Sermon
The Greatest Harassment By The Greatest Hinderer In The World
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Amen. Let's turn again in our Bibles,
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this time to 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, and we're going to
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read from verse 13 to the end, First Thessalonians chapter 2,
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verse 13, right through to verse 20.
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The words will come up on screen for those online.
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The words of course of our reading are from the Authorised
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Version or properly the King James Bible.
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Let's hear God's word First Thessalonians chapter 2 verse
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13. For this cause also thank we God
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without ceasing, because when you received the word of God,
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which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of
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men, but as it isn't truth, the word of God which effectually
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worketh also in you that believe.
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For ye brethren became followers of the churches of God, which in
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Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like
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things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews,
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who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have
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persecuted us. And they please not God, and are
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contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles,
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that they might be saved to fill up their sins all way.
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For the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.
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But we, brethren, been taken from you for a short time in
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presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly
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to see your face with great desire, Wherefore we would have
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come unto you, even I Paul once and again.
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But Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or
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crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
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of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
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For ye are our glory and joy. Amen.
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We know the Lord is stamped with his own approval and blessing,
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this reading of his own precious and infallible Word.
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Amen. Now this morning we're going to
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continue with our series of expository sermons in the book
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of First Thessalonians, and my text today is taken from First
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Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 17 and 18.
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Let's read them together. First Thessalonians, chapter 2,
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verse 17. But we, brethren, being taken
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from you for a short time in presence, not in heart,
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endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great
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desire. Wherefore we would have come
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unto you, even I Paul, once and again.
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But Satan hindered us. Notice the words.
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But Satan hindered us. And there you have, I believe,
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the greatest harassment from the greatest hinderer in the world.
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Let's remember the context how the Gospel came to Thessalonica.
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When the apostle Paul entered the city, he went to the Jew
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first for three Sabbath days. That's Jewish Sabbath, Friday
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night to Saturday night. He met with them in the
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synagogue, and there he preached Christ and the gospel of saving
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graves unto them. And if you turn to Acts chapter
Acts 17 chapter mention
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17, and you'll read there in the verses one and two of the
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message that Paul preached at that time, it says, and Paul
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first two, as his manner was within unto them.
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And three Sabbath days reasoned with the mouth of the Scriptures
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opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and
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risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach
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unto you is Christ. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
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lay at the heart of God's great plan of salvation.
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He is God's anointed prophet, priest, and king.
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As a result of this preaching, many of the Jews got saved.
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It says there in Acts chapter 17 and in the verse 4.
Acts 17 chapter mention
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And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas,
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and of the devout Jews a great multitude, and of the chief
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woman, not a few. However, as this always happens,
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not only were people saved, but many were stirred up and became
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angry and mad with Paul, it says in verse 5.
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But the Jews, which believed not, notice what they did.
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They were moved with envy. They got together, a bunch of
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men of the baser sort and set the whole city an uproar.
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And their mindset was that Paul had to die.
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You see, this was a livid and lethal mob who were bent on
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Paul's death and destruction. So as a result, the brethren and
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sisters, no doubt at Fest and I, get sent Paul away by night to
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the town of Berea. I believe these believers were
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loathed to send Paul away, but they did so to help him.
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They did so to preserve his life.
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And after he left, this is what happened.
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Then the devil used men to spread some wicked lies about
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Paul. Here was the first lie he fled
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to see of his own skin. He is more interested in self
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than new seals. More than that, he was the
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second lie. He has no intention of coming
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back. He he said he would come back,
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but he has no intention of coming back.
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We are sorry that you get carried away with this fellow.
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You get carried away with a smooth words, but really he, he
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couldn't care less for you. And now you're suffering public
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ridicule. Now you're being persecuted
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because you believe the things that he taught you.
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Listen to us. Here's the third lie.
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He doesn't care about you. Now in light of these lies, in
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light of these false allegations, Paul, after Timothy
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had returned with the good news of the Thessalonians, faith and
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love and Christ. Paul explains in part of his
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letter that he dealt with these lies and false allegations.
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Look at verse 17. But we brethren, been taken from
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you for a short time in presence, not in heart,
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endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great
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desire. He's telling them, My intention
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was only to be taken from you for a short time.
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Look, I endeavoured to see your face.
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I made repeated attempts to return to you in Fest and Anka
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because I greatly desired to see you face to face.
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But this is what happened. Notice the words.
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But Satan hindered us. Literally.
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The devil instigated all of this.
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He instigated the uproar that forced Paul to withdraw from
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Thessalonians. He was behind the lie that Paul
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fled to save his own skin. He was behind the lie that Paul
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had no interest or intention in returning.
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He spread the lie that Paul didn't care for these people.
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Now you understand why Paul wrote these words.
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But Satan hindered us. Let's think for a few minutes of
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the greatest harassment of the greatest hinderer in the world.
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Think of the identity of the greatest hinderer in the world.
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If you underline the word Satan, understand.
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This morning we'll ask the question, Who's the greatest
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adversary of God's people? Who's the greatest accuser of
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the brethren with lies and falsehood?
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Who's behind every lie? Who's behind every accusation?
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Who's behind every falsehood? Well, there's one being that
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stands head and shoulders above them all.
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And it's not a man, it's not a woman, it's not a politician,
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it's not a king or a Prince. It's one being.
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And his name is Satan. But Satan hindered us, young
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people. Satan is a real spiritual being.
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Young people, there's a real personal devil.
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Young people, there's an invisible, malignant, powerful,
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unmerciful being who is the real enemy of your soul, the real
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enemy of God in the world, the real enemy of Jesus Christ, and
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the real, a real enemy of every aspect of the work of God and
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the work of Greece. Let me illustrate how you sit
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and predict it. Today he's presented as a
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cartoon character, a man in a red suit with a fork horns.
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He's presented to us as some sort of ludicrous monster.
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Now he is a monster but, but he's presented as a ludicrous
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monster. But I want to tell you he's not
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a ludicrous he's a real dangerous monster.
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He's a real powerful enemy. Satan is a real spiritual being.
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Do you know that Satan was created by God?
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Ezekiel, chapter 28, Isaiah 14. I haven't time to turn to that
Ezekiel 28 chapter mention
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this morning. Did you know that Satan rebelled
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against God in eternity past being full of pride?
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He led 1/3 of the angels in heaven in that rebellion and God
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cast them out of heaven. You could read that Isaiah 28
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Ezekiel or Ezekiel 28 Isaiah chapter 14.
Isaiah 14 chapter mention
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He's a very powerful being. Now, he's not God's equal, He's
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not almighty, He's not all powerful, but he is very
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powerful. He is seductive.
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He is very subtle and he's very dangerous.
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And in fact, we read there in the book of Matthew, in Matthew
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chapter 25 verse 41, these words depart from me.
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You curse it into everlasting fire.
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Notice these words prepared for the devil and his angels.
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God prepared hell for the devil and the fallen angels.
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Now what's the devil like? Well, we read there in the
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Gospel of John in John chapter 8 and in the verse 44.
John 8 chapter mention
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The Lord Jesus said this, Speaking of Satan.
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Listen to these words, John 8 and 44.
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Ye are of your father the devil and the lust of your father.
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Ye will do. He was a murderer from the
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beginning. See, you've got to remember the
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murder of Abel by Key and his brother, who was the instigator
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behind that murder. And abode not in the truth,
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because there's no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
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speaketh of his own, for he's a liar and the father of it.
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Read over here in first John chapter 5 and in the verse 19
1 John 5 chapter mention
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first John 5 and 19 and we know that we are of God and the whole
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world lieth in wickedness. The the idea is of lying in the
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lap of the wicked. 1 and over in first Peter and chapter 5 and
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verse 8 we read be super vigilant because your adversary
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the devil is a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom you
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may devour. You think of a roaring lion and
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a roaring lion stalking the streets for food, seeking to
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devour. And that's a picture of the
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devil and one other reference in Revelation chapter 12 and in the
Revelation 12 chapter mention
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verse 9 we read, and the great dragon was cast out, that old
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serpent called the devil in Satan, which deceiveth the whole
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world. He was cast out into the earth,
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and his angels were cast out with him.
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Now there's 13 different names for Satan in the Bible.
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This is one of them, Satan. And every one of those names
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reveal a very specific aspect of his character.
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Notice we've read here who's a murderer from the beginning.
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We've read in John 844 that he was the father of lies, and the
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devil is very good at spreading lies.
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He's very good at sowing seeds of doubt and sowing seeds of
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confusion. And he'll charge God and his
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people with being unfair and unreasonable.
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And at times he'll appear in the world as a roaring lion, and
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other times he'll come as a subtle serpent.
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And other times he'll come as he's doing today as an Angel of
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light. And he's different guises.
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And of course he uses guile and subtlety.
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One of the things I can say about the devil is this, that
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Satan hates God. He hates truth and
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righteousness. He hates the person and work of
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the Lord Jesus with every favour of his being.
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He's consumed with that hatred in his pride.
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He's full of hatred now, even hatred for carried off FPC and
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every other true Reformed Church.
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He's full of hatred 24/7. Young people, there's no let up.
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Young people, there's no mercy shown young people, there's no
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quarter given. He does everything that he can
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to hinder the work of God. And that activity has been going
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on since the Garden of Eden. It's going on now.
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It's going on day and night. If we can only grasp this,
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here's the number one arch enemy of God.
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He's an actual evil being. He's behind all the evil in the
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world. He is holy evil WHOLLY.
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He is completely evil and deprived.
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He's powerful, yes. He is seductive, yes, but he's
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also dangerous, very dangerous. He's called the God of this
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world. We've already read in first John
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5 and 19 that the whole world lies in the lap of wickedness.
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And the idea behind that is of a of a child in the arms of its
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mother. And the whole world lies in the
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lap of the wicked one, the world of unconverted souls.
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And one of the things that the devil does is he he wages a war
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against the Lord and his people. The devil, as I've said, hates
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God. The devil opposes the triune
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God. He opposes the part of the work
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of Christ. He opposes the preaching of the
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gospel. He opposes the preacher of the
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word of God in the pulpit and on the street corner.
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He opposes the people of God. Brothers and sisters, let's
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learn something this morning. We are in a spiritual war.
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There's a spiritual battle going on and this battle began when
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man fell into sin and the state of sin and mystery.
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It began in heaven. The devil or Satan is a real
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being, and the devil is the adversary of every true born
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again Christian, the adversary of every church, the adversary
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of every preacher and evangelist, youth worker, Sunday
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school teacher, the adversary of every St and is your adversary
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today the identity of the great accuser of the people of God.
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Secondly, and very quickly, I want you to think of the
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strategy of the greatest hinder in the world.
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If you come to our text that says, but Satan hindered us,
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look at that word hindered. It's very important that you
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understand this. In the Greek New Testament, the
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idea is the word hindered means to break up the road.
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Now you, you think of an advancing army, it's coming to
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attack the enemy position and the enemy breaks up the road to
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make it difficult to advance to, to stop a smooth progress.
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Think of Modern Warfare. They they bomb the road to slow
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down the advance of the attacking troops.
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They'll bomb bridges and key strategic points.
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Think of a road that's full of holes, big holes and small holes
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making it impossible for smooth progress.
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Big holes that would break the wheels of a chariot in the 1st
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century. Big holes that would break the
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spring of a car in in today's modern era.
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That's the picture of the word hindered to break up the road,
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to make it difficult to advance. There's another picture here in
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the word hindered and you think of a race.
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Think of somebody running hard. He's got a tie in the finish
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line and someone just cuts in, someone elbows them out of the
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way, and that cut in as so severe that you're elbowed off
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course. That's the picture, and that's
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what the devil does, Paul says. I was coming to see you in
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Thessalonica. Unfortunately, the devil put
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roadblocks in the road. Unfortunately, the devil cut in
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and elbowed me out to stop me coming to see you.
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And I tried repeatedly. I made several attempts, but
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each time I tried, the roadblocks were there.
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Each time I tried, I was being elbowed off course.
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Yes, I know God is sovereign. Yes, I know the Lord allowed the
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devil to do it for his own purpose.
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But the real culprit behind my hindering and coming to see you
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face to face is Satan. I want you to notice something.
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If you read Acts 17 very carefully, think of the Jews of
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Paul's day. They didn't dismiss or reject
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Paul's sermon about Christ and preaching the gospel on
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theological grounds. They they didn't pick up the Old
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Testament Scriptures and say, now hold on Paul, you're
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preaching out of the Scriptures. You've taken that out of context
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or this is not right or that's not right.
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No, they didn't respond theologically.
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They didn't respond doctrinally. How did they respond?
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They accused Paul on political grounds.
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You're turning the world upside down.
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They accused Paul using a political argument.
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You have another king. You you reject Caesar.
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You bow the need of Jesus Christ.
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And you see what followed using that political argument was
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physical persecution. And I want you to see that
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that's how they hindered him. They cited and used physical
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persecution. There was a riot in
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Thessalonica. Read Acts 17 and don't we see
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that today? Very same argument used against
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the Bible believing church. Same argument used against Bible
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believing preachers. Preachers today who preach in
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the streets, especially in England, are accused of hate
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crimes. They're accused of hitting the
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LGBTQ plus community. They're accused of teaching
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things that don't fit in with the modern world.
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Because we're anti evolutionist. Because we're anti abortionist.
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Why? Because the Bible teaches that.
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
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Because the Bible teaches that thou shall not murder.
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And we and we condemn the murder of the innocent and condemn the
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murder of the unborn. We point out that God hates the
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hands that shed innocent blood. And yet we're told, oh, but you
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don't fit in with the modern world.
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And what do they do? They resort to lies, hate crime.
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They, they, they resort to function charges.
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And when that's not enough, then they resort to violence, even
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murder. You, you think of the context
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here that the murder of dear Charlie Kirk, why was Shirley
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Kirk murdered? They didn't come with
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theological debate. They they didn't come with a
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doctrinal reasoning. They didn't come with the
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Scriptures in hand and say Charlie, but the Bible says no.
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They they couldn't answer him. So they came with what?
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They came with physical violence.
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They came with murder in their mind and in their heart because
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they couldn't debate Charlie Kirk, because they had no
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answer. So they resorted what to to
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murder him. And that's exactly what the
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world does. And that's exactly 1 of the
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tactics of the devil. And of course, we know that at
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this time there was a period of intense persecution against the
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Christian Church, and the whole import was to wipe it out and
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destroy the church all together before it really got off the
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ground. And that's one of the devil's
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subtle movements. He's behind it.
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Remember what we read in Acts 16 and in the verse sorry at
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Matthew 16 and the verse 18, we have the Lord Jesus on his
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promise. And he says this in Matthew
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chapter 16 verse 18, a tremendous promise.
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He says, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I'll build my
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church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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In Ephesians 6 and 12, we're told, for we wrestle not against
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flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
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against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
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spiritual wickedness in high places.
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And we see this more and more happening in the UK.
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And the Christian Church is vulnerable to this.
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And this persecution will continue to grow and be pursued.
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And we need to be prepared to withstand that.
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Here's Paul. And he's urged to flee from his
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life because his life was in danger.
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And if they could, they would have murdered Paul.
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Let me just point out very quickly, the devil uses doubt.
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Hath God said the Garden of Eden?
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There's a battle going on in the mind.
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There's a battle going on for the Bible today.
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Doubt about God, doubt about the blood atonement, doubt about the
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scriptures of truth, doubt about heaven, doubt about hell, doubt
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about who Christ is, who, who's behind all this doubt?
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What would? The answer is?
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The devil himself. And you know that one time when
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Campbell Morgan, I think, was about 19 years of age, he was
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reading books by Charles Darwin, Thomas Huckley, Herbert Spencer,
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all to do with evolution, all to do with a different world view
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than what he had. And he doubted the Bible.
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He doubted God. He doubted Christ.
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He doubted the plan of salvation.
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You know what he did? He locked those books along with
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his own Bible in a cupboard, turned the key.
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He says he could hear the click. And he went to the bookshop and
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he bought himself a new Bible. And for quite a number of months
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he locked himself away with his Bible and all he had, he had no
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books, no commentaries. He he didn't read anything else
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but the Bible. And he became absolutely
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convinced of the veracity and truth of the Holy Scriptures.
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And he says in 1883, the Bible found me.
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And he continued with that mindset right up to 1938 until
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he died. You see, the devil uses doubt.
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He doubted. He got that young preacher of
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doubt about the the, the truthfulness of what the Bible
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was teaching. The devil uses discord and how
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often he can sow siege of discord among the brethren.
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The devil uses deception. Think of Luke chapter 8 and
Luke 8 chapter mention
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verse 12. Remember the parable of the
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sore, the seed that fell on the Stony ground.
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Remember the fowls of the air came and took away the seed.
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And the Lord Jesus used that as an illustration.
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And this is what he says in Luke chapter 8 and verse 12 those by
Luke 8 chapter mention
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the wayside are they that hear then cometh the devil and take
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of the way the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe
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and be saved. You see, every time there's a
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gospel mission, you're trying to get people out under the sound
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of the gospel. You're trying to get them into
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the meeting and they're they're they're not interested.
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They haven't got any intention of coming.
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Why? Because there's an interference
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going on. And when they hear the word of
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God preached to them and they're told about their sin and their
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need of a saviour, then immediately there's fearance in
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their mind. The devil comes and takes it
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away from them. Why?
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Because he doesn't want them to be saved.
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He doesn't want them to believe. And that's what I mean, he uses
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deception. People don't know what's going
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on, that they're not fully aware of what is taking place in their
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heart and mind. They're not conscious that the
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devil is the back of this. The devil also uses destruction
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and already mentioned that the devil felt threatened here by
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Paul and his ministry. He acted as he desired.
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He resorted to a destructive tactic that let's murder Paul,
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let's take Paul out of the road. And of course, he forgot that
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Matthew chapter 16 verse 18 undergirds the work of God.
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And there is a real work for God going on around the world today.
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And the devil is seeking not only to sow doubt, to not work
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and sow discord and bring about distraction, but the devil is
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using a destructive tactic when he feels threatened.
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And he felt threatened by Paul, then he adopted the destructive
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tactic. Here's the man of God, and he
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was a threat to Satan, and every praying man of God is a threat
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to Satan, and every preaching man of God who's preaching
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Christ in the gospel is a threat to Satan.
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And every man who practises true religion to the glory of God is
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a threat to Satan. Paul and sailors were a threat
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to the devil's Kingdom, so their lives were threatened by the
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devil. And sadly, although Paul's life
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at this time was spared, some lives have been taken and were
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taken. We're conscious of that today.
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See, the devil fears a praying St.
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He fears A preaching ministry. The devil fears A practising
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Christian. The devil rejects a life of
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fear, the love and joy in the Holy Ghost.
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Remember it was said of the sons of Sceva Jesus.
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I know Paul. I know who are you?
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She's the devil, you Paul and the devil felt threatened by
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Paul and the devil moved to destroy him, not by doubt and
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discord and deception, but by destruction.
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A perilous Christians no threat to the devil preaching a false
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Christ and another gospel. There's no threat to the devil.
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The devil smiles at that and I'm practising Christian.
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Well, it's what it is, a non practising Christian.
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It's absolutely no threat to the devil, but a life of faithful
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service, a life of joy and peace in the Holy Ghost is a real
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threat to the devil. Could I also suggest that the
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devil uses distraction? Remember Peter, one of Christ's
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disciples? He's full of good intentions.
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The Saviour spoke about going to the cross to die.
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What did Peter say? Not so, Lord, that's not going
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to happen. We're not going to allow that to
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happen. And what did the Lord Jesus say
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to Peter? Read it there in Matthew chapter
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16, verses 20 and following. Get thee behind me, Satan, for
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thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things
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that be of man. See, Peter was not conscious, I
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believe, of Satan at work in his life.
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He was not conscious that he was a tool in the hand of the devil,
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but he was. The devil used Judas to destroy
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Christ due to a love of money. The devil influenced Judas.
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He entered into Judas and the devil was allowed to attack Paul
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physically. Remember the thorn in the flesh,
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the impairment of the eyes, a messenger of Satan to buffet
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him, and the devil used it to attack him to hurt Paul.
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God doesn't love you, Paul. God doesn't care for you.
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Why would he allow you to be like this?
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He was all a lie but but that was the devil's tactic.
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He was using distraction. He was using this means to get
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Paul away from focusing on God's tasks for him.
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He prayed about it. Remember 3 times and God says my
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grace is sufficient for you. Paul was the most useful bald
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headed man with a defective speech, with poor eyesight, and
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yet that was the very man that God used, one of the most
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prominent men in the New Testament beside the Lord Jesus
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Christ. 17 chapters in the book of Acts are given to Paul. 14
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letters in the New Testament are from this man's pen according to
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the mind of God. I'll tell you one other thing,
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the devil uses disruption. He tries to disrupt the
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Christian Church in his work. His aim is to shut down
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Christian fellowship. His aim is to distrust, disrupt
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the life and witness of the church.
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He'll get Christians to fall out.
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He he'd cause a misunderstanding.
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He'd spread a falsehood. He he'll use pride, he'll use
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jealousy. He'll use envy.
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He'll use a wrong word. He'll use a wrong look.
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See, it doesn't take much to wreck a church.
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Sure. It doesn't doesn't take much to
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destroy a work takes takes a lot to build it up, but it doesn't
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take much to wreck a work. And see the devil is at work in
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these things. And the devil hates the gospel,
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hates the church, hates the preacher, the people of God.
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He hates church fellowship. He hates Sunday worship, he
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hates faithful Christian service.
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So we need to be on our guard and that's why we need to be in
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our place in the Lord's Day, and that's why we need to be filled
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with a love for the Saints as well as a love for the Saviour.
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Make sure that the devil doesn't use us as one of his tools to
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sow doubt, discord, or to sow distraction or sow distortion or
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certainly to be destructive in any one way.
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That's the strategy of the devil very quickly.
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And with this, we'll finish this morning.
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Think of the victory over the greatest hinderer in the world,
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Paul says if we look back at her text.
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But Satan hindered us. How was that possible?
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How could he elbow Paul out of the road?
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How could he set up roadblocks from Paul entering into the
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Church of Thessalonica? Surely Paul was the Lord's
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servant. Well, you see, I have to say
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this. I believe the Lord allowed it.
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I believe the Lord permitted it. I believe the Lord is sovereign
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and the Lord overruled. The Lord had a double purpose
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here. He allowed Satan to do what he
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did, but he had a greater purpose.
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Satan only did what he did under God.
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We think of the move of Satan against Job and what God allowed
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him to do against Job and he was allowed to inflict them with
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boils and ill health, but he wasn't allowed to take his life.
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You see, under God, when Paul was absent from a face to face
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fellowship with the Church of Theft and Anka, whenever we
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Timothy come back with a faithful report of how the
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Saints were getting on, they were full of faith and full of
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love and full of joy in the Holy Ghost.
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What did God lead Paul to do? Wrote 2 letters to the church.
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First Thessalonians. Second Thessalonians.
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Oh, Paul's ministry was over his, his voice was long since
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silent. And yet we have what Paul wrote
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and he wrote it to the Church of Thessalonica.
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The Thessalonians received this word in the 1st letter and also
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in the second letter. You see, they've got the written
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word or they hadn't got the man of God face to face.
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The man of God's voice was silent, but they had something
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better, something more wonderful.
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They had the written word. He does love us.
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He does care for us, He does feel for us.
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Look, He's written us a message and He's explained it all to us,
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how he couldn't come face to face because Satan hindered him.
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But the Lord is sovereign. The Lord has overruled.
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If you turn in closing to turn to this passage in Second Peter
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and we'll look at this here as we finish in Second Peter
2 Peter 1 chapter mention
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chapter 1. Here's Peter and it says verse
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19. We have also a more sure word of
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prophecy. Where unto you do well, that you
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take heed is unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
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the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.
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You see, this was Peter and he's saying to those to whom he was
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writing verse 16. We haven't followed Conley
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devised fables whom we made known unto you the power and
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coming of our Lord Jesus. He says, but we were
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eyewitnesses of His Majesty. Look at verse 17, For he
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received from God the Father honour and glory, when there
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came such a voice unto him from the excellent mind, the
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excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom
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I'm well pleased. He says in verse 18.
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And this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were
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with him in the holy mind, He's saying, look, listen to us, the
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mount of Transfiguration, we were there, we saw the power and
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glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses of His
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Majesty, but we're not depending on that as an eyewitness.
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We're not just presenting that to you.
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We have something more. We also have a more sure word of
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prophecy. For unto you do well heed.
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And of course, what is referenced here is the written
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word of God. Paul didn't leave them fables or
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myths. Are we stories?
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Paul, led by the Holy Ghost, penned these two letters to this
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church. They did only visit it for about
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3 weeks or maybe 4. Paul hadn't forgotten them.
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The devil was a liar, Paul. It was a lie to say couldn't
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care less because in the end the people got the eternal abiding
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word of God. The people were left with a more
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sure word than even from the lips of Paul himself, words that
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came inspired by God. And that's the victory of the
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greatest hinderer in the world. It is written in the Word of
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God. I trust and pray this morning
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that what I've shared will be helpful.
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And I pray that we'll get a glimpse of the great hinderer in
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the world. Remember his identity, remember
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his strategy, and let's remember how we can be victorious over
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him today.