Psalm 83 Pt 6

0:01 All right for this hour, back to Psalm eighty three. We've been spending a lot of time on SAW eighty three, being keeping up with the podcast. I don't know how many hours of content I've already been with SAW eighty three. There we were what four hours just here, and then the last hour would make five hours, so put it all together, I don't even know how many hours total we spent on SAW eighty three, and the more. I don't even want to be in Saw eighty three anymore. But I feel like I have to bring this to some kind of conclusion, and I'm just as I stated in the first hour, I am just perplexed and confused at all the sermons I've listened to on SAW eighty three make no sense. The original Sermons series that sparked all of this, they, I think last night or yesterday they released Part twenty one. Ninety percent of it has nothing to do with SAW eighty three. I don't even know why they call it Saw eighty three. I don't know. It's just insane. It's crazy stuff.

0:56 Supposedly it's about a coming future Middle East war. When they get to part eleven or Part twelve, I think it's a Part eleven or Part twelve. They just magically changed the name to Saw eighty three, Part third thirteen, Saw Maty three, Part fourteen, when all the original ones were the Coming Middle East War, the Coming Middle East War, the Coming Middle East War. But I'm up to I think Part eleven, and they never talk about the coming Middle East War, So I don't know why they were calling it the coming It's the whole thing is bizarre. But I can handle bizarre to some level. What I can handle is all the things stated in that series and other sermons that are just absolutely false. They're just not true. There's just lies about things, and Saw eighty three about all kinds of things, and so that drives me crazy. But I feel like we have to work on Saw eighty three. We have done I think enough work that everyone here should know what Saw eighty three is about. So if you don't know, I'm just gonna state it quickly. Saw eighty three is a lament written by Asaf, who was the worship leader during the time of David and part of the time of Solomon. He is writing a lament that captures the emotions of the people of fear, of doubt, of concern, of worry because they are facing a confederacy of nations coming to wipe them off the face of the earth. It is describing a present situation at that time. It describes their emotions. It's not talking about some future war that that's not even happened in our lifetime. No, it's talking about what happened during the time of Asaf. He's just simply composed a lament to capture that emotion. If you

2:30 want a basic lesson from psal Maty three, it's very simple, it's very straightforward. Saw maighty three describes really the reality of all Christians, of anyone who believes in God. Because psal Maty three describes the life of people who believe in a God whom they cannot see, living in the midst of circumstances that they can see, and those very circumstances calls into question the very existence of that God whom you cannot see. That's the essence of the Psalm. Here's people who clearly believe in God. We can look at Psalm eighty three to one. They cry out to God, do they not? Yes?

3:14 But then they and they cannot see that God, and they want that God to be active to do something because they're in very difficult circumstances. It describes the circumstances. Those circumstances calls into question the very presence of God or the existence of God. That's the essence of the Christian life. Do we believe in God as Christians? Yes? Can we see God? No? Do we live in Do we live in the midst of circumstances that we can see? Yes? Do those circumstances on a frequent basis scream that there is no God or where is God? Absolutely? I could bring in a stack of news articles every Sunday, and by the end of every by just going through those news articles, we may question the existence of God. That's the struggle of the Christian life that Psaw eighty three. It's not I don't know why.

4:03 I don't know why. It's it's so complicated. I don't know why it's so difficult. I don't get it. It's that should be the end of the series. Right. So what I wanted to do today is because one of the criticisms that I receive frequently is because we all know that when I go to the Bible and we read a passage of scripture that I get very bothered when people take the scripture and do what where they kick out the original recipients and insert us, they assert us, are they insert the church or whatever the case may be. I get bothered by that because because in many cases you do great damage to the passage, or you tell people there's a promise to them that's not to them, that's not to them in no way, shape or formance not to them. Okay, so that drives me crazy. But I get criticized that, well, you don't think the Bible has anything to do with any of us, and that's not true. So what I want to do with Sau many three is we have already st published the basic concept. We're gonna take three sections, three parts of Psaw eighty three, and I'm going to try to demonstrate how we can possibly see ourselves in it without doing damage to the original text. All right, And those three parts are this and Psalm eighty three. Starting in verse two to five, the psawmis Asaf describes the attributes and actions of the enemies. Everybody see that, all right. I'm not gonna go back and read it again, but it's there. If you don't believe me, it's there, Okay, now. We spent an entire hour in the last hour making sure everyone knows

5:39 those attributes, all right, For those who are not here, I'm gonna rely on the people who were okay to tell me what those attributes were, because I want everyone to have them written down. The first attribute is what chaos. Chaos. Everybody see that chaos because it says that they make a tumult. I can't go through all the verses. They're just you're just gonna have to trust me. They're in two through five, or we're never gonna get anywhere. There's they. They are chaos. They they bring about chaos. They are chaotic, they make a tumult. They're loud, they're disorganizing. You don't even know what to expect. They're they're they're under they're they're just you don't even know what they're going to do. A right, there's chaos. Number two, they hate God. They hate God. Number three, they're arrogant, they're proud, they're defiant, they're rebellious. Next they are crafty, cunning, deceitful, manipulative, shrewd. Next, they are united together. They have come together for a purpose. Next, they have come together to destroy Israel. They want Israel wiped off the face of the earth. Next, they go against God's elect They go against what God treasures, They go against what God cares about. And those are the attributes.

7:05 So that we're gonna we're gonna look so I'm looking at the attributes and characteristics of the enemy that's described there. The second part we're gonna look at is he lists the enemies, and you can see that list starting what verse six to eight, they list the enemies by name, and all of those enemies when you look at those names, those are nations that have a long history of hating Israel and going against Israel. And many of those nations clearly are pagan and hate God. All right. So from a historical context they describe the enemies. They list the enemies. Good then and the Latin. The next part we're gonna look at is starting in verse nine, this is where they ask God to act in the present as he had in the past, all right. And we see that where immediately when he starts asking as you dealt with me, right all right. So what we're going to do is we're going to take those three parts and we're going to look to how we can fit in here, right. And my argument is this, when you look at those characteristics and those attributes of those enemies, clearly those attributes and characteristics go beyond just the enemies listed right there. And when you look at that list of enemies, those enemies have a specific name, but it reminds us of a list of enemies because we as Christians have a list of enemies that have those exact same attributes and characteristics. That's how we're going to make

8:39 this applicable to us. Okay, now, the third part they're the way they want God to deal with it is going to be that. I don't know if that's going to be applicable to us, but we are going to look at the enemies we face that have the exact same attributes. And I will argue if you look at this to I'll just go ahead and make kind of a on my argument here for my hypotheses. If you look at the list of those enemies, right, or if you look at the characteristics, if you look at the list and then immediately the first thing that he wants them to do, he wants God to deal with these current enemies like he dealt with Midian, all Right, well, he dealt with the Midianites and Judges six seven and eight. If you read Judge of six seven eight, God intervenes, he defeats the Midianites. You're like, okay, that's what we want. But immediately if you read all of Judges six seven and eight, you should go, well, wait a minute. If anyone knows that story, he may have defeated the Midianites, but it didn't really accomplish much because if you remember what Gideon did, the people wanted Gideon to rule, and he's like, well, I don't necessarily want you to rule, just give me some gold, give me some materials, and he made an ephod.

9:50 There was four idolatry. And not only that we read about Gideon. Gideon wasn't such a great guy. Now it had become an idolat He has a concubine, and he has multiple lives, so he's a polygamist, an adulterer, and an idolatry, meaning that even defeating the Midianites didn't defeat the real issue, because the real issue is not a list of physical enemies, but of spiritual enemies. Now, the minute we go there, then it can become very applicable to us is that denying that these are physical enemies? Now we're not denying it. We know that if we go read how these physical enemies are dealt with in the past, it did not you know why, they're obviously still now present and the present right for them. Right.

10:39 In other words, he wants God to deal with the Midianites the way he dealt with them in the past, But obviously the Midianites are still still present and not lay that even if you defeat the Midianites, the real issue isn't the Midianites. So I think we can historically and textually prove this. So that's what we're going to do, all right? Does that kind of defend my my hypothesis at least part? Now, as we go through this, we're gonna test my hypothesis, and at any point we can we can say no, we can, we can throw this out. So this is the first paragraph the way it is written. And I took this from a different source, all right. In the spiritual realm, Christians face various enemies that seek to undermine our relationship with God. Can we say amen to that?

11:22 All right? These spiritual enemies take different forms and present diverse challenges to believers. I think that we can say amen to that. There are a number of them. They they approach in different ways. These enemies, there's a number of them. They're together, but they they're kind of different, different attributes, correct, all right, So we're gonna look at our enemies, and this is the goal to see if I've got I think I've came up with ten. We're not gonna be able to get to ten, but we're gonna. I'm gonna go as many as we can. I want us to try to determine how our spiritual enemies if they have the exact same attributes and characteristics as the enemies and Saw eighty three. If they do, then we have a clear what lesson that can be derived from it without doing what any damage to the original Because those are the attributes of those enemies. Are they the attributes of our enemies? And we are enemies we're looking at are spiritual and even physical enemies. Is simply a manifestation of a spiritual battle. Because every Christian knowes it. Let's all quote it. We do not fight against flesh and blood. See who can find that verse first? Find it first?

12:46 Who can find it first? We do not fight against flesh and blood. Who can find it first? Because that this is going to be a key This is a key verse. This, this sets up our entire hypotheses. So we've got to find it. Ephesian six twelve. Read it directly, Okay, Fijian six twelve. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. That's the NIV says struggle as the King James puts it, We wrestle not against flesh and blood. What does it say, we strive not, we struggle not, we fight not against flesh and blood. Principalities, powers, darknessess, spiritual, spiritual, weight, and high places. Okay, clearly, immediately it identifies that our real issue is what spiritual? Does that deny the reality of physical enemies? No, But in saying that there's something behind it, now, this is always a difficult thing to maintain. But we as a Christian, look, we do acknowledge that right now. If you take now remember my original kind of thesis for SAW eighty three, what are the struggles? The Christian life can be described as this, people who believe in God, and believe in a God in whom we cannot see as

14:18 we live in the midst of circumstances that we can see that calls into question the existence of the God whom we cannot see. Oh, but there's another part that we can add to this. Are you ready? The Christian life are people who face enemies whom they can see, while we have to learn that the real enemy is the enemy whom we cannot see. Come on, somebody should be like, WHOA, that's some good. Saw eighty three right there, that's a good I'm going to applaud it. Okay. The first part is as Christians, we believe in a God whom we cannot see. As we live in the world where there are circumstances which we can see, which calls into the question in the existence of the God whom we cannot see.

15:07 At the same time, we live in a world where we can see our enemies, physical enemies, but we have to learn to realize that there is an enemy, an enemies which we cannot see, which we really need to focus on the enemies we cannot see, because that's where we're supposed to fight. There's some there's some deep spiritual truth in those two things. Now you can I like to throw them out, not all polished, right, I like to throw out the concepts because I want you to take those two concepts and you rewrite them until they're much more polished, because I like you to participate, like I try to give it to you can work on. Right, those are two concepts that like, that's like discipleship one oh one, stuff that you're never taught because you're almost taught. Well, you're gonna believe in God and God's just gonna be seen everywhere and you're no, You're gonna be at a world where you don't see God and you're gonna start questioning it. And you're gonna be in a world where you're gonna see all of your enemies and you're gonna be fighting this and this and this and this, and you're gonna completely miss the fact that the real enemy is the one whom you cannot see. That's that's some good stuff, all right. So with those concepts, let's look to our Let's look to enemy number one. And I'm not putting this in order of importance or significance. I'm just gonna go with the one. And the reason I went with this one first because this is the easiest one to connect to those attributes, right, Okay, At least this one. Okay, are you ready? Enemy number one? Not an order of importance, right, Just the first one we're gonna go with

16:40 is Satan. We're gonna go with Satan, all right. He is considered the primary adversary of Christians. Let's state it this way. Satan is the primary external adversary of the Christian Satan is the primary external adversary, right, because there's another primary adversary that's not external, that's even more deadly than the external one. But okay, well we'll get to that. We'll get to that later, all right, Okay. He is sometimes described as the prince of this world in the Bible. He seeks to deceive, tempt, and accuse believers in order to lead them away from God. Right, all right?

17:32 Are we ready to look at some of his characteristics? This is just a summary statement. You're ready. Satan is portrayed in the Bible as powerful, prideful, crafty who harbors intense hatred towards God and seeks to undermine his plans. Is that already not starting to sound like Psalm eighty three? He is a powerful, prideful, and crafty being who harbors intense hatred towards God and seeks to undermine his plan. He is described as warring against God's chosen people and desires to eliminate them. These are these characteristics are evident from a very a variety of passages in the Bible. Everything described there is almost the exact attributes that I've already laid down and saw maybe three. So when you see those attributes, you should immediately went, oh wow, I know it's describing those physical enemies, but I think this, this, this is like very I mean, the sawmist goes into great detail to describe those attributes.

18:33 He can have summarized it easy. Right, Hey, there's a group a group of people coming this way who hates you and hates us, but he goes very detailed. Why well, because those details are absolutely identical to what well our primary external enemy, which is Satan. All right, now, look, I don't want to get into it. Let me just make sure we realize the fact that Satan exist is one of the most philosophical dilemmas that I will never be able to wrap my mind around in as long as I've studied theology. It makes literally no sense. The existence of Satan makes absolutely no sense to me zero none. In fact, it can almost bring me to the point of rejecting Christianity and becoming an atheist. It makes literally no sense, right because who created him? That I don't understand. It makes no sense. In fact, you know where that philosophically, where that leads us, right, it's very different. Nobody wants to admit this, and I know I'm not supposed to say. Then you have to admit that Satan is somehow a part of God's plan, which is just as disturbing because you're just one step away. You have to almost acknowledge that our sin is a part of God's plan because God could get do what to eliminate our sin?

19:53 Well, he could just get rid of our sinful nature. Boom, get rid of our nature and we're good. He could get rid. He didn't have to create Satan, and he could eliminate our sinful nature, and then this would be what a sendless fat. So you can't say, well, God doesn't want you to sin. Well, in some ways, if he didn't want me to sin, he can eliminate them everything that causes. Okay, so that I know nobody everybody Christians will get mad and they'll bow up and oh no, and get all mad. You can get all mad, come back. Nobody can never offer me a good explanation. Did God create Satan? It was God all knowing this, God then therefore knew what he was going to do when Satan rebelled. What could he have done? Does he let him roam around? Did God create people knowing they were gonna sin?

20:45 Once they sin, he could have done? What even if he didn't want to destroy them, he could have eliminated the said nature? Right, I mean, that's not that's not me being like a smarter like. That's just me being able to acknowledge the reality in front of us. And when you look at that reality, then you start screaming out, Hey God, I can't see you, but I'm really having a hard time believing you're there because these circumstances make me think that there is no God. Okay, does that make sense? All right? So Satan is betrayed literally as these Let's look at just some of his some of the scriptures, and this is going to be the struggle. How many of the scriptures do we look at? How much of these do we read to try to get these basic attributes down.

21:29 Maybe we'll read more than others. But let's we'll go to one immediately, go to Isaiah chapter fourteen. We'll just read I'm gonna have to choose how many because we can literally spend the next couple of months looking at all the scriptures to support all of these attributes. All right, let's go to this one, all right, Isaiah fourteen twelve. I remember, there's lots of debate over these passages. Whether there's one in Isaiah, there's one in Ezekiel, do these apply to Satan. There's always debates and struggles with these. But Isaiah fourteen twelve says, how you are fallen from heaven, Oh Lucifer, son of the Morning, How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will send into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the congregation, on the further side of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

22:36 I will be like the most high God, are on the most high. Yet, and he says, yet you should be brought down right. The point is this describes the attributes and characters of Satan. Almost everyone believes this passage just referring to Satan. Some don't. We could get into a whole discussion about that, but that would immediately capture which attributes pride and a hatred for God. So he hates God, he wants to be exalted over God. He he is prideful, he is arrogant. And guess what all of that would produce? What when you have one being going against another being that's going against everything the creator wants, that's going to lead to some chaos and be chaotic and be a tumult Because now you're a spiritual war is under way.

23:21 And if you think about it, if a spiritual war is underway, we get caught in the miss miss of it. Now you some will argue, well, it's not really a spiritual war because God's already won the war. Well, if it's not a war, okay, Then it becomes like, well then why if there's not a war, when, then why is Satan still then God's allowing him to hold Than it becomes more convoluted and confusing, and you'll lose your mind if you think about it. But can we say Satan meets the basic criteria so far? Of this, I think I think we can say. I think I don't even think we need to look anything else up. He's full of pride, is he not? I know we could go to the Ezekiel passage, but then that we get into more issues. Does it apply to Satan or not? But okay, so I think we got pride, we got hatred for God, and we can see where chaos would arise from this. How about Genesis chapter three? What attribute do we have in Genesis chapter three? Oh? I think we can see him using what see being? Look at Genesis chapter three. Now the serpent was more subtle. Some translations say cunning. How does the NIV translate Genesis three one? Okay, no, crafty? Oh there's even the word crafty, all right, crafty, cunning, subtle, deceitful. I don't think

24:52 there's anyone any I don't Is there any reason to argue against that? I mean, he follows the exact same attributes, does he not? Look what happens in Revelation chapter twelve? Revelation chapter twelve. Revelation chapter twelve is one of those passages of scripture that, oh boy, you know, yeah, he's definitely seeking to destroy some things. Is it not. Let's just start in chapter twelve, verse one, right, we could? I mean, you talk about a passage that can spend years and nobody would ever agree on Romans Revelation Chapter twelve, verse one. Now, a great sign appeared in heaven a woman, and a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out and labor and in pain to give birth. And remember there's much debate on who the woman is. Right, Okay, what are the two basic arguments? Two basic theories? Mary are Israel. So I'm trying to make it the church, which becomes really weird. I don't know how you can make it the church. That's just people want to make everything the church, okay, right, because this is the church giving birth to Christ. The Church did not give birth to Christ unless you say the church goes all the way back to Israel. And that's a way to make Israel no longer Israel, but to make it the church. Okay, Well, we won't get into all of that. Right, And another sign appeared in heaven. Behold a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the

26:26 stars of heaven threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born. This is his hatred for what God would love or care for. Right, And I think that this child would be considered a sheltered one, or a treasured one, or a hidden one that we talk about. Right. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she was prepared by God that she should feed her one thousand, two hundred and sixty days and a war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great Dragon was cast out, this serpent of old, called the deceiver and Satan, who deceived the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voicing in Heaven.

27:26 Now salvation and strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, have been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the end. They did not love their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, oh Heaven, you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea. For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows his time is sure. This is war, This is battle. This is fighting against God, hating God, wanting to destroy what God would care for, and what God would choose where God would desire. All the attributes in psal Maty three are clearly seen in Satan. I mean, I think that we could the labor the point, but I think you get the idea right right. We could go to John ten ten. Now there's some debate here on John ten ten on exactly who this is referencing, but we will at least look at it and apply it. How some people do You can argue with it if you want to, John ten Ten, John ten ten, the thief does not come except to still kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and they might have it more abundantly that thief, that thief that comes to kill, still and destroy. Typically it's applied to Satan. It may not be actually Satan. There may actually be

28:56 the Pharisees and the Sadducees. It would be the false religious leaders, but the false religious leaders would be following the desires of Satan, not the mouse. So you still could have connect Satan to it. Does that make sense if you want to. We could get into a whole discussion about it, all right, Right now, I think we can agree that Satan clearly meets the requirements of Psalm eighty three almost to what, almost verbatim? Right, I mean, you look at that again, Psalm eighty three. Can we agree? So we have an enemy, just like Israel had an enemy, right, Well, they had enemies. We'll get to our enemies. But one of our first enemies, all right, we have multiple ones, but the first one, our first external one, our first significant external one, is Satan. And Satan meets all of those requirements, which then should do what for us? Well? What did it do for the people? In Psalm eighty three cry out to God, is should immediately make us realize what our dependency upon God, our need for God. Now at the same time, it's going to raise those questions, right because once again we believe in a God whom we cannot see, but we see circumstances which calls into question God. Well, at the same time we see our physical enemies, when our real enemy is an enemy whom we cannot see. But when we start considering the enemy whom we cannot see, it begins to call into question the

30:29 God whom we cannot see. So if we get past all of the things we can see, if we bring it down to our third point, where we're still where if we acknowledge that there are enemies whom we cannot see and there's a God whom we cannot see, the existence of the enemies we cannot see calls into question the God whom we cannot see. So as a Christian, whether it's what we see or it's what we don't see, it leads to the same struggle of questioning the God whom we don't see. That's the reality Satan should bo the existence of Satan should literally keep you up at night, It should bother you to no end. I don't understand it. I don't get it. You want to talk about quoting Psalm eighty three, verse one, where are you God? Like this makes absolutely no sense? Like it makes no sense none. Now. I know, as a young Christian, we just kind of accepted it, right, But when you start thinking about it philosophical, the thing falls apart. It just falls apart, Like I don't get it. It makes me just like I don't I just don't understand. So all we can do is we just have to do what except the reality. I don't understand the reality. I don't get it. I will never get it. I just look, I've struggled with it my whole Christian life, and I'm just as perplexed by it now after all the years of theological study as I was when I first came to the subject. First time I heard about it, it was like, I don't understand, and

32:00 I just don't understand why would God create him? So then I almost probably as a young Christian, probably kind of flirted with the idea, well maybe God didn't know right, well, because that's the only thing I can. But then I'm like, if God doesn't know, well then that's a pretty weak God. Well then you have to start questioning his power. The whole thing makes no sense. But I know this, that that enemy Satan, those very attributes, and I know this it should bother us, and I feel that in a way. I think, if we're honest, we come on, we don't. There's always two extremes in the Christian life, right, the one extremest people see Satan where everywhere and everything, the lights go off, and it's Satan, right, Satan Satan, Satan, Satan, Satan say, and we know that's not helpful and that's ridiculous, right.

32:57 But then there's the other extreme, which which is what we don't even really ignowledge that it exists. I mean, we don't live like we exist right, Like sometimes I say, like I think this will make sense. Since the beginning of the Russian envision into Ukraine, I don't have the current numbers in front of me, but a whole lot of people have died. People are dying every single day. As you've lived your life over it's almost been three years now, I think almost three years. I think I'd have to go back to the date, and that's a number, so I'll probably get it wrong. But it's been almost three years since that invasion has taken place Russia. That was going to be over a couple of weeks. It's still going on. Death, death, death, death. Let's be honest.

33:45 Is that even probably even interrupted five seconds of your day since it started? For most of us, I mean, I keep up with the news a lot, and I've got probably in podcasts that are just dedicated to the to the war in Ukraine, So I keep up with all the information, but it doesn't impact me too much, right, it doesn't impact me too much. But if we were in Ukraine, there would be having a profound impact on us every single day. Well, this is the weird part and a roundabout way. We as Christians, we come to church and hear about Satan and these spiritual enemies, but we kind of live our life like it's a war being fought somewhere else and we're not really that involved. Because we really believed we're in a spiritual war, probably every one of our lives would be different. Right if I'm really if there's a real war going on, I'm probably not worried about ninety percent of the things I'm worried about, but we don't see it right, So then we just kind of I don't know the balance, Like I went in, I want to be balanced, and I'm like, man, we are fight. We are fighting a spiritual war.

34:54 We are not to be entangled with the affairs of this life. We are to be focused on that. We should be fasting, pray, We shouldn't be worried about anything else. All lives should be scripture and prayer and war. But we don't do that. We may get all excited during maybe a one week long conference on spiritual warfare. I'm like, okay, and then that lasts for about what two weeks, and then we're just right back to our normal lives because we can't see it. In some ways, we do see it, but because we live in a world around things we can see, we tend to forget about the war we can't see, even though there's evidence around us that it exists. So there is Satan. Can we all agree he meets the requirements of an enemy in SAW eighty three as far as those attributes, okay, So then what would be second on my list?

35:51 If we have Satan, what would be second on my list of enemies? Well, those enemies and Saw eighty three they do something specific, they conspire together. So that immediately led me to my second one. If we have Satan, what would be then my second one? Demons? Does he not work with demons? Okay? So right, because I remember Saw maybe three they conspire together. So I had to be like, well, who does Satan conspire together with? Right, Well, he has an entire army of demons, and I think they kind of meet the same attributes, do they not? If we say, if we define demons basically something along like this, evil spirits that work under the influence of Satan to disrupt and harm believers.

36:38 Is that a fair assessment? Right? Evil spirits that work to under the influence of Satan to disrupt and harm believers. They can manifest in various ways. And then well we could get into, you know, some of the basic idea. There's usually three ideas that Satan possibly or demons are possibly involved in. Okay, and these what are these three ways which demons sometimes are known to operate? All right? Well, many we know in the scriptures. The main one that we see a lot in the Gospels is possession Satan demons possessing individuals. Now, I've always been perplexed and confused by this one. What is the most perplexing and confusing things about demon possession? What is the most perplexing thing about it? I have Okay, do what?

37:37 Yeah, y'all don't ask these questions like I do. I guess okay, because when I read my Bible, I just spend the whole time going, this is this is the most made up stuff I've ever read in my entire life. Okay, because I'm just telling you, I just like, I just have one question when I read about demon possession, and it should be pretty I think, I don't know how anybody else can read their Bible, and I go, this makes absolutely no sense. Why doesn't he possess everyone? If Satan can possess people, then possess everyone and then lead all of those people to kill themself and then it's over. Nobody else has ever thought that. Okay, so obviously there's some reason he can't, right, But that just seemed like, if he can possess some why doesn't he possess all?

38:24 And then it would be everyone would be under the control of saying because on one hand, it would seem to make sense since by nature we're all children of the devil, then why doesn't he then possess all of his children? That is the most conflicting, confusing, convoluted thing I've ever written in my life. Bobby's answer is at least decent. Obviously he can't. Okay, right, but well, I mean, I guess I can thank God that he doesn't possess this. But I mean, at the same time, I got to thank God that I was born a child of the devil by nature. I mean, that wasn't as Kate would say, I didn't ask to be born. Okay, has to be born. So why would I be born already a child and the devil? That seems kind of like the game is rigged. Okay, Well if for those who are who are the elect, right, okay, yeah, but if you're not the elect Okay, you see there these are all disturbing questions. But when it comes to demons, we can everone agree. The Bible speaks a possession. We can all agree with that. Typically, Now there's not agreement on this within christiandom Okay, if you don't know this, right, Okay. The famous the pastor in Tennessee Greg Locke. Right, Okay, he used to be all Trump, Trump, politics, politics, politics, politics, and rather crazy things during COVID. Okay, he came out with a movie on it.

39:52 Everything else. His belief is that the number one issue facing Christians today and the problem with the church, to the issue with the Church today is that Christians are possessed by demons and they need to be delivered so that they can live the Christian life. The reason Christianity is so worldly and so weak, and they are defeated under temptation, and the reason the Church is so pathetic is because Christians are possessed by demons, so they need a deliverer to deliver them from the demons so they can live the Christian life. Right now, on one hand, I can understand what leads to that because you look at the church and like, the church is an absolute joke. I mean like I mean, I mean, I've been taught to it. I mean everyone has to acknowledge this right now. To me, I think there's a morphological answer. But if you look, this has always been the case. Why did MacArthur so so go strong with the lordship? I did because they looked at the church, and he was like, the church is an absolute joke.

40:50 I can't get anybody to read the Bible. I can't get anybody to study the Bible. You can't even get people to show up the church. What is the point? It's a mess? So what was MacArthur's conclusion, They're not saved? All right? Well somebody else comes like, well, I don't want to say they're not saved. They have a demon that will expact. Everyone always tries to come up with an answer. Now to me, what is the real answer Why the church is always weak, pathetic and doesn't do it even half the things it claims it loves. It is made up of depraved sinners who cannot keep the law. That's why we are and because we are saved by an imputed righteousness. If we were saved by an infused righteousness, the church would probably look different. But since we're saved by an imputed righteousness, it doesn't change you. It just declares you to be something you're not. Do you realize how we are so set up? Wait, I'm declared to be something i'm not, which by definition will make me a hypocrite something I'm not. Someone's gonna accuse you of being what hypocrite?

42:07 Well you're you claim to be this, Well, I am righteous and holy, but you're not. I know. That's the way godness. That's why we are saying by an imputed righteousness. Now what blows my mind is all the Christians who reject the imputed righteousness, like you will do this, you will do that, or you're not. Just get out of my face, Okay, you just go away, all right. You think you're so godly, give me five minutes with your life and I can demonstrate that you're just as much a hypocrite, maybe not in the same ways. But is that hypocrisy everywhere? Yes? All right, But you can see why people would want to try to come with the possession idea, right because, I mean does the church at times? I mean, every statistic comes out. Christians are not reading their bibles, Christians will not study their Bible, Christians will not go to church. I mean, church attendance is dropping. There's so many just closing their doors right now. It's not even funny. You can't get churches to engage. You can't get Christians to engage in anything. They just do what they want to do, and they don't care. Churches fight, argue, divide, they can't agree on anything. It's a mess.

43:10 It's an absolute mess. And everyone throws up their hands like what are we going to do? So I can see why someone said, well, maybe the problem is possession. But for the most part, most Christians throughout history is said, a Christian cannot be possessed because we are already possessed. The Holy Spirit took possession of us, and so where the Holy Spirit is, Satan cannot move in. Right, So that's typically the case. Right, So there's possession. What's the other things supposedly Satan or demons can do? Like I said, Satan, but demons, right, we have possession, And then many refer to it as oppression, right, that he can oppress.

43:51 And the typically the philological understanding is that demons they cannot possess a Christian, but they can oppress a Christian. And the idea of a press means to do what let's see I did to a press, do what to push down, to interfere, to hold back, to be a negative influence upon So what A lot of Christs and a lot of times Christians who struggle greatly with maybe a specific which is so weird. Again. Christianity makes no sense to me because you always have those Christians who are like, oh, I'm struggling with this sin and this sin and this sin, and they actually care. Well, other Christians act like that they don't struggle with any sin.

44:35 Well, anyone who's five seconds honest with scripture. Everyone should be constantly bothered because we live in a perpetual state of sin. I know when I say that, people lose their mind on me, but no one's yet to prove me wrong. Because all I have to do is I remember getting into an argument with someone I do not live perpetual sin, and I'm like, well, do you love God with all your heart, mind, body and soul. We I mean, are you holy as He is holy? You are in perpetual sin. And nobody wants to admit that, and it weird. But some people will be bothered, so they'll start thinking maybe it's a demon of pressing me. I went to our brother Mike at First Baptist Church Tuscola, walked into his office because I was a Christian. And now I've told that. You know, I've got the Holy Spirit and I got power and I can do this and I can do this, and I can do this.

45:28 But I also was a teenager, right, and so I was struggling with some sins and I didn't understand it. So I went and I thought, well, maybe I'm oppressed by a demon. They didn't really entertain my my thought, but I was like, well, well why not. I mean, everybody, why can't it be that? Right? But then it's just like, you gotta do better, you gotta read your Bible more, if you come to church more, you pray more. It's always the same things, right, do this, do this. It's always a list of dues, right, just we always remember when someone is broken and ruggling with sin, don't give them a list of dues. Give them a map to the one who did Christ did it for you find everyone thinks that that's making an excuse for sin. No, that's the only thing you can do, because you can try. You need an accountability partner. You need to do this, You need to do this, You need to do this, you need to do this, you need to do this. Well, all of those things have been available for since the creation of man, and it hasn't stopped sin yet, right, I mean, we all know what's gone down, and what is Dallas for worth? Where Robert Morris is right, that whole horrible thing. Who was the spiritual advisor for Trump? And well there was you know, he got in trouble for some kind of sexual misconduct.

46:46 Come to find out it was with a minor twelve years of age. The whole ministry is now an implosion. Then doctor Tony Evans had to step down. We don't know what the sin was. Okay, something happened been there, like I mean, just Christian post every day it's like this, this this thing and be like, what is wrong? Well, now it's just because it's more prevalent. You can see it, right, because now people can make it an accusation. It can go anywhere quickly. Before the internet be very difficult to get the So now we know it. But the point is sin is everywhere now. So a lot of times we want to say it's demonic oppression, right, oppression For a Christian it would be oppression.

47:29 Right. So there's possession, there's oppression. What is a third thing sometimes demons are seeing that they can do and this one gets really complicated. Possession, oppression, and temptation. Now this one make it very complicated if demons can walk around and tempt you, well, then that's very difficult. How am I going to deal with that? Right now? I don't know. I don't know how much temptation we blame on demons. I don't know how much we blame on it because I have a different philological answer. But okay, so those are the three things. So the ideas and saw many three. You have enemies that conspire together, while we have spiritually is we have Satan who conspires and works with demons who possibly do those three things, possess, oppress, or tempt right, those are at least those at least three things. Can we agree with that all? Right? Now? If we kind of go through this, I think we can agree that. In Christian theology, Satan is believed to have been a high ranking angel who rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven along with rebellious angels who became demons.

48:39 These demons follow Satan's authority and work in accordance with his will. So there is the confederacy, there is the conspiring, they work together. We don't have any record of where the demon tells Satan. No, I'm not going to do that. We have no where there's a fight between Satan and the demon. We have no record of that. Correct, They seem to be in perfect harmony. Which does that not sound like Psaw eighty three? I think we can, can we? So? Therefore, since they follow Satan, I've got a lot of other things written down here, but I think we can say. I think we can go with some basic idea then that guess what those demons would Then? What other attributes would they carry? Would they be prideful and arrogant? Yes? Would they hate God? Yes?

49:27 Would they hate what God loves? Yes? Would they hate God's chosen ones? Yes? So I got more scripture, But I think that's that's a fair way to put it out right. So our two enemies, we have Satan, we have demons. They conspire together to do exactly what the enemies described in Psalm eighty three wants to do. They want to destroy. In fact, you could argue they have an animosity towards Israel itself. Correct, I think that would be fair. I think there's a demonic hatred towards Israel, just as there's a demonic hatred for Christians because we are now adopted children of God. Right, Okay, now we have, Oh we got I'm just gonna try to get a couple more minutes and we'll try to do one more. What would be a third enemy? Now, this one, I'm gonna I made it separate. I'm debating myself if I should have just referred to this, but I think this, I think this one will make sense a right. So the first two are what kind of enemies? Those are external? They're spiritual, of course, and they are external. They are external. Satan and demons are outside of us. They are external, but they have some influence upon us and are fighting against us. Now, there's all kinds of debate sometimes, and Christians do such weird double speak. Right, So I was listening to I was watching all the webcasts on the sermon's two point o app right, and I was just going from webcast to webcast to webcasts. So two web there were like third webcasts going on, but

51:00 there was two of them. I just chose two of them. One of them was called what Satan Saw at Job's House, and the other one I think was maybe something on sanctification. I can't remember what I think it was about sanctification. So I was just kind of going back and forth, click on one and click on the other. Click on the one, click on the other, go back and forth. Well, the one about what Satan saw at Job's house, the emphasis was God has placed a hedge around all believers, and Satan can not get through that hedge. God is our rut, he's our defender, he's our shield, he is our fortress. Satan cannot get to us. I was like, whoa, hey, man, that's good news, right. I click on the other one. Satan is attacking you every single day. He is coming after you. He is doing this. He's playing with your mind, he's playing with your mother. And so then I was like, this is a good example of biblical Christianity.

51:59 In twenty twenty four, two messages on the exact same platform, who all agree to the exact same statement of faith. I don't even know what you do with that, right, So, but we can't agree that Satan. No, we don't agree with al Millenny of us who believe he's already been chained, right, because that makes no sense. Right, So we believe he's roaming about seeking whom he devour, and he works with demons, and that they carry the attributes and actions described in psamty three. Can does that seem like we can at least agree with that? All right? So the third one I put down, let's put down sin. Sin is clearly an enemy, right because sin goes against everything that we're supposed to do. Right, Okay, So I'm just gonna throw some things out here, right.

52:58 Sin is the underlying cause of our separation between humans and God. And sin. I wrote this down a couple of different ways, but I think simply sin is what any lack of conformity to God's holiness. Right. Sin can manifest itself in thought, word, deed, desire, and feelings, right, and it's present all the time. But sin clearly is an enemy because it directly causes me to be in direct opposition to God. Right. So if we kind of think of the nature of sin, I know, define it's easier to define Satan and demons as an enemy, but we can see how sin clearly is an enemy, is it not? All right? So let's just think of some things. I think we can agree that sin brings chaos and disorder, right, And in fact, chaos and disorder is often describes as the consequence of sin leading to confusion, turmoil, and instability.

53:54 Sin causes that. I think we can agree with that. Right. It brings, It brings disturbance, It brings instability, It brings chaos into your life, in my life, because we constantly know the consequences of sin, right, we faced them all the time. It's never good, right, Sin by its very nature hates God, does it not? Sin is betrayed as a rebellion against God's authority and rejection of his will. Those who engage in sinful behavior or scene is turning away from God's love and choosing to go against his commandments. So it's a hatred for God. Sin by its very nature is what deceptive, cunning, crafty is. It deceives, it manipulates.

54:43 Can we agree that sin is all of those things? All right? Sin, by its very nature, it hates what God treasures. It hates what God chooses, does it not? Sin doesn't want anything to do with God. It goes against everything. It hates everything. It wants to get rid of of anything that's godly. All right? Now, I can find scripture to promote a lot of this, right. I just for example, Romans eighty seven. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. Does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Well, that's the sinful mind, right, James four to four, You adulterous people. Don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Well, when you're a friend with the world, that's sin crafty. We could go all through the deceitfulness of sin Hebrews three thirteen, But exhort one another every day as long as it is called that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is deceitful, right, sin is crafty?

55:47 Can we agree that sin meets all of those requirements? All right? Now, we're out of time, so let's go through this all right. Saw Maybe three gives us the attributes and characteristics of the enemies Israel. Those attributes can clearly be applied to our spiritual enemies. They fit the description, those attributes and characteristics fit the description of Satan, or Satan fits that description of those attributes and characteristics of demons and of sin itself. As believers, we face those three enemies what daily, every single day, and those realities of those three things coming at us every single day, because every single day we're in sin we sin in some way, shape or form. We don't know what demons or Satan is doing because Satan is not omnipresent, but demons are around. We can't perceive that. But all of those things are working against us, which then should lead us, if we're even remotely honest with that reality, or if we'll take the time to acknowledge that reality which we cannot see, should lead us to do what saw Maybe three to one meant to God, God, what am I supposed to do? Because in reality, what can I do against that? Like? And it's so weird that Christians will acknowledge those three things but at the same time try to act like that Christians should never sin. Well, how are we going to stand against any

57:17 of that? Considering not only do we have those are all well, sin in a sense is kind of internal and external, but the other two are external, just those things themselves. Hope. What's our hope? Well, the way the Church puts it is the hope is that you're gonna stop doing it. But we know we're not gonna stop doing it, because the only way you can say I'm gonna stop doing it is you would have to believe that I could be perfect. Can any of us be perfect? No? So that means we're always going to be victims in a sense to those three things. Correct. So then what is my hope is in Christ, his imputed righteousness, because in his imputed presciousness. Listen to this carefully. Does Satan destroy imputed righteousness? Can Satan take away imputed righteousness? Can demons destroy or take away imputed righteousness? Oh? Now, this one's God. I'm gonna get myself in bad trouble? Does sin take away imputed righteousness? Does sin call into question imputed righteousness? Oh? It does that. It can't call into question imputed riciouness. Okay, now from the outside world maybe, but not from a thiological perspective. And I know that makes people nervous.

58:34 Right when I say sin does not call into question imputed righteousness, everyone loses their minds. But it's imputed. Imputed has nothing to do with how much I sin or don't sin. It's imputed. If it was infused, then there would be a battle against sin. Imputed does not battle sin. Does everyone understand that imputed righteousness does not battle sin. It does not limit sin, It does not lessen sin. It just comes along and says Bobby is righteous even though he is a dirty, rotten sinner. Oh man, that makes me. It's so weird that now that the evangelical world now will go lose their minds over that because they want to go back to Catholicism. We're not Catholics. If we're Catholics, we would believe that Bobby received an infused righteousness. So Bobby better be different. He was infused with the righteousness of God right, and he works together with that infused righteousness, with the sacraments and with the Church so that he can defeat sin. No. I know, Catholics then don't do any better than Evangelicals. Nobody does any good, which seems to indicate to me there's something wrong with so many theology. But with an imputed righteousness, it doesn't. Sin doesn't do anything to it.

59:58 I know, I'll be I'm gonna get anym I'm gonna be a you're giving a license to sin. I didn't say anything about you should. I'm not saying anything that you've been a license to. What I've been saying is is that that sin does not do what cannot touch imputed righteousness. It doesn't call it and the accuser has to be quiet because I am covered in the righteousness of Christ. For every accusation Bobby brings towards me, for every accusation Satan brings towards me, what is my answer to that accusation? Imputed righteousness. So if if somebody goes to another church somewhere else and they come to me with their little lordship test and go here, here, use their lordship, Are you really saved? I'll be like, well, thank you for your test, and I'll hand it to Jesus, and then Jesus can go tell the person back off, and I'll be no. MacArthur said, well, MacArthur can argue with Jesus because Jesus is greater than MacArthur. And for all the test, Jesus passed, and I'm in him, so I pass the test. Now, if you want to talk about practically, you have every right to say, well, practically you are a piece of trash, You are a dumpster fire, And I'll be like, you don't even know the half of it. Am I justifying it? No? Am I excusing it?

1:01:22 Should I stop it all? Yes? But whatever I stop today, I will never be able to stop all of it because I will never love God with all my heartlind, body and soul. I will never love my neighbor as myself, and I will never be holy as He is holy until glorification, where then the old is gone and I am made like him. And obviously if I could be that now, then we wouldn't need glorification, all right? Does that make sense? So do we have these enemies? Yes? Do they meet the exact attributes Psalm eighty three, Yes? Do Should it lead to us a lament to God? Yes? But our lament should be only by your grace and mercy. Do I have any hope?

1:02:10 Because if you go after even if just say, even if God eliminated Satan, even if God eliminated demons, I would still be defeated. And that's what we're gonna see in Psau eighty three, because they want God to get rid of their external enemies, just like he did for Gideon. And then Gideon turned around and demonstrated still a sinner. All the external enemies could be removed and we would still be sinners. So the real thing we need is then that now. In psau Mati three, of course, you can see why they're not really focused on the spiritual the time they're worried about the physical enemy. And I can understand that, But that goes back to our two major points. Right. Christianity is people who believe and the God whom they cannot see, living in circumstances that they can see. That calls into question the existence of that God whom they cannot see. And as Christians, we see we live a life surrounded by enemies we can see. So many times we forget the enemies which we cannot see. But this is the most important thing, whether it's circumstances or whether it's enemies, our only hope is in an imputed righteousness which we cannot see. We don't see imputed righteousness. Does everybody hear that you do not see imputed righteousness. I can't look to Bobby

1:03:43 or Sarah or anybody can go imputed. I can't see it. How do I know they have it? Bobby? What is your only hope in life and death? If he says Jesus Christ is my only hope his death for me, well then I know then he has imputed righteousness. And then I am to then see I can't see it. But I am to treat Bobby as a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away, and all things have become new in His position, even though I cannot see it. In this a weird idea showing up a lot here of what we see and what we cannot see. We live a life where what we see calls into question and what we cannot see, and in some ways, the same thing happens with our imputed righteousness. I can question my imputed righteousness based off what I see, but I have to trust in what I cannot see, just like I have to trust in a God whom I cannot see, even though what I can see calls into question. And when I focus on the enemies which I can see, I've got to be very careful because I'm really forgetting the enemy which I cannot see, which is where I really need to focus.

1:04:42 Oh there's a lot right there. Okay, all right, there we go. Let's stop right through this prayer. Lore got we come before you this afternoon. Lord. There's a lot here about enemies and about our perception of what we see and can't see. Lord. A lot of this is just ideas, is that we've thrown out. I hope that everyone here will give these serious thoughts and contemplation, and that this will benefit all of us. When we ask this in Jesus, name it, Gos people said,