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Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you, all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Brother Moses, would you please do a word of prayer? Thank you, Lord, for this chapter. All right, amen. We're in First Peter, chapter number five. If you would, look down at verse number eight. Bible says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. So we're gonna talk about demonic operation tonight, especially being that this is the month of Halloween. I wanted to make sure and get this in there. Every time I read this verse, every time I study First Peter, chapter five especially, I always get a lot of ideas just based off of this one verse alone. And I believe it'd be the same for anybody in here. And the reason why is because of what we're seeing in our culture today. But we're gonna come back and break that down later. But if you'd keep your place there and go to Genesis chapter number three. In Genesis chapter number three, we will come back to it in a little while, like I said. So the title of the sermon this evening is idealization is demonization, okay? And I'm gonna explain what that means here. Idealization is demonization. So what do I mean by that? What's idealization? What does that mean? Well, if the dictionary says it's the act of thinking or representing someone or something as better than that person or thing really is, okay? And that's what the definition is. Not too long ago, I was at somebody's house. I was doing some work. And you know, people in this community are just upset. I mean, they're on edge. They're upset about things going on. And you know, you understand, you know, gas prices, inflation, a lot of things like that. You know, a lot of this weird isms going around are definitely on people's mind. And this guy was playing somebody. I can't remember if it was Jordan Peterson or somebody like that. It was just a secular guy, you know, just talking about the things that are going on. And he was saying something and I thought about it. And it's true, but it's not the full story. The guy was talking about what makes people, for example, just get so crazy and just so into these ideologies that are out there. You know, like, I don't know, microaggressions, for example, you know, things that trigger people these days, you know, gender issues, male and female. And you know, what caused people in the BLM organization, Antifa, those types of groups to actually go out and commit murders and, you know, things of that nature. What is it that drives people? And he called it ideological possession. Okay, that's what he called it. And I thought that was interesting. Ideological possession. You know, I'm listening to this. I'm doing work and this guy's like, yeah, that's right, boy. You know, I got my second amendment. It's not going anywhere in this state. Well, you better hope. You better hope. And I was thinking about that. I'm like, yeah, it sounds more like demonic possession to me, you know, is there a connection? And it's kind of funny how it takes science and psychologists, you know, so long to figure out what's going on, whereas you could read, study the Bible and learn some discernment and come to the conclusion much faster and have a much deeper understanding of these types of things. And so we're gonna take a look at that. Now, obviously, another example of idealization is, let's say, a person who has their favorite rock star or a rap artist or whatever, you know, movie star celebrity. You know, what do those people often do with those people? Well, not only, how do they idolize them? How do they worship them? Typically by imagining in their minds that their lives are just about perfect, right? They put them on a pedestal. This is also a very popular word in narcissistic type studies. We'll get into that another time. But, you know, people will do that. They'll put them on a pedestal and they'll imagine their lives as being perfect. But what typically happens to those types of people? You know, honestly, the odds are against them. And usually what winds up happening is they take their own lives, always in and out of jail, lots of trouble and things of that nature, because man was not made to handle that kind of thing. You know, you see Christians do this to preachers all the time. They put them on this super pedestal and they imagine their lives to be perfect. And then they make one mistake and it's like, oh man, you know, my dreams are crushed. Everything you say is false. You know, you're just a loser or whatever. So what is demonization, okay? The Bible doesn't use the word demonization, but the Bible talks a lot about the devil. The Bible talks a lot about devils. And so obviously we're gonna take a lot of passages in that nature and break those down today. But in this sermon, we're gonna talk about how can a devil or the devil operate around Christians, okay? Is it possible for a Christian to be possessed? I think you already know the answer to that. And if that's not possible, does that mean that you're scot-free? Does that mean there's no threat to you, okay? And furthermore, if you were being influenced by a devil or by the devil, would you even know? Okay, that's a question that we are definitely going to answer tonight. And finally, we're gonna also take a look at how understanding the picture that the Bible gives us of the devil, the progression of Satan, how understanding that can really help your discernment level out in life, okay? So I had you go to Genesis chapter number three. We're gonna start this off here. I want you to look at verse number one. Look what verse number one says. 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, yay hath God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Okay, and obviously we understand the rest of the story there, but just for the sake of time, I want you to go to Revelation chapter number 13, okay? Revelation chapter number 13. So we see right off the bat in the beginning of the Bible, we see the devil pictured as a serpent. And what is the attribute that is given to him? Subtlety, okay? Very well, subtlety, that's right. Now at the end of time here, at the end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 13 and in other places as well, let's look at verse number four. The Bible says this, and they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast saying, who is like unto the beast who is able to make war with him? And obviously people will be saying this when he has the deadly wound and recovers, okay? When he has his type of resurrection, if you will. We'll get into that another day, but jump down to verse number 11. So we see at the end of the Bible, he's described as a dragon. People are worshiping, and look at verse 11. It says, and I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon, okay? Notice what's going on here. The beginning of the Bible, the devil is a serpent. He's very clear here. He's called the serpent. Obviously it refers to him as a serpent in Revelation as well, but the beginning of the book, he's a serpent. What's the attribute given to him? Subtlety. The end of the world as we know it, he is described as a dragon. Okay, you see that? And how does he speak? He speaks as a dragon. Okay, what does that mean? What does that progression tell us? What's the picture here? Well, I mean, in Genesis 3, in the beginning of time, he is an outsider to the world, to Adam and Eve. He knows that he is outside of that. He knows if you were to come right up to Adam and Eve and be like, hey, yeah, I rebelled against God, you know? I just, I want to promote human achievement. Okay, I want to promote a different program. They'd be like, what? Get out of here, that's too bold. Okay, so he's on the outside looking in. He knows that in order to infiltrate, he has to look for the weaker path. He has to do it subtly. He has to do it very carefully, which is why he says, yeah, as God said, because that doesn't come right out of the gate and let the person know, yeah, I hate God. Okay, so we see in the beginning of the Bible, he's subtle, he's hiding, he's disguised as a serpent, but at the end of the Bible, he's promoted, or not promoted, but talked about as a dragon. Okay, now a dragon is not a subtle creature, right? It'd be kind of hard to be subtle as a dragon. You hear dragon, you hear that word or you see a picture of a dragon, you know, subtlety is probably not the first thing that comes to your mind. You know, think about a Komodo dragon. You know, they're not the most subtle creatures in the world, you know, that you just watch them, you know, going about their day. They're just kind of slowly, you know, just trotting along, not a care in the world. They know they bite you, they got you, you know? It's a done deal. But look at how the dragon speaks. It says that the beast or the devil spake as a dragon, okay? So what does that mean? Well, that means that now in the end time, he is accepted. He is widely accepted and he is no longer able, or he does no longer have to operate subtly, okay? And so he is able to come right out of the gate and say wicked, horrible things and teach horrible things and get worship. So in other words, you start the Bible with a question from the devil and the end result is your soul, okay? On a worldwide scale, that's what I'm talking about here. Now go to Revelation chapter number 18. Revelation chapter number 18. So obviously understanding this progression, how do we get from him being subtle, being the serpent to the dragon, where he's openly able to speak as a dragon? He's able to blaspheme those that dwell in heaven. He's, I'm sorry, yeah, he's able to blaspheme God, but he speaks great things against those who dwell in heaven. The Bible says, you know, how will he do that? Is he gonna come right out and just say, you know, nasty cuss words? You know, it's not how I envision it. I envision it more like how preachers do today and downplay the Bible, downplay the word of God, take the focus off of God and his preservation of the word and put it on man, put it on human achievement. That's what he's gonna do. That is blasphemy. That takes power away from God. That is how the devil operates, okay? So I mean, think about it. The world is worshiping him. The world is on board with his speech. The world is on board with his programs. He's out in the open. He's the dragon. You can't miss him. And most people don't have the discernment to even see that, okay? But by the way, who is the last enemy for him to conquer? It's the saints. The Bible is very clear. He will make war with the saints and for a season overcome them, okay? Revelation 18, two, look at this. It says, and he cried mightily with a strong voice, he's saying Babylon, the great is fallen, is fallen. And don't miss this. And is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number two. 2 Timothy chapter number two, okay? Now obviously we haven't completely gotten there yet, you know? There's still some debate whether or not we're gonna be the Babylon of the end times. I mean, we're definitely the empire of the world. I don't think anybody can really deny that. It kind of seems in today's news and little things that come out like, man, is this nation even gonna be around in five years? Could we literally survive another two years of this freak show of an administration that we have? How could we be a powerhouse when you have people here telling you that male doesn't mean male and female doesn't mean male? You know, it's hard to imagine that, you know? So anyways, obviously that's a side point, but all of those things are traceable back to demonic activity, back to these ideologies. They start as ideologies and then people gravitate towards them. They become possessed by them, if you will. And so that's why the title of the sermon is From Idealization to Demonization. 2 Timothy two, look at verse 26 and this will give you a very sober call to why we exist as a church, why we exist to evangelize and to edify ourselves. Look what it says in verse 26. It says, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will, okay? And obviously we've broken down the verse prior to that where it talks about if God perhaps will give someone repentance unto salvation, not talking about turning from sins, but in other words, you know, some people get so entrenched, they get so snared by the devil that they just begin to love the lie. They begin to relish in the lie and they no longer want truth. We've all talked to people like that. These freaks that were out here a couple of months ago, they wanted zero truth. They're out there screaming about their constitutional rights of free speech. And it's like, hello, you know, what about my free speech? Well, no, your speech is all hate speech. You see how this works? How can you be that messed up in the mind unless you are obviously possessed? Go back to 1 Peter chapter number five. 1 Peter chapter number five. And so again, when you see the progression, you can see how the world is going to go. You know, you're gonna see more, I believe, more demonic activity, even in this own nation here. You know, for, you know, back in the day, let's say you were, you know, back in the 80s or the 70s, you'd always hear these stories about people being possessed in Africa, right? You always hear about that. And you know what, a lot of that stuff's true. A lot of that stuff is true. Now, the so-called healings and the levitating sort of stuff, yeah, I don't know about that. You know, you hear about these stories in India of people just being possessed and able to do weird things, and there's videos of it. I mean, it's real. There are people that can just, that are cutting themselves, not feeling any pain, just, I mean, all sorts of, you know, weird demonic behavior. But what I believe is you're gonna start to see a lot of that stuff come over here. And then what you're probably gonna see is people given the so-called ability to deal with that, to make that person reasonable, if you will, and the world is gonna wonder, okay? The devil will work, and he does work, and the Antichrist will work in signs and wonders. The Bible tells us that. Jesus told us that. And so you will see those types of things come to pass. But the question is, will you have the discernment to understand it? Will you have the discernment to say, hey, wait a second here, okay? What's the message behind the so-called miracle? Because if it points back to man, then it's false, okay? It doesn't matter. You say, yeah, but they're healing people, okay? Look, it doesn't matter, okay? If your message is you have to turn from your sins to be saved, if your message is that this is the best we have because man just messed up the Bible, I mean, essentially, what are you saying? You're saying that God cannot preserve his truth unto all generations like he told us he could and like he told us he would, okay? So you gotta understand that. What is the message behind these so-called miracles? What good is it for a lot of these churches? A lot of these churches around here do a lot of good things for people. They help a lot of people out. They've got money. They help the poor. They do some great things for them, don't they? You know what? But what good is that at the end of the day if their message is false, if they preach a false gospel? You're literally taking care of their physical needs and sending them to hell. You see, the devil doesn't care. The devil's not interested in having every single church have a bath in that and the smoke and the demonic pictures up, okay? That's for the simps. That's for the easy people, you know? That's too easy. All he has to do is take the focus and the power off of God and place it on man and the next thing you know, you are in a satanic situation, okay? Look at this, First Peter chapter five verse eight. Be sober. Be sober, you know? I mean, what does that mean? Is he just talking about the booze? Well, just have one, you know? Just one, no. He's talking about being sober. Obviously, you know, if you're drunk, if you're high, something like that, you're not sober. But also, guess what? If your mind is clouded with bitterness, if your mind is clouded with pride, then you are not sober, okay? Why does that matter? Because if you're clouded, if you're bogged down by these things, your discernment is out the window. You're gonna have issues. You're gonna have trouble, okay? Be sober, be vigilant. So we need to be aware. You cannot be vigilant if you're not sober, okay? Be vigilant and here's why. You say, well, why? Because you're adversary, the devil. You see that? Who is the you're in that statement there? It's you, it's the saved, it's us. We, as saved, Bible-believing Christians, have an adversary. We have an enemy, we have an attacker, and it is Satan. The Bible calls him the accuser of the brethren. He accuses us day and night, okay? Now, what do we have in place of that? We have the sacrifice on the cross. We have the Lord Jesus Christ saying not guilty, paid for his sins, sins paid in full. Doesn't matter. The unsaved person, though, does not have that, okay? But he says your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. So guess what? You need to connect that you're to the word devour. He can devour you. Yes, he can devour you. He can't take your salvation, okay? You cannot lose your salvation, but he can cause your life to be an absolute nightmare, okay? He can do all sorts of crazy things to you, all as a result of us not being vigilant because we weren't being sober. And again, I'm not just talking about the booze. I'm talking about the total package of a clear mind. That is what sobriety is. That is what that means. That is what he's talking about. Go to James chapter number two. Go to James chapter number two. So again, we have this adversary. This is a very, very needed subject. This is a very important subject. Our adversary, the devil, is as a roaring lion. He's walking around trying to find who he can influence, who he can devour, okay? We're gonna come back and we'll show you an illustration, show you an example from the Bible of that very thing. In fact, you're gonna see one of the closest disciples to Jesus had experienced this very same thing, okay? And you say, why bring that up? Because guess what? We have never been as close to Jesus as the three were. You may think you have, but have you seen him physically? No, these guys saw him. They saw the miracles. They heard the teachings out of his mouth and yet still, still had issues, okay? So again, Christians get devoured simply because they don't understand how the devil's army operates. So let's take a look at this here. James chapter number two. Now, anytime I go to the book of James, whether I'm talking about devils, whatever it is, I do like to offer some clarification because this is a very misunderstood book. A lot of people, as you well know, will come to these passages here to teach that you have to have works or you're not saved. And that is not what this is talking about. See, we have to understand here, and I say this all the time and I'm gonna say it again. These epistles here are written about Christian conduct. They're not written for you to be saved, though we do use verses from these books to get people saved to preach the gospel, but these are primarily written to people that are saved. Okay? So we're gonna read a couple of verses here. Look at James chapter number two. Look at verse number 18. So the Bible says this. It says, yay, a man may say thou hast faith and I have works. Show my thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works. Okay, people like there, stop. Oh, see, if you don't have works, you're going to hell. That's what Paul Washer says. That's what Ray Comfort says. That's what John MacArthur says. That's what a lot of these people say. It's not true. This passage here is not talking about the type of faith that is saving you. This is not a heaven and hell passage here, okay? Go back and listen to what I preached on Sunday morning if you need clarification on faith, but look at verse number 19. He says this. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. Now let me just stop you right there and provide something, okay? So people will come at us with this and say, well, see, even the devils believe and tremble. So obviously believing is not enough. You gotta have the works or you're not saved. Okay? That's the statement that's out there. The question is, is that true? The answer is no. First of all, the most basic thing you need to resort to is this question here. Can a devil be saved? Think about it. Discussion's over. So that can't be what it's talking about. Devils do not have the opportunity to receive the gospel and be saved. These devils that were once angels that took Satan's side, they're done. It was a one and done deal. They're done. Okay? They're done. Now we'll come back to that in a moment, but go to Mark chapter number five. Mark chapter number five. And by the way, you know, again, I'm not gonna go there because we spent some time on this a few weeks ago. What's the verse? Does anybody remember the verse that we go to in James to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that James teaches you're saved by believing only? James 1.18. That's all you need to remember. James chapter one, verse 18, very clear. We are saved without the deeds of law. We are saved without works. He says this, of his own will be God, he asks with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. So James tells you in the very first chapter, which is written to the brethren, written to believers, that we are begotten. We are born again by the word of truth. He doesn't say by the word of truth plus your actions. No, but by the word of truth, by the Bible, the word of God, that is how we're saved. So again, just wanted to throw that out there because, you know, again, this is a highly controversial book, but let's move on here, okay? Let's take a look at this. So James let us know something about devils. He says, you know, even the devils believe in trouble. And if you've been with us for a while, you know that James is talking about the type of faith where you're like, hey, you know, let's say you have two coats. It's 10 degrees outside, you know? And one of your Christian brothers or sisters doesn't have a way to keep warm. And you're just like, hey, I've got faith. Be warm and filled. But you don't do anything to try to help that individual out, okay? That's called willpower. That's called magic, okay? It's called not doing anything. That's what that's called. And that's the type of faith he's talking about. We're not supposed to have faith with respect of persons, but we'll take a look at that here in a minute. But it's interesting that he makes a statement that the devils also believe and tremble. Mark chapter five, look at verse number five. So the Bible says this. It says, and always night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones, okay? So who is this talking about? This is talking about the guy possessed with the legion, okay? We took a look at this not too long ago, but look at verse number six. He says, 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? Don't miss this. I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. What does that mean to adjure? It means to urge or to urgently request someone to do something, okay? Notice the trembling, notice the respect that these demons have for the son of God. And then ask yourself this question. Do we at least demonstrate that same attitude towards our God? Does the person that comes to you and says that they're saved, that says they're a Christian, do they demonstrate fear and trembling concerning the word of God? So quick example again, the guy who says, well, you know, I think in the original languages that meant something totally different. How do you know that Mark chapter 16 should even be in the Bible? How do you know Mark chapter five should even be in the Bible? I think these are good principles to live by. But other than that, I mean, I think we should just do the best that we can. Okay, does that sound like somebody who has fear and trembling to God? Does that sound like somebody who has respect to the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely not. But those people, I mean, this valley, this country is filled with those types of people. And a lot of them are teachers and a lot of them are preachers. So what am I trying to tell you? I'm trying to tell you that demons have more respect for the word of God than most pastors and most teachers do. Look at verse eight. For he said unto him, come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. Interesting. Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And so most of you are definitely familiar with that story. What happens? Comes out, it's obedient. Jesus asks him his name. And he says, we, right? We are legion. Speaks like just in this odd way, letting you know, letting us know as the reader that we're not just dealing with one demon that possessed this guy, but it was many. It was many. And these demons, what do they eventually do? Suffer us to go into those pigs. And what did they do? They ran off a cliff and drowned the pigs in the sea. Go to Mark chapter, let's see here. Actually, no, look at verse nine. I'm sorry, look at verse number nine. Verse number nine. Says this, and he asked him his name, or he asked him, what is thy name? And he answered saying, my name is legion, for we are many. Now who's ever heard of people that I got multiple personality disorder? And I'm not saying they're all possessed of devils. There's a lot of weird chemical imbalances and things that people can experience and fall prey to. I'm not pretending to know that. But I've met some people that definitely fall into this category. And one specific, I think I tell this like once a year, and it's because this was just one of the craziest experiences I've ever had out sowing, and it was in Japan. Okay, now the way you go sowing in Japan is you get a permit, you get one hour, you get 60 minutes, and that's it. You have to pick a spot on the street, and of course you're gonna pick the spot that has the most English speakers that would possibly walk by. What you do is you stand there, and you ask people if they wanna come to church and try to get a conversation real quick. Then you try to ask them the questions and get into the gospel. Well, it's about 20, I don't know, maybe 20, 30 minutes into our sowing time on a Friday night. And this young woman, okay, she walks up, and she stands like right here, okay, and I'm like trying to invite her to church. She doesn't say nothing, just completely stow it. No emotion whatsoever. I'm like, okay, this is weird. My sowing partner right across the street, he's like, I don't know. You know, he's like mouthing this. She looks at him, he's like, you know, what's going on there? No response. She walks right behind me, okay, and I'm like, I can feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And I'm like, this is weird. So I'm like, are you all right? No response. I'm like, okay, whatever, I'm just gonna play along. So, you know, I'm trying to invite people to church, and then all of a sudden I hear this growling noise. I'm like, oh no, okay. I turn around, her eyes are open. Her eyes are literally like rolled in the back of her head, and all I can see is white. And she's just growling, okay. And my friend's like, his name was Danny. He's like, what's going on, man? What's going on? Like he's starting to get real anxious about this. I'm like, I think she's possessed, right? And she just starts freaking out on me, you know? Like she's gonna attack me. I'm like having to put my hand up like this. And he literally, my friend, he literally says this. He's like, I'm out. This dude literally runs, and he goes against the pastor, and he comes flying around the corner, and he's like, Brother Joe, and he like grabs me, and he's like, we're done for the night. We gotta go, you know? And it just like dragging me down the street. You know, now there's a little bit more to the story than that, but you know, I'll never forget the look on that woman's face. You know, we had a guy who was a high-ranking officer that was in our church, and he tried talking to her. Nothing, just this deep growling. It was so bizarre. It was the weirdest thing I've ever had out soul-winning, and you know we got some crazy soul-winning stories in this church, don't we? But to me, for a year today, that tops them all. I wholeheartedly believe this woman was possessed. I do believe that people are possessed. Now, when the pastor came and grabbed me, I'm like, well, he's the pastor, and I guess we're out. It's whatever. I never saw the woman again. I don't know what her deal was. You know, I've wrestled back and forth in my mind. Maybe she was drunk, maybe she was high. You know, it's really hard to tell. They've got some very interesting, weird, interesting things in Japan that you never ever would want to mess with, very toxic drinks and things of that nature. It could have been that, but I don't know. You know, just the countenance that she had, the aura coming off her, man, it was weird. It was bizarre, and I don't know what the deal is. I'll know when we get to heaven, okay? But going back to our story here in Mark, chapter five, verse nine, it says this. And he asked him, what is thy name? And he answered, saying, my name is Legion, for we are many. And I kind of wonder how often when we hear these people that have all these different personality disorders, you know, a lot of these musicians have that, you know? If you go and just type in, I don't know if you should do this, but you know, I don't know, music artist and Rain Man. You know, you can read on the internet how many of these guys, like Eminem, you know, I don't know too many of their names, but they will say that they, they always mention this guy Rain Man in their music, or they'll have an alter ego, right? Who's ever heard of that? Like, didn't Garth Brooks have an alter ego? Anybody know about country music, country crack music? Yeah, he had an alter ego. What about Beyonce, you know? Right, she was Beyonce back in the 90s. Now she's Sasha Fierce, and it takes over her body. You know, Jay-Z's got something whack like that, I'm sure. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, it doesn't matter. The guy is satanic, you know? He wears a shirt which says, do as thou will. And that's the satanic statement. You wanna talk about humanism? That's the most humanistic statement you could possibly have. But I mean, just do your research. You'll see that a lot of these guys have this alter ego. You know, now some of them could just be doing it for views, who knows, right, popularity? But I believe it's real for some of them, okay? Because some of the things that they say, and some of the dark sayings that they actually are able to come up with in their music, or come up with on the fly, and knowing them in the past how they don't seem that smart. It's like, ah, man, you might actually be possessed. I don't know, I don't wanna take the chance. I wouldn't wanna subject myself to that anyways. But the point being here, verse number 10 about the devils even trembling when they see the Lord, or hear of the Lord, look at verse 10, it says, and he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country, okay? Man, you know, I read these stories here. Now go to Mark chapter number one. You know, we read these stories here, and it just blows my mind. You know, you always see these devils bowing down, they're worshiping, they're petitioning the Lord, you know? And obviously, of course, when he's not around, they're doing whatever they wanna do, and trying to get people. Again, that'll be a subject for another day. But it's like, you know, we run into Christians all the time, you know? And they're just, a lot of times it's just rude. Just slam the door in your face, you know? I can't believe you're out here bothering people with this junk. I go to Life.Church on Eagle Road, you know? I go to blah, blah, blah. And it's like, dude, you know? Where's the love for the brethren? You know what I mean? I come to you, you know I'm not a Mormon? I'm not a J-Dub? I told you we go to a Baptist church, we're a Christian church, we believe the Bible, we believe the gospel, and here you cuss me out. And then you go on the website, and it's like, oh, they're the eighth pastor in line on the website. You know, it's like, what in the world, dude? What is your problem? That might not be demon possession, but it's demon influence. It's demonization, and we'll get into that here in a moment. So again, what's the point? What are we talking about here? We're talking about what James said, that even the devils believe and tremble, okay? Even the devils believe, even the demons believe and tremble, that's what James says in verse 19. But also notice this, yet they don't show people mercy or meet the needs of people, do they? No. Right, so what does that say for us when we develop this pompous attitude, like, oh, you know, you should just work harder there, brother, and maybe you wouldn't have so much need. That's demonic. I'm not saying you're a reprobate. I'm not saying you're not saved. But what I'm saying is that attitude is like a devil. It's not okay. So another thing that I wanna bring up is obviously their knowledge of God doesn't result in changed behavior. It's a volitional choice. That's why James says in verse one, my brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons, okay? That's the whole point of chapter number two, is to teach us the proper conduct, how we should live our lives, because yes, people are watching. People are watching. And if we're allowing ourselves to act like these demons where we just have this head knowledge of God, you know, we believe, yeah, okay, we're saved, fine, but we don't ever do anything to help a brother out, we don't ever do anything to help a sister out, we're just rude, crass, whatever you wanna have. I mean, that doesn't say much for what we are about. The Bible says we're saved without the deeds of the law. There's no works involved. But Ephesians two was very clear that we were saved unto good works, that we should do those things. This is a chapter of the shoulds. Remember, there's only one must be. What must I do to be saved? That question is asked once in the Bible. And the answer is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. He doesn't say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall eventually be saved. No, right now, and once you're saved, you're always saved. Because if you're not always saved, you're not saved, you're on probation. There's no other way to look at it. That's what it is. That's what the Bible teaches. That's what we have to understand. But however, just because we're saved doesn't mean that we should just live like a devil, because there are plenty of believers in the world that live just like this. Yeah, they believe, and yeah, when you get them cornered and you talk to them a lot of times, yeah, they'll tremble at what you're telling them. Okay, but are they actually doing it? Are they actually conducting it? And that is the point that James is trying to make. Okay, but people twist that verse, obviously, to go back to the religion of human achievement by saying things like this. Well, even the devils believe and tremble, so therefore, that's not enough to just believe. When someone says it's not enough to believe, they're saying Jesus' sacrifice on the cross wasn't enough. That's blasphemous. That's speaking marvelous things to the God in heaven. Not marvelous in a good way, marvelous in a horrible way, because that is subtle, because to the so-called logical person in the world, when you talk about good works and things like that, when a person who's not saved but has kinda maybe got a little bit church, they're not against the Bible, and you tell them, man, you gotta turn from sins. They're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. I'm struggling with it, but yeah, yeah. Why do they agree with it? Because that is what's woven into the fabric of every culture on this planet. Where do you think the idea of Santa Claus came from? Do you think they got that from the Bible? Look, if you're a little kid and you believe in Santa Claus, man, you're on probation all year long, up until December 24th, when your head lays down on that pillow and you're writing your little letter to Santa. I'm sorry I did all this stuff. There's still time for me. I need that video game. I need that Devastator toy. I need these transformers. I need all these He-Man toys. That was me. That was me when I was a kid because I was taught this stuff. But the problem is today you have grown adults living their life like that, and it's demonic. It's demonic to the core. Mark chapter one, look at verse 21. Here's another, just a passage I wanna, just to bring up about these devils, these demons and how they tremble. Look at this here. Mark chapter one, verse 21. It says this. It says, and they went into Capernaum and straightway on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught. Stop right there. Remember, when you're reading Mark chapter one, you're still in the Old Testament, though your Bible says this is a New Testament book because the death of the testator had not yet happened. So what does that mean? Well, that means at this point in time here, truth, the one true religion, if you will, was literally supposed to be in Jerusalem, in Judea, with the synagogue. It said, the Bible's very clear, that Moses was read in every synagogue. That's where the truth was. Now, the problem is they had a lot of weak teachers. They didn't teach with authority. The scribes didn't get up and be like, bam, this is what it is, and we're not budging. They were like, well, here's what it says, and anybody got a thought? I mean, you look at this here. And when they came to Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught. I mean, how often do you see guys in the Old Testament, and even after Jesus dies, just roll into the synagogue and just start going crazy, just start teaching? You know, because it was like open mic there. You know, they did things differently. So Jesus comes in there, they're like, you have a word? He teaches, look at verse 22, and they were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. And we talked about this a couple Sunday mornings ago, okay? This is very powerful. So he comes into the church service, because that's literally what's going on here. It's a church service. Jesus picks a passage, he starts to teach, and people are like, whoa, you know, they're blown away. Why are they blown away? Because he believes this. Obviously, he's the word of God, but he's teaching this with authority, and by the way, we are supposed to do the same thing. You know, obviously, we don't have women preachers, but we have women that go out and give the gospel. We have women that go out and teach people how to be saved. They preach the gospel. They teach them doctrine while they're on the doorstep. There's nothing wrong with that, but we all do it with authority. Why? Because we've been given authority by the savior. So again, verse 22, and they were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority, not as the scribes. Look at verse 23. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out. Notice how that's in there, okay? I mean, think about this. Go back in time here. This synagogue's been open for what? Who knows how long? It doesn't tell us, okay? But they've had services. You know, they're just going through the flow. All of a sudden, Jesus comes in, and this man's here, and he's got an unclean spirit. And it's like, wait a second. What's going on here? Look at verse 24. It says, so after he says he cried out, saying, let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth, art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. Man, demons give more credit. Devils give more credit to what is written down in the Bible. Go read Mark chapter four. Go read Matthew chapter four, if you don't believe me, than most so-called Christians do today, okay? I mean, you wanna ask the question, how did we get from serpent to dragon? How did we get from an idea to a demon? How did we get from idealization to demonization? It's by the lack of Bible-based teaching. It's because of the lack of people teaching the word of God with authority. And I'm not talking about putting on a show, okay? I've got a different personality. I'm quiet most of the time, but you know, I feel very passionate about things, and I start to get excited, you know? So don't think if a preacher doesn't get up here and yell and scream that they're somehow weak or different. No, that's not what I'm saying, okay? As long as that preacher believes what's written down here and is teaching it, it's all good. There's no issue, there is no problem at all. And the Bible is letting us know here, the reason why this man went undetected is because of weak sauce, watered down, soy baby, soy milk style preaching. That's it, man, that's why. And you know what else it tells you? That helps the demonic side. That's what it does. Hey look, the Bible says that we have to endure sound doctrine. That's what the Bible says, endure sound doctrine. That's what Paul told Timothy, endure sound doctrine. We're commanded to endure it. Look, anything that you have to endure is not easy. It's not easy to come to a church like this. It's not easy to come to the synagogue until Jesus shows up. I mean, it was, I'm sorry, I got that backwards. It was easy to come to the synagogue. It was easy to hide until Jesus shows up and starts teaching with authority, and then all of a sudden what happens? Then the unclean spirit comes out. But look at what he's like, I know. This is what the devil's saying, the demon. I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God. And he knows their destiny. He knows the end result. This demon here is like, are you coming to destroy us? Right, so think about this. You're sitting in church and all of a sudden this demon just pipes up. You come to destroy us? Before the appointed time, what's going on here? And starts admitting truth. But yet we have a bunch of people today. We have the majority, the overwhelming majority of professing Christianity today does not believe the Bible is true from front to back. I'm telling you, probably like 99%. Maybe 99, I don't know. But it's pretty high, okay? It's definitely very high. Look at verse 26. I'm sorry, verse 25. And Jesus rebuked him, saying hold thy peace and come out of him. Verse 26, and when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. So it's, I mean, isn't that crazy? That the devils believe and tremble. The devils believe and tremble. They are obedient. They believe the word of God. But today, in modern Christianity, it is very difficult to find somebody who believes in the preservation of the word of God. You know, a couple hundred years ago, it wasn't that big of a deal. People are, of course God preserved his word. That's what he said. That was the prevailing attitude. And then slowly, slowly ideas started creeping in to these so-called Bible colleges. And the big churches started getting these commentary sent to them, like the Schofield Reference Bible and other things. And then all of a sudden, guys like Billy Sunday started to come up. And then you get Billy Graham and all of his kindred to come up. And they speak like a dragon. They literally speak out of both sides of their mouth. They'll say things that are true and then very subtly say things that are false. What's the, what's going on today? Well, a lot of these guys are just coming right off the bat and it's like, hey, if you ain't got work, going to hell. I mean, they're not even trying to hide it as well anymore. You know, a lot of these guys on their websites, even around here, they're like, yeah, we, you know, we believe in the word of God and its original languages. In the original manuscripts. They're literally just coming out and telling you they don't believe the Bible that they have today. That's what they're saying. That is demonic, okay? But here, even the devils believe. Even they tremble, okay? So we don't want to be like that. We don't want to be anywhere near that. We reject that. Look at verse 28. I'm sorry, verse 27. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, what thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits and they do obey him, verse 28. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. Now go to Matthew chapter number 16. And let's answer this question now. How do the elect, how do believers get demonized? Okay, is that possible? Well, let's take a look here and go in your Bible to Matthew chapter 16. We're getting close to being done as well. So if I lost you, come back, we're almost done. Matthew chapter number 16, look at verse 21. So it says, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes. And, don't miss this, be killed and be raised again the third day. Now obviously we read that. We understand that's the gospel. That's the greatest gift given to mankind, okay? That's the real gift. That's the one that matters. That is why we can be together today. That is why we have hope. That is why we have joy. But, go back to this time, these disciples here, they didn't understand quite what was going on. They know that Jesus is here. They believe he's the Messiah. They're saved, obviously, except for Judah. But they've got this thing a little bit, actually a lot bit wrong. They think that the physical kingdom is gonna be restored and it's gonna be like the days of David, like the days of Solomon and it's just gonna be great. No more Roman oppression. No chance of the Persians coming. No chance of any other foreign power. It's gonna be us and the rest of the world is gonna have to deal with it, okay? But they're in for a rude awakening. Look at this here in verse number two. It says this, the Bible says this. Then Peter, okay, so he hears this. He hears what Jesus is saying. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, be it far from thee, Lord. This shall not be unto thee. What is Peter saying here? Peter's saying, Jesus, don't you have pity for yourself? You're not this small to where you would be killed. You don't deserve this. You know what that is? That's humanism. That's human achievement. This is Peter. This is one of the closest disciples to Jesus. This is a guy on the inner circle here. You say, yeah, well, how is this demonic? Look at the next verse, verse 23. But he turned and said unto Peter, so this is Jesus. Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me. For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. There you have it. One of the closest disciples to the Lord Jesus Christ under demonic influence. Notice here, I don't believe that believers can be possessed because look at what it says. Get thee behind me, Satan. He didn't say come out of him, Satan. He didn't say, Satan, come out of Peter. No, he said, get thee behind me, Satan. This is a picture of the roaring lion. This is a picture of the adversary and how he operates. This is what he does to devour people. He stands behind you and puts thoughts into your mind. And if you are not sober, if you are not vigilant, he will devour you. Take that to the bank. But he turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. So again, not possession. The believers, well, a lot of times we start to think, well, I can't be possessed. I'm good to go. But that's not true. Be sober, be vigilant, watch out. The devil doesn't get us by possession. He gets us by exposure. Exposure to thoughts that come into your mind. Thoughts that come into your head and you start to dwell and to meditate and to think on those. And if you have a chink in your armor, meaning you are not sober, you are not vigilant, the end result is a devouring. Two more places I wanna have you turn. Okay, we're almost done. 2 Corinthians chapter number 10. And so all of that to say this, this concept in psychology or whatever you wanna call it, idealization leads to demonization and demonization is submission to evil. That's what it is. In this moment of time, Peter has a lapse. He has a lapse in understanding, okay? He's not efficiently sober, not officially vigilant, okay? He's focused on the things that pertain to man, okay? He's listening to the devil. That's why Jesus said, Satan said, 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. This is discernment for us, okay? The devil savors things that pertain to man, okay? Repent of your sins for salvation. That is something that the devil loves because that pertains to man. That takes the power off the cross and puts it on the man. It's as simple as that. And so if you could get that down and remember that, man, that's gonna help you out tremendously in your life. Whoever it is you're listening to, talking to, what are they saying? Is everything they're saying going back to men? Guess what? They could be under influence of the devil. The devil savors things that be of men. Now, what is that ultimately gonna lead to? Ultimately, the destruction of flesh. See, the devil's had what, 6,000 plus years to study humanity, to study mankind? He knows what makes man motivated, and it's the praise of your achievements, which is why that is always the height of what is spoken about in all of these type of repent of your sins churches. That's the religion of the world. There's two religions of the world. There's human achievement and divine accomplishment. There's human achievement, meaning what you have done has merit, and there's divine accomplishment, which pertains to what Jesus did on the cross. He is the one who accomplished everything. We did nothing. We deserved hell, okay? The devil doesn't like that, but he knows he could appeal to the masses by simply shifting the focus from what God has done to what man can do or has done. That's the trick. And so that's why I'm saying demonization is submission to evil. And everyone in here is capable of that, everyone. And we all have been partakers of this at some point in our lives, if we're honest. We've all had these thoughts and given into them, okay? This is why I'm preaching this, okay? Because all of us from time to time will have this, and it's a great way to help people out too. Second Corinthians chapter 10, look at verse number four. Okay, we're gonna start to get into some application here, then we're done. Verse four, what does Paul say? For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So if you do not have a mighty weapon, meaning a strong weapon, meaning the word of God, then what do you have? You're left with nothing. You're left defenseless is what he's saying, okay? Verse five, casting down imaginations. So why we're always on the lookout for things that people are imagining, okay? Casting down imaginations. And every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. That is why we exist. That is why church is important. That is why reading the Bible is important, okay? Because this is how we battle today. There are tons of imaginations out there. There are tons of things that exalt itself against the knowledge of God. You know, this, again, going back to this idea here, you know, oh, you're, you're, you're, you know, there's, men are a problem today because they're too aggressive. And we need to do something about that. You know, there's this big push from the elite to become vegetarian or to become vegan. You know, there's more impossible meat solutions or options, if you will, just about everywhere you look today, okay? Who's driving that? It's the elite that are driving that. Who drives them? It's the devil and his armies. It's very clear. You say, well, why would you bring something like that up? Well, because all those things basically attack the knowledge of God. Let's go back to male and female. You know, the Bible says, you know, that man was created in the image of God. You say, well, how can, what gives you the right to say that someone can't choose a gender? Because God made them male and female. Why do you speak about Black Lives Matter? Because man is made in the image of God. The whole idea of racism is a lie. There's only one human race. God has made all the nations of the earth of one blood. That's what the Bible teaches. And guess what? We're all sinners. We're all equal in that area, aren't we? We all need a savior. We all deserve help. That's what the Bible teaches. That's why I'm against lifting up one culture and putting down the rest, because it's demonic. It's an idea from devils. That's what it is. It exalts, it attacks the knowledge of God. But yet today you got guys like David Platt, Francis Chan, these clowns on the internet who call themselves Christians running around and apologizing for white supremacy. Look, people that are really white supremacists are crazy. They're demonic too. You know, but guess what? They're the Black Panthers. So are the white keeper Israelites. You know, so are the Mormons. You know, there's skin color. It doesn't matter in any of that. It's a problem with demonization. That's where you gotta look. That's what he's saying here. So again, last place I wanna have your turn, James chapter four. What's the grand solution to all this? Because the most important thing that I'm talking about today is what we saw in Matthew 16. How do we overcome having a Peter moment? What do we do when we get like Peter? And we start listening to the thoughts that are more savory towards man. How do we handle that? The answer is very clear. James chapter four, look at verse number seven. The Bible says this, submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Remember, what is demonization? It's ultimately submission to evil. So what do we do? We do the opposite. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil. You say, well, how, what do I do? I get a shield and just stand outside my bedroom and just, and just, no. Submit yourself to God. When you're reading the Bible, you're hearing preaching that's true, okay? Do you submit to that? Do you submit to this book here? Not to me, but to the Bible. Do you read the Bible for yourself and apply it to your life? That's submission to God. Look at this, resist the devil and he will flee from you. It is a guarantee, it is a promise. That's what the Bible says. Look at the next verse. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners and purify your hearts, ye double minded. That's the solution. That's what we have to remember and that's what we have to do because everybody in here at any given time is subject to some sort of demonization. There's not too many people left in the world today who believe the truth, who are preaching the truth, who are taking solid stands on just absolute truth. So the demons have it easier today than they ever have. There's less of a pull to choose from on who they wanna mess with. It's very, it's Slim Pickens, as they say. That's really what we are faced with today and so because of that, we have to remember this now more than ever and that is not to say, to discredit anybody in the past by any means, but hey, as we get closer to observing the possibility of the beast being able to speak as a dragon and get away with it, man, we're in deep trouble and actually, we're not in that deep of trouble. We're in for a rough ride, but in the end, who wins? God does. So we're in Christ, we win. End of story. So hopefully that was a help to you this evening. We're gonna stop right there and let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, again, for the wonderful truth that you bring us every single time we open up this book, whether it be in church or in our own Bible reading and just pray you bless the fellowship after the service, Lord, and bring us back safely this weekend. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.