, all these kingdoms will I give thee if thou will bow down and worship me. And what did Jesus Christ do? Saying the word of God, he responded with the word of God and the devil fled from him. But here we see kind of a similar situation where Balak takes Balaam up into this high place. Why? To see the utmost people. You see the high places of society are set up by these principalities. They're ruled by darkness, by the, by the, uh, by the wicked one, by the devil. That's what Paul was saying in Ephesians chapter six. And it's the same thing even back here. They set the high places up in society to watch the people, to govern the people. And they use these high places and these high positions in order to tempt people with power, with position, with promotion so that they can rule people. And that's what we're being warned about. You know, and the devil could come to any one of us at any time or a devil and basically give you a promotion, say, Hey, you want all this money? You want this high position? All you have to do is quit going to church. All you have to do is quit praying. All you have to do is quit going sowing. All you have to do is just do this job and give up your past and I will promote you. It's the same thing. That's a trick. That's a tactic of the devil. That's something that God's people need to be aware of so that we don't fall prey to that. Now go back to Matthew chapter 13 and also what I wanted you to notice there, uh, in verse 41 it says the high places of Baal, obviously if you know the Bible, the Baal is the devil. That's another word for Satan and that's why that God told the children of Israel, Hey, I want you to destroy these high places when you come into the promised land, right? Because they are of Satan, they are of the devil and God does not want his religious system associated with that in any way, shape or form. So Balak was a prince of his land. He ruled a principality, right? He ruled a country, he ruled people and he used spiritual wickedness in high places and it's something that's been going on since day one, since the fall of man. And so we need to understand that and we need to learn that and how to deal with it. So you're back there in Matthew chapter 13 look at verse number six, I'm sorry, Matthew 13 look at verse number 36 says, then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came unto him saying, declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. Now you might be asking yourself, okay, what's a tare? You know, if you read the NIV, I think they use the word weeds or whatever, but the Bible says it's a tare. A tare is an injurious, a weed basically. What it does is it ruins the other crops. It's a, it's a nuisance, right? The more tares that you have in a field of wheat, the less room you have for other wheat to grow. It's probably right. Sounds about right. He does farming and stuff. So I should, I should have called you and asked you that, but, but that's, that's what I get from when I, when I read this, but, but the tares here are not, not people that could be saved. You're going to see that they are sown by the devil, but the disciples are like, Hey, explain to us what these things mean. So look at verse number 24, we'll just read verses 24 through 30 here and then we'll go through this. So verse 24 says another parable he put forth unto them saying, so if you remember in the beginning of chapter 13, he did the parable of the sower, right? And the Bible talks about how some of the seeds were devoured. Some fell onto good ground and so forth. Now he's talking about the seeds that actually sprung up. And so it says the kingdom of heaven is like in the Tuaman, which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, sir, didst thou, I'm sorry, sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, nay, lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather, eat together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. And so this parable here is what they're asking. They're asking the Lord. They're like, Hey, can you please explain this to us? What do these things mean? And so we're going to begin to go through this here. Now look at verse number 37. It says he answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the son of man. Now don't just gloss over this when you read this, right? He's beginning to explain what these things mean. He says he answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the son of man. Now who's the son of man? Well, that's Jesus Christ. He's often referred to as the son of man. He's also referred to as the son of God. Why? Because he's fully man and he's fully God. We understand that. Now what you have to understand about this is in Luke chapter eight, uh, when, when it's talking about all these same parables, you learn that the seed is the word of God. That's what it says in verse 11 says the seed is the word of God. Everybody understands that, right? The seed is the word of God in these parables. It makes it makes reading this a lot easier. Now look at that verse again. He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed is the son of man. So does the son of man sow bad seed? No he doesn't. He sows good seed. And what is that seed? It's the word of God. It's his words. So when people say, well, we can't really trust the Bible today, right? We have to have many versions. We have to rely on what the scholars can dig up. You know what they're saying? They're saying that Jesus Christ cannot sow good seed and you know what that means? That person's not a good seed. That person is a tear. That person's a devil. That person is wicked and doesn't know God's word. They don't know the truth. They don't know the Bible and they don't even really care. All they care is putting a curse in front of God's people just like Balak did. It's the same thing. It's the same exact thing. There's nothing new under the sun. That's what's going on here. The Bible says that Jesus Christ sows good seed. That means that his seed can be copied. That means that his seed can be translated into any language in this planet. Does everybody in here understand that? Because it seems like most people in this community don't get it. The other day we were out sowing and we knocked on this guy's door and he's like, oh, your invitation says King James only. What's wrong with the other versions? Well, let me tell you, they're not sowed with good seed. That's why. We are not corrupted. We are not born again by corruptible seed. The Bible says in first Peter chapter one, verse 23, we are born again by that incorruptible seed. That's what God said. And to say otherwise is a doctrine of devils. It pisses me off. It's really bad that we have so many people today that call themselves Christians that cannot understand this and would be to God that everybody in this church would understand that and understand further how to explain these things so that we can pull people out of the fire, out of this snare of not believing on God's word. Does that make sense? Everybody understand that? Look at verse number 38. It says, the field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. So when Christ sows the good seed, right, it goes down into someone's heart. It springs up. Things breed forth after their own kind. When you get born again by that incorruptible seed, guess what? You become a child of God. Pretty simple to understand, right? You become a child of God, of Jesus Christ. You become placed into his hand. Because you have been born again of the good seed. Now look at verse 38 again. He says, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. Now when things breed forth after their own kind, can a tare become a wheat? And the answer is no. Can the children of the devil get saved? And the answer is no. It's very clear in this chapter. Because a lot of people, what they want to do is they want to say, well, you know, anybody can get saved at any time, at any place, any way, it doesn't matter. Even up to the deathbed. No matter what they've done. Even Jeffrey Dahmer could get saved. Is that what the Bible says? Is that what Jesus Christ said? No it isn't. That's not what he said at all. It's very clear here in verse 38. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom because things breed forth after their own kind. Do you understand that? I'm sick and tired of people saying that the devil's children can get saved. It's not true. It's not what Jesus Christ taught. It's lies. It's false doctrine and we need to stand against it. Because you know why? The Bible's saying right here that when good seed springs up, when a good church comes up, when you get people saved and discipled, guess what? Guess what? Then come the tares. Then come the children of the devil to cause harm, to cause trouble and chaos to destroy that work. And when we have a bunch of people that don't get this, a bunch of bleeding hearts, and they just can't get this through their heads, then guess what? The work of God gets halted. You understand that? The work of God gets stalled because the tares come up and prevent further success. And that's what you're going to understand as we go through this today. Now look at verse 39. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. So the Bible says very plainly right here, the enemy that sowed them is the devil. And that's what we're going to talk about this morning is our enemy, the devil and his armies. And how do we combat them? How do we deal with that? Because guess what? The more success that we have as a church, guess what? The tares are going to come in here. They're going to spring up right along with us and we have to be awake. We have to be vigilant. We have to understand how to deal with that. Verse 40, it says, as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. So real quick, I've got three points, maybe, no, I actually got four points. I lied. I got four points about the devil and then we're going to finish off with three points on how to deal with the attacks of the devil. Okay? So point number one, look at verse number 25, verse number 25. Point number one, the devil attacks when you are asleep. The devil attacks when you're asleep, not just when you're physically asleep, right? But when you're mentally asleep, when you're spiritually asleep, that is when he attacks. Look at verse number 25. It says, but while men slept, his enemy came and so tares among the wheat and went his way. Now turn to first Peter chapter five and then keep something in first Peter chapter five because we're going to come back to that. So he says, but while men slept, his enemy came and so tares among the wheat. Look, everybody's got to sleep, right? Nobody goes a hundred miles an hour all the time, every day for the rest of their lives. It's just not possible. It's not feasible. We've all got to sleep, right? But that doesn't necessarily mean that we all have to sleep spiritually. See, there's a big difference there. You know, obviously, you know, these guys had to go to sleep in the parable. You know, the enemy comes in, sews the tares. But the spiritual application here is that, look, you don't need a nap spiritually. You can go strong. You can go hard for the rest of your life. It's a choice that every one of us has to make. And that's what he's saying. But while men slept, the enemies came in and sewed tares. And remember what we learned. These tares are not people that can be changed. They are not people that can be converted. They are to destroy. They are to stunt growth. That's what he's saying here. That's what this chapter is about. It's about our enemy. It's about what he does. It's about what his operational procedures are. So you're there in 1 Peter 5, look at verse 8, because we need to understand, look, as a church, we've got to be awake. We can't be a church that's just fallen asleep and got people, you know, doing whatever. You know, I've been to churches like that before, and I think, God, this isn't like that. This isn't a church like that. You know, we are awake, you know, and you can tell because, look, this is kind of a small group. You know, if we weren't, we'd have thousands of people here today because I'd be telling you what you want to hear. But instead, no, I'm going to tell you what you don't want to hear. I'm going to tell you the truth. So you're there in 1 Peter 5, look at verse 8, it says, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. You see that? Why do we have to be awake? Why be spiritually awake? Why do we have to go a hundred percent? Why do we have to learn the hard things of the Bible so that you can be vigilant, so that you can be sober, right? So that you can understand when the devil is trying to devour you. Now go to Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22, and you say, okay, what are some attributes about the devil? Well, number one, he's your enemy, right? He's our enemy. He's our adversary. And the Bible says that he is likened then to a lion, right? Who just goes around very quietly, very subtly, very sneakily, right? Is that a word? I'm a very sneaky, right? He's a very sneaky creature and what he does is he looks, so there's a guy that's got some doubts. This guy is going through a hard time. This guy is not reading his Bible. There's a mom that's got some doubts. There's a Christian that's got some fear. There's a Christian that's not sold out. I'm going to test him and see if I can devour that person. That's what he does. As he's wearing a lion, he goes about seeking whom he may devour. So you're there in Luke chapter 22, just stay there. I'm going to read for you out of Job chapter one, verse seven, which says this, says, in the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it. So in Job chapter one, we see an example of the devil. The Bible says that the sons of God, there was a day where they came to present themselves before God and the devil also came there as well. And that's where God's like, Hey, you know, what are you doing? Where'd you come from? And he says, coming from the earth, walking up and down, you know what, what's he doing walking up and down in the earth? He's looking for people that he can devour, right? And that's why God was like, Hey, have you seen my servant Job? And we'll go through that at another time. But what, what else that story teaches us is that the devil's not everywhere all the time. He has to rely on his minions. So a lot of people say, well, the devil made me do it. You know, the devil may not even really know who you are. You know, I mean, he obviously has minions that do, you know, he has people that report to him in some fashion or another. We don't really understand all the intricacies of that, but nonetheless, the Bible says that the devil's not omnipresent, not omnipotent. He's not the opposite of God. He's a created being whom God could smash at any time that he wants to. And so we don't want to give the devil more credit than what the Bible gives him. So if you rely on Hollywood or you rely on the world, just the cartoons and the different wisdom of the world, you know, they'll tell you, well, the devil's the opposite of God, but that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that God tells him who he can and cannot hurt. So he goes around and he says, Hey, there's a guy I'd like to attack. He has to actually go petition God if that person saved and say, Hey, you know, I want to go, I want to go after Joe or I want to go after whoever I want to go after Kayden. I want to go after brother Riley. I want to go after Mike. I want to go after all of you. You know, he has to go because you're saved. He has to go to God and he has to ask permission. He has to petition God for that. You know what? And then God gives the ultimate decision. Now the world, the people that don't have God's protection, they don't have that option. You know, he's got free reign on them because the Bible says that people that aren't saved, that they are caught up, they are bound in the snare of the devil. You know, they're blinded by the God of this earth, which is the devil. Uh, so you stay there in Luke 22, I'm just gonna read for you a Titus chapter two verse number six is we're talking about how the devil attacks. He attacks when you are asleep. He attacks when we're not awake, when we're not sober, when we're not vigilant, when we are not aware. Uh, Paul told Titus this in chapter two verse six, he says, young men likewise exhort to be sober minded, right? Well, that's not just talking about men. He's talking about everybody, but he's talking about young men especially because young men have a problem with pride. It's true. I mean, we all have a problem with pride, but especially young men, right? And one of the requirements to lead a flock, to lead a church is to be a man. And so what Paul's telling Titus, Hey, don't get puffed up in pride and don't allow your people to get puffed up with pride because they will not be sober minded. They will be drunk literally on pride. The opposite of being sober minded is to be intoxicated, right? And what he's saying is that, Hey, look, if you're filled with pride, you're not going to be sober minded. You're not going to be able to understand the things of God because God resisted the proud the Bible says. So Ephesians chapter four verse 27 real short verse says, neither give place to the devil. Neither give place to the devil. I think everybody in here could probably memorize that one. If you could just memorize one thing today to help you resist the devil, it would be that verse Ephesians four 27 neither give place to the devil. So you're there in Luke chapter 22, look down at verse number 31. We need to all be awake because the devil, the Bible says, desires to have us. So Luke 22, Luke verse 31, it says, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you. Now let's stop right there. Remember, the King James Bible uses these, thou's, thine's, right, the th, and it also says you, you know, ye, yours. The difference is when it says thine or thou, he's talking singularly. So it says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desire to have you. What he's saying, Hey, Simon, he's like saying, Hey, Peter, Hey, Simon, guess what? The devil desires to have all of you. He's talking to Peter, but he's talking to everyone. You see, that's one of the dangers that you risk when you read these corruptible versions of the Bible is that you lose that knowledge there. You lose that meaning there. And it's very important because he goes on to say, he says that he may sift you as we. He's not just wanting to sift Peter as we, you got to understand that he wants to sift all the disciples as we, he wants to sift every believer as we, that's what Jesus is telling Simon here. Now look at verse 32 says, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. So now he's just talking to Simon again. He's like, Simon specifically, I prayed for thee. And why is that? Well, Peter had a very large part in the new Testament, right? Writing books, going out and doing great things for God. So he's like, Hey, I'm praying for you, Peter, specifically, that's how we would say it in our modern language. He says that thy faith fail not. Then look at the next part says, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. So that was Peter's mission. That was Peter's goal. That was God's will for Peter, that he would strengthen his faith so that he could go out and strengthen the brethren. And guess what? Every time you read the Bible, it's because Peter decided to do that. Yeah, I know he denied Christ. Yeah, I know he had his issues, but guess what? Eventually he did strengthen his faith and he does edify us even to this day. So he says, look at the verse again, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. Does that sound like he wasn't saved? Because a lot of people will come to this verse and they'll say, well, it says when thou art converted. So he wasn't converted yet. Look, that's not true. Unfortunately, we don't have time to get into it, but you're just going to have to look at the verse for what it is. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail. Now obviously the guy has faith. Everybody understand that is not unsafe, but when he's converted, meaning when he's all the way into God's side, because if you read through the story here, they didn't really fully understand why Jesus came to earth. They still thought that he was coming to establish an earthly kingdom like the Jews believe today, you know? And so he's saying, Hey, when you're converted, when you really get it, when you get the full meal deal, when you get the full picture, then strengthen thy brethren is what he's saying. So point number one, the devil attacks when you are asleep. The devil attacks when you were asleep spiritually. Go back to Matthew chapter 13, back to Matthew chapter 13 and we can see that, right? We need our faith to be strengthened so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil who is our enemy. Point number two, the devil attacks when we have success. Look at verse number 26, you there in Matthew 13, look at verse 26, but when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So remember the good seed has already been sown, right? It's already been sown. It's taken root. It's starting to spring up. It's starting to grow, right? Things braid forth after their own kind. Look what it says next. Then appeared the tares also go to second Corinthians chapter 11, second Corinthians chapter 11. So, you know, Jesus is saying here, Hey, look, guess what? When you have success, when you go out into the community and you win people to Christ, guess what? All hell is going to break loose. The devils aren't going to like that. And I'll tell you what, from experience, they don't like that here in Boise too much. You know, we've already been down that road, haven't we? You know, we get some people saved and all of a sudden the hounds of hell come out. You knocked on my door. Shut up. We're not going to stop, but you get the, you get the point here, right? It seems like that, that that's how it goes in life, right? You get some success, you get a victory, you know, God blesses you with something. And then all of a sudden here comes a semi truck, you know, headed right for you. It's like, Oh, there's the tears. You know, here comes the trouble. It never seems to fail, but you know what? We need to keep on going and we need to understand that because it does well when you can understand when these attacks are coming, right? When you know something's coming at you, it makes it a lot easier to deal with. So you're there in second Corinthians chapter 11, look at verse number 13, it says, for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And this kind of goes back in line with what we talked about earlier about the terrors, how they are likened unto we, but they're not we, right? And so Paul's warning the Corinthians here, Hey, for such are false apostles. And actually let's back up here to verse number four, so we can find out who these such are real quick. Let's talk about first Corinthians 11. Look at verse number four, verse number four, it says, for if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which he have not received or another gospel, which he have not accepted, he might well bear with him. For I suppose I was not a wit behind the very chiefest apostles. And then he says, but though I be rude in speech yet not knowledge, but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you and all things. Now he's saying, Hey, these people that preach these false gospels that, uh, that, that are yoked up with bad spirits. He's like, you might bear well with him, you know, because if you remember the Corinthians had a problem harboring people that were doing wicked, wicked things, you know, and this is the second letter that Paul's writing to them and they've gotten a lot of things, right? And he's just basically saying, Hey, look, I don't want you to put up with these types of people. They're bad people. So let's back up here. Go, go down to verse number 10. He says, 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 and God knoweth, he says, 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 these people that preach a false gospel that have bad spirits, right? These terrors, they desire to be among you. They desire occasion. That's what the Bible is saying. And Paul's telling the Christians here, Hey, realize that they don't want to just go to the community church. They want to come here. They want to come to Corinth. They want to come to shield the faith Baptist church. They want to come to all of our churches that go out. So when he and do things for God, why so that they can desire occasion and destroy the words that we do. That's, that's the whole, that's the, that's their game. That's what they do. That's what the terrors are for. That's what we're learning about in Matthew 13 and so we'll pick back up where we started in verse 13. It says for such are false apostles. So these people that we just got done reading about here, they're false apostles, right? And he says, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ in verse 14 and no Marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Remember, things breed forth after their own kind. So the devil is able to transform himself into an angel of light, into something that is a good to look upon, right? It looks right. It looks normal, looks fine. And so are his minions. So were his ministers. Look at 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. And you know what? These terrors that are sown among us, guess what? This is their demise, their destruction. They're going to be burnt up and we're going to see that as well. So point number two, the devil attacks when we have success, when we have success, we will have people come into our midst at some point and they're going to cause harm. They're going to try to sow discord. They're going to try to make us look stupid. They're going to try to do all kinds of damage. Why? Because that's what terrors do. That's what the children of darkness do. That's what, that's what the Bible is teaching us here. So you need to understand the devil attacks after we have some success. So you go out and get five people saved. Guess what? You know what? I guarantee you something may come down the road. You know, you may get some bad news. You know, the jury's out on that. You know, it could be anything, but the point is we need to understand that, right? Don't get complacent, right? Have your success, have your victories and keep fighting because you know what? The devil's just looking for you to be like, okay, you know, I got this great victory. I'm just going to get complacent. You know, I can slack off. I can ease off a little bit. I can take one foot out for a moment. Bam. That's when he's going to get you. That's when he's going to take you down. And you know what? I don't want us to, to, to fall prey to that. That's why we need to have this sermon. That's why we need to know our enemy. We need to know our enemy, the devil and his tactics. So point number one was the devil attacks when you were asleep. Point number two, the devil attacks when we have success. Now go back to Matthew 13 point number three, the devil attacks with confusion to gain the advantage point number three, the devil attacks with confusion to gain the advantage. Look at verse 27, Matthew 13, 27. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? So you can see the confusion here, right? They're like, wait, they, they will wake up. They go outside into the field. You know, they're expecting to see a great, you know, wheat harvest and just all wheat. And they're like, wait, something's not right. You're like, wait, those are tares. Wait, what's going on? Do you see the confusion? They're like, who, who did this? It says from whence have then have the tares. They're like, I thought we sowed good seed. I thought we were doing the right thing. I thought we were preaching the right gospel. I thought we were going soul winning. I thought we were praying. I thought we were meeting for church. What happened? Now look at verse 28 and said unto them, an enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, will thou then that we go and gather them up. Now turn to a second Corinthians chapter two, second Corinthians chapter two. So point number three, the devil attacks with confusion to gain the advantage. That's what the enemy is doing. He's trying to sow discord. He's trying to instill confusion in this situation here. Why? So that they can't regroup so that they can't form a battle plan so that they cannot move forward so they don't know what's going on. There's nothing like hitting somebody when they don't know what's going on. You ever heard of a sucker punch, you know, where somebody just comes up behind you and bang, you know, hits you, you know, that's confusion because you didn't see it coming, right? Or maybe they tap you on the shoulder and you're like, Oh, somebody wants to talk to me. Bang. That's it. You know, it's the same thing that the devil does. It's to get us to get confused. I mean, why, why in the English language do we have like 400 versions of the Bible that all say different things? It's because of confusions because America is doing a lot of great works for God. Well, not America in itself, but this is the country that has the most churches that are doing, you know, soul winning that actually are fun. Have fundamental churches that are going out and, you know, preaching the right gospel. So why not? Right? If I was the devil, I would do the same thing. I would go to where there's the most work being done for God and so as much confusion as possible. Why? To stop and halt the mission. That's what's going on here. So while you're turning into a second Corinthians, let me just read for you. First Corinthians 14, 33, which says, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all churches of the saints. So we need to understand that God is not the author of confusion. You know, you got the NIV over here, the ESV over here, the King James, you know, God's not the author of that. You need to just go with one. You need to go with the truth. So you're there in second Corinthians chapter two, look at verse 11 says, lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. So we see there that the devil has his devices. He has his technology, he has his things, his plans that he does in order to cause confusion. Why? To gain the advantage. That's the whole point. That's why I said point number three, the devil attacks with confusion to gain the advantage. A lot of times when there's a confusing, I'm sorry, a confusing situation that arises, you know, in your work involving you or in a church out soul winning or something like that. A lot of times that is of the devil. There's something spiritual going on there that needs to be dealt with. It needs to be resolved and look, look at the verse again, lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. That's knowledge there. That's implying that we need to know these things so that he does not gain the advantage over us. So that is a very important tactic there. So go back to Matthew chapter 13. So I said point number one, the devil attacks when you are asleep. Point number two, the devil attacks after we have success. I said point number three, the devil attacks with confusion to gain the advantage. And that's what a lot of these people will do. They'll come into churches and they will just cause mass confusion. And that's a sign that we know, okay, something's not right here. Something demonic is going on here. Something satanic is going on here and it needs to be dealt with. Point number four, the devil's tears cannot be made into wheat. And I alluded to this earlier. Look at verse number 29. But he said, nay, let's remember after the guy who's awake, after the guy who understands what's going on, he says, no, an enemy has sown these tears and enemy's done this. Right? And then they're like, oh, okay, great. Well, hey, let's, should we just burn them up? Look what the guy says in verse 29. It says, but he said, nay, let's while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. He says, let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. Now, if these tares could be made into wheat, why would the Bible say this? You see that it doesn't make any sense. Remember, the tares are the children of the devil and not, and look, something to help you understand this, people that are just not saved, that just haven't made up their minds yet. They're not the children of the devil. Okay. There's a, there's millions and millions and millions of people out there that just aren't saved. Okay. That doesn't mean they're sons of Belial. That doesn't mean they're the children of the devil. It just means they just haven't heard the truth yet or they haven't made up their mind yet. But then there's another group of people who the Bible says are tares, right? They act like us. They kind of look like us, but they're not us. They're actually sons of Belial. They're children of the devil. Why? Because the devil sowed his seed, right? Things braid forth after their own kind and those people, those seed, those tares cannot be made into wheat, right? You can't take a peach tree and grow watermelons, right? You know, dogs don't breed sharks. Okay. But you know what? Our community, uh, so-called scholars and teachers would like you to believe, well, anything could happen. You know, evolution can just do weird stuff and you know, things don't necessarily breed forth after their own kind. Two plus two is not two. You know what? I'd rather just stick with a simple stuff here that the Bible says, you know, the, it's very clear here in these two verses he said, but he said, nay, let's, while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. So he's like, Hey, should we burn them? He's like, no, they've got what's coming to them. Their day is on the horizon. They will get burned. Just let it be, you know, just, just, just be vigilant. Just understand what's going on here. Learn how to deal with this. There's a process in place on how to deal with tears, how to deal with the enemy. That's what we're talking about. And that's what this guy's basically saying here. It says, let both grow together. He didn't say, Hey, yeah, why don't you go out there and try to engraft the two together? That's that's ridiculous. So now what the Bible teaches, somebody ever asked you, Hey, you know, where's the chain of Bible that the children of the devil can't be saved? Well, you could take them to Matthew chapter 13 and explain these verses to them. You know, you can say, Hey, do you understand that apple seeds bring forth apple trees? Do you understand that they don't bring forth orange trees? You get that? It's the same thing with God's word. God's word, the incorruptible seed brings forth Christians. Guess what? The devil seed, which is corruptible seed brings forth children of the devil and they can't be made children of God. It's that simple. Hope I didn't ruin your day. It's just a little bit of truth for you this morning that most people don't want to know. They don't want to hear this kind of stuff, but you know what? That's reality. That's what God said. That's what's in his word. Turn to first Corinthians chapter five. Real quick review. The devil attacks when you are asleep. The devil attacks when you were asleep spiritually. Point number two, I said the devil attacks after we have had success. There's nothing wrong with having success. We're going to have success, but we just need to be vigilant. We just need to be sober. We need to be aware that guess what? There could be a right hook coming right after that. Point number three, the devil attacks with confusion to gain the advantage. And I said point number four, the devil's terrors cannot be made into wheat. And that was really a bonus point there. But so you're there in first Corinthians chapter five. So the question is now how do we fight back? How do we deal with this enemy? What is the protocol? What does the Bible say? What's the plan of attack? Well number one, we need to understand that the devil is a tool. He is not your friend. The devil is a tool. He is not your friend. You say, well, what in the world are you talking about here? What do you mean? Well, stay there. In first Corinthians five, I'm gonna read for you out of Psalm chapter 109, which says verse five, and they have rewarded me evil for good in hatred for my love. Verse six, set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned and let his prayer become sin. You see that? So the Psalmist here is telling us in Psalms 109 verse six, he says, set thou a wicked man over him. Over who? Over his enemies. He says, and let Satan stand at his right hand. You see, the devil is also a tool. See, a lot of people get this backwards and they think, okay, well, you know, the devil, you know, he's, he's, uh, he, he's got knowledge. He's got, he's got powers. He's just the light, right? He's not what the masons say. He's the great light bearer. You know, the Bible says he's actually a tool, right? He's not something to be played around with by Christians, but the Bible says he's a tool to be, uh, to, to have over our enemies. And then that's what, that's what the Psalmist is saying here. Hey, let the devil stand over my enemies. Let them stand at, let him stand at his right hand. So you're there in first Corinthians five, look at verse number one, first Corinthians five verse one. You're going to see that same concept here. It says it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you in such fornication as is not so much as is named among the Gentiles that one should have as father's wife. So this is really sick, disgusting perversion that the Corinthians were allowing to go on here. They were allowing this to, to, uh, to be put on verse two, it says, and year puffed up and have not rather mourned that he has done this deed might be taken away from among you. And you're like, well, what do you mean? That's not very nice. We should just love them. We should just give them hugs and kisses, right? Look at verse three for I verily is absent in body, but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that had done this deed and the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you're gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, look at this in verse number five to deliver such in one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus. What in the world does that mean? Paul saying, Hey, the devil is your enemy, but the devil is also a tool. The devil has a purpose that can be used with the leadership of the church. And Paul saying, Hey, this guy who did this, I understand he saved because remember we're not saved by our works. People who are saved can fall back into some pretty grievous sins like this, right? That's what he's saying. He's like, Hey, instead of putting up with this person, instead of allowing him to keep coming to church, you need to deliver him up to Satan so that Satan will destroy him. But his spirit and his soul will be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Because remember it's the new man that saved, right? Not the old man, the old man. He's basically saying, Hey, let it, let him die, but that old man be buried and just let him go off into heaven. He's not playing nice down here. You know, he's being a nuisance, he's causing trouble, you know? And what does it say? Deliver him up unto Satan. That means Satan's a tool, not your friend. Now go to James chapter four, James chapter four. So that's kind of exactly like what we read in Psalm chapter 109 where the Psalmist says, Hey, let Satan stand at the right hand of my enemies. So while you're turning to James four, I'm just going to finish this up. First Timothy one 19 says, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning the faith have made shipwreck in verse 20 says of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. So Paul says he delivered two people up unto Satan. Why? Because Satan's a tool. He's not your friend. Now does that mean that Paul and Satan are best friends and they're working together and they got some kind of a business transaction going on? No, that's not what it means at all. He's just saying you have to understand the purpose and the place of your enemy, right? Paul warns, Paul spends a lot of the time of him writing these new Testament books, talking about our enemy, talking about the devil, talking about his armies. I mean, we read out of Ephesians quite a bit this morning, right? What the teaching is here is exactly exactly what I said. The devil is a tool. Satan is a tool, not your friend. He does have a purpose and is not to yoke up with, not to be friend, not to look up to or anything like that. So how do we fight back? Point number one, understand that Satan is a tool, not your friend. Point number two, very simple. How do we fight back? Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Very simple. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Look at, you're there in James four, look at verse number five. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. You say, well, how do I fight back against the devil? I feel like I'm under attack. I'm in a dark place right now. I'm hurting spiritually. It's real easy. Submit yourselves therefore unto God and resist the devil. Submit and resist. It's very simple. It's simple to say rather, but it's not simple to do it. You know, the Bible says that studying these things and uh, is, is awareness of the flesh. You know, it's hard. It does take some discipline. It takes you making up your mind. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of these attacks. I'm sick of being down all the time. I'm going to do something about it. So therefore what you do is you submit yourself to God, not to man, to God, his word, right? To his good seed. That's what the Bible is saying here and resist. You resist the devil. That's exactly what Jesus did when he was tempted by the devil. He resisted. He put forth God's word. You know, he said the devil is an offense unto him. Look at verse eight, draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purify your hearts you double minded. Look at the beginning of that verse there. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. It doesn't say and he might draw nigh unto you. You say, well, it's not working. Well, did you really draw nigh unto God? That's the question I would have for you. Did you not really draw nigh unto God? Because the Bible here says that if you do, he will draw nigh unto you. You want to know how to resist the devil? You want to know how to have victory over the dark things and the attacks that come on your life? It's right here. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Look at verse nine, be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and let your joy to heaviness humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. Now go back to, I should've told you to keep your place there in first Peter, but go back to first Peter chapter five, first Peter chapter five. We're getting close to being done. Like I said, it's simple to say, but I'll tell you what, it is a simple promise. If you draw nigh unto God, the Bible promises that he will draw nigh unto you. It's not, it's not optional. He's not saying he might, it says he will. He will draw nigh unto you. It's a promise. It may not be right away. He may not be tomorrow. It might not be next week that you see the results, but the moment you decide in your heart to humble yourself and actually draw nigh unto God, that's when he's going to say, okay, I'm going to put my plans into place and I'm going to deliver you right. That happens right away, but the results of that you may not see for a time period. So we already read these verses, but let's read them again. First Peter five, look at verse seven says, casting all your care upon him for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Now look at this in verse nine, whom resist steadfast in the faith. How do you resist the devil in the faith, right through this book, through doing the things that God wants you to do. That's how you do it. It says whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. So there's something powerful about understanding, Hey, I'm not the only one that's going through this hard time. That's why fellowship is important so that we can learn about each other's problems and edify one another. I remember when I was in the military, there was a time where it had been like three weeks. We were sleeping in fox holes. I mean, just everybody's just wet, muddy, no warm food, no warmth for, for at least three weeks. I hadn't taken a shower in three weeks. And I can remember I was sitting up to my waist in muddy water and I remember my squad leader comes over and he's like, man, this sucks. It's like three o'clock in the morning. It was his birthday. And he's like, man, today's my birthday. I'm like, that sucks. You know? And he's like, you know what though? You know how I get through this? He's like, I just look at you. Sorry people. You know, I look at you dogs, you know, and I look around at the rest of us and I just realized I'm not the only one that's hurting. I'm not the only one that's tired. I'm not the only one that's hungry. I'm not the only one that's wet. I'm not the only one that's cold. I'm not the only one that's afflicted. I'm not the only one that misses my family. I'm not the only one that has problems. He's like, I know that all of us do. And that's what gets me going. That's what keeps me going through this here. And that's basically what Paul, or I'm sorry, Peter saying here in verse nine, whom resists steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Look, you're not the only one going through afflictions. You're not. Our church has a lot of people that are hurting. You know, our friends in our other churches, they have a lot of people that are hurting. You see why it's important to have the right friends, to have the right influences, to have these right people in your life for edification so that you can together resist the devil steadfast in the faith. Look at verse 10, but the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. The God of all grace who hath called us into his eternal glory. Look, God will take care of you. God will take care of us, but you know what? He does want us to resist the devil. He does want us to be steadfast in the faith. Now go to Ephesians chapter six real quick. So I said, point number one on how do we deal with the attacks of the devil? How do we overcome this thing? Number one, I said, understand that the devil is a tool. He is not your friend, right? His high places, Hollywood, his high places, the music industry, his high places, getting you out of church high up into the corporate ladder, his high places are not the answer, right? That's being a friend of the devil. That's why I said, you need to understand that the devil is a tool. He is not your friend. And then I said, point number two, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Point number three, put on the whole armor of God. You can't put on the whole armor of God if you've got one foot in church and one foot in the world. It's never going to happen. It's never going to work out well for you. It's going to destroy you. You're there in Ephesians six, look at verse number 11 says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. That means you have, we've already talked about this. We understand that the wiles, the tricks, the snares, the attacks of the devil, they're coming, right? The solution is to have the whole armor of God because look, you're going to get hit. Something is going to hit you. But if you have the whole armor of God on, right, guess what? It's not going to do as much damage as it would if you didn't have your shield, if you didn't have your sword, if you didn't have your weapons, you understand that? Don't just have this dressing room mentality, right? We have enough Christians in the world that they basically treat Christianity and the whole armor of God as like going to Macy's and just trying on stuff, standing in front of the mirror, you know, just, well, the shield looks pretty good right now. You know, let me take a quick selfie, post that thing on Facebook. I'm good to go, man. You know what I mean? I'm going to try. How's the sword look? You know, and they just try this stuff on. It looks cool. They talk about it. And then what? They never really buy it. They never really make that purchase. They never really actually put it on. He says, put on the whole armor of God. Don't play games. Don't have a, don't be a dressing room type Christian. Put it on. Make that purchase, make that decision to do the right things. And guess what? That's how you're going to stand against the wiles of the devil. You don't have to actually go to second Corinthians chapter 11 real quick. We're almost done. Second Corinthians chapter 11, while you're turning there, I'm going to read for you out of Genesis chapter three verse one, which says this about our enemy, about the devil, the serpent. It says, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So the Bible says in Genesis that the devil, right? The dragon was more subtle than any creature that God had made. And guess what? What that relates to, what we just read in Ephesians chapter six, the wiles of the devil. The devil is subtle. He's sneaky. He attacks. You know, a lot of times you may not see this, this stuff coming. Look at us. Second Corinthians level, look at verse number three, bouncing off that teaching there. He says, but I fear less by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. And look, those of you that go out soul ending today, guess what? We're going to see that you're going to knock on someone's door and they're going to open up and they're going to say, yeah, I know I'm saved. Because I'm a good person. I know I'm saved because I got baptized. I know I'm saved because of X, Y and Z plus whatever. You know what? That's not simple. I know I'm saved because God's word says I'm saved. I know I'm saved because I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and I am saved. That's how I know I'm saved. I know I'm saved because the Bible has made it very simple, right? Being saved is called simplicity in Christ. It's not a hard thing to do. You know, people always tell us at the door, you know, they're like, well, no one can know they're saved. You know, are you a hundred percent sure you're on your way to heaven? I don't know. No one can know. Well, that's hard. That's not simple. Right? And of course they don't know because they don't know if they've done enough works. They don't know if they've turned from enough sins. They don't know anything. That's not simple. That's hard. And guess what? That's a while of the devil. And guess what? As soldiers for Christ, they'll go out into the community and preach God's word. We need to know that we need to understand these things so we can explain to them the simplicity that is in Christ. Now we're done right here. I'm just going to read this verse for you. Psalms 119 verse nine says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. You want to know how to stand against the wiles of the devil and his minions take heed thereto according to his word. Listen hard, apply these things that are taught, study the Bible on your own time, read the Bible on your own time, hide God's word in your heart, right? That will help you cleanse your way. So we're done right here. I thank you Lord for your word. I thank you for this church. I pray you bless the fellowship today, Lord. I pray you bless the soul winning. Please bring us all back safely tonight, Lord in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.