This sermon emphasizes the importance of acting upon the Word of God, distinguishing between the prudent who build their foundation on God's Word and the foolish who do not. It draws parallels to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, highlighting the need to expose the deeds of darkness and be wise as serpents in the face of spiritual battles. The message encourages believers to stand against the powers of darkness and not rely on worldly things but on God's strength.

Folks, you're going to get a little antsy now. We have just looked at a foolish man and we've looked at a prudent man, haven't we? Now, I want you to listen very carefully. The prudent man acts upon the Word of God and the foolish man does not act upon the Word of God and the one who doesn't act upon the Word of God does not have a foundation. Is that right? He's foolish and the powers of darkness bring him down. He can't stand. Now, I believe that in the last days there were ten virgins. Five of them were prudent and five of them were foolish. Does that have a familiar ring to it? Let's turn to Matthew 25. Do you know you're to expose the deeds of darkness? Is that what your Bible says? Does your Bible say to expose the deeds of darkness, doesn't it? Expose them. And I'll tell you what, when you're going to expose the deeds of darkness, you'll hurt somebody's carton. In Matthew 25, verse 1, oh, I just want to praise the Lord. I'm so thankful. Praise your name, Lord. In Matthew 25, verse 1, Then the kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins. Here it is. Who took their lamps. What is a lamp? The Word. The Word. The Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. Look at me just a second. Please look at me just a second. The lamp is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path, so you'll know how the Word walk. If you do not have the lamp, you do not know the way. Your lamps need to be lit. Okay. So, these ten virgins, he took their lamps, and they went out to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were what? Oh, foolish. We just read about some foolish folks, didn't we? And five of them were what? Wise or prudent. Now, let's see what happens to them. Could you very easily say that probably this prudent one acted on the Word of God? And you probably could say the foolish didn't, because that's what foolish prophets and foolish people who have depraved minds do not act upon the Word of God. For when the what? They're the foolish. Mark it. Now, mark these as we go. Verse 3. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil. It doesn't look like they had the Spirit, does it? They took no Spirit, no oil with them. But the prudent had the oil, didn't they? They took the oil. The prudent had the Spirit. And flasked along with their lamps. Now, while the bridegroom was to delay him, they all with drowsy began to sleep. And at midnight... Now, let me tell you something about midnight. Jesus is going to come in a time of tremendous darkness. Now, let me just go ahead and tell you. He's not only going to come like a thief. He's coming as a thief. He's first coming for destruction. How's your fear of God getting? Is it kind of picking up a little bit? Think a little better to fear God than fear the devil? At midnight is the most dark part of the night. Is that correct? At midnight is a time of spiritual darkness. And that is what this is talking about right here in verse 6. But at midnight there was a shout, Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet him! Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. Now, watch what happened to Nate. And the foolish, who does not act on the word of God, said to the prudent, the wise, who do act upon the word, Give us some of your oil. We want the Spirit. For our lamps are going out. We don't see what you see. Now, I don't want to run that place. I want to give you a second to look in there and see if the Spirit of God shows you the same thing. But the prudent, the wise, answered, saying, No, there will not be enough for us and you two. Go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves. And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came. And those who were what? They're ready. They went in with him to the what? The wedding feast. And what was shut? There it was. The door was shut. Look at me. In the days of Noah, the Lord came for destruction because all their thoughts were evil. And what He did? He moved the righteous into the ark, which is a type of Jesus. Are you hearing me? And who shut the door? God shut the door and many came to knock on the door, but the door did not open for them, did it? And they were all destroyed. What, Nick? In the flood, is that correct? Isn't that interesting? The righteous, the wicked were destroyed and the righteous who were in the ark, which is a type of Jesus, were saved from the flood. Is that correct? Okay. So, they went in. The bridegroom came and those that went ready, they went in to the wedding feast and the door was shut. And later, the other virgins, that's a foolish, also came saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. They were trying to get in the door. Who's the door? But he answered and said to them, Truly, I say to you, I do not know you. Is that what you just kind of read back over in Matthew 7? Huh? Many will say, Lord, Lord. They don't walk in covenant of the Lord. They don't even bear any fruit for the Lord. They don't have the foundation of the word. They're walking somewhere else. They've got another gospel, another Jesus, traditions. Their hearts are not going to Calvary, folks. They're not going to die. Well, I want you to hold your hand right there just a minute. Now, is that pretty plain about foolish and prudent? You know, isn't it real interesting that we're right there so close? You know, I'm going to do something right here. Just back up in verse, chapter 24, just a little bit. And let's look in verse 37. We're pretty close here. For the coming of the Son of Man, who is He? Jesus, I'm glad you're talking to me. This really helps me. I know you're here. For the coming of the Son of Man is going to be, what's those two words right here? Just like the what? Oh, the days of Noah. It's going to be just like the days of Noah. For in those days which were before the flood, it's going to be the same way. When Jesus comes today, they were just eating and drinking. They were marrying and giving Him marriage until the day what? Noah in the ark. What's the type of us entering into the ark? In Jesus Christ. And then, now get ready with your big pencil, verse 39. And they, what is that three words there? They didn't understand. It seemed like some folks was in darkness. Some folks in darkness. They might have been never learned and never able to come to knowledge of truth. They did not have understanding. And Romans 1 says it is a depraved mind. It doesn't understand. And they did not understand until the what? Oh, it's going to be another flood in the last days. Wonder what that flood is. Oh, they didn't understand until the what came? Flood came and what? Took them all away. The flood's going to come and take them all away. Which direction are they being snatched? Up or down? You know who the flood is, don't you? The ones who didn't understand. The flood had already come. The door is shut. And they are, took them all away. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be. We're just going to look at a little of this. I hope we can get back. Well, we're just going to try tomorrow and just come back and really pursue this. Now, verse 40. Then there will be two men in a field. One will be what? All taken. What did we read is going to take Him? Jesus? The flood is going to take Him. Now, I'm getting some of those looks at me. Read your Bible so we can go on. There'll be two men in a field. One will be what? Taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. They might be making their own bread. What's women to type up? Church. You see them making their own bread in Amos in the last days and all this? They'll be grinding at the mill. One will be what? Taken and one will be left. Now, you are told and warned right here. Therefore, be on the what? Alert people are not asleep. Is that right? The opposite from being asleep is being alert. Have you circled alert? Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming, but be sure of this. If the head of the house had known at what time of the what? Now, night is a time of darkness. That the who was coming? Thief. And later on I'm going to tie this together for you and you'll see how Jesus comes and becomes a thief and you see how he comes as an enemy because everything, no power of darkness including Satan does anything out from the will of God. Now, if your head doesn't understand all that, it's not supposed to. You're just going to have to wait till we get it out of here. Okay. They didn't know what time of the night. This is a time of darkness that the thief come. Now, what did the thief come to do? Kill, steal, and destroy. The thief is one that brings a flood. Is that correct? Okay. He didn't know at what time of night the thief was coming. He would have been on the what? Alert. That's what you warned over in 1 Peter 5a. He would have been alert. He'd been awake. And you would not have allowed his what? Look here. Wouldn't allow this house to be broken into. Now, I'm not going to pursue any more of that. That's just about all we can handle right now. Folks, look at me just a second. I'll just honestly tell you something. The powers of darkness have really perverted a lot of things. And I'm going to tell you something. Don't resist the fear of God. If there's any fear you've ever had of anything else, I direct you to God Almighty, who is a God of judgment. And see, we've seen this sugar daddy Jesus. And we're going to be looking at a whole lot of this judgment and everything. And I want to tell you something. You'll be taking a lot better notes. You'll be a lot more interested in what God says than folks. Because you're going to learn that when your heart is turned toward the Lord Jesus Christ, He will lead you in all truth. Now, that's all I'll go with that. Now, let's just turn over to Luke 13, please. Luke 13. Luke 13. Begin reading with me in verse 23. And someone said to Him, Lord, are there just a few who are being slaved? The Amplified calls that rescued. And He said to them, Strive to enter by the what door? Honey, you better get in that narrow door. We just read about it in Matthew 7. Strive to enter by the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter this narrow door. And they'll not be able. 25, once the head of the house gets up and he shuts the door. Did he shut the door back in the days of Noah? And you begin to stand where? You're outside. You're outside just like they were outside the ark. And then you begin knocking on the door. Look at me. How do you knock on the door? You knock on the door when you pray. Who is the door? You're praying, Jesus, let me in. Let me in. See, you remember the scripture in Matthew? You have to keep knocking and knocking and knocking. But these are going to be knocking. Let me in. Jesus, the door, let me in. See, he is the ark. You know, there was another ark that's called... Now, I want you to listen to me. We'll read that next chapter in a minute. Did you miss it? There was an ark that's supposed to be carried on sanctified shoulders. Is that correct? And they made... What's that ark a type of? What is in the ark? The tablet, the word, the rod, which is authority. The man of all of this is Jesus, a type of Jesus. And they made a cart for it. That's a beautiful new cart. Joshua 3. And they got the cart going. The man stepped out there to touch it and he killed him. And what he said in Joshua 3? The ark is coming your way. Don't touch it. This ark you'll not put on a cart. You'll not put Jesus in the gospel on a bunch of carts. There's a lot of carts carrying Jesus today in the gospel. A lot of carts. Oh, you'll put it on sanctified shoulders. How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the gospel of Christ. And you notice that when they put that ark on these sanctified shoulders, as soon as a priest, which is a type of us, the soles of their feet got into the water. What's the water? The flowers of darkness. It floods over and it's season, isn't it? That's them. And when they stood in the waters, the waters parted. Who are the waters? That's them. That's the blood. And these are the priests and all Israel passed through. That's the people of God. So you begin knocking on the door. Jesus, pray and let me in, Lord. You're standing outside saying, Lord, open to us. We're 25. Then he'll answer and say to you, I do not know where you're from. You're not of my house. I don't know you. I know my sheep. And then you'll begin to say, now, Lord, you know, we've been listening to your word and we've been doing all these things and you just, we ate and we drank your word right here and you've been in our presence and you've talked in our streets for 40 years. And he'll say there, 27, he'll say, I tell you, I do not know where you're from. Depart from me, all you evildoers, the wrong fruit. Romans 13, please. Let me ask you something. You think any sleeping people today? You think any people not sober, serious and on the alert? That's what you're warned to be? You have to be alert to take every thought captive of the obedience of Jesus. God didn't say that you have to take every thought captive if you couldn't do it, did he? Did he come and put you into this Bible for you to grade it and analyze it and vote on it? Are you going to condemn God or get in on Him? Romans 13, verse 11, And this do, knowing the time, it's already the hour for you to what? Wake up, you sleepers. And that's what we read earlier. Awaken from sleep. Didn't I read to you in Matthew 13? Look here. Their eyes are closed. They can't hear. They can't see. And then when we read in Matthew 13, it's a parable of the Word of God. They can't hear and they can't see. You saw it over in 2 Timothy 3. They have a point of godliness, doesn't avoid such men as these. They're ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of truth. They oppose the truth. Awaken from sleep. Now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night, the time of darkness is almost gone and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness. Do you understand what the deeds of darkness are? The deeds of darkness is the lust of the flesh. Lay them aside. And what's those two words? Put on. What did we read earlier? We put on the what? Look at me, folks. Now I want you in your Bible to mark that armor of light. That armor right there are the weapons of Jesus. When you exchange your girdle and you exchange your weapon, how are you going to stand against the enemy that's many a man more powerful and stronger than you are? If you don't have the weapons of your covenant father, you don't get his weapons if you're not in covenant. You've just got a foolish foundation. But does it say, awaken from sleep and get on that armor of light? Oh, that armor of light's getting a lot more important than it used to be since we found out there's a devil on it. Huh? And he's just killing you and destroying you, causing you to drift and drift and drift and drift farther away and away from the Word. And then pretty soon things are called church aren't church. Things that's called Christians aren't Christians. Things that's called the gospel is not the gospel. Things that's called Jesus is not Jesus. And just leave out holiness, keep out repentance, raise out a form of living in godliness, righteousness. Leave out overcoming the world and the flesh and the devil. Leave it out. Leave out discernment. There's nothing left to discern. Sleep. Sleep away, sleeper. You'd better wake up and put on the armor of light. God still sits on the throne of grace right this moment. 13, let us behave properly as if... Praise God forevermore. Let us behave properly as in the day and not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity, in sensuality. These things are the deeds of darkness. Not in strife, those are the deeds of darkness. Not in jealousy, those are the deeds of darkness. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ. There it is, the armor of light. And you make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lust. Now, that's what God says. You want some more literature? You want some smart words? He said, make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lust. Now, let's look at putting on that armor of light, which all of a sudden kind of seems kind of important and turn to Ephesians 6. Boy, I sure am against the local church. Where did that come from? Against pastors. My goodness. Praise God for the church. Praise God for the church. Praise God for shepherds. Shepherd's heart. Verse 11. Verse 11. Put on the what? Full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the what? Now, all of a sudden, do you think it's very important to be able to stand firm against the schemes of the Satan so that you will not be what? Deceived. See, you can be deceived and believe a lie and spend an eternity in hell separated from all hope, separated from all love because you chose in your heart to believe in a wrong gospel and follow after another Jesus. Is that plain? What do you think the schemes of Satan does? He say put on the full armor? He didn't say pick and choose, did he? When you put this on, you put on Jesus. That's the way you put Him on. Now, verse 12. Now, here's who you're warring against, and can you imagine? Now, warring against this kind of an enemy is killing, stealing, destroying, and putting you in a permanent, eternal hell and that's what's asleep that you can ignore this kind of a Scripture that we're reading right here in the next thing. Ignore the devil and let yourself be intimidated or made fearful. But for our struggle is not against flesh and blood. I want you to remember that your struggle is not against the folks down the street, but it's against the rulers. It's against the powers. It's against the world forces of darkness. It's an unseen world that's against you folks. It's against the spiritual forces in the wickedness in the heavenly places. How in the name of God can you stand without the weapons and armor of God? Where did that come from? I tell you, my friend, greater is He that's in you than He that's in the world if He's in you and working through you. But He's not going to be in you unless you put Him on and you're not going to put Him on unless you come His way. Verse 13, Therefore, since you've got this kind of war against you, it says, take up the full armor of God. Take it all on. Is that what your Bible says? That you may be able to ignore, that you may be able to resist an evil day and having done everything to stand firm. Now, are you told right here to take up the armor of God and resist the schemes of the devil? Now, folks, if you wasn't willing to sit there and hear about demons, see, I wouldn't be able to relate and talk about that part of the gospel, could I? And then if you were offended in one of these things, you know, they rise up and they kick in there and things like that, you know, that's them. And they got there through your traditions and lies and religious spirits and letting your heart go to other things besides the gospel, besides the Word and Jesus. That's how they get there. They're inside of you right now. Many, many, many, many, many of you. See, but that's not the big deal to be fearful about that. Plus, they've been there all the time. You just now find out about it. Now, who you fear is God. It's abomination of God to fear the powers of darkness. Of course, if you choose to fear them, you'll never be free from them. You will never, never, never, never, ever be free from fearing them, fearing them. Perfect love casts out all fear. God didn't give you a spirit of fear. A spirit of fear comes the devil. When you fear things, he's giving you power, love, and a sound mind. Now, you've got to agree with the Word. Don't agree with the devil. Okay. So, you take up the full arm of God, you may be able to resist in that evil day, and having done everything to stand firm. Verse 14, stand firm. Here comes your weapons, having girded your loins with the white. Now, first comes truth. And where does the truth come from? The Lord. It comes from the Lord. It comes from the Word of God. Now, he said, I'll lead you in all truth. Is that right? So, if your heart is fixed on Jesus. Now, if your heart is fixed on some middle man, you've got some idols in your heart. Get rid of the middle man. That's not meaning that you're not subject to spiritual authority. But I'm telling you what. I'm not subject to angels of light. And I'll not be subject to anyone who disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Now, you can know the difference because God has shown you the difference. Now, first you put on truth. That's how you put on the first thing you do to put on Jesus. The next thing, you put on the breastplate of what? You put on righteousness so your heart is set on what? Walking right in God's eyes. Amen? You're walking right before God. You're before God. That's what Abraham walked inside of God. This is what you do. This is your walk. That is righteous. Your heart is set on pleasing God. Now, the next weapon that you put on to do to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 15, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the what? First, you have the gospel. Amen? Now, there you've had truth, righteousness, and the gospel. Can't tell me any other way to have Jesus without having those. I mean, put them on. I mean, you've got them. This is how you put on Jesus. In verse 16, in addition to all taking up the what? The shield of what? I mean, you're... Look at me, folks. Look here. Now, I'm not going to stand on that Bible. I want you to take just an example. I'm standing near the Bible, and I'm saying, this is where I'm standing on the Word of God. Now, I want you to know there's a lot of other foundations. Let's just say numbers. If I'm more interested in numbers, then I'll do the things the enemy does and tell me so I can have numbers. I'll promote schemes, and then it'll make me look good, make my church look good. But while I'm built my heart set on number foundation, what about this foundation of righteousness over here? Because I'm letting the things of righteousness go so I won't split my church. Because I've been deceived into thinking numbers. Hey, we're going to see where all this foundation of numbers comes from, Satan. Tomorrow. Why not? When you better ignore them. What do you think the powers of darkness do when smart folks ignore them? When you're wise in your own eyes. I'm wise in my own eyes. I was wise in my own eyes at one time. What do you think? I was a fool. Wisdom only comes from one place, Jesus. He becomes our wisdom. Don't you remember? All mankind is stupid and void of knowledge. That set you free, didn't it? Okay. Now, let's continue. We have got truth. We've got righteousness. We have put on the gospel, and now we have this faith. Why do we have this shield of faith? That means we're standing and believing the Word of God and let God be true and everything else be a lie because we're going to be able, with this faith in the Word, to extinguish all these flaming missiles of the evil one. And there is a scheme that the devil continually tries to take to talk to you. Those flaming missiles come to you, and you say, God didn't say that. I refuse that. I refuse that. I'll not listen to that. My covenant with Him. I'll not walk that way, Satan. I'm not coming out. I'm sure not coming out. I'm in and ain't coming out. I won't receive it in Jesus' name. Now, by the way, the evil one is those demons. That's them, not ego. Now, verse 17, And take the helmet of salvation, there is the salvation. Now, are you seeing that's a simple thing? All these things are Jesus. You take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, you have the Word of God, which it is a sword. And that is your weapon. Amen? Okay. Now, remember those missiles that we read in James? If you care to write it out there, the faith to extinguish these flaming missiles, we read about that in James 1, James 1, 14. We saw that you are tempted and enticed. How are you tempted? It's not the God in heaven who attempts you, you know, in 13? Then the next verse, no, it's not. It's the one who comes to tempt you and entice you after the lust of flesh. Now, that is the flaming missiles that come. Amen? That is the temptation. That's what it comes from. You'll be an evil doer if you listen to the devil. Is that right? Okay. You remember when we received these missiles? Well, then lust is conceived. Is that right? The lust of the flesh is conceived when you listen to the schemes of the Satan without resisting them. And when you resist him, he has to flee. And we also say that we make our bodies, now here it comes, we make our bodies a living sacrifice and we know in Romans 12 and we also know in Romans 10 that our weapons are not of the flesh anymore. We don't war at the flesh anymore. We're in the spiritual realm. These are our new weapons right here. And they're divinely powerful to turn down these fortresses and this deceit and lies and everything else that's been put in our computer. We're washed. And then we take every thought captive, every argument that comes from any man, from any thought, from any doctrine or anything as we take every thought captive to the obedience of the Word of God, Jesus, because that is our foundation. Is that correct? We're also told... Now, I don't think we're going to have to turn back there. Can you remember all right in 1 Peter 5, 8 and 9, this is so important, that the brethren are told to be sober and alert. Is that what we read? Now, we're fixing to get into something. I want you to listen very carefully to what I'm saying. They're told to be sober and alert because brethren put up the shield of faith to resist these lines. The devil who's looking for somebody to desire, and we resist him, firm in our faith, and we suffer, and that's being accomplished by all the brethren that's in the world. The brethren in the world suffer. Is that right? Because they're doing that when you resist the faith, in faith, the shield of faith, against all these darts that want to stir up the lust of the flesh. You suffer in the flesh. Is that right? Did we read that? Okay. Now, you got your big pencil ready? Turn to 1 Thessalonians, please. 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. All the T's are together. Timothy, Titus and Thessalonians. If you get any of them, you're close. Okay. 1 Thessalonians 5. Oh, my. Praise you, Lord Jesus. Verse 1. Now, as to the times and epochs, who are we talking to there? Brethren. Will you please circle brethren? It's very important. Make you a good circle around brethren. We're talking to brethren. Brethren, you don't have any need for anything to be written to you. You know why? Because brethren already know a lot of things. Brethren's already told a lot of things. Because we're going to see there in the next verse. For you, please circle you. Draw your line from brethren to you because you brethren's who we're talking to. Are we talking to the brethren? Let me ask you over here. Are we talking to the brethren? And you brethren yourselves know. Now, I want you to circle no. Does the brethren know? It says the brethren know. Either you know or you don't know. Brethren know. Is that what your Bible says? All right. You know full well that the day of the Lord is going to come just like a what? A thief and it's going to be that the thief is coming in a time of darkness. You see that? Now, mark the thief in the night. Now, brethren know what Ephesians say. Now, here we go. Verse 3. Now, I don't want you to get ahead of me. You're going to miss a bunch if you want to read that next chapter. Now, verse 3. While they are saying what? Oh, we've been reading a bunch of folks this whole time saying peace, peace, safety. See, they don't resist the devil. When you don't resist the devil, you're not resisting the flesh. You understand that? And while they're saying peace and safety. Now, let's circle they and peace and safety. So, we're going to talk about they in this verse that say peace and safety. The ones that say peace and safety. Then what comes? Destruction is going to come upon who? Them. Circle them, draw a line to the them who say peace and safety. Is that right? The day of the Lord is going to come just like a thief at night and destruction is going to come upon them who say peace, safety. Amen. And it's going to come upon them suddenly like what? Birth pangs upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. Now, look at me. I need to explain something to you. Everybody look here just a minute. Now, there is groans and groaning of childbirth as you're dying to the flesh. Amen. But I want you to know and I don't know how much I'm going to get to pursue that tomorrow. But there is a birth pangs of destruction that's going to come upon this world as Jesus comes as a thief in the blood and the people are going to look at one another in astonishment because of the pain and torment and the judgment of God that is upon them. Now, that's the birth pangs this is talking about. Don't make it say something it's not saying. Now, I could jump to that and I could get into Scripture to show you just exactly what I'm saying but I'm going to have to build up. Let's go ahead and say the ones that peace and safety, destruction is going to come upon them. You hear me? You know what was in this man that was sitting down here yesterday when I saw him out door? I know it. Demons of pain. He doesn't have any pain anymore. Now, verse 4. But the brethren know this. The brethren's going to know all these things. Is that correct? And the brethren are going to have labels like Jim Jones. The brethren have these labels because the stage is already set because they're going to be so far it's going to be so off the wall to the flesh. But you brethren are not in what? Now, the brethren are not in darkness which means the ones who say peace and safety are in what? They are in darkness and destruction is on them. You're not in darkness that the day should what? It's not going to overtake you like a thief. You're not going to be surprised and you're not going to be astonished for you are all what? Brethren are sons of light and sons of day and we're not of what? Night or of darkness. There's a difference. So then in verse 6, So then let us not sleep as others do. The ones saying peace and safety are asleep but let us be what? Awake and serious like the Word of God warned us. You're alert and you have on the armor of God. You have the weapons of Jesus. You put on the armor of life. It says it over and over and over and over and over. This is the gospel. And you'll go to the cross. You will go to the cross. You will not go no other way except the cross. Verse 7, Don't sleep as others do but be alert and sober. And then verse 7, For those who sleep, do their sleeping at night. They're in darkness. They sleep in darkness. People in darkness are asleep. They don't know it. Their eyes are closed. They can't hear. They can't see. Ever learning. Never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. For those who sleep, do their sleeping at night. And here's the next part. Those who get what? Get drunk. Get drunk and what? Look at me. Let me show you. The drunk person receives another Jesus. He receives another gospel. And he stumbles, he stumbles, he staggers in drunkness because he cannot find the way. Because he has received the wrong gospel. And he's following the wrong Jesus. But, verse 8, Since we are the what? They. Let us be serious, sober. Having put on. There we go back to Ephesians 6 again. I tell you, you're going to spend a little more time with Ephesians 6, aren't you? Having put on the breastplate of faith, love, and the helmet and hope of salvation, you better put on Jesus. It better be this Jesus right here. For God has not destined us to what? What did I say? That the wrath of God followed the wrath of God or the anger of God? Destruction is what you're reading. Destruction. The wrath comes on the ones in darkness. It won't come out of the light. For God has not destined us to wrath. What's the opposite of wrath? But for the what? There you see. The opposite of wrath is always salvation. And we know the wrath of God is those who practice what? I'll just go back to Ephesians 5 and some of the other been readings. Look through your notes. You see, this is what you're going to do. You and the Holy Ghost are going to get together and go back over all these scriptures. This reading you got your list. If you don't read the Bible, you're not going to have any of my opinions or anything on there. If you don't read your Bible, you're not going to like it. You're not going to get anything else to take with you. Holy Ghost's a good teacher. You go with him. You go back through this, you should see the same thing. Now, what'd be real helpful because all the scriptures when I make emphasis on something, you should mark it, depend, because when you go back through there, you won't slow down, you'll read over it. Of course, I make emphasis all the time because I know where I'm headed. I point out certain things in the scriptures. I didn't get it. It took longer than three days to get this. For God is not destined us a route but obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. Hey, folks, let me ask you something. Let me ask you over here. How's your fear of God? It's good. You have to learn the fear of God. You cannot learn the fear of God if you do not know the judgment of God. And you can't know the judgment of God if you're in darkness. Therefore, you don't even learn the fear of God. You fear devils and folks and denominations and everything else that rises up. I'll tell you what. The Lord said, when you get in that persecution, He said, Milton, you remember Elijah? Open your eyes. Because there's more with you than there are against you. This would be a good time for John 3.16. Turn back. John 3.16, please. Oh, I sure do love you. I'm so excited about the Lord. I'm telling you what's the truth here. Verse 16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, in Him shall not perish, but they're going to have eternal life if you believe in Him, not about Him. Now, there's another verse in that chapter. Let's look at 36. He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son, he who does not obey the Son, but he does not obey the Son, shall not see the life, because the wrath of God still remains on him. They don't even know the difference. I think it's in Acts 5.32 that the disciples are talking about, we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to all who obey Him. In Hebrews, Jesus learned obedience through suffering, and He became the source of all who obey Him, and He got eternal life. Now, I want you to look with me, please, in Luke 21. Luke 21. Luke 21. Turn and look with me in verse... This is not on your notes, so you want to add this to your notes. I just decided to use this last night. It's not on your notes. Now, verse 34. Be on guard, God says, that your what? Your hearts may not be weighed down with what? Well, there it is, dissipation and what else. Look here. Don't let your hearts be weighed down with drunkenness. See, we always thought there was a pool room, didn't we? And the worries of this life. Who is it that brings the worries of this life and drunkenness and dissipation to you? That's what the powers of darkness bring to you to take the Word from you. Amen? See, because when it's there, that's where your heart is. Don't let these things... They said be on guard against these things. That same thing when it said be sober and be alert and take every thought captive to be this of Jesus. But don't be weighed down with these things that the day should come on you what? Suddenly like a what? A trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the earth and does it kind of promise you it's going to come on these kind of folks right there? But keep on the alert. And others say awake and watch. That's what the Amplified says. But keep on the alert at all times praying in order that you may have the what? You may have the strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and stand before the Son of Man. Does it kind of sound like you might go through something? It'd be a lot easier if our kind of people just got snatched on out. Those folks down the street wouldn't make it, wouldn't they? Did Jesus come the way inspected him to? There's a church, he's just walking in the midst of them. They thought he's coming one way. He's trying to come another. That's the way he is, isn't he? He don't always show up the way folks think he's going to show up, does he? But the brethren know how he's going to show up, don't they? Because brethren walk in light and they're not in darkness. They're not in darkness at all. Well, I want you to turn back to Luke 9. Why don't you just begin reading right here some things that the Lord is saying about himself. The Son of Man must what? Suffer many things. Now, let me ask you something. Did the Son of Man say that the things he was going to suffer, you would suffer too? If the world hates you, it's going to hate me. Everything that comes against Jesus is going to come against you. Is that right? All right, here it comes. The Son of Man is going to suffer many things and he's going to be rejected by what? There is church leaders, and there is chief preachers, and there's the writers. Those are the ones that rejected Jesus. And he's going to be killed and be raised up on the third day. And he goes on to say these kind of things. After he said them in 23, he was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, this is Jesus, says, if you wish to come after him, will you? Now, get your scissors ready because you may not like this. But if you wish to come after me, let him deny himself and he's going to take up his cross every day, daily, and then follow me. For whoever wished to save his carton, is going to lose it, his life. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and we know in the other Scripture there it says the gospel, he is the one who's going to save it. For what is a man profit if he gains this whole world and then loses or forfeits himself? In other words, one soul is worth more than the whole world. For whoever's ashamed of me and my words, do you understand that you're ashamed of words? Look at me. You are ashamed of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when you water them down, you compromise them, or you let yourself be fearful or intimidated about something that God says in his word. You are ashamed of it because when you're intimidated and fearful, you're wanting the approval of someone else more than you're wanting the approval of God. And he'll have no part in what you're doing. You'll just hope for the fulfillment of your word. Folks, I want you to understand that what we're saying here, we're saying to everyone here, not just pastors, you know, let's don't get this thing where we're hearing this thing and we're just looking at pastors or something. This is the body of Christ. Everybody. Now, for whoever's ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father of the holy angels. And you know, you would know over in John that it says, whoever rejects my word, me and my word has one who judges him. The words as I speak are the ones that's going to judge you in the last days. This Bible's going to judge not your appearance to others or how you've helped God out. This word is going to judge all your motives. It's going to judge you. This word of God is the judge. Amen? Well, we know, and I want to look at, in 2 Thessalonians 1, it talks about the Lord who'll be coming and he's going to be dealing out retribution to all who do not obey the gospel. That's how he's going to come. And I want to ask you something. Is it possible any of the church could be deceived like the Pharisees? Is it just possible? Is it possible when you ignore an enemy that all over this Bible right here, it says not to ignore and not be deceived and to deal with him God's way, with his weapons and his way, and then we rise up and we're so deceived. Now, I'm talking about some things that got handed down to everyone. I'm telling you, this stuff has been handed down to all of us who walk today. And so it's traditional. I'm telling you, the ancestors have not... The other generation, too, they've been summoned, but for the most part, they have not dealt with the powers of darkness. So we just had a bunch of things handed down and it's just kind of a lot of things, these unspoken traditions and things which have turned us against one another, separated us from one another, kept us bound up, has not been any freedom, and not to have any liberty, and to have death ministered to us instead of life. See, the Pharisees already had all the life, didn't they? Didn't they? They already rich and increased with good. Do you remember? I'll tell you again, over in Revelation 3, what the Lord said, He said, you're already rich, you already arrived. You're already there, lukewarm. See, you take a cold person, you can get him hot. You can get a hot person, you can get him hotter, but a lukewarm person, he's already got it all. And the Lord said, I'll spew you out of my mouth. The Greek for that is puke. Remember the whole operation of the powers of darkness is to keep you from knowing the truth and believing the lie. Now, if you don't deal with them, what do you think they do? They've deceived all of us. So now we find out about it. We've got a little light. This is just... Folks, I'm going to tell you, what we're looking at right here is so little. I know there's so much more besides. This is so... This is just so... This is just a little tatsy bit. So we're not going to gather around it and start another denomination, are we? Now, remember, I'll show you later on in Hosea, a proud person is satisfied. A satisfied person does not need God. He doesn't need God. And that's what happens when pride is in your life. God resists pride, folks. But He gives His grace to who? The humble. All right, now, a church full of pride, it's as good as making a name for themselves and saying, the Lord Jesus Christ. A church full of pride is more concerned about what people think than what God thinks. A church full of pride holds up their image and respectability in the community instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're making a name for themselves. They boast in their own works. And they don't walk in God's Word. They analyze it while they're busy making a name for themselves. A church full of pride doesn't see their own faults. But they're always looking at the faults of others. A church full of pride, and this can apply to any person who doesn't humble himself and confess their need, they have a program to meet their needs. You don't have to trust God for something when you go to the world for everything. A church full of pride today wants to be an expression of themselves. They want to make a name for themselves. I want to ask you something. What can a church, what can God do through a church that's wiser than he is? See, we don't know anything about commitment and walking in God because we've been deceived. We make our commitment to church and denomination, not Jesus. I want to share something with you. I moved to Fort Worth and now live in Dallas. And it didn't make a lot of sense with the little buffing machine and left everything and left Cleveland and came here to Fort Worth almost three years ago. In Cleveland, Tennessee, where I moved from, is the world headquarters of the Church of God. One day there was a reaction to part of a teaching of this Bible right there and there was a split in that church and then there became two world headquarters of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee. Sometime later, there was another reaction to part of the teaching of this Word of God. There was another split and there became three world headquarters of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee. A little later on, there was another reaction to part of the teaching of this Word. There was a reaction. Whether it's right or wrong doesn't make any difference about what I'm fixing to tell you. There was a reaction. There was another split. Today in Cleveland, Tennessee, there's four world headquarters of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee. Brother, don't you get away from here letting out me getting to know you. I could bite a chunk out of him. There are four world headquarters of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee, which became four denominations. All of them is going to the same place. They're separated. They speak a different language, but they're all going to the same place. They all were started because of a reaction. Now, I want to tell you something, that whatever denomination you belong to was started because of a reaction. Is that what you want to gather your heart around? Is that where you want headquarters to be for your heart? They've all been a reaction since the Catholic Church began. And then your heart is gathered around it. What happens when you get more light? Well, if the light don't fit and if you hear something that's not already in the structure when it's formed, reject it, resist it. We've already got all the light. Sound like Pharisees? Like Pharisees. So you gather your hearts around part of the word and you reject and resist anything that comes to you, although you can say, hey, I've got some new light. Kill him! It don't fit in the box. Although, let me tell you something. May I present to you the structure? Now, I want to tell you about the traditions that have been handed down from the Catholic Church just yesterday. In the Catholic religion, the priests always have the word. And if you want to go, if you want to know something, you've got to go to the priest. And today, as it's handed down, the responsibility and the burden that the shepherd has to know everything, he has to do it all. And if you're going to know anything, if it doesn't come through that shepherd, it just might not be a God. Now, you ought to be very careful how I'm saying that right now. Because I'm going to tell you what. This is not the lesson of what I'm saying. It's amazing how if you have to turn around and explain something so simple because of demons and flesh. I'm not putting down shepherds, sir. I'm putting down hirelings. Now, there's a scripture in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 12 is part of it. No, it says, when you compare yourself. Now, let me just ask you something. Do you think today, here's a structure here. Here's a structure, and on and on and on. They all speak a different language. They all go in the same place. And they compare themselves among themselves and measure themselves by themselves. And 2 Corinthians 10 says, you don't have any understanding of the Word when you compare yourself among yourself and measure yourself by yourself. Well, hey, that's not the yard. They are not the yardstick. Right here is a yardstick. There'll be a lot of foundations. I want you to know the foundation right here is in the Word of God. What if one religious structure not serious about walking in God's covenant and Word compares itself to another religious structure not serious about walking in God's Word? Then where? The blind lead the blind? Where does everybody go? That's where your heart is. Better read your Bible. Jesus said he'd lead you in all truth. The Church of Jesus Christ is helped to go together by truth. See, when you justify your own self and you depart from the Word, that's called apostasy. That is falling away. And I want to tell you something, folks. When you have a reaction here and you have a reaction here and you have a reaction here and you have a reaction and all your heart is gathered around this teaching, this gathered around this teaching, and each one has tunnel vision. This one right here is looking at the Bible from this point of view. This has to read the Bible through these eyes right here. This one has to read the Bible from these eyes right here. This one has to read the Bible from these eyes right here. This can only see the Bible it reads from these... Are you hearing me? You're supposed to look at the Bible from God's point of view. That is righteousness. You see things... And listen, let me tell you something. Understanding can only come from you when you see something the way God sees it. That is when revelation comes, when you see something from God's point of view. And it's opposite of that is ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. So, once again, you won't have an understanding, a true understanding, a repentance, covenant, wholeness, righteousness, salvation, discernment, overcoming demons, overcoming the world, overcoming the flesh, deliverance, healing, spiritual gifts, and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Those things are all get perverted when we compare ourselves among ourselves, measure ourselves by ourselves. We can't have understanding against it because we're going to compare with them and we watch them pervert it so we don't have that part to do with the Bible. And all this thing just goes back and forth when God says, Beloved, I am the one who wants to lead you in all truth. I am no respecter of any people. And beloved, I want you to know that this word is not for private interpretation. What I show to one, I'll show to anyone else. This is a heart gospel. And I will lead you in all truth. And then when you know the truth, the truth will, absolutely it's going to set you free, isn't it? Well, let me ask you something. I told you that the beast and animals, you know, and so forth like that is a type of the powers of darkness, not in every case, but in a lot of the cases. You know, and it's kind of mixed in there. God doesn't make it too plain because he wants you to have the spirit of God and be a disciple before you can see it. Isn't that right? So what would be the opposite of the mind of Christ? Let me tell you, a harlot's forehead. That's exactly right. Have we got just a little time? Let's just have a glance at Babylon. You won't speculate tonight if we just look at a little of it and finish it tomorrow, will you? All right? Everybody has to go home with him. Revelation 17. Now, you don't have any problem knowing that when he uses the word mother, it's a type for the church. Is that right? It's a type of the church because the mother, now don't you miss this. If you found Revelation verse, I'd sure like for you to look up here because I'm going to be talking a little bit. You might not find what I'm talking about. I'm going to tell you which verse it is until I get through. That's what happens when you start paying. You know, Psalm said, That's the most blessed thing to see someone when they start, the Lord just starts ministering to them, the spirit of God showing them things in the Word and they start leaning forward, didn't you? About to fall over. Hurry. Like birds. Well, that's wonderful. But anyway, the bride is the mother and she's the one, she's a bride of Christ, he's a groom, and the church gives birth. Now, do you give birth to saints or a church can give birth to what? Harlots. Harlots. Now, Babylon gives birth to harlots because she's the world's in this church. She does. And Babylon's making a name for themselves. Boast. She wants glory for herself and she has, she produces harlots. She doesn't produce disciples. Let's look over, and I was going to just say five, but I'm going to back up. No, let's, I tell you what, let's start in verse 1. I was going to say five, but I'm going to add one and two. We'll do that. And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, Come here and I'll show you the judgment of who? Great harlot who sits on many waters and whom the kings of the earth, that's the leaders of the world, commit acts of what? It takes two to commit immorality. You know that, don't you? And those who dwell on the earth were what? Oh, made drunk with the what? The wine, the teaching of her what? See, this harlot teaches immorality. And look at me. She makes the world drunk with this harlot teaching and they cannot find the way. Now, verse 5, And upon her forehead, there are going to be some marks in the last days, aren't there? And upon her forehead a name was written of what? A mystery. Babylon the Great, the mother, that's the church, of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. Well, let's just look at her just a little bit over in chapter 18. Let's look at this harlot church. We're going to look at her a lot more tomorrow. Revelation 18, verse 2, And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon. There's the harlot. The dwell, she has become a dwelling place of who? Well, there they are. A dwelling place of demons and this whore church has become a prison of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird because their hearts are in agreement with them. They're living after the lust of the flesh. Worldly minded. Verse 3, For all the nations have what? They have drunk of the wine, the words, the teaching of what? The passion or immorality. Now, you know what I told you to put on the refrigerator? That those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ have died to passions. Is that correct? Okay. Doesn't sound like they're belonging. But anyway, they have drunk of the teaching of passion and immorality and the kings, that's the people of the earth, have committed acts of what? Immorality. That means the world out there. The people of the world commit acts of immorality with her and the merchants of the earth has a business, folks. The business, folks. The merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her fleshly sexuality, building monuments that you can see with your eyes. She was building up instead of building up this temple. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come to her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not what? Receive of her plagues. This church, who does all this sensuality, just loves to make a name for herself. That's what she's doing, making a name for herself. Now, if you look at it right there in verse 7, to the degree that she glorifies who? She glorifies her church. To the degree that she glorifies her church and lives what? Sensuously. That's where false teachers and false prophets come from. Lives sensually. To the same degree, sick her, give her a tormenting mourning. Folks, there's just no real telling where we are right now, are we, in respect to Revelation? For this poor harlot right here says, I sit as a queen. Look at me. She's saying it in her heart. Jesus is the king and I'm the queen. I'm the bride. She's saying it in her heart. Do you see that right there? Do you see that right there? I want you to see that around you. Circle it. She's saying it right in here. She believes in her heart that she is the queen. She's saying it in her heart. I sit as a queen. I am not a what? Look at me. I'm married to Jesus. I'm not a widow. I'm the bride. I'm not lost. She's saying it in her heart, but she is deceived. She's a harlot. It's not good, by the way, to be a harlot. So, verse 8, for this reason, this reason, she glorifies herself for this reason, and one day her plagues will come. Oh, you're in Revelation now, aren't you? Her plagues are going to come, pestilence, and there it is, mourning, and famine. You know that's not a famine of, you know, while a bunch of guts might be hanging over the belt, there'll be a famine of a different kind of bread. Why are you looking for the supermarket to empty her out? The spiritual bread is shut off, ever learning, never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. No understanding. It's shut off. And she will be burned up with what? Now, I want you to know that is the powers of darkness right there. You remember how we used to get this kind of vision in her mind and see Rome burning? Where the Catholic Church was, we'd see the city going to burn down all those beautiful buildings. Now, I wish I could pursue that. We're at the end of the day, but I'm just going to start right down here and I'll have to tie that together. You won't have any problem with it when we get through. Now, I'm leaving you at a place right here. We do have some more Scripture left, don't we? Okay. For the Lord who, what? Judges are as strong. I want to jump over to chapter 19. I just want to look at something with you. Chapter 19. We look there at the last part of verse 1. Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Verse 2. Because His judgments are true and righteous for He has judged the great harlot, this poor church that makes a name for herself, who was corrupting the earth with her immorality and He has avenged the blood of His bondservants on her. Now, please turn back with me to Jeremiah 50, please. Jeremiah 50. We're going to look at Babylon a little bit, folks. Now, I'm going to have to look here. When we start reading through these things, I'm having to skip a lot of Scripture because of time. I can't read the whole Bible. You understand what I mean? So you come back where you see these things and it's perfectly all right for you just to, I mean, just to carry it on through because you're going to have time to do it. Read your Bible. It's good. Now, there's two things I want you to try to understand until I can pursue this tomorrow. First, for any of you that haven't already come to this place to understand that a good part of the time or most of the time that this word right here, not every time, it is referring to lions or young lions or wolves. That's as far as I'll go. It's talking about the powers of darkness, the enemy. Now, I want you to understand that. Now, the second thing is the fact that I haven't been able to pursue that and it's the end of the day. See, you have to be wise as a serpent. You understand? And I don't want to drop something on you right here kind of unfinished because when you go home, they're going to start talking to you and they'll start building this thing and they won't get you on a telephone and see you take notes of everything he said that don't fit in a box and report. And then see what happens when you just see you're not hearing all of it, see? And I don't want you to be careful. Guard against it till I get finished on it then. It's a problem that you can't go three straight days together and everything that we're working through here these three days is controversial. The word Jesus is controversial. Do you understand that? His word is controversial. And so we're dealing with some things here that won't fit in a box. What do you say you get rid of the box? Okay. Let's look at Babylon. Now you got the fire and you got the daemons for the lions, right? I've never had so much encouragement in my life. Well, only the Lord can cause these things to happen. You know that. Well, I'm glad you're not snarling at me. All right, Jeremiah 50, verse 2. We're going to see it. We're just going far enough to see we're talking about Babylon then we're going to go on. Verse 2, "...Declare and proclaim among the nations, proclaiming and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it, but say, Babylon has been captured." Now let's go to verse 6 and we're going to look at Babylon. "...My people have become," what? They're lost sheep. They've fallen away. "...Their shepherds have led them," where? "...led them astray. They have made them turn aside on the mountains. They have gone along the mountain to the hill and they've forgotten," they're what? Where's your resting place at, folks? I mean, it's all Him. It's all Him. Praise His name. Now let's look in verse 15. "...Raise up your battle cry against her on every side. She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen, her walls," those white walls again, "...have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her as she's done to others so due to her." Now I want to ask you something. What is vengeance? Now let me show you something, folks. There's blessings of God for those who walk in covenant. The other side of that is curses. Demons are not blessings. And that is vengeance for the covenant. Now folks, I better not say it. We're not quite there. We're going home right now. I'd have to just pursue that some more. But there's vengeance of God for the covenant. That's vengeance of the ones who will not let God direct their lives. Amen? Okay. Now, let's go to verse 50. We went to 50. We left 15. Now let's go to verse 20. Let's go to verse 28. "...There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon." There's that whore church. "...to declare in Zion," the church, "...the vengeance of the Lord our God." Vengeance for His what? His temple which had been defiled. And we'll go on to see that. Let's just... Well, let's look in 34. "...The Redeemer is strong. The Lord of hosts is His name." Wonder who He is. "...He will vigorously believe their case." That's the Zion, Israel. "...So that He may bring," what? He's going to bring rest to the earth, but He's going to bring turmoil to the inhabitants of the whore church. Wonder who this Redeemer who pleads the case is there. Do you have any idea? Verse 36, "...a sword against these oracle-word preachers, and they'll become fools." A sword against your mighty men, and they'll be shattered. Verse 38, "...a drought on their waters." There's the famine of the Word, the drought of the waters right there is a famine of the Word. "...a drought on their waters, and they'll be dried up." That's the word, dried up. "...never learning, no understanding, for it is a land of idols." Their hearts go after their works of their hands. They're making a name for themselves, and they're mad over their fearsome idols. Let's go to 51. Verse 6, "...Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life. Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the Lord's time of vengeance. He is going to render recompense to her." Verse 11, "...sharpen the arrows." Do you want me to tell you who the Lord's arrows are? The Lord's arrows are the powers of darkness. He turns them loose, sick them. "...sharpen the arrows, fill the quiver with the Lord's, his arouse the spirits of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon to destroy it, for it is a vengeance of the Lord, vengeance for his temple, which has been given over to the powers of darkness." Verse 14, "...the Lord a host has sworn by himself, surely I'm going to fill you with a population like..." What? Did you ever read about some of those locusts over in Revelation? Folks, I wish I had time to get in some things with you, Nahum, Joel, the minor prophets, and you'd be most astonished. Now, I can't do all those things tomorrow, but I'll tell you what, we're going to get some more. We'll let you kind of go back over this, and then we'll crank up again. "...but I'm going to fill you with a population like locusts, and they'll cry out with shouts of victory over you." Now, I'll tell you what these locusts are. Let me just go ahead and tell you. It's them. Now, verse 20, here's something he says about them, and he says, "...you are my war club, my weapon of war." That's the powers of darkness. Isn't that interesting? You're my weapon of war. Just turn them loose. Only thing they know is kill, steal, and destroy. You're my weapon of war. Hey, do you remember that the Lord said, who will be a deceiving, what deceiving spirit can I go to? He's still in charge of them. He hadn't lost control. He said, "...you're my war club, you powers of darkness, my weapons of war, and with you I shatter nations, and with you I destroy kingdoms, and with you I'll shatter the horse and his rider." Now, let me tell you something about 21. You know what? Let me tell you something. That's those who follow the flesh. You know what the horse represents? Flesh. And those that ride it is the one that follow it. You're looking at me funny. Let's turn back to Isaiah 31. Hold your place there. Isaiah 31. Now, are you there? Now, you're going to hold your place. We're going back to Isaiah 31. I just want to show you just a part right here. Now, in 31, I hadn't planned on coming here, but this is another Jesus. In 31, look at verse 9, "...and his rock," that's his Jesus, "...will pass away because of panic, and his princes," that's his leaders, "...are going to be terrified at this word," the standard, "...declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem." Now, this is the people who have another Jesus. Now, that's the way the Lord might want us to jump over here. It's going to work in here, all right? Let's go back to verse 1 so we see who we're talking to. Now, this is the ones who have another Jesus. Verse 1, "...Woe to those who go down to," what? "...they go the world for help, and rely on horses." Now, you're going to see right here, this horses is flesh, okay? They rely on horses, and they trust in their chariots or carts because there are many. "...And in horsemen," because they're very strong, just strong flesh, "...and they do not look to Jesus." They do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord. Do you see that? They don't seek the Lord. They go after flesh, they go follow these carts, and go to the world. You hear me? And verse 2, "...Yet He is wise, and will bring disaster," and that's what we're reading about, "...and He does not retract His words," we know His Word doesn't return void, "...and He will arise against a house of evildoers," that's a house of flesh, that has another Jesus, "...and against the help of the workers of the Nicodemes, that live by it's flesh." Now, the Egyptians are men and not God, and here it is, and their horses are what? Flesh, and it's not spirit. So that's what they're up there in verse 1, they're relying on the horses. And you'll relate this all over about the horses, fallen horses, flee on horses, fallen flesh. Let's go just a little bit more. "...So the Lord will stretch out His hand, and he who helps," that's the world, "...will stumble, and he who is helped," that's the horror church there, "...will fall, and all of them are going to come to an end." To what? Together. Now, let me just give you an example about the lion and the young lion right here, and I'll really pursue that tomorrow, if you won't speculate about it tonight, until I can get the tie together. All right, now, it's going to talk about how shepherds are supposed to stand against the demons right here. Now, this chapter here is about those who have another rock, and they're relying on flesh, they're relying on carts, they're relying on Egypt, the world. Now, let's go in verse 4. Here's the way He wants His shepherds to be. "...Thus says the Lord to me, as a lion or the young lion," now, that's the powers of darkness, "...they growl over His prey against," now, circle against. Now, "...against which a band of shepherds is called out." Shepherds are called out against the powers of darkness. Let me give you a second to look at it. That's what it says. Now, and they're not going to be terrified at their voice or disturbed at their noise when they hear them speaking through some loud-mouthed woman or some church boss or something. They're not going to be disturbed or terrified about it. They're called out against that sort of thing. Now, "...so will the Lord, a host, come down to wage war on Mount Zion on its hill like flying birds. So the Lord, a host, will protect the church. He will protect and deliver it. He'll pass over and rescue it." And you're called out against these lions and young lions. They're not going to be terrified or disturbed. Isn't it amazing how the Lord wants to run over there? Now, verse 6, "...return to him from whom you've deeply defected, O sons of Israel. For in that day, when the people are turning to him, the men are going to cast away these silver idols and gold out of which your hands have made a sin. And this Syrian, he's going to fall by a sword, not a man." Now, this is a curse. "...and a sword, not a man, is going to devour him." That's the powers of darkness. They're turned loose. That's a vengeance on the Lord. That's a curse. "...and he will not escape the sword." That's a curse. "...his young men will become forced laborers." Now, when you become forced laborers, that's when the powers of darkness will control your life. You're turned over to them in total darkness. "...and his rock," that's his Jesus, "...is going to pass away." He's got another Jesus. "...because of the panic and his princes," that means the leaders, "...are going to be terrified at the sound of the word, declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem." Now, where was it? Let's go back over there a bit. He said, we're back over there in Jeremiah 51. Did I tell you that with these powers of darkness, with these demons he's going to destroy, I'm going to shatter the horse and rider? That's the horse is the flesh, and the one that's riding and fleeing on it, that's the ones that follow like the flesh. Amen? All right, now, "...and with you I'll shatter this chariot," and it's what? Riding on the cart? "...and with you, demons, I'm going to shatter man and woman. With you, demons, I'm going to shatter the old man and youth. With you, demons, I'm going to shatter the young man and the virgin. And with you, demon, I'm going to shatter the shepherd and his flock." That's Babylon. It's kind of right there, isn't it? 34. Well, let me... Do you know the earthquake that's going to come in the last day? Let me just go ahead and drop it in you. That earthquake is going to come when the Lord turns all the powers of darkness and loose, which are being this happening right now, to shake foundations, to shake foundations. And everything is not standing on... This is all over in Hebrews 12. It's not standing right here. It's going to come down. Everything that's going to be shaken can come down. That's the earthquake. That's it. Now, see, there'll be things in the natural. There'll be things in the spiritual. While people, now listen to me, are waiting for Russia to gather around flesh Israel, they're not watching this army come around the spiritual Israel, the spiritual Jerusalem. See, you're always looking somewhere else, looking at the natural instead of the spiritual. Well, let's look in verse 29. So the land quakes yet once more and it rise for the purpose of the Lord against Babylon's stand to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitants. There's going to be a great fall away in the last days, folks. Okay, the mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting. See there, who's Satan? He's one that weakens the nations. That's what they come on, they weaken, they just steal all your strength. Folks, are you beginning to notice that there seems to be... You go... You stay away from your home, people you've known, and kind of go back there a while and see what's happening today, folks. See if it might be a little less laughter, a little less... No, a lot less gaiety, a lot less smiling, and see it's just a slow thing, deterioration, and just gloom and sadness and sorrow, and it's just coming down. The mighty men of Babylon, that's his whore church, have ceased fighting. They stay in the strongholds. Their strength is exhaustion. They become like women. Now, here it is. Their dwelling places are set on what? Now, look here. Here's the dwelling place. It's set on fire. Who's the fire? Fire's the darkness. They're set on fire. Now, I'll pursue that a lot more. You just remember what I'm telling you. You don't have to receive these things. Don't fault me before I get to finish it, but don't receive it until you see it in my Lord, okay? Is that all right? Okay. We're not trying to start nothing. Now, the bars of her gates are broken down. See, that means there's no defense, okay? Now, let's look at verse 34. Who's Nebuchadnezzar a type of? The king of Babylon, he's a type of Satan. Has devoured me. He's crushed me. He's set me down like an empty vessel. He's swallowed me like a monster. He has filled his stomach with my identity, and here it comes. He has washed me away. What does that mean? Washed away with what? Absolutely. Let's look at verse 38. Now, this is this poor church in Babylon. They're going to roar together like what? They're going to act just like the demons. They were ground like the lion cubs at the powers of night. They're going to act like them because the manifestation of the spirit of the devil they're going to just act just like them. Now, let's go ahead. Verse 39. When they become heated up, I'll serve them their banquet. I'm going to make them what? There it is. I'm going to make them spiritually blind, drunk. That is, they're going to be drunk that they may become jubilant, and they're just going to have all kind of entertainment. And they're just going to sleep. There it is. A perpetual sleep, and they're not going to wake up, declares the Lord. Do you see that? All right. Now, let's look in 42. Now, we're looking at the flood. This is a very important Scripture because I didn't go through the other parts of Revelation 18 because I hadn't had a chance to pursue some of these things. But look there in verse 42. The sea has come up over the Babylon, this harlot church. Now, what is that sea? It's the flood of words. Are you hearing me? Look at me. It's come up over her head. I mean, she's sunk in it. That's the sea. That's the words that Babylon's in. All right. Now, she's come up over Babylon. She has been engulfed with its what? Cumulus waves. Let's look in 45. Come forth from her midst, my people, and each of you save yourself. Let's look in verse 50. Each of you save yourself from the fierce anger of the Lord, and you know what follows the anger. You have escaped the sword, the curse. Depart, do not stay. Remember the Lord from afar and let Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, come to your mind. We are ashamed because we've heard reproach. Disgrace has covered our faces in 51. For aliens, here they are, that's them, have entered the what? The holy places of the Lord's house. Now, see, folks, look at me just a second. Please believe me, when I start coming to some of these things late in the evening when it's noon, that's just that much of what I can pursue. This is just the beginning of the picture. You know, let me tell you something. Here's what the Lord says. He says, son of man, you go show the house right here, the house. Now, see, the house thinks it looks like that, but the house really is supposed to look like this. And he said, you go over and show the house this house. Show this house the house, the temple. And if they're ashamed, this is Ezekiel 43, which means if they're ashamed, that means they'll repent, change, return, change direction. If they're ashamed, then you go ahead, after you've showed the house to the house, and then you begin showing them the entrances, the exits. Show them all about the house after they repent. And then show them the law of the house because the law of this house is holiness. Now, aliens have entered. Now, where is the holy place? It's the Lord's house. Do you know that you are lively stones that make up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice, the exception of God? You're living stones. Now, Jesus is a cornerstone. You and I are lively stones that make up a spiritual house. We fit together to make up a spiritual house. You know that? Now, we are the holy places, and aliens have come into these places. Well, they don't get in there unless your hearts... If you're walking here, they're not going to be there. Are you seeing right there? Now, here, let me show you something. Now, I'm going to have to stop there because I want you to miss this, and then I'm going to hurry and get through. This great church is a stumbling block, and this angel is going to take a millstone and throw it in the sea, and he said the same way this millstone is thrown in the sea, this poor harlot church is going to sink in the words, and it's going to come up over her head of the powers of darkness. Of course, that's just what you read over in Jeremiah 50. Now, let's go on because I have more to say about that in just a minute. And here goes the entertainment in verse 22. The sound of the harpists and the musicians and the flute players and the plumbers are not going to be heard in you any longer. And here it is. No craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer. Now, let me just show you something. What is a craft? A craft, a craftsman is someone in the old, you know, in the older covenant when they had up to ten of meeting and everything, they were anointed for the gold pieces and put the articles and the holy things of the Lord, wasn't he? All right, now, the craftsmen today, are you evangelists? There's an Ephesians 4. You're teachers? You're pastors? Now, what they do, they're the ones that build up these living stones, the body of Christ that it is fit together. Read Ephesians 4. Make yourself a note there. They are the craftsmen today. They are the craftsmen that build up. Now, see what I am. I have a part and I build up the body of Christ and the Lord puts it together. Amen? I just got a part. That's all I got is a part. All right. It's all right to have a part, isn't it? Okay. No craftsman, see, is going to be found in you any longer and the sound of the meal will not be heard in you any longer. That's making your own bread. It's not going to be going in there. Now, what else right here? The light of the lamp will not shine in you any longer. Does that sound like with the wrong foundation? Does that sound like the sleeping, those virgins right there, they couldn't get inside the door? Huh? They didn't have their lamp went out? Okay. And the voice of the bridegroom, who's that? Jesus. And the voice of the bride is not going to be heard in you any longer. There it is. Just a form of godliness. Just go ahead and keep making a name for yourself. Just start dealing with the merchants of the earth, becoming rich in your sensuality, saying in your heart, I'm the queen, Jesus is the king, I'll not be a widow, for your merchants are great men of the earth because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her, this whore church, was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints and of all who've been slain on the church. This church is a curse to the whole world. Now, one other place, just a couple of verses and we'll be through back where we was in Jeremiah 51. Now, I want to just read where I left off right there. Oh, I wish it was tomorrow where we could just keep going. You know, part of it, everything has to be so short. Listen. Isn't it wonderful to find out your attention span is more than 30 minutes? 57. And I'm going to make her princes, that's the leaders, and her wise men, these wise, they're going to be drunk. That's the spirit of sleep. Her governors are perfect, and her mighty men, that they may sleep a perpetual sleep and they're not going to wake up, declares the king, that's the Lord Jesus, whose name is the Lord of hosts, the 58. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the broad wall above them, that whitewash wall, will be completely raised and her high gates, that's her defense, will be set on fire, sick them, the hedges down, so the people are going to what? They toil for nothing and the nations are going to become exhausted only for fire. Now in 63, as soon as it come about, as soon as you finish reading this scroll here that Jesus said up there in verse 57, as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you're going to tie a stone to it. It could be one of those millstones probably. You just tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates and say, just so shall this harlot church sink down, they're not going to rise again because of the calamity that I'm going to bring upon her and they're going to become exhausted. There they're turned loose and your temple, your body, your mind, your will, and your emotions just like a moth and rottenness, deterioration, and suffering. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. I want to remind you that I started out with you yesterday morning. We've still got one day left and I started out with you a testimony that like to blew my mind when I went into one of the largest churches there is. There is the largest church in the greater Louisville area and the largest church in, well, Southern Baptist Church in Indiana which I'm not trying to point just what I'm saying about. You understand that I'm talking about the whole bunch.