How To Deal With Devil's Temptations

And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So verse 7, John the Beloved is saying that there was a battle that took place in heaven between the archangel Michael and his angels, and the dragon and his angels, but the dragon and his angels did not prevail against the warrior, the archangel Michael. The dragon is Satan himself, the dragon is Satan himself.

So Satan fought against the archangel Michael. We've mentioned this before, but I'll refresh our memories, and for those who haven't heard this before, it's an opportunity to hear it now. God, when we go back to Genesis chapter 1, the very beginning of the Holy Bible, Old Testament, Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 says, in the beginning Elohim, and the Hebrew translation is Elohim, or Elohim.

In English it's called, it's referred to as God, but in the original text is Elohim. So in the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. The Holy Bible mentions the heavens and the earth that were created in the very beginning, and then it leaves the heavens and comes and talks about the earth.

The reason being, the Holy Bible is a salvific book sent from God to the human race. So it is a book directed to this realm, not to the next realm, the spiritual realm. It's directed to the tangible, materialistic, the realm where the human race came to existence, by God.

Not the Big Bang, by God. So now, when God created, in the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. Heavens here refers to angels.

Why? Because the days of creation had not started yet. So heavens, angels, and earth, when were they created? In the beginning, outside the time frame. Outside the time frame.

So in the beginning Elohim created the heavens, angels, and earth. And it goes on and says the earth was void and formless, and then God said, let there be light, let there be this, this, and He started creating. But what happened? God created the angels.

When He created those angels, there is nine angelic orders. There are nine angelic orders. Beginning from the highest, cherubims, seraphims, thrones, authorities, powers, dominions, principalities, archangels, and angels.

So angels is the lowest rank in the angelic order. The highest rank in the angelic order are the cherubims. This fallen angel, called Satan, the dragon, was from the highest angelic order.

The cherubims was from the highest angelic order. When God created the angels, this cherub decided to be like God. He said, I will lift up, I will lift up my throne above all the stars of heaven, and I'll be equal to God.

This cherub decided to establish a kingdom within a kingdom. Where? In heaven. So in other words, this cherub decided to challenge God.

What happened? The consequences of this, God created angels. There was plenty of them. So one angel came and said to God, I choose to be with you.

Willingly, I choose to be with you, and I will fight this cherub that has gone against you, and is trying to challenge you, and establish a kingdom where there is no other kingdom but God's. The true divine God, the creator of everything that is visible and invisible, the spiritual, both the spiritual and the tangible realms. So this angel decided to fight against this cherub.

This cherub was named Lucifer. Lucifer, the literal transliteration of Lucifer, is the illuminating morning star. That is the meaning of the word Lucifer, the illuminating or illuminating morning star, the illuminative.

Now, to your shocking surprise, that's where the Illuminatis took this ideology. So Illuminatis, it comes from illumination, enlightenment. But this enlightenment is Lucifer's, the fallen angel, the one who challenged God and wanted to be like God.

So they call themselves the Illuminatis, i.e. Satan worshippers, period. Hollywood is run and controlled by the Illuminatis. My sons and daughters, young men and women, if you think Hollywood singers, Hollywood celebrities are your role models and idols, please reconsider because this is a deliberate act of Satan to brainwash the human race and take them away from the true God, from the true illumination, from the true light of the world, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

So when Lucifer, the illuminating morning star, went against God, from a light, being a light, turned into absolute darkness, from beauty to ugliness. So this arch and this angel came and fought against this dragon or this cherub that challenged God. And so many angels came in line with this angel who decided to be with God.

So this angel who decided to be with God, other angels went with him and said, we're gonna be with you. And then this cherub also brainwashed other angels and made one-third of them fall from the glory which God gave them when he first created them. He deceived one-third of the angels of heaven.

That is not a bad number. So if you want to fight Satan on your own, good luck. You can't win with him.

He's very smart for you alone outside of Christ. Without Jesus, no one can fight against Satan. He's too smart.

So he deceived one-third of the angelic orders and made them fall. And he fought with his fallen angels against this angel with the angels of God. And the angels of God prevailed and kicked this cherub who became Satan, who was called Lucifer, who became Satan.

They kicked him out with those foul spirits that followed him, kicked them, all of them out of heaven. This angel that overcame Satan was called Michael. And you see his icons being depicted, an angel with wings, with a spear in his hands, killing the dragon, Satan.

That is the archangel Michael. Now the name Michael is a Hebrew name, is a Hebrew name, Mikael. That is the proper pronunciation, Mikael.

Mikael is a compounded word, two words in one. In Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, they're all Semitic languages, they're the same. Mikael means from now on, literally.

It means from this moment onward or from now on. The word El in Hebrew or Aramaic, Syriac, means God. So Mikael, from now on, I am the angel of God.

That's the name of Michael, the meaning of it. From this moment onwards, I am the angel of God. He decided to be the angel of God freely, willingly.

The archangel Michael is also from the cherub, the highest angelic orders. So he fought with those angels who took his side against Lucifer, the fallen angel who became Satan, with one-third of the angels of heaven. They fought against each other, the angels of God, led by Mikael, Michael.

From this moment onward, I am the angel of God. And they prevailed against Satan and the fallen angels. They were kicked out of heaven.

I don't think I'm gonna have the time. Now, where did this fighting take place? Please pay attention. Now, this is biblical truths.

So if you've been wondering why are things going wrong in your life, maybe today you'll get your answer. This fighting took place in the heaven of all heavens. In the heaven of all heavens, where the Lord Jesus, after resurrection, went up and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

The right hand of the Father is the heaven of all heavens, where this fighting took place, this battle, in verse 7, which John the Beloved is mentioning. It happened in the heavens of all heavens. Satan has three falls to go through.

Two of them are already, he's already fallen. One more is to come. One more is to come.

The first fall, the first fall was from the heaven of all heavens. He got kicked out by the Archangel Michael. When he was kicked out from the heaven of all heavens, he fell into the, into what we call the heaven of the air.

So he is the prince of the air. And then the third one is gonna be when he falls from the heaven of the air into the, onto the land, onto the earth. Now, prior to the Lord's coming, prior to the Lord's crucifixion, prior to the Lord's resurrection, Satan, Lucifer, after he had fallen from the heaven of all heavens, he used to enter heaven and complain us to God.

So he would go to God and say, well God, you said so-and-so was a true servant of yours. He was a child of yours. Well, look at him.

Look what I've done to him. I made him fall in sin. I made him deny you.

I made him do all the wrong things under the sun. Well, so, so much for your so-called son. So he used to go to God and complain and whinge against us.

When the Lord Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose, and went up to where? He went up to the heaven of all heavens, the right hand of the Father, which is the heavenly Jerusalem. It is the right hand of the Father, where that angel was at that place in the very beginning. But who went up to the heaven of all heavens and took the place of the fallen angel? The Son of Man, not the Son of God.

The Son of God is God. God doesn't go up or down. God is everywhere at the same time.

But the one who went up and sat at the right hand of the Father is the Son of Man, the glorified body, the resurrected body of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So the human side of Christ went up and sat at the right hand of the Father. What is the right hand of the Father? Being like God, equal to God, equality, being like God.

You see, when God created Adam and Eve, and out of Adam He created Eve, Satan, we see Satan again, the old serpent, coming and whispering in the ease of Eve. He said to her, is it true that God said to you, if you eat from that particular tree, you're gonna die? She said, yes, if we touch it and eat from it, we will die. He said to her, no, trust me, God is selfish.

He doesn't want you to be like God, like Him. He is selfish. He wants always to control you because the moment you eat from that forbidden tree, your eyes will open and you'll know good and evil.

Meaning like God, God knows everything. What is good and evil? Meaning everything. So you're gonna end up like God.

He doesn't want you to be like Him, because He's selfish. But God, before creating Adam, what did He say? Let us go down and create man according to our image and our likeness. He intended for the man to be like Him.

He intended for the man to sit at His right hand, equal to Him, being His son, the heir to the throne, the inheritor of the kingdom. He wanted the human being to be like Him. But Satan, in a deceptive way, said, God is selfish.

He doesn't want you to be like Him. That's why He warned you not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, when Satan, when this cherub fell and became Satan, he realized one thing.

He can never go back to where he was before. Where was he before? In the heaven of all heavens. What is the heaven of all heavens? Like God, equal to God.

He realized he can never go back to it. When he saw Jesus, the man, the glorified body, going up and sitting and taking his place, he lost the plot. He went haywire.

He said, I am spirit. The humans are a piece of dust. I blow at them.

I'll wipe them. I am much more powerful than them. I, the spirit, fell because of my pride and ended up eating dust.

And the dust ended up eating spiritual food. They took my spot. Why did this fallen angel eat dust? Because he is also called the serpent.

What does the serpent eat? The dust of the earth. So the spirit ate the dust and the dust ate the spiritual food. So when he saw Jesus going up and sitting at the right hand of the Father, he took the fallen angel's place.

The human side took the place of Satan in heaven. He went haywire. He couldn't win with Jesus, so he said, okay, I can't win with Jesus.

I'll make sure I'll destroy his children. I'll win with them. I'll deceive them.

I'll do everything under the sun to make them fall because since I will not go back to my place in heaven, I'll make sure no human takes my place. I'll drag them with me to hell where I belong now. No wonder it's hard for you, my child.

You want to go to church and so many obstacles come your way. You try to read the Holy Bible and every time you want to read something happens and you lose it. You get angry.

Someone comes along and ruins your day. You've planned to be with the Lord and everything goes wrong. But every time you go to the city, you go clubbing and the dark alleys and all the wrong things under the sun, you see everything fall into place so smoothly.

Everyone is so friendly. Everyone is so nice to you. The limousine pulls over the front door with the red carpet being rolled.

It is so perfect. It feels good, brother. It must be good because it's happened so easily.

It's a blessing. Excuse me. It's a curse.

It's poison. Be careful. Satan is deceiving.

Your friends give you all the wrong reasons not to go to church. You're struggling to pray. You're struggling to come to church.

You're struggling to be a good Christian. You're struggling to be a good law-abiding citizen. You're struggling to be with the Lord.

It is a struggle. Why? Because Satan is on fire. He is trying his absolute best and hardest for you and I not to make it where Jesus has been sitting over 2,000 years ago.

The place where Satan used to be once upon a time. The perfect cherub Lucifer. The illuminating morning star.

From a morning star to an absolute darkness night. Evil, ugly, fallen spirit. That's why he's fighting you.

He's not fighting you or me as me but he's fighting whoever is carrying Christ in him. He hates Jesus and whoever loves the Lord, Satan will hate that person because he hates Jesus Christ. He can't stand him because Jesus crushed his head on Calvary.

He won with every human being. Only one, Satan failed with. He tried everything but not prevailed and Jesus the man crushed his head.

He hates Jesus. Whoever is carrying Christ, whoever says Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior, Satan will not leave you alone. He'll fight you because he knows if he leaves you alone you'll end up where Jesus has been sitting for over 2,000 years.

You'll take Satan's place. He is jealous to the core. He's jealous of you.

Jealousy comes from Satan. Envy comes from Satan. Foul language comes from Satan.

He teaches you. It's not people. Those people were taught by Satan.

The source is Satan. Drugs, Satan. Alcohol, Satan.

Clubs, Satan. Hollywood, Satan. Star City Casino, Satan.

Dark alleys, Satan. Gambling, Satan. And other things, Satan.

Pornography, Satan. Shall I state more? Can we open our eyes? My beloveds, please, I beg of you, think for a moment. Just look around you what's happening in the world.

Absolute satanic, satanic. Absolute satanic, my beloveds. This is why Satan will fight anyone who profess and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

But do not be afraid for if the Lord is with me who is against me? He can have his fight but he's a lost, he's a lost being. The battle is already won by Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So I'm fighting a lost enemy.

I'm fighting someone who's being crushed under the feet of my Lord, my God, my Savior. Do not be afraid. So you've got problems? The Lord will deal with them and he'll take care of them.

People now are hating your guts. It's okay. Entrust them in the hands of the Lord, the capable hands of the Lord Jesus.

He will answer him back at the right time and he'll put them in their place at the right time. Then I heard a loud voice saying, in heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.

And they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time.

And all glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever and ever. I didn't hear that. A little bit louder? Not bad.

Good. All right. So, okay, what we said, chapter 12 is talking about the last trumpet, which is the seventh trumpet.

And that started from the end of, towards the end of chapter 11 and it continued on to chapter 12. In chapter 12 we saw there was two signs in heaven, one starting with the woman engulfed by the sun and the moon under her feet and a garland of 12 stars on her head about to give birth. And there was another sign in heaven, a dragon, a red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems on his head.

And this dragon, it was about to devour that child which this woman was giving birth to. She gave birth to this child. We said this woman is the Israelite nation.

And the child is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But also, on a smaller scale, we said this woman is also the Holy Mother, our Holy Mother Mary, giving birth to her beloved son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. But when we read the whole text, we see that this woman is more so leaning towards the Israelite nation than rather the Holy Mother.

Being after the child was born, he was taken up to heaven, and then this woman fled into the wilderness. Now the Holy Mother definitely did not flee into the wilderness after giving birth to the Lord Jesus. But the wilderness here is talking about the Israelite nation living in exile for almost 1900 years.

Since 70 A.D. till 1948, they lived in exile. They went to the wilderness because they crucified this beloved child of this woman, who is Jesus. After his crucifixion, Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple with it, and everything else at 70 A.D. Then this woman, the Israelite nation, fled into exile till 1948, where the Lord God made a promise to the Israelite nation that in the end of times, I will bring you back to your homeland on the wings of an eagle.

This you find in Ezekiel, the prophet, and the Lord God, He fulfills every promise. This woman, the Israelite nation, was brought back to homeland on the wings of a plane, an eagle. They landed in Tel Aviv in 1948 on the wings of an eagle airplanes.

The prophecy was fulfilled. But look at God. It's all right, you can go into the wilderness, but I'll bring you back.

When, God? Don't worry, tomorrow. When is tomorrow? Oh, another 1900 years, don't worry. God is patient.

So, and then we see in chapter 12, there was a war in heaven between the Archangel Michael and this dragon, Satan, the old serpent, the fallen angel, the fallen Lucifer. So there was a war in there, and the Archangel Michael, with his angels, overcame the dragon, and that dragon was cast out from the heaven of all heavens, as we said last week. I don't want to repeat what I said last week, or what we said last week.

So he was cast from the heaven of all heavens. However, this dragon, the red dragon, which is the old serpent, which is Satan himself, pulled one-third of the angels of heaven from heaven. He pulled them down, and they became foul spirits.

So there is a difference, my beloved, between Satan and foul spirits. Satan is the fallen angel, the one who is making all this mess in the world, the one who is doing all these evil things in the world. It's Satan behind it.

But people, unfortunately, have let him in to do whatever he wants in their life. This is the consequence. This is the result.

When you allow Satan to enter your life, he'll bring nothing but destruction, turmoil, division, poison, since he is the snake, and then eventually death, an eternal one. So now, he pulled one-third of the angels. They became foul spirits.

Only God knows how many angels he had in heaven. For one-third to fall, that means there's a lot of bad spirits floating around, giving us a hard time. They're always fighting, but the angels are protecting us.

So anyway, this dragon was cast out. We said last week that this Satan, the dragon, has four falls. The first one happened in the heaven of all heavens.

He was kicked out from the heaven of all heavens into the, we said, the heavens. He was able to enter paradise, the third heaven. This is theologically speaking, yes? Like, it's not that you have, like, different levels there, so you get into this lift, and you say, level one, you go to paradise, level two, another, no, no, no.

This is theological interpretation. The third heaven is paradise. He was still able to enter paradise.

After the Lord was crucified, buried, rose from the dead, and went to heaven, Jesus, the man, took the place of this fallen angel from the heaven of all heavens. The Lord ascended and sat at the right hand of the Father. The right hand of the Father is the heaven of all heavens, which only Jesus entered through the glorified body.

And that heaven of all heavens, this is where this angel was once upon a time. So the human side took the place of Satan in the heaven of all heavens. This is why he hates us.

Because through Jesus, we are now given the opportunity to go to the heaven of all heavens and take Satan's place. He knows he can't go back. So what is he going to do? He says, since I can't go back, I won't let anyone take my place.

He hates us with a passion. Don't be shocked when things go wrong in your life. If you love the Lord, you're going to cop it.

You'll go through trials. You'll go through tribulations. Because Satan hates Jesus.

And whoever loves Jesus, he will hate that person as well. It's only that simple. So don't complicate it.

It's very simple. You love the Lord, Satan will hate you. And when Satan hates you, the world will hate you because the world goes after him.

So don't be shocked when people despises you by speaking the truth. But with love and respect, who cares? You can hate me till kingdom comes. I will speak the truth till the last breath in this body.

Go for it, hate me. I won't hate you. But I won't twist and falsify the truth.

I'll say it in your face, my dear friend. So now, this angel fell from the heaven of all heavens. He was still able to come into paradise, the heavens.

After the Lord ascended, the Lord opened the gates of paradise for us. Therefore, Satan has no longer a place in the heavens. He got kicked out of there onto the air.

He is the prince of the air. And we said the air represents thought. Satan has jurisdiction to enter your head and play with your way of thinking.

God allowed him to do that. However, God said, I gave you my son. So when you go to my son and get his help, ask for his help.

My son, let him in your heart, in your mind, in your soul, in your spirit, in your entire being. When you let my son in, he will change your way of thinking to overcome the thinking of Satan that is trying to devour you and have a control over you. But when we walk away from Christ and do things our way, like so many people have chosen to do so, look where they ended up.

Absolute destruction, absolute darkness, absolute evilness. And I spoke about young men and women. I spoke about mom and dad as a family.

We spoke a lot last week. Be careful. Don't just fall in to whoever is being said to you.

Don't just trust your friends. Just because they are your friends, that doesn't mean they are right. You need to come back and compare it to the word of Christ.

Is it good or not? But Satan has now jurisdiction to enter our thoughts and start manipulating it. Now, the next fall will be from the air onto the earth. So there was a war that took place between the Archangel Michael and this dragon and eventually he was kicked from the air onto the earth.

Now we are going to read that in chapter 12. He was thrown onto the earth and he had great wrath. When he is thrown onto the earth, it's a different story then.

This is what the Holy Bible calls the Great Tribulation. We are still not in it fully. We are in it partially but not fully.

Not the end. No. We are in it maybe half way.

But the end is still to come. So, over a feeling Corona or Toyota. Corona was a walk in a park.

It's nothing. There is other Corona. But we pray the Lord pushes it back.

Anyway, let's come in verse 10. Verse 9, he was cast onto the earth. From the air onto the earth and then from the earth the last fall will be into the river of fire.

Perish forever. Can't wait for that day. Honestly.

Can't wait for that day. We want to live. But we want to live with the Lord.

Don't seek freedom your way. Because you see the freedom that you chose your way was exactly that freedom that got you into all this mess. See people chose freedom their way.

Look what they ended up. Where they ended up? Being enslaved by Satan. Being enslaved.

Verse 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. Thank God finally he's cast down the accuser. Satan we said is the one who used to complain us to God.

Look at your son. Look at your daughter. You still call him your children? Look how they behaving.

They are so distant from that sonship. What kind of a child is this God? Look at him. He's living in filth.

In sin. So Satan used to complain to God about us. When the door was shut for him to enter heaven he remained in the air.

He can't go to God to complain against us. So what is he doing now? He's coming entering our thoughts and complaining us. Complaining God to us.

In other words he comes now and plays with your head and says where is your Jesus? Look at you. Look how you live. Do you call this a life? How you're living? If God was love if he was truly love how could he stand and watch you fall so deep and so far and do absolutely nothing? Look Jesus didn't save you.

You still love Jesus? Come on. Until when? Why are you wasting your time going to church? Why are you wasting your time reading the holy bible? Why are you wasting your time fasting and doing all these things? This is for the oldies. Enjoy life brother.

Jesus has forgotten about you. Have fun. Go to Bondi beach and sleep on that sand and get all the vitamin D. Go clubbing.

Go holidays. What Jesus? If he really loved you he wouldn't have allowed you to live such a terrible life. He didn't save you.

You've been praying for healing he didn't heal you. You've been praying for a miracle nothing happened. You've been praying to marry Rachel you ended up marrying Elizabeth.

What happened? Where is Jesus? It's Satan. When this kind of a thought comes you say Satan in Jesus mighty name away with you. The Lord loves me, he is with me and he knows exactly what is good for me.

Who told you success is always good? Failure is also good. Failure is also good. Who told you being healthy all the time is good? Illness sometimes is good because illness reminds me that I'm nothing.

You see when you're always successful, when you're always healthy when you're always wealthy you tend to forget about God because everything is going smooth. I don't need God but when you fall so far and so deep all of a sudden God becomes number one before he was number one hundred on the list now he jumped all the way to number one God I'm dying the doctor said you've got three weeks left what am I going to do? I'm in deep trouble no one can save me but you Lord Oh finally my child has come back to their senses finally see the Lord is good so thank him always all things work for good to those who love the Lord, all things health, sickness wealth, poorness weakness, strength in the light, in the dark they're all good as long as Jesus is with me and I'm with him who cares? who cares I'm in heaven or in hell? as long as Jesus is with me if the Lord comes and says let's go to hell I'll say hallelujah for the Lord is with me I will fear no evil even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death this is hell Psalm 23 is talking about hell even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death and not only hell he's talking about death as well which is much more stronger than hell death is the impossible if I go to hell I could come back but if I die there is no comeback but with Christ what is impossible to man is possible to God he says even though you die I will raise you from the dead didn't I do that to Lazarus? read John chapter 9 chapter 11 sorry read John chapter 11 he was dead rotted in the grave for four days I raised him when it comes to Jesus nothing stands in his way nothing you need to hold on to him you need to trust in him trust even if everything is going wrong trust him at the end everything is going to be perfect so my beloved Satan plays with our heads but he says I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down finally he's been cast down he can't accuse us anymore now he's talking about the church of the new testament this is for us this is for us a day is coming Satan will be cast from earth to hell no more accusation but before that happens the church of the new testament a time is coming and not very far the door of mercy of grace is going to be shut in the face of the new testament church there still will be Christians unfortunately there is no such thing as rapture as some claim it that you'll be taken up before the great tribulation sorry no such thing what will happen those who remain in those tribulations they will be Christians by name not deed they will be Christians by name and we see nowadays so many Christians baptized as infants but have no idea who Jesus Christ is all their life they've lived a total separation from the Lord but they are Christians only by name not deed Christ will not know them in the end he'll say I don't know who you are away with you I don't want you because you never never gave me your heart you never opened the door I knocked at the heart at the door of your heart endlessly but you chose to live your way not my way yet you were baptized and you were called Christians but you were total strangers to me you did not want to walk with me you walked away from me they will remain on earth and they will go through the great tribulation they'll cry out to the Lord they'll come to the church no more church gone see now we're coming so freely yeah a day is gonna come you can't come to church so freely anymore there won't be churches left they'll all be shut and even if you go to church he won't hear you the Lord will not that's why when you hear his voice do not delay get up and come to him now don't say no it's ok I'll go tomorrow you can't guarantee tomorrow don't say I'm not gonna go this Sunday to church I'll leave it for next Sunday there is no guarantee the guarantee is today now if you hear his voice don't harden your heart get up open the door and let Christ in for Christ sake don't delay nothing this is what we call the visitation of graces it is the visitation of the Holy Spirit it is called the visitation of graces the Holy Spirit comes and touches you so softly so tenderly you wake up something inside of you changed saying to you pushing you to go to church pushing you to go and read the Bible pushing you to pray pushing you to repent when that thing happens inside of you rest assured it is the Holy Spirit God is calling you get up do it on the spot if that voice says to you go to church and it's midnight go to church can I tell you a true story many years back I was still a deacon that's ok I'll tell you later no no it's ok I'll have to ask for permission first when the Holy Spirit touches your heart don't ever delay just do it don't question it because you know what it's a visit this visit could be couple of seconds only God has opened a window of opportunity for a lifetime change in you because God doesn't need any time to change you but he's gonna give you as a human being time to repent and accept this visit so when that touch happens get up and do it on the spot get up and do it on the spot don't delay now the accuser has been cast down verse 11 and they they meaning the Christians the church of the new testament please pay attention the church of the new testament and look and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death so how did the Christians true Christians not Christians by name but rather Christians by deed true Christians how did they overcome the accuser by the blood of the lamb number one and by what again and by the word of their testimony number two by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony John the beloved is trying to tell us something foundational for our salvation and redemption John the beloved is saying no Christian can overcome Satan except by the blood of the lamb of God don't ever say I am faithful don't ever say I am wise don't ever say I am strong don't ever say I have authority don't ever say anything the only way the only way to overcome Satan is by the blood of the lamb of God period meaning without Jesus Christ we are dead so if there is anybody home please turn the lights on open the door let Jesus in without Christ no one can make it without the blood of the lamb of God no one can make it they overcame Satan the accuser by the blood of the lamb this blood is being given to you Christians from the holy altar every single Sunday for free so what am I doing I am saying to the one who gives me life who gives me redemption who gives me salvation who gives me power to overcome Satan for free I am saying to him I don't have the time for you but I will make time to go and watch and listen some Hollywood singer in a stadium and pay for it yet receive nothing but poison and emptiness I will have the time to go out with my friends I will have the time to travel I will have the time to buy and sell I will have the time for everything but when it comes to Jesus sorry no time but the Lord is saying without the blood of the lamb Satan has devoured you you're dead you need to come to church you need to receive the body and the blood of the Lord and the truth it's not symbolic it is truly his body it is truly his blood we must come if we choose to live we must come we must come my beloved if we don't feed our body for one month two months three months what's going to happen to it it will eventually die have you thought about feeding your spirit we've been too busy feeding our bodies and ignoring our spirits our spirits in us eventually they are perishing and dying I haven't fed my spirit what will happen to it it's going to starve eventually it will die so no matter how strong physically you are if your spirit is not strong you cannot withstand the slices and the smallest of trials any small trial comes your way you will fall and you will fall very badly since your spirit is weak Satan can do anything and everything to you we need to feed our spirits more than feeding our own bodies we need now the body and the blood of Christ is your spiritual food you need to come and receive it they overcame the accuser by the blood meaning true Christians will always confess and profess this I am nothing Christ is everything it is through him I am saved it is by him I am delivered it is with him I am intact and in good hands without Jesus I'm lost for he is the good shepherd that leads these this flock to green pastures and still waters it is him who takes me to green pastures and still waters my beloved did you know sheep cannot drink from a running stream unless the water is still sheep can't drink if the water is running sheep get scared runs away see how the holy bible is accurate since it's the word of God the true God who created everything and everyone including the sheep he knows how the sheep is and what the sheep is all about unless the water is still he can't drink so he said I have led you to green pastures and still waters cause you're a sheep you need still waters I am that still water my goodness and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony by the word of their testimony true Christians carried the word of Christ in them the gospel they went out they preached the gospel but they did not stop there they did not just talk about Christ they lived Christ so the word of their testimony you cannot testify about something unless you live it if you don't live it you cannot testify about it so what John the beloved is saying here true Christians who will be delivered from the great tribulation even if I walk as a true Christian even if I walk through the great tribulation nothing will harm me since Christ is my protector nothing will harm me no poison no nothing so he said the true Christians that have lived Christ not just spoke about Christ there is a lot of people that talk about Jesus very few that live with Jesus living with Christ is totally totally different to talking about Christ you can talk about Christ and know him not but when you live with him even if you don't even if you don't talk about him your actions your behavior will be much more powerful than a million preaching just by walking people will sense Christ in you because you're living with him you see because who reveals things is God not you so don't think by preaching you're revealing that you're a good person no Christ has to do that not you and if you try to do that you'll come out ugly but when Christ does it oh it's a stunning picture he can leave Michael Angelo for dead when Christ paints the picture and with the word of their testimony true Christians are the ones who live for Jesus Christ not talk about him the problem of the 21st century we have filled the air with noise pollution about Christ they don't want to live for him they just want to talk about him hello you're becoming a noise pollution where is Christ in your life oh I don't know but I know what he says here but what about him what is he feeling now what does he want from you now is he okay is he happy is he sad does he need anything does he want me to go and give him some water to drink maybe he's thirsty it's not easy you need to live with him you know why only few live with him it's not easy it's not easy you'll have to give up on a lot of things and not only give up on a lot of things you'll have to live a life that is of God's not of you what I'm trying to say when you live a life that is of God's your brain can't function in that life because that life is above your intellect in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit one God amen Lord make me an instrument of your peace where there is hatred let me sow love where there is injury pardon where there is doubt faith where there is despair hope where there is darkness light where there is sadness joy oh divine master grander I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console to be understood as to understand to be loved as to love for it is in giving that we receive it is in pardoning that we are pardoned it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life amen may the lord Jesus bless you guide you and protect you now and forever more amen God in peace my beloved God bless