Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning.
[00:00:07] Good morning. It's okay. You can talk back. It's fine. My name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church. And welcome to week three of our series called traps. And I'll be honest, I would really like to be a fly on the wall or the table at your lunch today. Let me just tell you the name of the sermon to wet your appetite.
[00:00:31] National demons and global empires. How many of you excited to be me right now? You're like, I'd rather be sitting where you're sitting. All right, good. The goal of this series is to train you as followers of Christ to be able to identify clearly the traps, the designs, the schemes that the devil lays out for christians. And one of the things we see in scripture is that his agenda is not for your good or the good of your family. In fact, Jesus says, the thief, satan only comes, comes only to steal, kill, and what's that word? And destroy. So at times, some of these traps are going to be laid. And one of the objectives of the trap initially might be to discourage you or it might be to get you to fall into sin. But the end of that is always not for your good, but for your destruction. So we want to find all the ways that scripture teaches that the evil one does this, these demonic schemes and traps. We want to train ourselves on them and we want to familiarize so that when we see them, we don't trip over them unnecessarily. All right, so you've probably figured out by now, this sermon series is not like our normal sermon series. And so we got five more weeks of this. It's going to be awesome. You're going to love it. So the trap that we are talking about today, it has many names, but this morning we will refer to it as globalism.
[00:01:59] Now, this is very simply, it's a philosophy that advocates the merging of national responsibilities for the good of the world.
[00:02:08] Here's globalism's core belief. The world and all of its people are better off through a centralized global government, military policies, economics and laws. In other words, a one world government.
[00:02:27] If you were to poll a million people and say, would you like to have a one world government that rules every part of your life? 999. 999 would say no. And the one person who would say yes would be the one at the top of the chart who is ruling everybody else. All right, so this is in stark contrast to a different philosophy called nationalism. And at its core, this is a philosophy that advocates national sovereignty and the protection of each nation's. Unique culture for the good of that nation and its people. So here's nationalism's core belief. Both the world and people are better off through decentralized oversight through national sovereignty and individual freedoms. In other words, no one world government. Okay, so you did not come to church to hear a preacher talk about national and international politics. So I don't want to do that. What I want to do is I would actually like to talk about these subjects biblically and theologically. And as Christ followers, you get to apply these to your own personal politics in any way you want to. But we're going to do is we're going to examine some of these ideas, and then we're going to open up, I think, one of the absolutely most interesting and insightful chapters in the Old Testament. And we're going to kind of work through that in light of what we talk about on the front end. Okay, first, let's discuss nationalism theologically. So if you have a Bible, turn with me to the book of acts, chapter 17. We're going to be in verses 26 and 27, says this, he God, made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having predetermined, allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. Okay, so according to scripture, who created nations? His name is God. Good. Who decides and establishes the boundaries of said nation?
[00:04:29] God. In fact, acts 17 says here that their boundaries are allotted, and therefore we know they are sacred. Okay, so who decides and establishes the time frame of a nation's existence, its inception or conception, and its demise? Who ultimately is in control of the rise and the fall of nations and empires? It is God. Act 17 says that the nation's period of time and power are allotted by God.
[00:04:58] What you see all throughout history, by the way, is that even the overturning of nations and empires, it can be good and moral. Let me just give you a quick snapshot of the last three centuries in the world. So here is a quick glimpse of all the empires that have risen and fallen in the last three. They've at least fallen in the last three centuries. The Otoman Empire? Gone. Spanish empire? Gone. Portuguese empire? Gone. Dutch Empire? Gone. French colonial empire. Gone. British Empire? Gone. Russian Empire? Gone.
[00:05:33] German empire? Gone. Austro Hungarian Empire? Gone. The Qing dynasty in China? Gone. Japanese Empire. Gone. Soviet Union. Gone.
[00:05:43] What's left behind is almost always a limited nation that was once an empire we are used to. That's just the last three centuries, let alone thinking about all of human history. Nations rise, and they fall at the will of God. So we're going to summarize. Nations are good because they're God's idea. Boundaries are good because God came up with the idea, and it establishes a nation's scope of rule. Nations are God's to give and to take away. And it seems in scripture that God's primary basis for removing an empire or a nation is that it falls into immorality bigger than this, the creation of nations. It serves a larger, more eternal purpose. And acts 17, verse 27 tells us why God created individual and multiple sovereign nations with boundaries. Here's what it says, that they, the people who live in said nations, should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.
[00:06:54] I want you to hear this because the trap of Satan's global agenda will be very clear when you can get your head around this.
[00:07:03] A world of distinct nations, languages, and cultures gives individual people the greatest chance of seeking and finding Jesus.
[00:07:15] This idea of a world with multiple nations, each with individual sovereignty, is not an american idea.
[00:07:24] This is God's idea. And actually it goes all the way back to the Old Testament. So to start, look at deuteronomy, chapter 32, verses seven, eight. I'll have those on the screen. But could you always look at your bible? Here's what it says. Remember the days of old?
[00:07:40] And verse eight clarifies when the most high, and he's called the most high because what he's about to talk about is communicating that only God has the ultimate authority to maneuver and move nations around. At the end of the day, the buck stops with him.
[00:07:55] Remember the days of old when the most high gave to the nations their inheritance? When he, God, the most high, divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the people. So deuteronomy 32 seven is actually referencing when it says the days of old. Genesis, chapter ten. After the flood, God established all the first nations of the earth, named them after their founders, and then gave them specific and fixed boundaries over which to rule. Why, all the way dating back to right after the flood, would God do this? Remember, acts 1727 just told us that they, the people who live in these nations, should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Why is this idea of nationalism so important? Well, number one, because it is biblical, but number two, because the other option is unthinkable and devastating to consider.
[00:08:54] So if nationalism is God's design for a fallen world, to restrain evil and give everyone the greatest chance possible to hear, understand, and believe in the gospel, I'll say it bluntly, because that's what we do. Apparently in this series, globalism is the devil's design to amplify evil and to create as many obstacles for people to hear, understand, and believe the gospel.
[00:09:21] Nothing keeps people away from Jesus more significantly than empires set on world domination.
[00:09:31] To dominate the world, you must dominate nations. To dominate nations, you must dominate those in power. To keep domination, you must dominate powerful individuals through fear or greed, usually Both. To dominate the masses, you must control information, ideas, and especially religion. And you must punish defectors. Welcome to every empire. All throughout history, told over and over and over again, it's a story that so many humans have had to endure and die at the hands of history, in the hands of the demonic, flows in only one direction. And it is globalism that pushes the world toward a one world government. No more nations, no more national sovereignty, no more borders. One world, one government, one ruler, one law. Does that sound enticing to anybody in this room, by the way? Probably not.
[00:10:20] So achieving this goal requires the dismantling of the four biblical enemies of globalism. I want you to hear this because you need to have eyes to see what happens real time here. And as you read the story of Daniel and the babylonian captivity, as you just read history books about Germany, World War II, it's always these four enemies that if someone is going to move an empire towards global domination, these things get in the way. Number one enemy number one is individual rights. Individual rights is not an american idea. Old Testament law is the first law in human history that removed the dictator, that removed the one person of which all people are subservient to, where God is it. And it gives individual rights to every human being who lives in the borders and the boundaries of that nation. People have the opportunity for individual, unique autonomy. They have the ability to own property and to own land. When said individual rights are violated, there is a minimal law set aside to make sure justice is upheld communally and locally. It is a powerful, powerful way to approach a nation. And this idea is not american. It is God's idea. And it was set forth in Old Testament law and this nation, the first nation in history that did it differently.
[00:11:40] Globalism does not value individual rights because it doesn't exist for you. You exist for it.
[00:11:48] Enemy number two, the family unit. There are few greater hindrances to globalism than an intact family that is intentionally raising its children. Distract the parents so that the state can raise your children on social media. In fact, destroy the marriage so that while you're busy trying to fix that, the state can say, we've got your kids, and we have a wonderful plan for their life. Trust us.
[00:12:12] In the modern era, whenever globalism is on the rise, it seeks control of child rearing and indoctrination, from preschool to higher ed. They must control the news, social media, the flow of information, so that they can replace moms and dads. This is not new. It's not a conspiracy. It happens over and over and over again in history.
[00:12:34] Enemy number three of global enemy number three is national sovereignty.
[00:12:39] Globalism, unchecked, will eventually require nations to acquiesce their own will and their own sovereignty for, of course, the common good and of course, their leaders. Also. They can sell themselves and their people for a cost.
[00:12:57] And all you need is a national or global cataclysm. Enemy number four is the church.
[00:13:05] Only the church has the power of the gospel at its fingertips. And we're going to watch this towards the end of the message here. But if you do not have the power of the gospel, the Holy Spirit in you, you will not be able to sustain if you happen to make it long enough in this world. And if the evil one has his agenda satisfied, you will need the power of the Holy Spirit in order to remain faithful to Jesus. So the goal of globalism, no matter where you find it, whatever package it comes in, communism, socialism, democratic socialism, republican, democrat, independent, libertarian, doesn't matter. Satan will masquerade as any global or any political party to take down these four enemies. This is why I'm not loyal to political parties. Because what was once a Republican is now a Democrat. Was once a Democrat, becomes a Republican, and then it's a libertarian. And then in three months, that changes. And then you're stuck on some kind of video and recording advocating for something. It's ridiculous. My desire for you is that you have a biblical lens by which you view individuals, policies, et cetera, and the world. And you open your eyes to say, we've seen this before. Actually, when someone or something is pushing the world to this hyper consolidation of power, there are typically going to be darker forces at work. And this pattern is always the same. We have the privilege to look at this in scriptures with the babylonian empire, the assyrian empire, the greek empire, the Roman Empire. And it's interesting, because what you find in this ebb and flow is that as empires rise and then as they fall, every time they fall, there's a reversion back to this nationalism. And then somebody comes in and tries to coalesce power again. But here's the deal. These are all appetizers, because the scriptures do teach that at the end of the world, there's actually going to be no restraint. And there will be someone given authority over all the nations. And so you never know when that's going to be. But we do know at the end of time that is coming. And you're going to need the power of the Holy Spirit. All right, so as we examine scriptures closely, we learn something really important. And I want you to all to hear this. The demonic realm has organized itself around nations for maximum impact and a one world government.
[00:15:25] So if you have a Bible, open it to Daniel, chapter ten. Daniel Ten is the most explicit text in scripture revealing this organizational structure to set the context. The year is 536 BC. And if you remember, Daniel and his friends were taken by Babylon. They were taken from their home in Israel and brought, or their families were brought back to Babylon. I want to help you in order to understand Daniel Ten, I want to give you an analogy that will maybe help you understand what's happening and what it's like to be Daniel.
[00:16:04] I want you to imagine that China invades the United States of America and they strip America of all of its wealth. They ship our young, our brightest and our most talented across the world.
[00:16:20] Imagine you're actually one of them. And you're given a new name, a new language, and you are forced to learn a new culture.
[00:16:31] By the way, welcome to Daniel's world.
[00:16:35] Now imagine Russia for fun, arose, destroyed China and ruled the world. And they had a different policy as it regarded to slaves. What they decided to do is they would send everybody back to where they came from, allow them to rebuild their respective nations, but they would still keep power and control. So it's sort of making them feel like they're benevolent but still retaining their global control.
[00:17:00] Imagine you get to be the person who, after being extracted and your family and all your loved ones from your life, and to have your homeland destroyed, to have your capital destroyed, you get to go back and lead the charge and you get to rebuild your capital city. This is what Daniel is experiencing. Daniel has a privilege to be a part of this crew that goes back home to rebuild Jerusalem and to rebuild the nation of Israel.
[00:17:30] Do you guys think that that process, when he got back to Israel to rebuild was easy or hard?
[00:17:36] It's excruciating because there are forces that work behind the scenes that did not want this nation rebuilt. And so Daniel, chapter ten, verse one. Here's what it says. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel. And this word was an answer to a very specific prayer. Daniel spent 21 days fasting and praying. And here's the question, God, why is this so hard? We are going back to the land you gave us. We are trying to be about your business and build your nation. And everything is difficult and there are obstacles everywhere. What is going on? So with this context in mind, what I want to do is I want to read for you Daniel, chapter ten, verses one through twelve. And I want you to listen along. Or if you have a Bible, you can follow in your Bible.
[00:18:22] In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, 536 BC, a word was revealed to Daniel, whose name renamed. Who was named Beltashazar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. Now, what happens in verse two is it's going to explain how all this came about. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning. For three weeks, I ate. No delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks.
[00:18:58] On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river that is the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and looked. And behold a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Ufaz around his waist. His body. His body was like barrel. His face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze. The sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel alone, saw the vision. For the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves.
[00:19:43] So I was left alone and saw this great vision. And no strength was left in me. I love this line. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words. And as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. Literally. He passed out in the presence of this angel.
[00:20:12] And behold, as he's unconscious, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, o Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. If you were Daniel on day 20 of this 21 day prayer and fasting, and somebody asked you, has God heard your prayer? What would Daniel's response have been?
[00:20:45] I'm sure he heard it, but he's not doing anything about it. I'm 20 days in and nothing's happening. Well, verse twelve tells us what actually was going on.
[00:20:56] Then he, this angel says to Daniel, then he says to me, fear not. Which, by the way, if you ever see angel, I never have, but apparently in scripture it'll make you pass out. Fear not, Daniel, I'm not going to kill you. It's fine. I love you, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words. Okay, angel, what took you 21 days? How long of a trip is it from the throne room of God to Jerusalem? Like you can do this, man. So now the angel is going to pull back the curtain a little bit further and we're going to get a look behind the scenes and we're going to learn so much about the demonic realm, nations and the movement of nations.
[00:21:40] The angel says to Daniel in verse 13, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days.
[00:21:51] But Michael, great name, one of the chief priests came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. Okay, I've got seven questions, a lot more, but I'm going to boil it down. Question number one, who is the prince of Persia?
[00:22:17] The prince of Persia is a powerful empire demon. That's who that is given jurisdiction over this empire.
[00:22:29] Now, verse 20 leads me to my second question. Who's the prince of Greece? I didn't read that to you. But in verse 20, there's another prince of Greece waiting to take the prince of Persia's place. Who is this?
[00:22:43] This is another empire demon. What the book of Daniel teaches actually, is that this empire is going to be replaced by the greek empire. And so behind the scenes, this other empire demon is getting ready to compete with the persian demon, the prince of Persia, and he's getting ready to overtake them. And history plays itself out. And inevitably, probably at the call of God, this greek empire demon overtakes the persian demon. Here's my third question. Who are the kings of Persia?
[00:23:14] Well, minimally, they are lesser demons under the authority of the prince of Persia. So we have this prince, king, dynamic hierarchy. Ignore that. It's not playing by those rules here. And so what you have is the prince of Persia, this empire demon, and then it has multiple kings of Persia. And what these appear to be are likely they are the demons that had oversight of specific nations. All of these nations came together under the subjugation of the prince of Persia.
[00:23:44] Okay, who is Michael? Michael is one of the archangels. Appears to be a small team of angels with the greatest amount of authority. It appears also in scripture that Michael's unique job is oversight of the nation of Israel and the jewish people.
[00:24:03] Here's a question, number five. How exactly did Michael set the lesser angel free? So in our brains, like, when we think of warfare, we think of, like, swords and blood and death, et cetera. Angels and demons, they don't seem to work in that way.
[00:24:21] Their weapon is authority. And so when there is a higher authority, the lesser authorities are required to submit to said demon. Now, there can be a duke out and an exchange of words, et cetera. But at the end of the day, lesser authorities, by the spiritual laws of the universe, are somehow required to submit. I don't know what it looks like. I've never seen angels and demons fight, so I don't know. But it appears throughout scripture that it is about authority. All right, so let's take a moment and just consider kind of the demonic hierarchy. So there's this empire demon of Persia. Well, who's more powerful than him?
[00:25:01] Well, there's Michael. Michael, one of the archangels, has a greater level of authority. Okay, well, then who's more powerful than Michael? And in the New Testament, the Book of Jude, chapter one, verse nine, it tells the story. It's a strange story, but it's pretty cool. There's a fight between Lucifer, Satan, and Michael. And they're fighting about the body of Moses.
[00:25:23] And Michael apparently doesn't have the authority to tell Satan what to do. So he has to go above Satan's head and call on Jesus and rebuke him in Jesus name. Because who has a higher authority and power than Satan himself? None other than Jesus. This is the one time we were like, what's the answer? Everybody in church, Jesus. And Jesus is not an angel. Jesus is God. Jesus is the creator and designer of each of the angels unique personalities and temperaments. Yes, they're not all the same. And so Jesus has ultimate authority, which is why, which is so powerful in the great commission, right? Jesus says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. Do you guys remember that? If you go back to earlier in the gospels? Remember when Jesus is in the wilderness and Satan looks at Jesus and says, authority over the nations and their glory has been given to me. And at the end of his ministry, he says, no. Now I have all authority over all the nations. That's mine. And so we see Jesus is at the top of the chart, period, and he is the winner. So good news for you guys. This is why you want to make sure you have personally trusted in Christ. Because when you are in Christ, you have his authority. So you want that authority if you're going to navigate in any way the spiritual realm. All right, question number six.
[00:26:38] Why were the highest levels of demons so invested in stopping this message from getting to Daniel? Can you imagine the expenditure of resources the demonic realm has put into motion to make sure this angel did not get to Daniel? Because give you the answer, there's something these demons do not want Daniel to know, and that is simple truth.
[00:27:05] Why? Because God's truth would have empowered and encouraged Daniel. And if you can encourage the leaders and prevent discouragement, they can encourage the people to rebuild. They did not want this nation to be rebuilt. They wanted Daniel to be discouraged. They wanted Daniel to believe this is an insurmountable job. You will never succeed.
[00:27:28] In fact, the message that actually came to Daniel was this. Daniel, you are greatly loved. God hears you from the moment you open your mouth. He loves you, he hears you, he responds to you. And the reason this is so hard is not because there's something wrong with you. It's because you are a part on the physical realm of a spiritual war. And this is a war about demons navigating maneuvering nations. And they are not interested in Israel having any life whatsoever. They hate you in this nation. Be encouraged, Daniel, you are a part of something that is going to win.
[00:28:07] Question number seven, why strategically organize around nations?
[00:28:13] I mean, on the one hand, it's very simple, because the greatest way to accomplish the most amount of destruction is through a one world government. Now, somebody, when we were doing preaching prep this week, they asked the question, so wouldn't it be more efficient if you were the devil to just enact nuclear war and kill billions of people all at once?
[00:28:39] The demonic realm. Demons are stupid, foolish, idiotic to rebel against God in this way. They're given over to their most base desires. But I'll tell you one thing they do really, really well. They play the long game.
[00:28:54] And this is something that we as christians, we honestly have a hard time with. They will set traps centuries in advance only for them to be fulfilled way, way later. And so they're used to waiting. They can go set a trap here and go busy themselves with something else. And so for them, playing the long game is no big deal. Now, let me just bring into you into possibly the way a really dark person would possibly. Think about the destruction of as many people as possible. You have option one, which is I can kill billions of people right now through a nuclear war, or I can kill hundreds of billions of people and torture them over generations through a one world government.
[00:29:34] What would you pick? Would you pick the easy way out? Or would you pick a long game of maximum torture of the human race? If you are the evil one, and Jesus is right that the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, you are going to move the world not in the direction of nuclear warfare, but in the direction of a one world government. I've got like 30 more pages of notes on this going to pause.
[00:30:01] So what, number one, resist the demonic trap of globalism, no matter how compelling the benefits or great the threat.
[00:30:15] This is going to sound contradictory to everything I just said for the last while, the desire for globalism, it's actually really good.
[00:30:26] Like this is in our hearts and not in a bad way.
[00:30:31] We want world peace.
[00:30:33] We want war to be over. We want to live in peace.
[00:30:38] The problem is that until it is Jesus who actually leads a one world government, it will do nothing but destroy humanity.
[00:30:52] No human being has the character to sustain that level of power.
[00:30:57] And if they're already moving in that direction, they have ignored the biblical, basic biblical principles that God has developed. Not global empires for maximum kingdom impact, but nations, unique nations with boundaries and sovereignty.
[00:31:13] And so you find in history, if there is any human that is going to move in that direction, it will not go well. And so God restrains evil in this world by not permitting these empires to get too big or for it to last too long. They rise and they fall and they rise and they fall.
[00:31:33] But this desire is so righteous, but it must be tempered, because not only do you need Jesus to be the leader of our one world government, we also need the eradication of sin from this world and from our own bodies and souls. The only context that it will ever work is on a new earth with Jesus leading the charge, sin eradicated in us, with resurrection bodies. Until that happens, there will never be a one world government that will do anything but to destroy the masses. And so we open our eyes and we look at the world and we say, interesting.
[00:32:14] When the nations move in that direction, we go, something's up. I don't really want to support that or to be a part of it. Let no one delude you to the social benefits of globalism. It's good for the world. You'll be happier, you will be destroyed, because that is the agenda of the evil one. So at number two, live as if it's the end and also as if it's not the end. Is anybody confused by that? I'm a little. All right.
[00:32:47] If Jesus comes back, are you ready?
[00:32:51] Number one, the only way to begin to be ready is to personally trust in Christ. You and God need to be reconciled to each other, period. That only happens when you come to God and say, I have sinned. I believe, and Jesus is my God. I believe he died for my sins and was raised from the dead. That is essential.
[00:33:10] You do not want to be unreconciled to God when Jesus comes back. You want to be saved, forgiven through faith in Christ. If you have never done that, that is my plea. Jesus could come back. Do not wait. Because if he comes back or the world ends, there are no second chances.
[00:33:30] But what if he waits another millennium to come back? I bet if you were to ask the majority of christians in World War II, when literally people are being killed at rates that human history has never seen before, they would tell you, surely this has to be the end. And it wasn't. And then every empire that rose and fell before that, if you were to take the people of God, they would say, surely this has to be the end. And then God restrained that empire. And then another one would come, and they would say, surely this needs to be the end. I'm not a prophet. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know. The ebb and flow of this next season of history. 2024 is going to be a trip and a half. Here's what I do know, Jesus. If you come back right now, I am ready.
[00:34:09] I have trusted in you, and I don't want to be the guy who, like, when Jesus comes back, I'm doing something incredibly stupid and living in sin. I want him to come home, and I want this place to be hospitable for him. But at the same time, if this is just another ebb and flow and these are all just appetizers for the larger event in human history that will happen at the end of the world, if that's what's going on here, then what I want to do is I want to make sure I am investing in a multi generational spiritual legacy for my children, for our church, for my grandchildren, my great grandchildren. I want to be about building the kingdom as intentionally as I possibly can. I'm ready. Jesus, if you come, and I am ready if you wait. And this is the tension of the christian life, take me now or wait, whatever it is I will be faithful to you.
[00:34:52] Lastly, so what? Number three, only Jesus can both save and protect you.
[00:34:58] The government has limits, but it cannot save your soul, cannot protect your eternity. It has proven itself to not be in the best interest of your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and the children coming after.
[00:35:11] But if your life and eternity is in the hands of Jesus, I'm telling you, that is exactly where you want it. I want to fast forward with me to the very end of history. Revelation, chapter 13. I want you to just watch as this unfolds. Revelation 13, verse five. And the beast was given a mouth, uttering haughty and blasphemous words. This is the end of the world now. And I want you to pay attention to these verbs, because the beast is passive. It's receiving here.
[00:35:41] And it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. Who allowed it? God.
[00:35:48] It. The beast opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling. That is, those who dwell in heaven. Look at verse seven.
[00:35:57] Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. Let me be crystal clear what it's saying. To kill them.
[00:36:08] And authority was given it over. Watch the scope of this.
[00:36:13] Every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on the earth will worship it.
[00:36:28] Everyone whose name has not been written before. The foundation of the world in the book of life, of the Lamb who was slain. Let me summarize.
[00:36:40] At the end, when the appetizers are over, when the empire stop falling, the empire rises and rises and rises to the point of global domination, every person on the earth will bend the knee and worship, except for those whose names are in the book of life.
[00:37:01] They will resist and they will be killed, but they will resist. And let me tell you who also plays the long game. We do. I'm not bending the need to a demon for temporary relief while I subject my soul to an eternity in hell. Kidding me. Kill me, kill my kids, kill my family. Have it. We're playing the long game. That's what we're doing. And so the people of God, we say, nice try. We've been trained. We sat through Michael's sermon on traps. We know exactly what's going on. We've seen this before.
[00:37:37] And we're not going to bend the knee, because we have one king and his name is Jesus, and we don't subject ourselves to any other king but him. And the only possible way any of us would be able to endure that is if you have the Holy Spirit, period. That is it. You have to trust in Christ and receive the Holy Spirit that way. Your name is written in that book. Those are the only people who make it now.
[00:38:03] The end, it might be multiple generations away, but I'm telling you that what it describes here, people, empires rising, killing christians, people who don't bend the knee, that's not just an end of the world thing. That is a thing that's been happening for the last 2000 years. And the only thing that makes these people stand for Christ is the power of the Holy Spirit inside of them. I don't know what's going to happen in America. I don't know what's going to happen with the globe. I mean, I watch all this carefully, but I don't know. Again, I'm not a prophet. And even if this is just an appetizer for something way in the future, a thousand years or more in the future, we very well may find ourselves at one point in our life in this position where bend the knee or die. And this is the only thing that will protect you in this is the power of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise you will bend the knee. The power of the Holy Spirit, though, is what protects you in these circumstances. And so we just pull back from all this and we say, I don't know what's happening in the world, but I do know that Jesus, whether you come back now or whether you wait, whatever it is, whether I find myself in a situation like this, in any time in history, my fidelity and my loyalty are to you.
[00:39:09] And I do not want a single one of you to be unaware of the ebbs and flows that scripture teaches about empires rising and falling and all of this stuff. But I want our eyes to be wide open so that we can just discern this world and we can look at this world and we can kind of skip the lens of politics for a moment and just look and say, God, give me discernment on what's happening behind the scenes, the thing behind the thing. And God, would you give me the wisdom and the courage to live for Christ? Not an emperor, not a dictator, not a president, not a king, but for Christ? So I want to take a moment, I just want to pray for all of us. Hey guys, we got four more weeks of traps and demons. It's going to be great. We're going to have a blast together. And I hope you're at least trained and encouraged in who Christ is and what he's given us. Father, we are so grateful for your word.
[00:39:55] I can only imagine Daniel has no idea what he's watching and what is happening, what's going behind the scenes. And yet we have literally millennia of writings where we get to hear people inspired by your holy spirit reveal the thing behind the thing. And so, God, thank you for that. Thank you that you are so clear and so blunt and so helpful in your word. And God, would you by your holy spirit, give us wisdom? Would you give us discernment? Would you give us clarity? Would you allow us to rise above all the temptations to political alignment and fidelity to Christ and to think and to love and to serve and to see biblically, that is one of our deepest heart's desire for us as individuals and as a church.
[00:40:37] And God, I thank you that one day there will come a global leader who will crush all of his enemies and who will lead with peace and who will restore us and give us new bodies where there will be a resurrection. And Lord, we will get to live with you and have all of the dreams that our heart really, really wants satisfied, but only in Christ.
[00:40:57] Until that day, thank you for the blood of Christ. We love you and we want to serve you. Help us. We need your help, Lord, if there's anybody here who has never trusted in Christ and maybe they don't know what to do with that, would you, by your holy spirit, just with clarity, reveal to them who Jesus is. Reveal to them their sin and their state.
[00:41:18] Remind them that forgiveness and reconciliation is possible through faith in Christ. Would you help to that end? We pray this. And, Lord, there are so many ideas and thoughts running through our heads. But Lord, even as we talk at lunch today, may we be filled with grace and love and salt and kindness. We pray all of this and so much more. We do this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
