Demons

Father, we thank you that you love us.

We thank you that your son came to die on the cross for us.

We thank you, Father, that he has defeated in his death upon the cross and in his resurrection

all sin, all death, and all hostile spiritual powers.

We ask, Father, as we gather now to hear these words of the Bible

and to think about these words and to pray about these words,

we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would move deeply in our minds and hearts and wills,

that we will receive what you desire to give us in your word.

And we know, Father, that you have something that you desire to give everyone who is here.

So, Father, in your mercy and kindness, deliver us from hardness of heart.

Grant us a soft heart willing to hear your word.

Make us good soil so that we will receive your word and bear fruit to bring you glory.

And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I've had an interesting time this week.

If you're a guest at Church of the Messiah,

we want to make disciples gripped by the gospel who bring glory to God.

We want to be used by God as he builds a prayerful Bible teaching evangelical church

in the heart of the city with a heart for the city and the world.

And so, one of the things we do is we preach through books of the Bible.

And we're preaching through the book of Revelation.

And that's why we read Revelation chapter 9.

Revelation 9 · chapter mention

And I've had an interesting week thinking and praying about it and studying it.

And if you were listening to Laurier read, and we're going to look at the Bible text in a moment,

every Sunday, if you forget to bring your own Bible,

we always have some Bibles up at the front or by that door.

And you're welcome to keep the Bible if you want or return it afterwards.

But if you're listening to this text,

a third of all the people on the earth die.

Great torment.

I have to confess, I like watching certain types of movies.

And every time one of the verses, I come across one of the verses in this text,

I think of the Wolverine.

And many of you who have seen the last movie with the Wolverine,

I mean, the rest of you, it's like I'm speaking in hieroglyphics.

But if you watch or follow that at all,

longing for death but not being able to find it,

speaks a lot about Wolverine and a lot of his character.

But it's a very, very stark text.

And it could lead us to say, is God cruel?

Is God cruel?

Why does God seem to order demons to hurt people?

Why is such crazy stuff in the Bible?

Isn't this proof for some people that only crazy people,

not rational or well-educated people, would take the Bible seriously?

Because this is just crazy.

And it seems to portray a God that just seems to be cruel.

And it seems to talk about things that just aren't true

to well-educated, well-adjusted people.

So, given that that's,

I don't know if any of you are thinking that,

but I could well imagine that if I was to say,

I'd like you to share this Bible text with your office workers

or your classmates on Monday,

you might have some apprehension about what they would think.

So, it would be a great help to me and to you

if you were to get your Bibles

and turn to the last book in the Bible,

and the book of Revelation,

and turn to chapter 9.

And let's look and see more carefully

what it is that the Bible says and doesn't say.

In fact, I actually think that as we look at this text,

we see that this is a very robust, thick, deep text of the Bible,

which actually has profound things to say about human nature

and about God and about good and evil.

In fact, I think it's,

if we grasp it in the context of other spiritualities and philosophies,

that we will just be completely struck

by how deep and wise the text is,

even though at first it looks very, very frightening and daunting

and seems to say terrible things about God.

So, let's just start at verse 1.

And just, actually, we're going to start at verse 13 of chapter 8.

And just if you want to sort of have a bit of the flow of the Bible text,

what it is, is in around chapter 5,

there's a, chapter 4, there's a vision of God in heaven.

Chapter 5, there's a vision of Jesus on the throne in heaven.

He's pictured as the Lamb who was slain.

And chapter 5 sort of begins with this idea that God knows the future

and he has a scroll and only the Lamb who's slain is able to take the scroll,

the sort of the things that are going to happen in the future,

only the Lamb, Jesus, is able to take it from God's hand.

And then in chapter 6, we see Jesus starting to open the scroll

by opening the seals.

And as he opens it, there's a series of judgments.

And then in chapter 7, there's a bit of a pause.

And in chapter 8 that we looked at last week, the final seal is opened.

There's silence in heaven.

And then the seventh seal enters into seven new judgments

described in terms of trumpets.

And the image is that all of heaven adores the Lamb.

Then the prayers of the saints come up to Jesus.

And as a result of the prayers of the saints coming up to Jesus,

an angel takes fire from heaven and he throws, hurls the fire down at the earth.

And the fire that comes down to earth appears in seven different forms as these seven different trumpets.

And last week we looked at four.

And at the end of the four, in verse 13, this is what happened.

Then I looked and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead.

And he said,

Notice that again.

Notice that again.

Notice that again.

Notice that again.

Notice that again.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree.

But only those people who did not have, do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

And they were allowed, that's these locust type creatures, were allowed to torment them,

that's the people, for five months, but not to kill them.

And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

And in those days, here's the Wolverine text,

in those days people will seek death and will not find it.

They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

Now just sort of pause here for a second.

Here's the first thing to see in the text.

Remember we began by saying, like, this just sounds crazy, it sounds cruel.

Why does God seem to order demons to hurt people?

But here's the thing that the text, I'm going to show you in a second,

but here's the thing, Andrew, if you could put it up on the screen.

God is absolutely sovereign over every demon,

and he restrains them until their inevitable judgment.

This text, not only here, but the rest of the text,

and I'm sort of giving away a bit of the ending

by adding the word inevitable,

telling you what's going to happen in chapters 19, 20, 21 and all.

But what this text is showing is that God is absolutely sovereign

over every demon,

and God restrains them until their inevitable judgment.

One of the things that happens in the book of Revelation

is that they use a variety of different images for angels and for demons,

and so sometimes you have to just be careful and read slowly and meditatively

and look at the context to sort of keep things straight.

And so the angel here isn't an angel that begins the whole thing,

and it's an image of the angel descending with great speed.

So the trumpet's blown,

and an angel with great speed descends.

An angel comes from God,

and he goes,

and he opens

the door

which leads to the bottomless pit,

the abyss.

And the abyss,

all the way through the book of Revelation,

is portrayed as a type of prison

where demons and the devil

are held.

In other words, they're restrained.

Why?

Because God is sovereign over them.

Because Jesus has triumphed

over all hostile spiritual forces

in his crucifixion and resurrection.

And the text doesn't make any comment

about whether all demons were there or all that,

but it's just giving you this image

that God restrains them,

and he goes,

he sends an angel,

the angel lets the demons out,

and the demons, of course,

come flooding out,

they escape,

but even as they escape,

God sets limits on them.

And he says to them,

he says that they're not allowed

to harm the trees

or anything like that.

They're only allowed to harm

people who do not have

the seal of God on their forehead.

And they're not even allowed to kill them.

And in everything about it,

we just see this picture

of the demons doing what they desire to do,

but even what they desire to do,

that God, who's sovereign over them,

restrains them.

That's why the text is showing

all the way through chapter 9

and all the way through

the book of Revelation,

that God is sovereign

over every demon,

and he restrains them

until their inevitable judgment.

And it's obvious

that these are demons,

not animals.

They're coming from the bottomless pit,

from the abyss,

from a place

that God has contained them.

That's not what normal locusts look like,

and as we're going to see

in a couple of minutes,

they don't look at all

like normal locusts.

They don't act like normal locusts.

It's a way of picturing

demons swarming

and of being inhuman

and anti-human

and destructive.

Yet God is sovereign

over them.

And so,

but here's the question

that some of us might say.

If you look at it

very carefully,

like, you know,

he told them what to do

and et cetera, et cetera.

But the fact is,

why would God still allow

such demons

to come out from a place

where he has bound them

to hurt anybody?

Like, why would God allow that?

Isn't that almost the same

as him causing it?

And that's a very,

very good question.

Well,

to start to answer that question,

let's look at verses 7 to 12.

In appearance,

the locusts were like horses

prepared for battle.

Notice all the way

through this description,

like, like, like, like.

In appearance,

the locusts were like horses

prepared for battle.

On their heads

were what looked

like crowns of gold.

Their faces were like

human faces.

Their hair

like woman's hair.

It means they had long hair.

I was in a church

back,

I'm, I'm, I'm,

I'm a hundred million years old.

And in, in the 70s,

I grew up in a church

that always had these

prophecy conferences

all of the time.

And, you know,

in like,

like 1975 or 76,

it was very, very uncommon

in conservative

baptisty type churches

to have anybody

in the church

who had long hair.

So there's a whole pile

of people looking one way

and then there was me

with my hair

halfway down my back

at that point in time

and dressed in jeans

and all,

which everybody

was dressed in suits.

And there was

this prophecy conference.

I stuck out

like a sore thumb

and there was a guy

drawing a picture

of the devil

and demons

and he said,

looking around the room,

let's make him a hippie.

Wasn't trying

to single me out

at all.

I felt very welcomed,

actually,

by this guy.

Anyway, so verse 8,

their hair

like woman's hair

and their teeth

like lion's teeth.

They had breastplates

like breastplates

of iron

and the noise

of their wings

was like the noise

of many chariots

with horses

rushing into battle.

They have tails

and stings

like scorpions

and their power

to hurt people

for five months.

That's actually

a restraint,

again,

is in their tails

and they have

as king over them

the angel

of the bottomless pit,

sort of an arch demon,

maybe the devil himself

and his name

in Hebrew

is Abaddon

and in Greek

he is called

Apollyon,

destroyer

and destruction.

The first woe

has passed

before two woes

are still to come

and you're saying,

George,

how does this

exactly help you

at all?

Well, here's the thing.

Here's the point.

If you could put it up

on the screen, Andrew.

What the text is showing

is that demons

are real

and they hate

their devotees

and turn on us

when they can.

I spent a long time

trying to think

of whether I should

say turn on them

or turn on us

and I decided

with us.

You can ask me

about it

or we can debate it

over coffee

if you want,

but demons are real

and they hate

their devotees

and turn on us

when they can.

And so,

here's how you should

interpret this language

is it's,

you know,

here's the thing.

I think it's,

my daughter-in-law,

my son Jesse

was just telling me

about his wife,

my daughter-in-law,

Kavita.

You know,

she did an engineering

degree at Waterloo

so she's really smart

and she's really good

with numbers

and Jesse says

you can tell Kavita

like a phone number

or some other type

of number

and she just

remembers it

and,

you know,

her ability to do math

in her head

and all that,

she's this really good

number person

and there's some people

in the congregation

they've told me

about how they live

in a world

where numbers

are really,

really important

and,

in fact,

there's all these

numeric things

that go on

in the Bible

that sort of

help them to understand

that the Bible

has to be the Word of God

and for a lot of us

numbers

and all these

numerical things

and our eyes

start to glaze over

and all,

but for people

who really numbers work

there's lots of things

in the Bible

about numbers

that communicate to us

and for some of us

it's poetry,

for some of us

it's more like

philosophical types of stuff,

for some of us

it's narratives

and for some people

what they really need

is powerful images

and because the Bible

is written for everyone

it means that

there's some parts

of the Bible

that people are going

whoa,

look at that,

that just so sticks with me

I can really understand that

I can really remember that

look at those numbers

and other people

it's not that at all

and so what the Bible

here is talking about

it's all the way through

it's making a very,

very strong claim

that demons are real

that demons are

spiritual beings

or creatures

that were originally angels

that rebelled against God

and in their rebellion

against God

they not only hate God

they hate people

they hate those

who bear the image of God

and that's human being

every human being

whether it's a

whether they're a poor person

or a rich person

a smart person

or a dumb person

whether they're

profoundly handicapped

or whether they're

the world's greatest athlete

every human being

is made in the image of God

bears the image of God

and demons are portrayed

in this text

as being real

and as they hate God

they also hate human beings

because we bear

the image of God

and are made

in the image of God

and so this text here

it's not to be taken

that somehow

the demons have

all these things

but it's to communicate

for those of us

that images

stick in their heads

that if I was to give you

you know five points

and the five points

wouldn't stick in your head

but you just hear

this description

and the image of them

being like horses

in the ancient world

it means that they're

powerful

it means that they're

bred for war

it means that they're

bred for aggression

in the Roman world

the hooves of the war horses

would often have like

they'd shoe them

and they'd have

they would be sharp

so that they would cut

and the breastplate

so once again

that they're ready for battle

and that they have protection

and everything

and the long hair

is that they're

like the barbarians

that the Romans

were starting to know of

and in other words

they were other

and they were dangerous

and they were fearful

and they were powerful

and they were organized

and they were a swarm

and it's trying to communicate

truth about demons

that just using words

will not do

for some people

and so it's a series

of word pictures

to try to communicate

the reality

and the nature

of demons

that demons are real

and they hate their devotees

and turn on us

when they can

but then the question still is

why is it that God

allows them

to come out

well first of all

look back up

at verse 4 again

they were told

not to harm

the grass of the earth

or any green plant

or any tree

but only those people

who do not have

the seal of God

on their foreheads

this is a very very

this in the next trumpet

it's a very very

unique type of teaching

in the scriptures

and it's showing

how demons

turn on their own

people who have

given themselves

to evil

have given themselves

consciously to demons

those who believe

that by practicing

white magic

or using spells

or potions

are in touch

with the demon

the spiritual world

which is in rebellion

against God

and we think

it makes us stronger

and we think

it puts us in contact

with stronger things

and it does put us

in contact

with stronger things

and maybe

in the short run

things seem to work

but the Bible here

is giving us a picture

of the end game

and from the end game

these powers

that we dabble with

it's not talking about

it's not talking about

anything now

about Christians

it's talking about

those who have not

given their lives

to Jesus

and these demonic powers

will turn on them

because ultimately

they hate them

you know

it's very very interesting

that

often here in the west

when we think

of Buddhism

or Hinduism

when we think

even of Islam

in a good sense

because it's a

complicated thing

our culture

with Islam

we tend to think

of philosophical

high

high-end philosophical

versions of Buddhism

or Hinduism

or Islam

and even when we think

of secularism

and agnosticism

we tend to think

of high-end

ones

that are more abstract

and philosophical

but the very interesting

thing is

in every one of those

cultures

apart from the high-end

there is the reality

of a fascination

with demons

and a worry about demons

if you were to go

I've never been to Thailand

but if you were to go

to China

or you go to Thailand

you see

you see idols

everywhere

there is a concern

with spells

and with evil spirits

and bringing misfortune

upon you

it's true in Islam

it's true in India

it's true in China

it's true in Thailand

and even here

in the educated west

it's true here

you go to any chapters

and you see the wide

range of bookstore

in the bookstore

given over to

occult types of matters

that even

and this isn't just

something that

the really uneducated

people are fascinated with

it's true

even if you have

your bachelor's degree

or your master's degree

or your doctorate

or multiple doctorates

there's this fascination

with it

and the interesting

thing about it

is that these

philosophical forms

of Hinduism

and Buddhism

and Islam

and secularism

that they actually

are sort of powerless

they're powerless

against this

widespread

worry

and presence

of practice

of magic

and concern

about demonic

types of things

that there's a type

of disconnect to

in Christianity

what often appears

in certain circles

as philosophical

Christianity

actually isn't a

higher form of

Christianity

it's residual

Christianity

but the Bible

as you go into

the Bible

and understand

Christianity

from the Bible

and from Jesus'

own words

you see that it's

a very robust

and thick faith

that talks

about the practical

things

that attract

and frighten

and bind

and repel

both ordinary

people

and educated

people

and what

this text

is showing

here

is a certain

type of way

that God

sometimes

how it is

that God

acts

towards us

as human

beings

I've been

a few times

on my travels

when I've been

at some type

of a conference

I've been

away from my

wife and kids

I've been

at some type

of a conference

and I've been

right next

to a casino

and I'm

not boasting

here about

how strong

I am

at resisting

temptation

but I can

tell you

that those

I think it's

three or four

times I've

stayed either

right next

door or

across the

street from

a casino

and I've

never gone

into it

once

why?

I have

going to a

casino to

gamble

I have

zero

temptation

for it

okay

two dollars

to a

one-armed

bandit

or a coffee

at Starbucks

like I don't

even think

about that

for a

millisecond

of a second

a muffin

or a scone

or a

one-armed

bandit

I don't

even think

about that

for a

millisecond

like it

has no

attraction

to me

I'm going

to stop

giving you

any

illustrations

because you

realize how

many sins

I'm actually

deeply tempted

to

but gambling

is one that I

have absolutely

zero temptation

to

I could stay

in the casino

and I

wouldn't put

a penny

in a

one-armed

bandit

I just

maybe I

would once

just say

how it

worked

but it

wouldn't

even be

temptation

it would

just be

I wonder

how this

works

I've always

seen movies

that would

be it

and then

I'd go

buy a

coffee

preferably

an Italian

roast

or French

roast

something nice

and dark

but the fact

is that

there are

many things

in my life

that I'm

tempted to

evil things

that I'm

tempted to

and in

the book

of Romans

it gives

a very

philosophical

description

of how

that works

and here

we see

in the book

of Revelation

it gives

an image

picture of

how it

works

and how

it works

it's as if

there are

different currents

in my life

it's as if

there are

rivers

inside of me

rivers

that have

a current

towards

something which

is wrong

maybe it's

slander

maybe it's

pride

maybe it's

anger

maybe it's

gluttony

maybe it's

lust

I mean

it's going

to be

there's going

to be

different streams

within every

human being

there are

like

it's as if

there's

a current

going on

in my life

and

what it is

is the Bible

has this idea

of what's called

common grace

that

God

generally

restrains

the strength

of the current

in our lives

and doesn't

usually

allow the current

to have

full reign

in our life

so it's as if

I am a boat

tied to a rock

or a dock

and the boat's

in a current

and for some

things it's as if

I'm very tightly

tied

I can feel

the strength

of the current

and partly

I resist it

by my will

and by my

disciplines

but partially

it's just God

holding me

against the current

but what the Bible

pictures here

is that sometimes

the way that

the judgment

of God works

it works in

one of two ways

sometimes what

happens

it's as if

he takes the

rope that ties

me so that

I'm not being

taken with the

current

and he lets

it out a hundred

feet

he lets the

rope out a hundred

feet

and the current

takes me

bang against rocks

bang against trees

who knows what

happens

I get to

experience the

strength of the

current that by

God's common

grace

he usually is

holding me back

but even then he

might just let it

out a hundred

feet

and sometimes

the Bible

says he

unties the

rope all

together

and I

experience

the full

strength

of the current

towards doing

wrong

that I have

within me

and so what

we see here

is that

the fact of the

matter is

demons and

idols and

evil don't

restrain

evil

they actually

only want

to harm

us

evil is

harmful

to us

demons

will

harm

us

idols

say that if

we serve

them

love them

obey them

trust them

and hope

in them

that they

will make

us greater

and stronger

but they

will only

harm

us

they are

either

powerless

or they

are

harmful

and sometimes

what God

does is not

only does he

not only is a

type of a

judgment upon

us in our

continued resistance

against him

but it's also

sometimes an

act that God

allows to

happen in the

hope that we

will realize

what's going on

in our lives

and that we

will say

why is it

why is it

that even

though I can

begin the day

saying that I

will not be

angry at my

wife or will

not be angry

at my kids

but before you

know it

as the day

comes a

moment will

come when I

realize I

have a choice

to say

something angry

to them

or hurtful

to them

or sarcastic

or demeaning

to them

and I don't

want to do

it

I plan not

to do it

but then the

time comes

and I

choose it

I choose

it

and why

is it

that there

are things

like that

within not

only me

but every

human being

and maybe

for some

it's anger

as I said

maybe for

some it's

a sexual

thing or

pride or

revenge or

ingratitude or

whatever but

it's not as if

there's just a

group of people

here who have

no currents in

their lives

and the others

who have

currents

it's in us

and the Bible

here is trying

to teach us

that sometimes

God allows

this to happen

in our lives

and he doesn't

cause it

because generally

he's restraining

it but he

does it

to allow it

that we

might realize

our need

for God

to work

that we

might realize

that our

philosophical

things

our theological

things

our disciplines

are the

things that

we're trusting

in

that these

things are

just not

ultimately

they do

not have

the power

to ultimately

change us

or transform

us to have

us to be

the type of

free human

being that

God

we know

ultimately

desires us

to be

that we

need

God

to act

Revelation

showing us

this in

picture language

demons are

real and

they hate

their devotees

and turn

on us

when they

can

that's why

if you could

put the next

thing up

Andrew

the Bible

underneath this

text and

underneath the

whole book of

Revelation

through the

book of

Revelation

it's trying

to teach us

that human

beings are

created to

know God

and be

free

but we

turn time

and time

again to

idols

demons

and evil

that human

beings are

created to

know God

and be

free

but we

turn time

and time

again to

idols

demons

and evil

I'm not

going to

comment on

verses 13

to 19

you can read

it later

it's a

second

snapshot

only in

this

particular

case

the demons

are allowed

to actually

kill up

to a third

of the

people who

have not

given their

lives to

Jesus

how does

this all

work out

here's how

it all

works out

folks

I don't know

how it works

the book of

Revelation is a

book about

Jesus

what he's

done

what he's

doing

what he

will do

on one

hand

everything in

the book

of Revelation

is true

of human

existence

between the

death and

resurrection

of Jesus

until the

end of the

end of the

end of the

ends

and in

some way

there's

something

that's

always true

about this

at every

point in

time in

human history

and there

might be

times

I mean

Bonhoeffer

who was

writing during

the days of

Nazi Germany

he ultimately

died by direct

orders of

Hitler

because Hitler

wanted him

dead

he was a

devout

Christian

and he

at times

wondered if

in fact

images of

the book of

Revelation

and demons

were almost

made visible

I mean

how could

you not

watch

Hitler

and those

grand

spectacles

and watch

the book

burning

and know

about

Auschwitz

and know

of the

terrible

things

that are

going on

and not

wonder if

demons

were walking

the earth

and so

on one

level

it's true

of human

experience

it's somehow

true of

all of

this time

and there's

no doubt

that there

will be

some final

time

close to

the end

when

we'll see

that this

is just

somehow or

another

perfectly

fulfilled

I don't

know how

it would

look

but it

wants us

to understand

that it's

always

always

the case

but that's

what's

going to

happen

I'm not

going to

read verses

13 to

19

you can

read it

yourself

but after

the sixth

trumpet

look at

verses

20 to

21

remember I

said

that human

beings are

created to

know God

and be

free

but we

turn time

and time

and time

again

to idols

and demons

and evil

and that's

what the text

says

I got it

from the text

look verse

20 again

the rest of

mankind

the rest of

humanity

who were not

killed by

these plagues

did not

repent of

the works

of their

hands

nor give

up

worshipping

demons

and idols

of gold

and silver

and bronze

and stone

and wood

which cannot

see or hear

or walk

nor did they

repent of

their murders

or their

sorceries

or their

sexual

immorality

or their

thefts

and there's

sort of

three categories

here

there's a

picture of

the works

of their

hands

which is

just like

an idol

which is

nothing

worshipping

of demons

and idols

as the

book of

first

corinthians

talks about

sometimes

an idol

is connected

to a

demon

and then

there's the

outright

connection

to demons

and then

there's the

fact that

we ourselves

willfully

choose

things

that we

willfully

choose

evil

and it's

providing

this

remarkable

sense

that even

though

terrible

things can

happen to

us

and as

it's been

shown

repeatedly

in the

book of

revelation

that we

might even

have a

sense

that God

exists

but rather

than this

making us

desire to

call out

to God

for mercy

and help

it leads

us to

shake our

fist at

God

and it's

and

all of

the telling

us of

this

is so

that we

could

God

communicates

this to

us so

that we

can see

this and

realize it

about

ourselves

and he

does it

so we

can realize

it about

our friends

and neighbors

so that we

will pray

greatly for

them

and so

that we

can search

and realize

that we

need to

call out

to God

for mercy

every

Sunday at

the church

in your

bulletins

we have

two

different

things

one of

them is

called

there's

a blog

you can

always

read

but there's

something

called

growing

and grace

and there's

always

something

and this

Sunday

it's at

the back

about

going

deeper

and the

going

deeper

is a way

you can

go do

some

Bible

studies

about

things

connected

to the

text

the sermon

that's

happened

to get

some of

the background

and some

other

perspectives

on it

and the

growing

in grace

which is

usually on

the insert

like this

it has

a variety

of different

attitudes

and prayers

and Bible

memory

verse

connected

to the

sermon

and this

week

you'll notice

the three

attitudes

one of them

is that

idols and

demons

always lie

and tell me

I cannot

have new

life in

God

through

grace

the idea

of these

attitudes

is for us

to think

about them

throughout

the week

to have

it

become

part of

how we

understand

the world

that idols

and demons

always lie

and tell me

I cannot

have new

life in

God

through

grace

that's

a lie

every one

of the

people

who in

a sense

would go

through

what's

described

in

Revelation

Revelation 9 · chapter mention

chapter

9

the whole

reason

it's

described

is so

they can

ask God

for new

life

through

grace

the second

attitude

the devil

harms

his own

God

saves

his own

and then

the third

one

which is

what I

really

want

for some

of us

here's

a main

thing

for us

to pray

into

I have

two

problems

with

idolatry

first

I worship

idols

second

I rarely

recognize

that I

worship

idols

and that's

something

for us

to pray

into

friends

but here

I thought

about this

all week

whether I

would do

it

and I

decided

I would

I don't

talk about

this very

often

and I'm

going to

say something

I just

ask you

a little

bit of

grace

for me

but

some

of you

might

know

that

this

congregation

actually

I think

it's

in about

two weeks

time

will be

the

sixth

anniversary

of us

leaving

the

Anglican

Church

of

Canada

there's

maybe not

many people

in the

room

who were

part of

the

congregation

six years

ago

when we

made that

decision

and that

that led

three and a half

years later

to us

after lawsuits

walking away

from a

building

and a

whole range

of financial

assets

and

and we

did it

because

the

Anglican

Church

of

Canada

created

the

doctrine

and began

the

practice

of

blessing

same

sex

marriages

and

the

text

here

actually

says

something

very

powerful

about

why

we

felt

we

had

to

be

willing

to

lose

a

building

and

take

a

position

which

is

profoundly

unpopular

in

Canadian

culture

but we

felt

bound

to

do

it

and

it

can

be

seen

here