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

Amen. So, you know, who says the Bible's not exciting, huh? There's all kinds of exciting stories all throughout the Bible, so it's a great book to read, but just more action and things happening here in Acts chapter 23. So where are we in Acts chapter 23? It's been a couple of weeks, so basically Paul is at Jerusalem. You know, he was told, you know, after his third missionary journey, at the end of the third missionary journey, everybody was warning him, the people at Ephesus, and nobody wanted him to go to Jerusalem, and you know, even the Holy Spirit said, Paul, don't go there, you're gonna end up bound, they're gonna try to, you know, get you like they've been trying to get you, and Paul said, you know, I don't care about my life, I'm going anyway. So this is Paul in Jerusalem, and of course he's having the same trouble. The Jews are after him, just like they've been after him throughout the whole book of Acts. They're still hunting him, trying to get him here. We're gonna pick things up in verse number 10. So Paul, of course, in the first few verses of Acts chapter 23, basically rebukes the high priest, which you know, doesn't seem to be going well for him, because they come up with a plan to get Paul, okay? So they've tried to kill him, I don't know how many times so far throughout his missionary journeys, and he's just kept coming at them, and just coming at them again and again and again, and as you see, what does Paul do? He just goes and he just speaks truth over and over again, alright? So that's what we're gonna kind of look at this evening, is kind of the contrast of how, you know, Christians or prophets have acted versus, you know, the other side. That's what we're gonna look at tonight, and this is a great example in Acts chapter 23. So let's go through the story here, and then we'll apply it towards the end of the sermon. Look at verse number 10. The Bible says, and there rose a great dissension. So Paul, you know, causes this, you know, dissension, this chaos when he rebukes the high priest, and this Roman rescues him again. Just notice, like, the persecution in the book of Acts is coming from the Jews, you know, it's not coming from the Romans here. The Romans are actually the ones that have saved Paul a couple of times already, and they're gonna save him again here in Acts chapter 23. The Bible says, and there rose a great dissension. The chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled to pieces of him, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. So this chief captain saves him again, and the night following, the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for thou has testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. He basically, you know, God tells Paul here that, you know, you're gonna make it through this. You're gonna be in Rome to testify about me there as well. And it was day, when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and bounded themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now this is interesting right here, because normally in the Bible, you know, you would think of what's happening here as these men getting together and swearing what the Bible would call an oath, but instead here, it's called a curse. And I'm gonna explain to you why it's called a curse here. So they basically enter into a curse here. So just a heads up, if anybody gets together, you know, you know, brings you into their group and says, Hey, you want to get into on this curse with us? Just say no, okay? Because curses are bad, all right? So these people are entering into a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. So this is like a wicked deal that they're entering into, but they're literally cursing themselves in this way. And they were more than 40 which made this what? This conspiracy, all right? So this conspiracy is kind of equated with that word curse, all right? And they came to the chief priests and elders and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. Now therefore, ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though you would inquire something more perfectly concerning him, and we or ever he come near are ready to kill him. So this is the conspiracy, all right? This is the plan. The conspiracy is some underhanded, secretive plan entered into. This is what a conspiracy is. It's some underhanded plan executed in the dark that only a few people know about. That's what a conspiracy is. Notice how the Bible calls a conspiracy a literal curse here. It calls it a curse, all right? So these people, the plan, this particular conspiracy is this. These 40 men, or about 40, whatever it was, went to the chief priests who they knew wanted Paul dead, and they said, Hey, you guys, so they're bringing the chief priests into the curse too, right? They need the chief priests to be part of this curse or this conspiracy, and they say, You guys go and tell the Romans. See, because now the Romans have Paul, and they can't win that fight. They can't go up against the Romans and strong arm this chief captain, you know, these centurions and these soldiers. They have no power over it, so they have to come up with this way. They say, Chief priests, go and tell the chief captain that you just want to ask him a few more questions, that you just have some doctrinal questions about the law, and then the chief captain will bring him forth, and then whichever of us 40, because there's going to be a big crowd, this is why they needed the numbers, there will be this crowd around Paul, whichever of us is closer to him will just jump out and stab him or kill him in whatever way they were going to do. That is the conspiracy, all right? That is the plan. But look at verse 16. And when Paul's sister's son, so that's Paul's nephew, right, heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle and told Paul. And Paul called one of the centurions unto him and said, bring this young man under the chief captain, for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So he took him and brought him to the chief captain and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee who has something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand and went with him aside privately and asked him, what is it that thou hast to tell me? So here we have Paul's nephew, so we have this young man, all right? Now we don't know how old he is, but you know there's some signs here that this is a fairly young man. I mean young man in the Bible would be like probably less than 20 years old, but then you see the chief captain takes him by the hand, you know, and leads him into a place where he says, you know, this is a small child, you know, this is a child that's probably, I mean in my mind, I mean obviously we don't know, but you know 12 years old or younger probably, you know, this is a young child doing a very brave thing here. This is a young child that's coming and he's found out about this murderous plan to kill his uncle and instead of just doing nothing, what does he do? He risks himself, he risks his life and he goes to these, you know, these soldiers. That must have been a pretty scary thing for a young child to see these Roman soldiers and even risk the anger of the Jews who want to murder his uncle, but then the pride, you know, so we have a young boy making a big difference is what I'm trying to get at here, all right? Look, this is why, this is one of the reasons that, this isn't one of the reasons, the reason we're a family integrated church is because that's what the Bible says, okay, that's the reason we are, but this is one of the things that you will see as you grow up and your kids grow up in a family integrated church and you see other kids grow up in other family integrated churches that are preaching the Bible, what you will see is you will see that kids at a very young age stand for their faith. You'll see that kids at a very young age, you know, they go out and they win souls, at a very young age, you know, they go out and they literally make a difference in this world at a very young age, like young, like 10, 11, 12, 13 years old, so look, I mean, it's not, don't ever let anyone tell you kids that, you know, you're just a kid, right, because kids, children can be very powerful soul winners, they can be very powerful and look, I've seen kids that are 13, 14 years old stand for their faith, kids that are young that look, they don't have all, they don't have control of their lives, you know, they don't have control of everything, but they still, they put their foot down and they stand for their faith, I've seen that in young children and it's because they grew up, you know, they grew up in the Word of God, so here we see, just a side note, we see a very young child making a very big difference here, he's being used of God, is he not being used of God? God's plan, God told, we know Paul's getting to Rome, how do we know? Because God told Paul he's getting to Rome, but God uses people to execute his plan and he's using this young child to execute this particular plan, so look, kids can make a big difference, kids can make a big difference, look at verse number 20, verse number 20, and he said, so now he's telling, this young child is telling, the nephew is telling the chief captain, the Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul tomorrow into the council as they would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly, he's telling them, they're gonna use you, they're gonna use you, he's saying, but do not yield unto them, for they lie in wait, for they lie in wait for him of the more than, of more than 40 men which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him, and now are they ready looking for a promise from thee, they're trying to, they're gonna use you, he says, so the chief captain let the young man depart and charged him, meaning he told him, see thou tell no man that thou has showed these things unto me, and he called unto him two centurions, saying, make ready 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea, this guy doesn't mess around, right, he's up against 40 people, he's like, go get me 200 soldiers, he goes, he's 3 score and 10, 3 score meaning 3 times 20, a score is 20, he's like, go get me 70, you know, 70 horses and spearmen 200, so 200 soldiers, 200 spearmen, and then, you know, 70 cavalry at the third hour of the night, and provide them beasts that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the government, this guy, this guy wants to make sure that Paul gets there, he's gonna make sure that he's successful, you know, I like, I like this attitude, I've always said, you know, if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing, you know what I mean, so this is, this is my kind of guy right here, and he wrote a letter after this manor, and he says, Claudius Lysias, the most excellent governor Felix, sendeth greeting, this man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them, when I came with, then I came with an army and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman, he's kind of, you know, saying, look, I saved this Roman citizen, and when I would have known the cause, wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council, whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, so he's like, I thought that they were arguing with him about their religion, their law, which we know that the Romans have no respect for the Jewish law, they put up with the Jews, and look, they're not gonna put up, you know, Jesus was right when he predicted the temple would be destroyed, the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, we're probably looking at, you know, just a few years after Jesus's death, we're probably like 20, 25, 30 years away from the temple being destroyed here, where the Romans are just like enough of this, and they just destroy everything that has to do with the Jews, so the Romans don't have any respect for the law of the Jews, but he's just like, the Jews are upset because they don't like what he's teaching, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or bonds, he's literally saying like, I don't really care, like it doesn't really matter if what he's teaching is against the Jews' law, he said, because he's not doing anything that's violating our laws, he's not doing anything that would put him in prison or, you know, get him executed according to our laws, look at verse 30, basically what he's saying is, this guy's innocent, this guy's innocent, and when it was told me how the Jews laid in wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee and gave commandment to his accusers, also to say before thee what they had against him, farewell. Then the soldiers, it was commanded them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipratris, and on the morning they left horsemen to go with him and return to the castle, who when they came to Caesarea delivered to the epistle, meaning the letter that he just wrote to the governor, presented Paul also before him, when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was, and he understood that he was of Cilicia, I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come, and he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. So Paul's going to get to give his case to this governor, which we'll look at in chapter 24. But the point I want to look at tonight is just this idea of this conspiracy, or this conspiracy, or what the Bible calls a curse here, a curse, a conspiracy, and it's a curse upon all those who enter in, but it's always a conspiracy in the Bible, is what I want to get you to understand. There's conspiracies all over the Bible. We'll look at just a couple, turn to Isaiah chapter 7. There's conspiracies all over the Bible, but they all follow the same pattern, is what I want you to understand this evening, and then we'll see why, we'll look at why conspiracies exist, okay? We'll look at why every conspiracy in the Bible exists, we'll look at why every conspiracy that we can think of today exists or doesn't exist. Look, we love talking about conspiracies here. We love talking about what could have possibly been behind all these different events that we're all living through. You know, it's a really, it's a thinking man's game to think about what could really be behind a lot of the things that we see in the world today. So let's look at what the pattern of the Bible conspiracies are first. Look at Isaiah chapter 7. Let's look at a conspiracy in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 7, look at verse number 1. And look, you're gonna see the pattern is the same with these conspiracies. So here we have, in Isaiah 7, we're looking at, you know, we've got the northern kingdom of Israel, which is wicked, and we've got the lower kingdom of Judah, which is, you know, a much godlier kingdom at this point. Look at verse number 1. And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah. So this is the king of the lower kingdom that rezoned the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliyah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it. So they always say up to Jerusalem. I'm not sure if that's like an elevation thing or what, but it's, they're literally going south, okay? So they're coming, Syria and Israel are going to Judah to go to war in Jerusalem. They're attacking the lower kingdom. It went to, but they could not prevail against it. So what are they doing? So Israel, Israel, the northern kingdom, and Syria are attacking Jerusalem. They're attacking Judah, all right? But they can't win, all right? So that's the first thing you need to understand. Conspiracies are always born out of situations where just like being straight up isn't going to work. We're just doing it the right way. We're just doing it the normal way is not going to work. So look at verse number 2. They couldn't win. They couldn't beat Jerusalem, and it was told the house of David saying Syria is confederate with Ephraim. So Ephraim is many times used to just picture the northern kingdom in general, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind, basically saying to the lower kingdom of Judah, Syria has aligned itself with the northern kingdom of Israel is what that's saying there. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, who's the prophet, go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and shear just hub, thy son, and at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field, and say unto him, take heed and be quiet. Fear not, neither be faint hearted for the two tales of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of resin with Syria and the son of Ramaliah. So he's saying, fear not, don't be worried about this confederacy that's coming against you, right? Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Ramaliah have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son Tabeel. So here, the Bible is saying Isaiah is telling the king of Judah that it doesn't tell us exactly how they're going to do this. It doesn't tell us exactly what their plan is. But they're going to go there, and they're going to vex them. They're going to do some kind of trickery. They're going to do some kind of false, I don't know if that's a false deal, a false treaty, a false something. They're going to do something because they can't just go up and straight up fight them. So they're going to do some kind of trickery, or sometimes what the Bible calls subtlety, to try to beat this king. But Isaiah is telling the king of Judah, Ahaz, he's telling him, look at verse number seven. He says, thus saith the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. He's like, don't worry. It's not going to work. So that's another thing that you'll see with conspiracies in the Bible is the Lord always brings those things to light. The Lord always brings the conspirators out to light. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 12. It doesn't always look that way at all points in time, though. In Jeremiah chapter 12, we're going to see where there's a conspiracy, where there's evil things. And look, sometimes in the Bible, sometimes in our lives, we're going to look and we're going to think like, hey, these bad conspiracies and these conspirators, it looks like they're winning. It looks like it's working. Looks like the trickery is working. But we can always just remember this pattern in the Bible. Look at Jeremiah chapter 12. Even the prophet Jeremiah said this to God. He's just like, they're winning. It's like these evil, wicked people are winning. Look at verse number one of Jeremiah chapter 12. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee. Jeremiah, he's got that respect with God because he's really going to sort of complain about some stuff here. But he's just like, God, you're righteous. He's like, Lord, you're righteous. You're all powerful. He's like, but. He's got some issues with what's happening here. He says, when I plead with thee, yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. He's like, God, can I please discuss what you're allowing to happen here, is what Jeremiah says. Remember Jeremiah's the prophet that no one ever listened to. You know, whenever I think as a pastor, like, man, it seems like I'm preaching and no one's listening, you know, I don't think like that all the time. But the point is, Jeremiah literally lived his whole life like that. I can't think of a single point in the Bible where Jeremiah went and preached something and they were just like, that's great, we agree with you. Like, they just hated everything that he said. They're like, you're a traitor. They threw him in prison. They threw him in the mire. I mean, Jeremiah was just beaten down his whole life. And at this point in Jeremiah chapter 12, he's saying, God, he's like, can I get you to rethink, you know, your judgments here? Wherefore doth the way, look what he says. Wherefore, meaning why. Now, how many times have you thought about this in your life? This is a decent thought that Jeremiah has here, but we need to, God answers. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? He's saying, why, God? Why, God, if they're wicked and they're bad, why does it look like they're doing well? Their ways are, I mean, these people that are wicked, these people that you're telling me about to go and preach against, they're doing well and they're prospering. He's like, why is that? Wherefore, are they all happy that deal very treacherously? Isn't that what this conspiracy, what these conspiracies are about? A conspiracy is, that's exactly what a conspiracy is. A bunch of people that get together into a deal or a curse of some kind and deal treacherously. But in Jeremiah chapter 12, he's saying, well, God, he's like, they're getting away with it. He's like, it's working for them. It's like these people that are doing these treacherous things through all these lies and all this wickedness, he's like, it's working out. He's like, and he's just asking God, he's just like, why? Just like, why? Thou has planted them. Yea, they have taken root, they grow. Yea, they bring forth fruit. They're getting stronger, Lord, he says. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins. It says, you know, they talk about you, he's like, but they don't, you know, they don't have anything to do with you. You know, actually. But now go back down to verse number 12, because God always, here's another pattern that you'll see with the conspiracies. God always has the final say in the conspiracies. So with the conspirators and with the curses that people enter into, God always has the final say. And look, we know he had the final say in Jeremiah's life as well, because they got taken over, just like Jeremiah said they were gonna get taken over by, you know, the nation or the empire of Babylon. Look at verse number 12. Now God answered, he says, The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh shall have peace. Remember how he said, remember how Jeremiah said, look, Lord, they're even bearing fruit. Look what God says. They have sown wheat, but they shall reap thorns. They have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit. They shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the, what, the fierce anger of the Lord. God says, no, no, no. He's like, no, no, no, I will have the last say here. That is not gonna be fruit that they reap. That's gonna be thorns from the fierce anger of the Lord. And look, you see this pattern throughout all conspiracies in the Bible. You think about, just think of the conspiracies. Think of the conspiracy of Absalom. Absalom, David's son, he forms this conspiracy where he gets all these people with him. He's actually able to throw David out of Jerusalem. He's actually able to dethrone his own father. I bet David, at that point, was just like, wow, it seems like the wicked are prospering here. What happened to Absalom? He was killed. He was killed. 2 Samuel 15, Absalom's, his, David's advisor, Hithophel, went back and went into the conspiracy with Absalom, took his side, and God literally cursed him. He entered that conspiracy, and it literally says in 2 Samuel 15 that Hithophel was among the conspirators. And how did that end up for him? He killed himself. He ended up committing suicide. What other conspirator do we know in the Bible that ended up committing suicide? Judas. Judas conspired against the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we know that that was fulfilling prophecy, but he was a wicked man that conspired against Jesus, and how did it end up? He ended up killing himself. You say, where do all these conspiracies come from? Who operates this way? Turn to Genesis chapter three in verse number one. There's a word in the Bible that is always associated with Satan or the people that are working with Satan, and that word is this, subtle, subtlety. Being subtle, being subtle's not a good thing. If you say, well, I'm subtle, well, you're not using the word right because it's an evil thing. Look at Genesis chapter three. Look at verse number one. These things are always pushed forward by the devil, these subtle plans. Look at Genesis three, verse one. The Bible says, now the serpent was more what? 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. He said, yea. He's subtle, he's subtly trying to get the woman to get Eve to doubt God's word. Is that really what God said? Thou shalt not surely die. So he starts out with subtlety and then he just heads straight into just straight up lies. But Satan is the subtle one. Subtlety is Satan's way, not God's. This is what you need to remember. God's way is just head on truth, that's it. God's way is just head on truth. You say, well, there's been Christians that fought in, there's the good guys that fought in the Bible too. Well, yeah, but when David fought Absalom, what did he do? He just fought him. He just went straight forward and fought him with an army. That's what he did. And instead, it's Satan that is subtle, that uses this trickery, that uses all these conspiracies in the Bible that are basically just a bunch of people operating under darkness and operating under the philosophy of lies, is what it is. God just tells the truth. Here it is, take it or leave it. And look, a lot of people wanna leave it. Here's a lot of people don't, you know, it's hard to take the truth. But that's the way the prophets always were. The prophets are just like truth. You know, there was never any, you know, conspiracy with Jeremiah to try to trick somebody into doing something, it's just like, no, I mean, God actually went to these great extremes to have these prophets like basically like risk their own lives to the point of the death of a lot of them, just to just go out and just speak the truth to the face of these leaders. But that's why, that's why governments, that's why people lie. It's the same as Satan. It's the same, so you say, where do all these conspiracies come from? Well, it's not of God, it's not of God. Any conspiracy by a government is not of God. All the conspiracies that you can think of, you know, in your life and the history of your life or whatever, all the government whatevers and the false flags and all these different things, it's just, it's a subtle way to get a goal done. Because they can't come out, they can't come out and say like, hey, we just wanna go to war here because we want the stuff over there. I mean, they can't do that. So instead, they have to come up with these conspiracies. They have to come up with lies and they have to be what? They have to be subtle about it. But look, look, it's gotten to the point in this country where other countries, I read a lot of foreign news. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But literally other countries at this point are just like, the United States lies so much that they're literally, what's the word that I, they're agreement-incapable is the word I've been reading a lot of. Because they're like, look, I'm not for China and for Russia and for India and for all these other countries. I'm not, you know, but I'm just saying, they're just literally saying like, how could we ever believe anything that the United States say because they've been lying for like literally 50 years? They just lie again and again and again. But it's because, but whose philosophy is that? Is what we have to ask ourselves. By operating in these covert, subtle ways, we've just made ourselves complete liars. Look at the media today. It's just, most of the media is just complete lies. Like, literally the opposite of the truth. I remember a few years ago at one of the Red Hot preaching conferences when I was still living in Sacramento. This is why I think I would never talk to the media. Like, never. Because I remember there was a, one of the Red Hot preaching conferences and I still lived in Sacramento, it was found, the preaching conference is like four days long. And it was found out that there was an LA Times reporter attending the conference because she wanted to see what this church that had been in the news was all about. And I was like, you know, I'm this optimistic fool, apparently. I'm just like, because I mean, if you've ever been there, I mean, at Baratie, and you've ever been to these conferences, it's just like, there's like tons of kids and they're having all kinds of fun and tons of games and all this spiritual stuff going on and it's just like super fun. There's a lot of soul winning events going on. This lady, so they knew about this lady and they like paired her up, I won't mention any names, but they paired her up with like the nicest lady in the church to go soul winning with. And this lady went soul winning with this LA Times reporter. I think, I could be wrong, I think that lady got somebody saved when they went out soul winning. And I'm just like, there's no way she's going back and like writing something bad about this. I mean, you got this church and you got these pastors standing up preaching. And if you've ever been there, you see like when Pastor Anderson gets up to preach, a lot of times there's nowhere to sit. So all the kids like come around the pulpit and there's like 50 kids around the pulpit when Pastor Anderson is preaching and they're all just sitting there just listening to preaching from the Word of God for like an hour and a half. And you know, it's just like the coolest thing ever. You know, it's like 90 degrees in there and no one cares. You know, and it's just this super spiritual fun thing. Everybody's just the nicest people you'll ever meet. Like here's this stranger, a lot of people knew who she was, just super nice. She could have never been in a situation where people were nicer to her. And I'm like, she's gonna go back and like, you know, she'd be like, this is a great place and this was awesome and all this. And it was terrible. I went back and she wrote this article and just making fun of how people looked, making fun of how people dressed, making fun of even the kids. Making fun of like, it was terrible, it was crazy. Just wrote this wicked article that was literally like 180 degrees from truth. It's like, what's the point of reading the paper? What's the point of reading any news? What's the point of, I mean, what's the point of the media? They just lie and twist everything. Look, it's, I mean, I'm starting to think that the American media especially is not capable of telling the truth. You know, it's kind of like Gresham's Law, right? Let's say that that lady was good and she wanted to write the truth. The organizations themselves are so wicked at this point, they would never allow a truthful article to be published. You see what I'm saying? So Gresham's Law, you know, what is Gresham's Law? Gresham's Law is like a coin analogy. It's like a currency analogy. My grandpa used to, quarters before 1960 used to be made of 90% silver, quarters and dimes. So Gresham's Law says that, you know, the bad drives out the good. So what do you think happens when we start making quarters and dimes in 1962? We start making them out of tin and zinc and worthless metals. Well, pretty soon all the good silver coins come out of circulation because people just keep them. My grandpa used to always just like, he used to hit quarters. He used to hit quarters because he could tell if they were silver. He used to hit them up, keeping that one, and he would take it out of circulation. He would collect them, right? But Gresham's Law states that the good, that the bad, sorry, drives out the good. But look, it works for the media too because what kind of good report is gonna waste their time writing a bunch of truthful articles that just never get put in the paper, that just never get published on that site? So then what do you end up with after a few years of this type of wickedness? Just everyone's bad. The bad drove out all the good. I said the same thing about public school. Public school, you know, you think you're gonna get a Bible-believing saved Christian teacher in a public school? Probably not, why? Because the bad drove out the good, that's why. Because you have to teach evolution, you have to teach all this sick perversion, teach all this stuff, and no Christian's gonna do that. There's gonna be like, no, no, no, no, no, I'm out. So the bad drives out the good. I'm not even sure where I was going with this. But the point is this. Conspiracies, the conspiracies are, they operate when they are executed because they're of Satan, because that's how Satan operates. Satan operates through subtlety. God operates, and God's people operate through straight in-your-face truth. That's the difference. Look, that's Satan's game. That Satan's game is this conspiracy, this subtlety, this operating in the dark. Why? Because he doesn't have a better plan. These people that were after Paul, they couldn't go to the Roman, to the Roman soldier, or the chief captain, and say, hey, this guy's guilty of X, Y, and Z. They couldn't do that. They didn't have any truth on their side. So they needed a conspiracy, see? This is how Satan operates. Satan doesn't have any truth. He doesn't have any ideas. So he operates in the dark. He operates in lies. That's just a subtle lesson for ourselves. Turn to Luke chapter 12. Christians can fall into this kind of darkness, too. Turn to Luke chapter 12. Here's a lesson for us out of this. Always be above board in your life. You talk about, you know, look, kids need to learn this young. Young men, young women need to learn this young. Teenagers need to learn this. Always be above board in your life. Always be above board. Operate in the light. That's how you are supposed to operate. Look at Luke chapter 12 and look at verse number two. Because for us, look, for us, if you're safe tonight, I mean, I don't know. I mean, you're not getting away with anything. So operate, don't operate in the dark. Look what the Bible says. It says there's nothing, there's nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. What have we seen from all these conspiracies? God always shined the light on all of them. He always shined the light on these conspiracies. So you say, why? I mean, you ever think about this? Like, what is the devil's end game? You say, like, Satan. Like, look, Satan's a real being on this earth. That's where he's at right now. You know, Satan's a real being and he's operating on this earth. But here's the thing. Go to Matthew chapter 25. You ever ask yourself, what is he trying to do? What's his end game? He knows, what Revelation tells us, other places in the Bible tell us, he knows he loses. He knows he doesn't win. So, like, what's he doing? Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 25, verse 41. Revelation literally tells us great detail about exactly what happens to Satan. There's a lot of prophecy that's kind of like, oh, man, you've really got to cross-reference Daniel and some deep stuff in Revelation and, you know, Daniel 70th week and all these things. You really got to piece some things together there. I'm not saying it's not possible to do, but it's pretty easy to see, it's pretty spelled out what happens to Satan in the Bible. I mean, Revelation chapter 20 is pretty clear where he's put. But look at Matthew 25, verse 41. The Bible says, then shall he also say unto them, unto the left hand. In verse 33, he's talking about the sheep go on the right hand and the goats go on the left. He's comparing people that are gonna be with Jesus and people that are gonna be with Satan. Notice how there's not a pen in the middle. You're either a goat or a sheep. You say, well, I know some people that don't believe in Jesus, that they're not that bad of people. They seem nice, they're goats. Because you're either with me or you're against me, Jesus says. They're gonna be goats in this scenario. But look at Matthew chapter 25, verse 41. Then shall he say to them on the left hand, these are the goats, depart from me, ye cursed. Isn't that an interesting word there? Into what? Into everlasting fire. Talking about hell, the lake of fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. So all these people that followed Satan are gonna go to the place that was prepared for Satan. Look, that's what hell was all about. That's why hell was created. It was created, it was prepared. Why? For the devil and his angels. Satan was first created for Satan to be punished in. It just so happens that all the people that go with him are gonna be punished there too. But look, the whole point of hell was so Satan could be punished there. That's why I like these people that are like, ah! You seem to be, I'd rather be a ruler in hell than a servant in heaven. I'm like, you're an idiot. You're a moron, there's nobody ruling in hell. You know who rules hell? God! There's no, there's no porky pig with a fork or whatever he's holding in hell. Everyone in hell is screaming and tormented in hell. And God rules hell. God created hell, he rules hell, and he created hell for Satan and his angels. And there's nobody in hell that's gonna be like, I'm glad I'm here. I mean, you see, you see, these people are like, oh well, all my buddies are in hell, I'm gonna go to hell. Your buddies are screaming in pain for you to get saved. Every single person who's in hell believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. They believe him now, but they're in hell. They're in hell. They wish they trusted on him in their life. But you know, that knee will bow. That's what the Bible was saying, every knee will bow. Even the people that hate him, even the people that hate him. Because when they spend thousands of years in hell and then they're pulled out of hell, and they stand at the great white throne judgment before being thrown into the lake of fire, they're gonna be begging. They're gonna be begging on their knees to be let out of what they're not gonna be let out of. Because now, today is the day of salvation. Not once you're in hell. James chapter four. James chapter four. James chapter four, verse number four just kind of explains like there's no halfway, there's no in between. The Bible says in James chapter four, in verse number four it explains that there's only two sides. There's only two sides. Okay, we're talking about what's the point of Satan? Satan knows he loses, Satan knows he's gonna be in hell. What is he doing? Look at James chapter four, verse number four. It says he adulters and adulterous. Alters and adulterous. Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. There's your two sides right there. So that liberal church that looks like it's a lot of fun, has a false gospel, they're an enemy of God. They have a cross on the building though, enemy of God. Satan's gonna leave them alone. Satan doesn't have any problem with that church. You say, why, what's Satan's goal? What's the point? What's he doing here? Turn to first Peter chapter five and I'll tell you what he's doing here. And I'll tell you why it's always through a conspiracy. And I'll tell you why Satan operates with subtlety. I'm gonna tell you why right now. Look at first Peter chapter five and verse number eight. This is the difference between Satan and God right here. Look at first Peter chapter eight. You say, what's the point? You know, this guy's walking around. This Satan is walking around. He wants to be like God. He's never gonna be like God. That's why he got kicked out of heaven. He wanted to be like the most high. That's why you see, works-based salvation. It's literally Satan's religion. Saying, because what? I want to be like the most high is what Satan said. And he got kicked out of heaven for that. You know what works-based salvation is saying? I can get myself to heaven. Look, it's the philosophy of Satan. It's exactly the same thing. Look at first Peter chapter five verse number eight. What's Satan doing then? It says, be sober, be vigilant. Because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about doing what? Seeking whom he may devour. This is all Satan does. This is what he does. He only, look, he only destroys. Look, does God destroy sometimes? Yeah, he does. Does God judge sometimes? Here's the difference. First Peter chapter five and verse number eight. Write a little reference in your Bible, if you write in your Bible, to Amos chapter five. Amos chapter five. Look at Amos chapter five in verse number 15. This is the difference between Satan and God. Because here Satan just devours, it says in first Peter chapter five. But look, God judges too. God comes down and he's destroyed cities. He's destroyed nations. I mean, just read the Old Testament, God destroys. But the difference is this. Look at Amos chapter five in verse number 15. And really, you see, look, Satan only destroys. He only devours. Satan is operating strictly and only out of hatred. That's it. That is all he is doing. He hates God, he hates God's plan, he hates everything about it. He's operating strictly out of hatred. Now turn to Amos chapter five. Amos chapter five and verse 15. Now the liberal Christian would say, well, we need to operate strictly only out of love. And just love everything all the time. Hitler, I love you so and love you, buddy. No, look at Amos, let's read the Bible tonight. Look at Amos chapter five in verse number 15. This is the difference between Satan and God right here. Hate the evil and love the good. And establish judgment in thy gate. The Bible's saying here, have righteous judgment. Read the Bible so you can have righteous judgment. There's evil, hate that. There's good, love that. Satan's like, destroy it all. Burn it all down. Look, you know what? Satan only destroys. Do you know what that means? He destroys his own people. He destroys those that follow him. You see all these like Satan worshipers and all this? I'm like, I mean, I know you're gonna go to hell, but I mean, are you an idiot? I mean, he just, it's like, you see the occult and what happens? People just commit suicide and all these like, just people that get into all this witchcraft and all this and it just destroys their life. They kill themselves, they murder people. I mean, just all this terrible things happens to these people. These people end up ruined or devoured and destroyed is maybe a better word. His own people, why? Because he doesn't care. All he does is destroy. That's it. There's no, look, there's no possibility of victory. Being a Satan worshiper, you're like, I'm gonna be a Satan worshiper and be on the losing side of everything and only be destroyed. There's no glory. There's nothing. Satan destroys even the people that follow him. It's crazy. They follow him literally to their own destruction. You know, I get it. Think of the sons of Belial in the Bible. Show me a successful son of Belial in the Bible. They're being killed. God kills the sons of Eli. Judges 19, there's certain sons of Belial. It says, you know, beset the house round about. You know, and just said, like, beat at the door and speak to the master of the old man, saying, bring forth the man. These sons of Belial. What happened to them? They were destroyed. They were destroyed along with an entire tribe of the nation of Israel, save 600. The entire tribe of Benjamin was destroyed as well. See, that's what Satan wants. He wants the sons of Belial, the sons of Satan, his followers to not only be destroyed, but to destroy as many as they possibly can with them. This is, you know, Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed. It's just, he only destroys. Just being a son of Belial, we talked about a couple weeks ago, is a curse in itself. It's literally the wrath of God upon you on this earth. The point is, it's not like Satan takes care of his own, is what I'm trying to get at here. All will end up destroyed. So two points about Satan, and why he operates under these conspiracies, because he knows his fate. He knows his fate, and he is a destroyer. So he's trying to destroy as much as possible. And let me tell you something, he's doing a pretty good job. You think about the percentage of people that are saved, you think about the percentage of the sheep, and the percentage of the goats, he's doing a pretty good job. His goal is simply to destroy as much of God's plan as possible. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter two, 1 Timothy chapter two. Because God's plan is what? God's plan, look at 1 Timothy chapter two, and verse number four, God's plan, this tells us what God wants in this verse. Satan's trying to destroy it all, he's trying to burn it all down, including the people that follow him, and you know, this is what God wants. God says this in 1 Timothy chapter two, and verse, I mean, God is trying to save everybody. That's what God's trying to do. He is literally trying to save everybody. You thought, well, I thought the Bible teaches that some people can't be saved. Yeah, but God wants, it's not, God doesn't want people to turn on him. He doesn't want people to hate him. That's not what God's will was for their life, okay? But yeah, Satan won that battle with that individual that did that, that turned on God. But in 1 Timothy chapter two and verse number four, this is what God wants. It says, who will have all men to be saved? Meaning, by it says who will have, it means it's God's will that all men be saved. That's how you read that. It doesn't say he's gonna make all men, it says it's his will to have all men be saved, and what, and come to the knowledge, come unto the knowledge of the truth. God wants everyone to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he wants. I mean, that just destroys Calvinism right there. I mean, God wants, just because all men will not come to the knowledge of the truth, that's not what God wanted. That's what Satan wants. Satan wants to hide the truth. He wants to, what? Conceal the truth in darkness. And this is why we see men operating this way, because what are they trying to do? They're trying to conceal the truth in darkness. It's like conspiracies are, you know, they're bad. They're bad. If something's true, hey, let's just come out and let's just say the truth. That's how God operates. It's men operating under these conspiracies. They're literally working for Satan. They're doing things the way Satan does things. You think about your life. Think about the things in your life that are in darkness. You know, we all should reflect on this, you know, from time to time. Are there things in my life that are in darkness? Just on an individual level. Are there things in my life that are in darkness that if people knew about would be shameful to me and bad and all these things? You just need to get your life in the light. You need to be above board in your life, because look, all things are gonna be revealed. All things are gonna be revealed. But Satan operates under conspiracies because he has no ideas. You know, he's like the kid that goes into the playroom and all the kids are building block towers and he just goes over and kicks everybody's tower over. That's what he's doing. He doesn't have a better mousetrap. He's just kicking over everybody's blocks. He's just kicking over everybody's legos. But turn to First Thessalonians chapter five. First Thessalonians chapter five. I'll just read it for you. The Bible says ye are children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. None of this is for us, is what the Bible is saying. We should be above board. She's saying, you know, why all the conspiracies today? Just to end on this note, why all the conspiracies today? How many, you know, I always considered like, you know, I have a lot of friends and maybe some of you that are pretty good conspiracy theorists, and you know, the older I get, I think that probably more of the conspiracies are true and not less. Because the rulers of this world are operating the same way Satan operates. And they're subtle. And they're trying to get evil things done under, in the darkness. And that's why you see these conspiracies. That's why you see these big conspiracies on national scales, you know, from, you know, whatever to every war has conspiracies that started the war and kept the war going and all these different things where the people just literally had no idea what was going on. You know, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it because I don't think that there's anything that I can do where I'm at to know the truth. So like, it doesn't consume my life. But you know, I'm not an idiot either. So and it's fun to kind of discuss things as well. But just understand that these conspiracies, many of them are probably true. Because Satan is real. That's really what it comes down to. Satan is real and that's exactly how he operates. And look, you just see it, we just touched the surface. There's conspiracies all over the Bible. And they're all wicked people trying to just do wicked things is what they are. But God, look, you say what happened to these 40 men? The Bible doesn't tell us, but you know what? You know, if you're any good at pattern recognition, I'm sure it wasn't a good thing. I doubt they starved to death. I doubt that they kept their curse and were just like, no, we're gonna die now. But you know what, I bet you the Lord got them. Because that's the pattern that I see in the Bible with conspirators. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.