In this sermon, the speaker discusses the topic of temptation and how everyone experiences it. He uses the analogy of a movie called Sand Pebbles to illustrate the challenges faced by missionaries in China. The speaker emphasizes the importance of staying under authority and fixing our eyes on Jesus as we navigate through the temptations of the world. He also mentions the need to put on the armor of God to protect ourselves from vulnerability. The sermon includes a personal story of a missionary struggling with mental health issues and the importance of seeking help.

I cut myself, my arm in a farm accident, left quite a scar on my shoulder and for whatever stupid reason, I don't know, I told my son, I suppose I wanted him to think maybe I would ramble or something and told him I cut myself in a knife fight when I was in the military service. I was jumped on down in the Panama Canal. Now it was half-truth, I really was jumped upon, but I really kind of stretched it a little bit and I suppose I wanted my son to think more of me. I really felt sick about that, I was years and years ago and one day I sat down when my son was about 12 or so and I said, Carl, you know, I told you this thing, it really wasn't true and I just felt I couldn't live with that discrepancy between myself and my son. The reason is that I realized how important it is for every Christian to own that truth and to speak that truth and to live the truth. The only thing a Christian ever has to admit to is the truth. It's not something we should be afraid of. It's the most liberating agent in our life and if we can get the whole church to walk in the light and to speak the truth and love, we will eliminate most of the problems. We'll take the strategy of Satan right out of his hand. Unfortunately, there's a lot of cover-up and hypocrisy and lies that go on in the name of Christianity. And brothers and sisters in Christ, this ought not to be. We are the pillar and the support of the truth and we ought to proclaim it, live it, believe it, and incorporate it into our lives. If there are secret meetings going on in your church, if you've got leadership covering up things that have taken place, you're in the league with the kingdom of darkness. He's the father of lies. And the only way that we're going to overcome that father of lies is to choose the truth and choose it in our mind, speak it, and live it. The next thing we do is we put on the breastplate of righteousness. That's not our righteousness. That's Christ's righteousness. My righteousness is like a dirty rag. That's what stands up against the accuser of the brethren. Then we shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I encourage you to be a peacemaker. Beatitude says, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Anybody can divide a fellowship. It takes the grace of God to bring that sense of unity and to bring children of God together to become one and complete in Christ. While some may argue, I like to play the devil's advocate. My question is, why? He doesn't need our help. He's doing a great job all by himself. Let's be peacemakers. Let's unite the church together. If we could just memorize and put into practice just one verse in Scripture, Ephesians 4.29, let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, except for that which gets edification according to the need of the moment, that you may give grace to the hearer. Imagine, we have the capacity to give grace to the hearer. But boy, if we let that unwholesome word come out, and we're part of the wrecking crew instead of part of the building crew, the next verse says we will grieve the Holy Spirit of God. It grieves God to see his children put down one another, when the whole thrust of the New Testament is to build up one another. Let's be peacemakers. Let's put on the gospel of peace and take up the shield of faith. Get this out of the mystical. That's just what you believe. Everybody has tempting thoughts. Everybody has accusing thoughts. Even the best of people can be deceived. And the only way to stand up against that is to put up that shield of faith, to know what is true, to know what you truly believe. And what you believe has to be the truth according to the Word of God. And then put on that helmet of salvation. You don't keep putting that on. You just wear all the rights and privileges that you have as a child of God. You work out your salvation in fear trembling. It's already there. Choose to live it and believe it. Then finally it says, with all prayer and petition, pray all at all times in the Spirit. Now, there's a lot to be said here, but truth of the matter is, people, Romans 8.26 says we don't know how or what to pray for, but the Holy Spirit does, and He intercedes with us. Withdrawal is too deep for us to understand. He helps us in our infirmities. That word helps is a beautiful scriptural word. It's soon anti-lumbinal. It's two prepositions strung before the word take. It means this, that He bears us up. He takes us over to the other side. The prayer that God the Father answers is the prayer that God the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray. And the answers will always be there. Learning to pray by the Spirit is an important part of our Christian package. Then before that it says, take the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. Now let me point out something here. The word of God, in the Greek language, there are two words that we translate as word in our English language. One is logos. That's the most common one. When the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, He's talking about the logos there. The word that's used here is rhema. Now understand, there's only one word of God. God doesn't have a separate word because it's spoken. But the emphasis here is more on the proclamation of that same word. That's why in Romans chapter 10, he talks about the fact that how will they hear unless a preacher is sent? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the rhema, the word of God. And the idea there is that we proclaim that word of God. And they use the word rhema here, I think, for a very special reason. The reason is that Satan is under no obligation to obey our thoughts. Because he primarily, he doesn't totally or perfectly know our thoughts. Well, if he can put thoughts into my mind, why can't he read them out? Well, I've been sharing thoughts with you now for some time, but I can't really read your mind. You'd have to share with me what's going on inside. But he sure seems to know our thoughts. Well, two explanations. One is I could observe you for a period of time and pretty well ascertain what you're thinking. Because by and large, over time, we will out our thought life. Now he has that advantage. And so if he's crafty and he's clever like scripture assures us that he is, he's a far better psychologist than I would ever hope to be. And so he pretty well understands human behavior. And so he can pretty well guess what's going on in your mind. And accurately to the point where we think it's supernatural. And secondly, and more subtly, it's not hard to tell you what you're thinking if I gave you the thought. So certainly he has that advantage. What we have to do is to learn to speak out against that kind of opposition. The idea is if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord. Now the Lord doesn't know that, need to know that. He knows the thoughts and intentions of my heart. So he knows when I trust in him, believe in him, communicate with him. But the devil doesn't necessarily know that. The interesting part about this is, is that every occultic activity that I know of will somehow claim that they have knowledge about the future and about your mind. One or the other or both. But neither does the devil know perfectly. But you are tapping into some supernatural power here that has an ability beyond human understanding. And so therefore it will appear is that he can perfectly orchestrate and know the future or know the thoughts in your mind. But he doesn't really know that perfectly. So we have been encouraged by God to put on that armor of God. The reason is, is because to a certain extent we are vulnerable. To illustrate that we are vulnerable, I got a call from a pastor who is a former student of mine. And he said that we just desperately need your help. This missionary that we've been dealing with has been seeing her psychiatrist or psychologist and myself once a week just to hold her life together. And so I came out one Friday afternoon. We spent about three or so hours together. Two and a half months later I received this letter. Dear Neil, I've been wanting to write to you for a while now. But I've waited this long to confirm to myself that this is truly for reals as my four and a half year old daughter says. I'd like to share an entry from my journal. I wrote this two days after our meeting. Since Friday afternoon I have felt like a different person. The fits of rage and anger are gone. My spirit is so calm and full of joy. I wake up singing praise to God in my heart. That edge of tension and irritation is gone. I feel so free. The Bible has been really exciting and stimulating and more understandable than ever before. There was nothing dramatic that happened during the session on Friday. Yet I know in the deepest part of my being that something has changed. I am no longer bound by accusations, doubts, and thoughts of suicide or murder or other harm that came straight from hell into my head. There is a serenity in my mind and spirit, a clarity of consciousness that is profound. I've been set free. I'm excited and expectant about my future now. I know that I'll be growing spiritually again and will be developing in other ways as well. I look forward happily to the discovery of the person God has created and redeemed as well as the transformation of my marriage. It is so wonderful to have joy after so long darkness. Well it's been two and a half months since I wrote that and I'm firmly convinced of significant benefits of your ministry of freedom in Christ. I've been in therapy for several months and while I believe I was making progress there is no comparison with the steps I'm able to make now. My ability to process things has increased manyfold. Not only is my spirit more serene, my head is actually clearer. It's easier to make connections and integrate things now. It seems like everything is easier to understand now. My relationship with God has changed significantly. For a number of years, eight, I'd felt that he was distant from me. Shortly before I met you I was desperately crying out to him to set me free, to release me from the bondage I was in. I wanted so badly to meet with him again, to know his presence was with me again. I needed to know him as friend, as companion, not as the distant authority figure he had become in my mind and experience. Since that day, two and a half months ago, I've seen my trust of him grow. I've seen my ability to be honest with him increase greatly. I really have been experiencing that spiritual growth I'd anticipated in my journal. It's great. As long as we are on planet Earth, we're going to constantly struggle with temptation, accusation, and deception. Can we be influenced by that, whether it's just a direct battle in my own personal mind or whether I'm watching the TV set or in a raunchy conversation with somebody? And the answer, of course, is that it's a possibility. If we buy the lie, if we give in to the temptation, can it control our life? Not against our will, but can it if we do that? And the answer is, of course it can. Can you lose ownership? No, no. We've been bought and purchased by the blood of the Lamb. But we are always going to be subjected to that kind of a battle and it's primarily going to take place in our minds. But we can stand against that. We do have all the victory we need. God is on our side. Saints are defeated. We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. But I want to give a little bit of a picture as to what that's like for us. Imagine, if you would, you have just stepped out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son. And we are told that the way to destruction is very broad, but the way to God is very narrow. It's like stepping through a door. And as you step through that door, ahead of you, you can see Christ. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. But as the hallway gets broader and broader as we go towards the Lord, on either side, there are two-story buildings and people are popping their head out and they're saying, we're stupid, we're dumb, we're ugly. And on the first floor, they're trying to lure you in to be involved with this form of immorality or that form of immorality. Now, all of this is really a battle that's going to take place in all of our minds. There are three types of responses to that. The most defeated response is the person who does give in to the temptation, who believes the lie. And they just sit down. They could actually get up and walk on. They could make a choice right now to choose to fix your eyes on Jesus and get up and go that direction. But they buy the lie, they give in to the temptation, and they're defeated. They're children of God. They're in the kingdom of light. All the rights and responsibilities are there for one person as they are for another person. The next defeated person really thinks he's fighting the good fight. He's the kind of person that would respond, no, that's not true. Uh-uh. I'm not going in there. You're not going to make me do it. And you say, listen, boy, am I standing up against that or what? And I said, no, the problem is they're letting the devil set the agenda. They're not really moving on. It isn't the Lord who's controlling them. And they think somehow or another they're fighting this good fight. We'll always have the person who will go out and take on the Satanists, etc. I don't really encourage anybody to do that. I think what we're called to do is to proclaim the truth. And as we receive opposition, stand against it, but then get back on. It's kind of like Sanballat and Tobiah who were trying to somehow get Nehemiah to forget about building the walls and go out to the plains and negotiate. And he said, no way, Jose. I'm not going to do that. I've been called to build the walls, and I'm not going to take my mind off of that. The illustration I used to like to use, but it's kind of fading now because it required an eastern and a west Berlin. But I'm sure you can remember. Suppose you lived right by the border, and there was hardcore communists on the other side. And you had to go out and mow your lawn. And so as you went out to mow your lawn, propagandists were sitting on the other side, and they were calling you all kinds of names and telling you how we have been deceived, and they've got the true answer over there. And if you were really deceived, and you bought the lie, you may be tempted to change sides, and you wouldn't get your lawn mowed. The second most defeated one would holler back, no, that's not true. We're right over here. You're wrong over there, and I'm fighting the good fight. I said, no, you're not. You're really losing it. Well, what should I do? Mow the lawn. That's what you went out there for, wasn't it? You know, don't give the devil the agenda like that. Just do what God called you to do. Be the person God has called you to be. Choose the truth. Keep choosing the truth. If a lie comes in, should I rebuke all those? That's all you would do the rest of your life. You'd be like the guy stuck out in the middle of the ocean with 12 corks, and your entire life purpose was to tread water, keep the cork submerged. You'd just be bopping down corks the rest of your life. What should you do? Ignore the stupid corks and swim to shore. That's what we should do. Don't let the devil set the agenda. It isn't going to accomplish anything. It's the Lord. I like what Jesus said. I try to understand what God the Father is doing, and I do that. That's what we should be doing, too. Well, the best picture I can think of that is an old movie that came out several years ago with Steve McQueen called Sand Pebbles. It was filmed around the turn of the century in the Boxer Revolution in China, and they were assigned there to rescue the embassy people and some missionaries if it was needed. The story centered primarily around the missionaries because they didn't want to go. It got to a point where they had to get the embassy out of there, so they went in to escort them back to the ship. And as they were going back to the ship, they were just pelted on every side by verbal abuse and garbage was thrown at them. And they were to stay under authority and to fix their eyes on the ship and just keep walking ahead. Don't break rank, because if you break rank, what will happen is that that crowd will just consume you. And so they wanted so bad to shoot back or to react back, but they didn't. And they stayed in rank, and they got to their position of sanctuary at the safety of the ship, and then they stripped off their clothes because they were just filthy with garbage, and they put on some new clean clothing. I said, what a beautiful picture we have. We're stuck down here on planet Earth. There will be accusation, there will be temptation, and there will be deception, but if we just fix our eyes on Jesus and keep walking and realize He is the one who exchanges our filthy garments and we put on His righteousness, and we will find that safety in Christ. And so that vulnerability is there, but we have all the answers we need in Christ to really stand firm and to continue on in that path. Now, that degree of vulnerability is shown to us, I believe, in Luke chapter 11, when the Lord was Himself charged of doing what He was doing by the power of Beelzebul. Beelzebul is really a territorial spirit, means Lord of the flies. I mean, how descriptive can you get? That's a beautiful picture, and the Lord countered with the argument, it can't be me doing this thing. How can a king be divided against himself? So if I'm casting out the devil by the power of Beelzebul, that's not going to work. And He uses that occasion to teach something. In verse 23 and following, it says this, He who is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters. When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds a sweat and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself. And they go in and live there, and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Well, what do we gather out of this passage? I think it's important to note a verse that can be easily overlooked. He who is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters. Now, we're in a new age. What I'm going to say now didn't need to be said as strongly as it does now, as it did say 30, 40 years ago in our culture. But with the rise of new age, the influx of eastern mysticism, it's had a profound effect on the way our western world thinks. What he's simply saying is this. There is an absolute truth. Our western world was developed on Aristotelian logic. That's just a big word for simply meaning that there are rules of logic that are always applicable and they always apply. We were raised in our western world to believe that if A equals B and B equals C, then A equals C. Well, of course you say everybody believes that. Not necessarily. Of course that's true. But something is happening to our power to reason. If that's true, then that's not true. We've come to realize in helping our people get out of bondage, if they come to Christ and embrace the truth, then they also have to recognize that what they believed before now is no longer true. For some reason, the Protestant churches have left off one of the oldest public statements of the church. I renounce you, Satan, and all your works and all of your ways. If you were a Catholic, you went through Confirmation, somewhere publicly you would state that. That was said by the earliest of church professions of faith. Why we dropped that off as Protestants, I don't fully understand. But we found it necessary for a person to get out of the bondage of their past. If they somehow have used their body as an instrument of unrighteousness, they need to renounce that use of their body. If they have been involved in some kind of a religious worship service, followed some occultic practice, they need to renounce that. If you're dealing with hard-core Satanism, it becomes even more paramount because you're dealing with the Antichrist. Everything they do in Satanic worship and ritual is just the antithesis, the opposite of what we do in Christian religion and worship. For instance, our name is written in the last book of life. They will literally have them write their names in a goat's book of life. We're the bride of Christ. But they have had a ceremony where they were wed to Satan. In John 6, by faith we understand that if we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ in worship, which is our response in communion, they will literally eat flesh and drink blood. We found it necessary for them to renounce those experiences and to proclaim the truth in Christ of who they really are. They probably have had a ceremony where somebody was assigned to them to be a surrogate parent or a guardian. And now the Holy Spirit is the guardian of our soul, etc. When John the Baptist came on the scene, when he said, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, what did he mean by that? Well, if you break down the Greek word repent, it means to change of mind. But it has all the connotations that are associated with that. When he said to the Pharisees of that day, who were supposedly the religious zealots and the holders of faith, he said, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come? You come back and bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance. In other words, there needs to be some change of life here. And so, as John the Baptist would understand it, he said, I used to believe this, I lived this way, worked this way, committed myself this way, now I renounce that, I say no to that, and now I commit myself to the living God. And so, that's what I think the Lord has in mind here. But from this passage itself, you can glean some very important things about the nature of our spiritual world that we live in, and specifically about demons. Isn't it interesting that the world readily accepts the notions of a devil or Satan? I mean, Hollywood movies are made of him. But when you talk about demons, everybody goes, I don't know if I'm into that. Well, how does a created being carry on a worldwide work? Any honest theologian would tell you, it is through principalities, powers, dominions, and rulers. It's a demonic hierarchy. That's the only way that he can. What can we know about them? Well, first of all, realize that the historical church has always had a part of their profession of faith that we believe in a personal devil. That doesn't mean that you have your own personal one. What it means is that he's a person as opposed to a force. We're just not up against an evil principal, we're up against the evil one. Now, several things need to be pointed out. First of all, demons can't exist outside or inside humans, or animals, or plants, or whatever else. They are not controlled by space like we are. You're up against a spiritual being. Now, think about this for a moment, that God has to operate through the church. He said he's going to make his wisdom known through the church. What he needs is willing people like you and I that will be filled with the spirit, directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit. In that sense, we're the arms, we're the legs of Christ on planet earth. Well, the devil and his angels, they're spirits too. And the only way he can carry on in the physical realm, his kingdom, is to use willing subjects who will pay attention to his deception, believe his lies, and they'll carry out that kingdom too. And so that's how the devil operates. He operates through mediums, through chandlers we call them now in our present age, and that's how he carries out his kingdom activity. He doesn't have any arms or legs, he's a spirit. Secondly, they're able to travel at will. Somehow or another, they're all over everywhere in that sense. I don't fully understand that, I don't think any of us can, except that they are not subject to the same natural barriers that the physical world is in. You're dealing with spiritual reality. Walls won't keep them out, probably your skin won't either. That's why you have to put on the armor of God. Well, they're able to communicate. In this context here, it talks about the fact that they spoke to one another, each had a separate identity. Notice the use of personal pronouns. I will return to my house. It wasn't it will return. They're able to remember, make plans. They found the place swept empty and clean so they could somehow evaluate the person. They made decisions based on that. They combined forces. In this case, one became eight, and they vary in degrees of wickedness. That's why it says that this kind comes out only by prayer and fasting. I think the Lord was referring to the fact that there are some strongholds, some levels of the demonic structure that have a greater degree of power and influence than some of the lower levels. But the degree to which a Christian is vulnerable is probably best expressed by a quote from the early church by the church father Arrhenius. Listen. The devil can only go to this length, as he did at the beginning, to deceive and lead astray the mind of man into disobeying the commandments of God and gradually to darken the hearts. I believe that is the primary battle right there. It is a battle for our mind. And what makes the occult so alluring today is to have that supernatural knowledge and power. This is always a trick upon the population of our day-to-day because somehow or another we want that power. And you're dealing with young kids involved in Satanism. Why are they so attracted to that? Because they're looking for power. That kind of power is something that every child of God possesses because of their position in Christ. But somehow or another Satan has had that power usurped in him. Colossians 2 says that he's been disarmed and he's been stripped of that power. So he's going to try to gain that back. And he does it through his lies and people buy into that. This is not a minor problem. The Los Angeles Times said about three years ago that more ladies in the Los Angeles area contacted spiritists or mediums for personal direction and guidance in their life, look for answers from the occult more than they did from professional counselors. I had a young man come into my office one time and told me a story that happened four years prior to that. He was an engineer doing very well. His wife left him, however, and he had found a girlfriend. And the girlfriend and he walked into a psychic. Now this isn't the little white house with the moon out in front or a palm. This was a professional thing with word processors, etc. And they sat in front of this psychic and she was able to tell him all kinds of details about his life some of his best friends didn't even know about. Well, he reasoned, if you have that kind of knowledge of me, then what can you do for me? Well, she assured, as so many of our late night talk shows and psychic channels in the evenings that people pay hundreds of dollars to listen to, she assured him that she could give him wisdom and counsel and knowledge that would make him successful and happy and fulfilled and whatever. Well, he bought into it. And the first advice he got was to marry the young gal that came along and he did. Four years later, he's sitting in my office and he's lost his job now and he's lost his second wife and everything had really turned to disaster. I asked him, I said, how much did you eventually pay that psychic? There was a pause before he told me. It was $15,000. I was shocked. He said, well, that's nothing. My ex gave her $65,000. Would you care to guess how much I got in helping him find his freedom in Christ? Well, there are other rewards. We've never personally charged for counseling in our ministry. But people are buying into that. For instance, they go from California up to Oregon to hear Jay-Z Knight channel Ramtha, the 35,000-year-old warrior. Now think about that for a minute. Let's suppose that's true. It's not. But let's suppose it is. That somehow or another, there's a 35,000-year-old warrior and now you would pay maybe $400 a weekend to find out what a caveman has to tell you and how to live your life at the end of the 20th century. Is that stupid or what? What has happened to our ability to think today? And yet those people going up there are typically not uneducated. Most of them are white-collar workers. When they examine the Rajnees and the Red Guard in Oregon, they realize that most of the people who traveled up there were professional people. I remember about five, six years ago, a couple of graduate students that I was teaching in my class asked if they could get extra credit to go to a New Age seminar that was in our community. And I said, that would be okay. So they went to the seminar. And they found out it was $65. Well, that was too much money for them, so they started to walk away. But as they walked away, two people came out and said, we were just told to give these to you. And they gave them two tickets. And the first speaker was Terriko Whitaker. And most of the people listening right now probably haven't heard of her, but she used to be a Science of Mind practitioner, and she found more money in the New Age, so she went in that direction. But the next speaker led everybody. This is just a public setting now. Led everybody in a meditative practice. They were all to imagine a spirit guide coming alongside. Then they were to invite it in. That was two blocks from Biola University. The devil is giving altar calls. If people ask for that, will they get to that? Boy, Ananias and Ephraim would be happy to tell you, whatever you yield yourself to, to whatever you believe, whatever source of information you get your information from, to that you shall be filled. Not a new problem. Listen carefully to the words out of Deuteronomy, as the Lord cautioned them as they go into the Promised Land what they were to do. When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. You shall not be blameless before the Lord your God." That's a sober warning to us today because our land is filled with that kind of deception. In Leviticus chapter 19 verse 31 it says, Do not turn to mediums or spiritists. Do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. In chapter 20 verse 6 it says, As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists to play the harlot after them, I will also set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. And then later on in the same chapter, verse 27, Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their blood guiltiness is upon them. While we don't do that anymore, what we do today is we make them celebrities and we put them on talk shows. Isn't it fascinating that in the latter days of this 20th century, that instead of standing against that kind of blatant deception in our culture, we make celebrities out of them. You just change the title. Don't call them a medium or a spiritist. Call them a chandler. Don't call them a demon. Call them a spirit guide. And suddenly a gullible public is susceptible to that kind of deception. It's the same thing. In Isaiah chapter 8 it says, Would you consult a medium or a spiritist who mutters and chirps? Would you consult the dead on behalf of the living? Is it because there is no God to the law and to the testimony? If they don't speak according to that, it's because they have no dawn. Get back to the word of God, people. That's the only basis for guidance in your life, that and the Holy Spirit, which is resident in every child of God. God took very seriously in the Old Testament the issue of false guidance. False prophets were to be stoned to death. Mediums and spiritists were to be purged from the land. And yet people had a propensity. Why somebody would want a spirit guide when they could have their Holy Spirit as their guide goes beyond my understanding, but people are making that choice all over the world even today. In 2 Kings chapter 1 you hear a remarkable story of a new king who came on the scenes. He falls through the lattice, he injures himself, and he sends a messenger out to inquire Beelzebul as to whether or not he's going to live. And God intercepts that messenger with Elijah. And Elijah says, Is it because there is no God that you would inquire Beelzebul? Go back and tell your master. So he goes back to the king and tells him. The king says, Well, what's he look like? Well, he's kind of a hairy guy with a leather garment. And then he responded, Oh, he's the man of God. I said, How would you like to be known in your community even by those who don't believe in you as the man of God? So he sends 50 out to inquire the man of God as to whether or not he was going to live. And they find him sitting on a hill and they holler up, Oh, man of God. But before they could go on, Elijah says, If I'm a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you. Poof, there went 50. And they sent out another 50 and they had the same disastrous result. And then finally a third 50 goes out and they holler up a little wiser now and said, Oh, man of God, have mercy upon us. And God did. And Elijah says, You go back and tell your king he's going to die. And the king died. Well, the point I'm trying to make is the fact that that we are really caught up today in tremendous deception in our society. That new age is the present religion in our schools and in our government. Christianity is not. The church is just being patronized. You stay out of public life. You can have your private religion if you want to, but we don't want any part of it. In that spiritual vacuum, there is a whole host of deception that is taking place. And that problem is so prevalent around the world, it could probably be the religion of Babylon all over again, because that is probably the only religion that every king of the world will someday eventually embrace. Obviously, it is not embracing Christianity at this time, but that makes our work cut off for us. So here we are vulnerable on planet Earth. Let's look at these three channels. Temptation. All of us are tempted. If you ask anybody how many experienced temptations today or this week, they would all respond, Well, surely I have. And so if you say you haven't, then probably you're just a liar because we're all experiencing temptation. And the answer to this is not to fall back into some kind of legalism. Paul writes, he said, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. And so we are given good things on planet Earth, like food and shelter and clothing, but unfortunately what happens is the things that God has provided for us can step over a moral line. And then you see good things suddenly become unprofitable for us. Listen to how that can be in your own personal life. Physical rest becomes laziness. Quietness becomes non-communication. Ability to profit becomes avarice and greed. Enjoyment of life becomes intemperance. Physical pleasure becomes sensuality. Interest in the possessions of others becomes covetousness. Enjoyment of food becomes gluttony. Self-care becomes selfishness. Self-respect becomes conceit. Communication becomes gossip. Cautiousness becomes unbelief. Positiveness becomes insensitivity. Anger becomes rage and bad temper. Loving kindness becomes overprotection. Judgment becomes criticism. Same-sex friendship becomes homosexuality. Sexual freedom becomes immorality. Conscientiousness becomes perfectionism. Generosity becomes wastefulness. Self-protection becomes dishonesty. Carefulness becomes fear. How do we keep from stepping over that line? Well, we are told in 1 John 2, verses 15-17 that all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, I believe that is inclusive. I believe those are the three channels by which Satan comes to us. They are no different now than they were in the Garden of Eden. Notice how each of those is responded to by Eve. It said the woman saw that the tree was good for food. What's that? That's the lust of the flesh. And that it was a delight to the eyes. What's that? Well, that's the lust of the eyes. And that the tree was desirable to make one wise. What's that? That's the pride of life. And so the three channels by which Satan deceived Eve are still present in this world today. But what is the issue behind each of those? Let's examine them if we can. To continue on through Neal's message, please fast-forward.