The New Heaven and New Earth

Let's get started. Like I said, we're not going

to get as far as I planned or as we need to this

evening, but that's okay. If the Lord tarries,

we've got plenty of time to talk about the spiritual

warfare going on all around us, angels and demons

and whatnot. And so just to kind of recap, what

we're doing is we're saying that we want to get

in the right mindset to be able to understand

Revelation chapter 12. And so we are talking

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

about the unseen realm. this reality that there

exists in our world, an entire world that's just

beyond our eyes, an entire world that we're often

not aware of, that there's really this unseen

realm all around us that consists of angels and

demons and spiritual forces, and they are actually

at work in our world today. And I was saying

it's important for Christians to realize this

because oftentimes we're just like the world.

We're materialists. We only believe in what we

see and not what we can't see. and that's to

our detriment because it makes us ignorant to

this ongoing war all around us. It makes us unaware

of the spiritual darkness that exists all around

us today, and last week we kind of did the what

I like to call the 30 ,000 foot overview of angels.

We certainly didn't exhaust that topic, and we

can dive in more to that at another time, but

But this evening I wanted to start touching on

Satan and demons and kind of doing another 30

,000 foot overview of Satan and demons and then

the plan for next week is to get more personal

with demons and talk about demon possession and

demon oppression and what that looks like in

our world today because it still exists. But

when you look at the Bible, the Bible is going

to tell us in Revelation chapter 12 as well as

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

other places that Satan was an angel and he led

an army of angels in rebellion against God. And

then God and Michael the archangel and all the

other angels who didn't rebel, they fought against

this rebellious angelic army and they defeated

them and Satan and his angels were cast down

to earth. So you're wondering where Satan is

today, and you're wondering where demons are

today, it's here. They're in our world. I think

we maybe kind of think there's just a few demons,

but there's a lot. There are a whole lot of demons

in our world today. We read about this also in

Jude chapter 1 verse 6. The Bible says, and the

Jude 1:6

angels who did not stay within their own position

of authority, but left their proper dwelling,

he is kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness

until the judgment of the great day. Now we look

at that and it's another example of how angels

who rebelled were cast down and fallen angels

are just called demons, right? They're synonymous.

They were angels, they're fallen now, and now

they're demons. And here's what we know, not

all angels are the same, right? There are different

classifications of angels. You know, people will

add more or less depending on their view. We

know archangel, cherubim, seraphim, angels, principalities,

rulers, thrones, dominions, regular angels, whatever

that looks like. But there's all sorts of names

and classifications for angels in the Bible,

which raises a pretty good question. If Satan

was an angel, what kind of angel was he? Anybody

know? Possibly. Yeah, so the Bible doesn't ever

explicitly say Satan was this type of angel There

is a passage in Ezekiel 28 that many believe

is about Satan that There's debate whether or

not it's actually about Satan but needless to

say there is a passage in Ezekiel 28 that many

believe is about Satan and it says he was a cherub

so he's possibly a cherub although his name is

never explicitly mentioned in that chapter and

so you would have to draw inferences and things

like that but there's another possibility and

it's possible if he wasn't a cherub it's possible

that he was a seraphim potentially some people

say he was an archangel but the bible only ever

mentions one archangel michael Many will say

that Gabriel is an archangel as well. The Bible

never explicitly says that, but they'll say he's

the only other angel who has a name given to

him in scripture, therefore he must be an archangel

like Michael. But the Bible only ever explicitly

says Michael is an archangel, archangel. But

the seraphim, here's what's interesting about

them. Anybody know what a seraphim looks like?

Okay, so in Hebrew seraphim the the word seraphim

it just means the fiery ones and this is the

description we get of them in Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 6:2

6 verse 2 Above him being God stood the seraphim

each had six wings with two He covered his face

and with two he covered his feet and with two

He flew and the word seraphim not only means

fiery ones, but it's connected to the word serpent

snake and so when you're reading this in Hebrew

it reads the fiery snakes and so you read about

this description in in the Bible of what these

angels look like and they are described as a

serpentine creature that has wings and they are

fiery in the sense that at least their bite is

fiery and potentially have fire coming out of

their mouth. That's how they're described. Now

this brings up another interesting passage because

the word seraphim is not often used in scripture.

It's very rarely used and it's only ever used

of angelic beings in heaven. But there is another

passage in scripture where the word is used but

our English translations decided to translate

it differently. You might remember this story

of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness.

and they're complaining about God and you brought

us out here to die what did we do to deserve

this we wish we could go back to Egypt we had

it so much blah blah blah blah right so what

does God do he sends some serpents who bite them

and their bite is said to burn right and the

Bible says in Numbers 21 6 then the Lord sent

fiery serpents among the people and they bit

the people so that many people of Israel died

Now, here's what's interesting. You can see from

the screen the English translations, and let

me know if yours says something different, but

almost all English translations say, then the

Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. I

don't know why they did that though, because

it's the exact Hebrew word, seraphim. In Isaiah

6, they just translate it or transliterate it,

they just put it into English, seraphim. It's

right here and it's the only time in scripture

where it's used of what would lead us to believe

not angelic beings. However, if you just read

this in Hebrew, you believe there's no difference.

And I don't believe there is. So when we picture

this scene, here's what's really cool, right?

When we picture this scene from how we've heard

it all our lives, we like to imagine a bunch

of snakes slithering around on the ground, which

is horrifying. I will grant you that. That is

horrifying. I would not want to be there. I'd

be calling Gene McKinney so quickly, Pop, come

get these snakes. But we like to imagine them

slithering on the ground and then they bite people

and the bite just kind of burned, right? But

what if it was even more terrifying than that?

Because the Bible literally says, then the Lord

sent the seraphim. I think it makes more sense,

especially when you're reading this in Hebrew,

to see that God sent forth angels from heaven

to come and discipline the Israelites. And those

angels from heaven just happened to look like

serpentine creatures that had wings and could

either breathe fire or had a fiery bite. That's

much more terrifying, is it not? than a bunch

of snakes slithering around on the ground. They

look like dragons, right? Can y 'all see that?

How would you describe a dragon? A dragon looks

like a serpentine creature that has wings and

can breathe fire and potentially has legs like

the seraphim because they stood before God. That

is a hornet. Y 'all just ignore it. It'll probably

not sting you. This is my sermon illustration.

So it's a winged creature and it will burn. So

anyways, no, so the the seraphim they kind of

look like what we think of as dragons a serpentine

type creature with wings that either breeds fire

or has a fiery bite which is interesting because

You know, I was talking with Joseph about this

and and you know, you could say people might

think we're crazy but I Personally believe that

the dragons that we have heard about throughout

history are not really mythological creatures

at all I actually do believe that they are probably

fallen seraphim that are terrorizing the earth

much like they did the Israelites here except

these are the good seraphim not the fallen ones

and one interesting point on that is to note

that almost every civilization at least many

many civilizations throughout history have dragon

stories and you're like okay well everybody does

but but here's the thing they didn't have contact

with each other so Let's put it another way.

Almost no culture has vampire stories, right?

That is pretty much Transylvania. Everybody on

board, right? So if you think of vampires, what

do you think? You think Transylvania, Dracula,

right? That's unique to their culture. That didn't

originate in every other culture. Not every culture

has a Loch Ness monster, right? That's unique

to Scotland. But almost every culture has dragon

stories throughout their history. with no contact

with one another to spread something like a dragon

mythology. And so it seems more likely that these

people had an actual encounter with something

that they didn't really know how to describe

other than it was a serpentine type creature

that had wings and breathed fire and was terrorizing

people. That sounds like a fallen angel to me.

That sounds like a seraphim a demon who is rebelled

against God So I just want you to see that that

is possible And I've got to move on now because

Anna's gonna get on to me for even mentioning

dragons tonight But I told her I was gonna do

it anyways, so Back to Satan. Okay. I want you

to think about this. Here's what's interesting

is throughout the Bible What is the most common

phrase used for Satan or common word used to

describe Satan apart from the name Satan? The

dragon or another one? No, not that one. Never

that one. The serpent. Yeah. So this is interesting,

right? He is, throughout scripture, referred

to as the serpent. And the Bible makes it abundantly

clear that the serpent, that Satan was the serpent

in the garden. right you know this so revelation

Revelation 12:9

chapter 12 verse 9 it says and the great dragon

so look the bible says there were dragons i'm

not crazy y 'all think i'm crazy the bible says

it so the great dragon was thrown down that ancient

serpent who was called the devil and satan the

deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down

to the earth and his angels were thrown down

with him so here you have a description of satan

and he is referred to as a dragon and a serpent

and we know that he was an angel at one point

and the only angelic being that is described

as either a dragon or a serpent is a seraphim

but we go on 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse

3 Paul says but I'm afraid that as the serpent

deceived Eve by his cunning your thoughts will

be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion

to Christ so there again he's referred to as

the serpent and then 2nd Corinthians 11 14 and

no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as

an angel. light and so you have this idea that

fallen angels we like to picture the devil with

horns and he's red and he has that you know forked

tail and whatever and demons are these nasty

ugly creatures but the Bible says most of the

time they're disguising themselves as angels

of light as something that's beautiful and appealing

because they will set themselves up as a counterfeit

to Christ so that they can get worship for themselves

So here's what you do. Think about the Genesis

story, Genesis chapter 3. We're in the garden

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

of Eden and then you see that there's this serpent

that comes on scene. And what's interesting is

the Bible says now the serpent was more crafty

or shrewd than any other creature of the field

that the Lord God created, right? Why does it

say the serpent? Why not a serpent? It's a specific

one. That's right. That's what the definite article

is there for. It's a specific serpent, one that

was known, and then here's the other thing about

this story. The serpent can talk. How many other

of God's creatures have the ability to speak?

None that we read about I mean parrots can kind

of mimic you today, but but in the the narrative

of scripture There are no speaking animals and

yet here's one and so from the very get -go when

you're reading this story It becomes clear that

this serpent is is more than a serpent, right?

It's not your ordinary snake that God just created

all these snakes And here's one that had the

ability to talk and maybe all the other ones

did as well This one is unique and it's saying

the serpent because it's a particular one. It

has the ability to talk so it's not just just

a regular snake. And then here's what gets me

about this account, right? Is that people, atheists,

have you noticed that they use this account to

mock Christians all the time? there's a famous

comedian Ricky Gervais who actually has a whole

stand -up bit about this where he's mocking the

Bible and he says you know when he gets to the

part where God's dishing out punishment the snakes

like oh what's my punishment God and God says

well you're gonna slither around on your belly

for the rest of your days and the snakes like

oh no okay well if you insist it's like how's

that a punishment if snakes were always like

slithering on the ground how is it a punishment

for him to have to slither on the ground for

it seems like it's not a punishment right you

get what i'm saying here and so i've had people

mock me atheists where they're like how can you

believe this thing you have a talking snake and

its punishment is to continue doing what it's

always done but this account makes a lot more

sense if satan here is a seraphim Seraphim have

the ability to talk, as we saw from Isaiah 6.

They go around the throne of God saying, holy,

holy, holy. So they have the ability to talk.

They're serpentine creatures with wings that

can either breathe fire or have a fiery bite.

Let me ask you something. If you are a creature

of the air, what's the worst thing that can happen

to you? To be brought low, right? To slither

around on your belly. If you're used to soaring

the heavens, the worst and most humiliating thing

that can possibly happen to you is to be forced

down to the ground forever. And so it makes a

lot of sense if in the Genesis account, the reason

this is a punishment is because God clipped his

wings there. He was taken from the sky and not

able to fly around like the rest of the Seraphim

anymore. He would be forced to slither around

on his belly for the rest of his days if you

still don't believe me on this or you're not

convinced that's okay but let me remind you of

another phrase that's used of satan in the bible

in ephesians chapter 2 it says that he is the

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

prince of the power of the air the air the prince

of the power of the air He was in the air, had

a whole host of angelic beings who accompanied

him in his rebellion, and ultimately God defeated

them and cast them down to the earth. And so

we go on though, and you see that Satan, although

he is on the ground, he's slithering around as

a seraphim who's had his wings clipped, he does

still have the ability to possess people. We

read about this in Luke 22 in verse 3. The Bible

says, then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot,

or called Iscariot, who was of the number of

the twelve. And so that's terrifying. We don't

read often that Satan is possessing people, but

he intentionally, out of all people on earth,

chose Judas to possess. And so here's the thing

about this today, is that Satan doesn't have

to look like a seraphim that's had his wings

clipped today. He could look like anyone in this

room. He could possess anyone he wants at any

time. He's not omnipresent, so he'd have to go

to them, but we can rest assured that he's most

likely possessing someone today seeking to lead

people astray and away from Christ. We see that

Paul tells us that demons often disguise themselves

as angels of light. And like I said earlier,

one of the reasons they do this is because they

want to get worship for themselves. They want

to present themselves as God. They want to be

a counterfeit to the original. And we're going

to see that all throughout the book of Revelation.

Satan and the beast, they constantly set themselves

up as a counterfeit to Christ and even try to

do the same miracles as Christ so that people

will come and believe that they are Christ. They

want to lead people astray. And so here's what

I want to propose to you as well as we're thinking

about demons on earth today is that many of the

false gods and idols of all these other religions,

they don't necessarily have to be false in the

way that we think about them. So for instance,

think about ancient Egypt and all the gods they

had. Think about ancient Rome and all the gods

they had. Rather than thinking that all of their

gods were imaginary gods, it's possible that

the gods they worshiped were fallen angels who

had set themselves up as an angel of light and

seek to lead people astray and get worship for

themselves. And I actually think that there is

some biblical warrant to this. And you actually

get this in the book of Exodus, right? So think

back to the book of Exodus. At the beginning

of the book, we're about to start the 10 plagues.

Anybody remember what the first plague was? Gene

McKinney. We are going to get to that, but the

first plague upon Egypt was turning the Nile

into blood. Now here's what's interesting, right?

The Egyptians believed in a river god, a god

that was over specifically the Nile River. The

god was called Hopi, and this god symbolized

life and fertility because when they believed

that Hopi visited them once a year, and when

Hopi came to Egypt, and specifically to the Nile,

it would flood. And when it would flood, that

would be great for everybody. Fertile soil, the

crops would grow, everybody blessed, so he became

the god of fertility and life. And then the plague

happens and the water turns to blood. Now we

look at that and we go, oh, it's just a symbolic

or metaphorical picture. But if you have to imagine,

if you're an ancient Egyptian, you believe that

there is this actual being that many people claim

to have seen who is God over this river and they

know that this God is over this river and then

they see that river filled with blood. Do you

know what that would have meant to them? That

someone had just killed their God and its blood

was filling the Nile. See each one of the plagues

of Egypt is actually a judgment against one of

the gods of Egypt. It's God's judgment upon Egypt

as a whole, but each specific plague relates

to one of the gods of Egypt. And so when God

slaughtered this false god, the Nile turns to

blood. The one that they associated with the

god of the river, the Lord slaughters that god

and the Nile fills with blood. Then there's the

second plague. And I know what you're thinking

at this point. You're like, well, no, it's just

a symbolic metaphorical picture. There's no substance

here whatsoever. You're kind of reading too far

in the text. I would think that too. Trust me,

I told you, I'm a skeptic. I'm not like one of

these people who believes everything, despite

what my wife would think if she's listening,

but I'm not one of those people. And I would

be right there with you if it wasn't for the

second and third plague. Because something really

interesting happens. Anybody, you get kudos from

me, theologian of the night, if you can remember

the second plague. Anybody know what it was?

Eat it each. Okay. I Was gonna make a joke. I

was gonna say it's hopping right on the tip of

your tongue. But yeah It's just hopping ready

to get out All right. So so the second plague

is you God sent all these frogs And they invaded

all the homes of the Egyptians right and the

Bible specifically says that these frogs go into

the homes and Into the beds of the people and

it makes this big deal about the beds and where

they sleep and things like that alright, so there's

this God in in Egypt and This God I wrote down

its name somewhere Hec tight or something like

that and This God was depicted as a frog it had

like a frog's head and it was the god specifically

of fertility so again what would happen is the

Nile would flood and when the Nile flooded all

the frogs came to shore and so there was an abundance

of frogs and people would see the frogs and they

would know that oh things are about to be fertile

around here and so the frog god became the god

of fertility right and here's what's interesting

about the the plague stories it's that as the

the story of Exodus is going on Pharaoh had these

magicians and they were able to do everything

Moses did, right? Gene just mentioned one. So

Aaron throws his staff on the ground. It turns

into a snake. A lot of significance there, by

the way. And then the Bible says that Pharaoh

had his magicians and they were able to do the

exact same thing. So it basically made Moses

seem not that impressive, Aaron not that impressive.

And then the Lord turns the waters of the Nile

to blood. And guess what happened? Fear as magicians.

It says the Bible repeatedly keeps saying they

did their secret arts and they were able to do

the same thing so they turned water to blood

and then the frogs happened and The Lord sent

these frogs invade the homes and the Bible says

the magicians practiced their secret arts again

And they were able to conjure up frogs and the

frogs came upon Egypt I don't know why they'd

want to make their problem worse, but they did

it to just prove like oh It's not that special

we can do it, too, right? So everybody at this

point is like, okay, well here's what happens.

This is where it gets really interesting. The

Bible never says that they were like the magicians

we have today. The magicians we have today are

illusionists, right? Like they make a pen disappear,

but it doesn't really disappear. It's a sleight

of hand. The Bible specifically says that these

magicians practiced secret arts and were able

to do what Moses did. Okay, are we tracking?

Like there was some occultist, real dark art

stuff going on here. So then here's what happens

they complain to the Lord and the Lord agrees

to to kill all the frogs and then make it to

where only frogs are in the Nile again and so

all the frogs die in their beds which is hilarious

because he was supposedly the god of fertility

and where did he they die they died in the beds

and in the homes where people will you get the

point so um so there's there's irony there And

so they compile all these frogs, and they put

them on the shore, they stack them in this big

pile, and the Bible says that all of Egypt stank

because there were dead frogs. God has just killed

the frog god. So the frog god was not just the

frog of fertility. Another interesting point

that I left out is that he was the god of witchcraft.

And actually his name, like Hectate or something

like that, was given later to a Greek god who

was over witchcraft as well. So it was the god

of witchcraft, sorcery, magicians. and so all

of Egypt stank because the frog god has metaphorically

symbolically been killed and then you get the

third plague and this is why it gets really interesting

the third plague comes it's the plague of gnats

and the bible says the lord sent gnats just as

he sent frogs and then we have this on screen

this is what the bible says in exodus 8 18 through

19 The magicians tried by their secret arts to

produce gnats, but they could not. So there were

gnats on man and beast. Then the magician said

to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's

heart was hardened and he would not listen to

them as the Lord had said. It's at this point,

here's what's really interesting, okay? If they

were just faking it, they could fake gnats, that's

not that hard, okay? And if it was all a show,

they could put on a show, they want to please

Pharaoh. This proves that what they were doing

was not an illusion, it was not an act, they

were actually practicing dark arts, you know,

spiritual, dark demonized things, dark practices,

but after the god of witchcraft is symbolically

murdered, they no longer have the ability. to

do any magic. We have to reckon with that somehow,

and in my own view, I believe that there was

actually some sort of demonic force at work in

Egypt, and because they were connected to this

demonic force, they had the ability by secret

arts, dark magic, to produce some sort of what

looked like real magic in the world today, but

i believe that that demon was actually put to

death because their connection to the demonic

the dark arts is severed and they are no longer

after the frogs die i mean again this is in the

bible you just have to reckon with this there's

a lot of verses that are going to trip us up

like the one last week with their angels in heaven

that tripped us up this week this is the one

that got me this week after the frogs died the

magicians are never able to do magic again now

make of that what you will but I just want to

say to you, I think there's something more going

on there. I think there's a power at work there,

and we know that there was all sorts of demonic

activity in Egypt because Egypt, they had many

gods, but the main god of Egypt, this was a god

named Wadjet. I don't know if I'm pronouncing

that right. I don't speak Egyptian. It's kind

of a dead language to me. So the god was named

Wadjet and it was the main god of Egypt. It was

said to be the protector and the patron of all

of Egypt. Anybody want to guess what Wadjet looked

like? No. The god Wadjet looked like a snake

with wings. That's how it's depicted, as a snake

with wings. In fact, all the Egyptian kings and

pharaohs and whatnot, they had a royal diadem

and on the middle, there was the serpent. And

so you look at what's going on in Egypt and how

they are oppressing the people of God, keeping

them in bondage and enslaved, how they hate the

people of God. You see them practicing dark arts

and magic and things like that. And it's very

clear when you see the symbol of the snake and

it's a snake with wings, there's something more

at play here. There's the influence of the demonic

here. and it's really getting at this idea that

we kind of mentioned some last week as well.

Remember we said that demons, according to Daniel

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, that demons have the ability to have

some level of authority in kingdoms. You all

remember that? That a demon had set up shop in

Persia and that Michael and this other angel

were warring against it. So we said demons can

be regional. We're going to talk about next week

demons can be personal, they can possess you,

but demons can be regional. They were regional

in Persia, regional in Egypt here. You also see

other examples in scripture. Anybody ever heard

of the witch of Endor? Yeah, this was a person

who practiced witchcraft and necromancy which

all throughout the Bible are connected with demonic

activity and This which this person connected

to the demonic had set up shop in indoor and

had become known to be part of that region So

there was a demonic influence that exerted control

over an entire region You might say well pastor.

You're crazy. You're in too much into it Matthew

8 28 When Jesus came to the other side, to the

country of the Gadarenes, two demon -possessed

men met him coming out of the tombs so fierce

that no one could pass that way. And so here

are two demon -possessed men, and the Bible says

that these demons had such control in the region

that no one passed that way. They had to take

alternate routes to get wherever they were going

because no one was going to pass by that particular

region because the demonic influence was so great

there. And I think you can still see this in

our world today. I don't think it's a stretch

to say that demons can set up shop in a particular

region and exert a level of control in that region

like the Witch of Andor or the people here in

the demon possessed people in the gatherings.

I mean, there are just some places you go and

they give you the creeps, right? We just get

that feeling and it's universal. Like even the

bravest person will walk in some place and they

just get the creeps. Something doesn't feel right

there. And you can see places in our world today

where I think there is a high level of demonic

influence and activity. And I mentioned one last

week. I mentioned this place in Japan that's

known as the suicide forest. And so in Mount

Fuji, right at the edge of Mount Fuji, there's

this forest. And pretty much over a hundred people

every single year go there to commit suicide.

And what's amazing is they've had to set up like

signs and everything encouraging people to remember

their loved ones, to call a suicide hotline.

And people report there that when they go there,

the forest is so thick that light barely gets

in. And you walk in and they say it just feels

heavy. It feels eerie and they start going in

and people have reported feeling an overwhelming

sense of dread. They've reported feeling incredibly

uneasy. There are people who reported feeling

overwhelmingly sad. And then worst of all, there

were people who reported that once they were

walking on the path, the further they went into

the forest, the more they had a sense that something

was drawing them to leave the path and go off

the beaten path further into the forest. And

when they did, they felt like they should take

their own life. And this is a place where, like

I said, over a hundred people every single year

go there to take their own lives. And many people

of the families have said that they don't think

that the person who took their own life had any

desire to do that. But there was just this overwhelming

presence there that something was not right.

And I think it's another example of demonic influence

in our world, that there's some sort of demonic

influence in this region that is seeking to do

what demons always do. to hurt the people of

God and what better way to do that than to kill

those and coerce someone into killing themselves

who's made in the image of God. Demons hate God

and since we are made in the image of God, they

hate us. They see God's love for us and they

want us dead. They want us to despise God and

so all of this to say like we could go more in

depth and like I said next week we're really

going to get into demon possession and demon

oppression and what does it look like for someone

to be demon possessed today? But I just want

to put this before you to show you that there

is a real spiritual darkness in our world today.

This is not some fantasy that Alex has created.

This is something that is real. There are demonic

forces in our world and they can set themselves

up in governments. They can set themselves up

in kingdoms. They can set themselves up in regions.

There are real demons out there who can appear

as an angel of light, who can deceive you, who

can try to lead you astray, and who actually

have supernatural powers and the ability to do

things with that, which I mean, we could get

into this too, but occult practices and practicing

dark arts and things like that, I mean, that's

always connected to the demonic. If you really

want to investigate this further, and I would

encourage you to do so, Go home, you go on a

three -hour trail about this, look up the use

of psychedelic drugs in connection with spiritual

realities and demonic forces. And there have

been extensive studies on this where people who

take like acid or acid -related drugs, things

that alter the cognition of the brain, that almost

all of them enter what they would call some sort

of spiritual reality. and many of them see a

serpent and sometimes that serpent has wings

and they have this feeling of dread and like

they're in some other plane of dimension and

so it's really interesting to see the use of

drugs in connection with the spiritual realities

that often go unseen in our world today and so

there's a lot there. There's more than we have

time to say but all of this should make us thankful.

that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

And I'm going to mention this Sunday because

we're talking about a demon passage on Sunday

too. I didn't plan it that way. That's just where

we're at in Matthew. But basically the Bible

says that because we are indwelt by the Spirit

of God, we cannot be possessed by demons. That's

good to know. Is it not? You look at what demons

do to people. We'll get in that next week. It's

good to know that because the Holy Spirit has

made His dwelling in us, there's no room for

a demon. We don't have to worry about that. And

because we have the Holy Spirit, He guides us,

He protects us, He comforts us, and all of that

comes through faith in Christ. So you see all

this darkness and the things we're talking about,

it should just make you that much more thankful

for Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. All

right, Michael, how about a word of wisdom?