"God’s Kingdom in Conflict with Earthly Kingdoms" by Kinley Coulter | KFW 2024

Lesson Transcript

Well, I want to greet all of you this morning in the precious name of Jesus. It's a real privilege to be here. I've been looking forward to it. I was thinking about the comments that were made about, "The Lord has risen, and the response He's risen, indeed." I thought about the fact that we also serve a returning Lord. We serve a returning Lord. I don't know if this was the second profession of the early church or not, but I would like to ask you for a response.

I would like to state the certainty, the absolute certainty that we trust in that the Lord is coming again. I'd like you to respond, perhaps today. Our Lord is coming again. Perhaps today. Our Lord is coming again. Perhaps today. Amen. That color, that fact should color our lives. The question was asked; I saw it on the screen this morning. How then shall we live? We want to give some thought to that this morning in light of the fact that we are a church in conflict with the kingdoms of this world.

I shared with some of you earlier that I go to farm market with our dairy products and run into a lot of people. There's a lot of confusion. A lot of people see us there. They see the girls' dresses and coverings and think we're Amish. It wasn't too long ago that a pair of women stepped up in front of the booth and started talking about me as if I wasn't there. And the one woman said to the other woman, "Can you believe it? Actual Amish in Washington, DC?" The other woman said, "Oh, yes. Oh, isn't this wonderful?

It's so exciting." And I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing, which is usually the best course. I figured this was going to devolve into buggies and bonnets, and I was bracing myself for that. But the first woman said, the other woman, "What is it? What is this Amish sect?" And the first woman said, "Oh, don't you know? They're a peace church." So we have that testimony, at least between two women in Washington, DC. I hope it extends further than that.

But I thought to myself, as she made that statement, can I affirm that? Are we indeed a peace church? Or are we, in fact, a militant church? A church participating in raging and deadly warfare? We are that as well. I'd like to examine that a little this morning. It seems a bit of a dark topic, a heavy topic, and it is. But I want to end on a positive note. I brought my own timer this morning because I want to make sure I get to the positive note. We may not get everything covered.

We're going to be doing a survey of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. So the line that's going to form up front can start right over here and stretch to the back of the campground of the people that tell me what I didn't say or didn't cover. We're going to do a survey of this topic. I'd invite you back. I would say about 24 hours of speaking and teaching. We could cover this subject exhaustively, but we have 44 and a half minutes.

So we'll praise God for this time and cover what we can, but we will not cover everything. You see the background here, you can reflect on that. We really should have just built a sermon out of the interaction between David and Goliath and the fact that a political kingdom was up against a spiritual kingdom. And when they clashed, the power of God was manifest. And the world knew of a certainty that there was a God in Israel because the weak and the small, according to the flesh, triumphed mightily.

I wanted to set an outline up for this message because if I don't have an outline, I just go around in circles and don't get anywhere. I thought about a few phrases from "Mighty Fortresses Are God." I thought about a first point being talking about the fact that we are living and moving and breathing and operating in a world that's filled with devils. I don't know how many for sure. I have some theories. I wouldn't be surprised if it numbered in the tens of millions.

But they are all bent on the destruction of the people of God. I want to consider the master architect, the chief, the prince over the forces of darkness, the prince of darkness, Grim. And then I want to reassure ourselves that we have nothing to fear. The conclusion of this battle has already been determined. We tremble not for Him. God has willed His truth to triumph through us. Make it a little simpler. If you're taking notes, don't have to jot that all down.

We're going to consider the inescapable reality of this conflict. We're going to consider the infernal rival that is the mastermind, the power, the fuel behind this conflict. And we're going to consider that we face this conflict armed to the teeth, not with steel, not with gunpowder, but with spiritual resources. It's defined conflict. Basically, what we're engaged in with the kingdoms of this world is a truth war. We have truth on our side. Their kingdom is erected on a foundation of lies and deception.

I want to wrap our minds around this invisible but inescapable reality that there is a spiritual battle being carried out right at this moment, perhaps in this place. I don't know where we think the armies of the forces of darkness are and aren't this morning. Well, certainly they couldn't be here, not in such a holy place as the assembly of the saints of the living God. Not here, maybe safely outside. Are we so sure?

We could read in Job 1 and Job 2 that Satan moved comfortably in the presence of the living God, certainly the Holy of Holy in the entire universe. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that Satan cannot move and operate here. All right. I want to help us to tune our minds. This verse comes up in a lot of my sermons. I see a few of our home church people here, and they'll know this verse. They've heard it from me before. But I believe this is the essence, this one verse.

If we can wrap our minds around the fact that we are dealing with things that are invisible and eternal. And yet, here we are, jars of clay. We find our affections and our attention are drawn by things that are visible and temporal, do they not? Maybe it's just me. The visible and the things that pass away, the things that will melt with fervent heat on the last day, those things arrest our affections and our attention. And the invisible and eternal things, well, we know the right answers.

We know they're important, and we know they're what matter. But Paul warns the church at Corinth. In fact, he assumes that they are a people that have their eyes fixed like a laser beam on the things that are invisible and eternal. He says, "We look not" (2 Corinthians 4:18). "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." I encourage you this morning, as we talk about these things, to remind yourself that true reality exists in the invisible, eternal, spiritual realm. Not to say that this isn't reality, but we are a people that see through the reality to the spiritual, the invisible, and the eternal. We need to practice that. It doesn't just come standard equipment with the new birth. It's part of sanctification.

We grow in our ability to appreciate and recognize the spiritual. I want to show you an example. It shouldn't surprise you that Jesus can teach us and show us how to look right past the physical, right past the temporal, right past the visible, and see what's behind it in the spiritual, eternal, invisible realm. All right. Another encouragement Paul gives us about exercising our spiritual eyesight is here in Ephesians 1:18. He says that the eyes of our understanding need to be enlightened.

That is, our ability to see invisible spiritual truths needs to be enhanced. The church at Ephesus, he encouraged them for being faithful in the Lord Jesus and having love for all the saints. He commended them, but he said, "The eyes of your understanding need something. You need to be enlightened in the eyes of your understanding." And I believe you all need that as well. I'm sure I do. That word for enlightened is photitzo. You know photosynthesis. That is growth from light.

Photitzo is a Greek word that is only used here in the entire New Testament. And it is an emphatic word, a powerful word. It says, "The eyes of our understanding as the people of God need to be flooded with light. We need to be dazzled with the truth we see that we hadn't seen before in the invisible realm. We need to receive an overwhelming insight into spiritual things." This is not my prescription for you. This is Paul.

I want to talk about the fact that as we look at the conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, it appears we're dealing with political things, with persecution and strife and conflict between one jar of clay and another jar of clay. But the reality is, the powers that be are being powered by spiritual powers behind them. I want to look at 2 Kings chapter 6. You can turn there. In 2 Kings chapter 6 and verse... Where did I start? Verse 8. Okay, this is a common passage.

I think we know it well. But I want to consider it as we're considering the conflict with the kingdoms of this world and the fact that there are invisible things going on behind the scenes of the powers that be. And as I speak about the powers that be, please don't understand me to not say these same truths apply to conflict between individuals. 2 Kings 6, verse 8 to 17. We have here Elisha, the man of God, and we have his servant. And the servant is having the eyes of his understanding enlightened.

Do you see the joy and the wonder on his face? That's photitzo. The eyes of his understanding are being enlightened. He is getting a peek into the realities of the spiritual realm. In verse 8, "The king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsel with his servants, saying, 'In such and such a place shall be my camp.' And the man of God, this is Elisha, sent unto the king of Israel and said, 'Watch out! Don't pass this place.

The Syrian army is waiting for you there.'" Verse 10, "The king of Israel sent to the place where the man of God told him and warned him of and saved him there, not once or twice. Therefore, the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled. He was smoking. He was angry. He was mad. 'There's a spy in my midst.' He was sure of it.

He called his servants and said, 'Will you not show me which one of you is a filthy spy for the king of Israel?' And in verse 12, one of his servants said, 'None of us, my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, is telling the king of Israel the words that you speak in your very bedchamber.' King of Syria said, 'Go, spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him.' And it was told, 'Behold, he is in Dothan.' Therefore, the king of Syria sent his mighty host. He sent horses. He sent chariots.

He sent a great host. They came by night, and they circled the city, surrounded the city.'" I don't know how bright the king of Syria was here. It seems to me that he found out that Elisha knows everything that the king of Syria planned. And now the new plan is, we're going to sneak up on Dothan and catch him there unawares. What a surprise, then, that Elisha was in Dothan that morning. But Elisha had a lesson to teach his servant.

Verse 15, "The servant of the man of God was risen early." I don't know if he had his quiet time, went out and got the paper. Whatever it was, it was daylight. He got up before Elisha. He went out. What in the world? "An army surrounding the city, horses and chariots." The servant said unto Elisha, I'm sure shaking him in his bed, "Alas, alas, my master! How shall we do?" You know, the faith of that servant was shaken that morning. He was in a panic.

I believe this is the response of many of us when I'm going to beg some console to give me a drink of water if you get a chance. I don't mind drinking out of water with germs. I'm pretty germy myself. Thank you, brother. I really believe that this is our lament to Jesus many times when we encounter the strife and the conflict, whether it's with worldlings, unbelievers, or with the powers that be. Huh! We're outnumbered. Huh! They have guns. They have steel. They have they have gunpowder. We're outnumbered.

We're doomed. "Alas, Lord Jesus! How shall we do?" Verse 16, the response. And this response rings through the ages. I believe this is the answer to our fears today. Elisha answered his servant, "Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." This is a very important reassurance, not only for that servant, but for us.

That is, in this picture, which is a little hard to see, there are flaming horses and chariots, a mighty army of the living God, the army of the heavenly hosts, invisible but visible that day to the servant. But there was more than that. There was another spiritual army there. There was an infernal army, the army of darkness. This picture is not quite accurate because it shows the army, the carnal, physical army of Syria. It shows the heavenly host army.

It doesn't show the army of our infernal rival, the army of darkness. But we know it's there because Elisha said, "Those that be with us are greater than those that be with them." I assure you today, on the authority of the Word of God, that the miracle that day was the opening of the eyes of the servant, not the fact that two spiritual armies presented themselves. I believe that those spiritual armies are today engaged in the affairs of the world.

And today, those that be with us are greater than those that be with them. The prayer of Elisha was, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." That is my prayer for myself and for each one here today, that the eyes of our understanding would be flooded with light, that we would be dazzled, we'd be overwhelmed with the spiritual insight of recognizing the reality, the ability to look straight through what we encounter in the physical world and see the spiritual forces that are driving it. Here we are.

This is Jesus teaching about how to do this. In Matthew 16, verse 21, Peter takes Jesus aside. And Peter says, "Hey, how about we switch roles today?" Peter says, "I'll be the master, and you, Jesus, can be the servant. How about we do discipleship that way?" Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Be this far from Thee. You will not go to Jerusalem and suffer. You will not be crucified. Lord, this shall not be unto Thee." Okay, that's master talk, not servant talk. We don't say no to the Lord.

It goes on. And Jesus gives us an important example of how to see past the physical and into the spiritual. He answers Peter. He says to Peter, right to his face, it says He turned to him. He faced him. They locked eyeballs. And Jesus answered him, "Get behind me, Satan." Satan was fueling this act of rebellion from Jesus' disciple. Satan was savoring the things that were of men and not of God. And Jesus called him out on it. He looked right past Peter's eyes and saw the act of Satan in this disciple. He turned.

He said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You're an offense. You desire the things that be of God and not those that be of men." This is what we need to do. We need to develop and cultivate the ability to look through the conflict and the strife and see the spiritual forces that are driving it. We're non-resistant in the physical realm. I already alluded to this. We are a militant church. We are an actively aggressive church. We are fierce warriors. Paul warned Timothy, "You need to war a good warfare.

You need to fight a good fight. You need to endure hardness as a good soldier." Paul said to Timothy, "You're my disciple. You're my Son in the Lord. You need to imitate my life. I, Paul, have fought a good fight. Now it falls to you. It falls to us to fight a good fight." Weapons of our warfare are not carnal, you know?

I think our spiritual weapons, we tend to say sometimes we wouldn't say it because we know better, but we act this way, that they're really pretty pathetic and weak when we're up against the kingdoms of this world. You know, we say, "Well, there's nothing left to do but pray." Really, weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty. They are powerful through God. They are well able to tear down the strongholds of the kingdoms of this world. Prayer is not a last resort. It's a first strike weapon.

It's a weapon of mass destruction. In Ephesians, the armor of God passage has much to teach us about conflict in the realm in between the church and the earthly kingdoms. Paul teaches us that we need to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. The battle is the Lord's, but it's ours to fight it. The power is of God. We are strong in the Lord. We have power because of His might. We put on the whole armor of God. We notice that at the new birth, you don't get slapped on with the whole armor of God.

It's not standard equipment. It's something we need to cultivate. We need to work at and develop, armor ourselves to stand against the wiles of the devil. We have an adversary who has wiles, and we need to know those wiles. If somebody's sneaky, we better know what they're up to. What are their tricks? You know, Satan has tricks. He has wiles. He has wiles. He has devices even. But he doesn't have a lot of them. He only has a few tricks. And when he's played those cards, he's done. Do we know those wiles?

Do we know those devices? We are wrestling. We are not wrestling in the physical realm. Remember, these eyes of our understanding have been enlightened. We can see through the physical to the spiritual and see that our struggle, our strife, our conflict, our agony, the blood of the martyrs is occurring not at the hands of flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, rulers of darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Two things about the kingdoms of this world we do well to know.

We're going to come back to the wiles and the devices of our infernal rival. But for right now, I want to think about the kingdoms of this world. Two things we know about them. They are bitter, and they are blind. I don't have enough note cards in my pocket. But if I gave everyone here a note card and a pen and asked you to write down how many people hate you? Think of a number. Oh, there's an uncomfortable question. Who likes to be hated? Not me. How many people hate you?

If you're hated by a lot of people, does that show a failure on your part as a child of God? Jesus said three times, "John 15, the world hated you. John 17, the world hated them. Matthew 10, 'Hated by all men for My sake.' Matthew 24, 'Hated by all nations for My sake.' The Apostle John, 'Marvel not that the world hates you.'" What number did you write down? Did anybody write down seven billion plus? We should not expect the smile of the world for living the kingdom of God among them. We should expect the conflict.

That is a mark of our faithfulness. We don't go out to be offensive and to turn people away. Of course not. But we know that the truth of the Gospel is offensive in a dark world. We know that because Jesus told us that. We also know that we're dealing with blind people. If someone is going to come to the Lord, it isn't going to be by the power of our argument with our apologetics. It is going to require a supernatural act from the living God, a miracle to restore sight to the blind.

This planet is populated by seven billion plus people that are blind to the things that really matter. Do we have a heart for them? We have a conflict. We have this blindness. We have this hatred. We understand that it's fueled by spiritual forces that are invisible and that are internal. I want to turn our attention from discussing the inescapable reality of spiritual conflict to discussing our infernal rival.

As we do this, please know that just as when I said I talk about the powers that be, but that applies to interpersonal relationships. We talk about the God of this world. We talk about Satan. He is not the forces of darkness. Contrary to some people's political opinions, President Biden is not the forces of darkness, or Kamala Harris, I don't believe, or Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. We're going to talk about an infernal rival in the person of the arch demon, Satan.

But we're going to remember that he is no more the forces of darkness than President Biden is the federal government. He is, however, the prince, the head, and the source of the power of the forces of darkness. I have to look back at my wife and see. She usually gives me a cue. This means slow down. This means breathe. My cheeks get a little red. This means time is passing. Skip us a few slides and get going. She's giving me the skip a few slides symbol.

A man named Sun Tzu kind of wrote a famous book called The Art of War. He wrote it 2,400 years ago. It is still being studied in military colleges around the globe, including the United States. It was a brilliant work, a transcendent work. The most famous quote from that work is, "Know your enemy, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." This is what he said 2,400 years ago. The militaries of the kingdoms of this world are profiting from this statement. They're studying their enemies to defeat them.

Are you studying the forces of darkness? What do you know about them? Do you know their methods? Do you know their wiles? Paul told the church at Corinth, "We're not ignorant of his devices." I tend to think they actually were, and he was just goading them a little bit. Don't be ignorant of the devices of Satan. We could profitably spend quite a bit of time talking about the names for and the references to Satan in the Word of God, because that's a good way to learn about your enemy. What do people call him?

We don't have time for that. We will look at a few. Prince of this world three times, Prince of the power of the air, God of this world. These all speak of headship, royalty over the forces of darkness. There is not an oligarchy. There's not a group of powerful demons at the head. There is Satan. He heads up the forces of darkness. Peter tells us the devil is an adversary. He's not speaking of a devil, a demon. He uses the... Brother Melvin, what is the "the" compared to "a"? Article. What is definite article?

Who said that? Thank you. God bless you. Who says we don't need community? He uses the definite article here. He says, "The devil, the prince of this world, is your enemy. He's your adversary. He's walking about. He's not everywhere at once. He walks about. He's seeking. He doesn't know everything. He has to search it out. He wants to devour. So he does not want to delay you or damage you or discourage you. He wants to consume you." His goal and the goal of all the demons is single fold.

Their attention is focused on the destruction, the people of God. They're not looking to do damage to worldlings. They already own them. The worldlings, the unbelievers, are serving the forces of darkness. The prince of this world is after you and me. "Resist the devil, and he'll flee from you." This is very encouraging to me. We are commanded to resist the devil. That tells me that he's resistible. No excuses.

This verse from James tells me, "If I resist him, it's a promise of the living God who cannot lie." He's going to run away. Why are we quaking in our boots about the prince of darkness grim? We need to resist him. He will flee. It doesn't say he may flee. It says he will. I'm going to hold the Scripture to that. I don't know if you can see that picture, but we picture that lion attacking the poor, defenseless cows. But I appreciated a picture of cows chasing a lion. They resisted him, and he's on the run.

He's a coward. He's a coward. We know what to do with cowards. Bullies that are cowards, you stand up to them, resist them. Our infernal rival has devices. Greek word is "methodia." We get the word "methods" from it. How does he practice? What does he do? He only has a handful. And if I had another message, we'd work through the several others. But I want to catch this one. Make sure you're all solid on it. Don't leave this room without being solid against this device, this method of Satan. I've never seen Satan.

It might well be that he doesn't even exist, because invisible things are somehow less real to me than the things I can see and touch, the real world. Would the God that we wouldn't fall into that lie? That's a lie from the pit. Some of you are thinking, "That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," denying the existence of Satan. Guess what? It's a very common sentiment. I have had a dog. Thankfully, he's passed. He was a very bad dog. He chewed everything. He practically ate my entire farm.

We'd come home from church, and there's my good work boots laying in pieces, and there's the dog. And the ears would drop, and the tail goes between his legs, and he was gone. What did the dog do? We know he did something. He took off running. And who left my boots up? Okay. Well, we'd find that dog because actions have consequences. And we'd find him. And all he had to do was stick his nose under something. He would find a little hidey hole, and he'd stick his snout and his eyes into it, and he was safe.

He said, "I'm afraid of who's coming after me. But if I can't see him, he can't hurt me." Well, guess what? He can see you, and he can hurt you. And so it is with Satan, invisible but very able to inflict damage. The Barna group had a survey of several thousand self-described Christians. So you make what you want of that.

Several thousand self-described Christians were asked the question, "Do you believe in a being called Satan and beings that serve him called demons that work against your spiritual well-being?" That was the question. What do you think the response would be? In our day, probably shocking. And it is. Seventy-five percent, over fifty percent, deny the existence of the forces of darkness, just describing the references to devils and demons and Satan as symbols of what's wrong with the world, over fifty percent.

And the remaining about twenty-four percent doubted his existence. I can tell you, if you deny and if you doubt the existence of Satan, he's already won. He's checked you off and moved on to the next. One hundred percent of demons I don't have a Barna survey for this, but I do have the Word of God. One hundred percent of demons are certain that you exist. Their entire existence is dedicated to destroying your soul. Have you thought about the forces of darkness this morning? Yeah, you know, life is busy.

I will assure you, they've thought about you. They have the advantage that they see us. We don't see them. Yeah, that's one for them. The resources that we carry into this battle. So I've left you feeling maybe a little burdened talking about the forces of darkness and what they can do and what they desire to do. Let's be encouraged by what God has given us to combat the forces of darkness, particularly as they engage us through the kingdoms of this world.

First, let's get the idea that when we talk about infinite resources, that's not pie in the sky. That's real. The things that are going to show up on this screen are as true as the God that gave them in His Word. What would it look like if we believed these truths? I know for myself, it would be life changing. I'm still working on that fotizo thing. Made some progress by the grace of God, but I have a ways to go. It would change community in the church if we recognized our common enemy.

I appreciated Brother Melvin laid out the common, common, common, common in a community. We have a common enemy. That binds people together pretty good. You don't have too many arguments with people on a sinking ship. My brother is my friend. If he can help me survive, we have a common enemy. All right. I believe one of the results of believing the Word of God about the resources we carry into the conflict with the kingdoms of this world, one of the results is fear would be banished.

We know there's a day coming when every tear will be wiped away. We don't need to wait for fear to be wiped away. We need to understand the assets we have as God's people. Understand them. We need to believe them. We need to put them into practice. David said that the little boy in this picture that approached this giant foolishly, bare-chested, bare-legged, nothing but a stone, armored heavily with infinite resources, he had the armor of God clad on him facing that giant.

And he penned this verse in this Psalm, "I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people." You know, I'm facing I don't know if it's a couple thousand. You're a little bit of a scary group. Sorry. Individually, you're fine. Most of you. A few scary souls here. So here's two thousand. Here's two thousand. Here's two thousand. Here's two thousand. That's ten thousand. David's saying, "I'm not afraid of tens of thousands." Let's put a few more circles of two thousands around us. They've got weapons.

They're gnashing their teeth. They're coming at me. I'm unafraid because I believe in the infinite resources that the living God has given to His people. Resurrection power. Let's talk about this a little bit. We should talk more than a little. But Ephesians 3, verse 20, we have a verse that we know that we are blessed by. You know, our God is majestic in His omnipotence. Can I get an Amen to that? Amen. Our God is majestic in His omnipotence. Can I get an Amen? Amen. Do you doubt it? No.

Do you ever wonder if, oh, this time God come to the end of His leash? Phew, that's too big a job for the living God. I mean, I get omnipotence and all, but who? Yeah, God's got Himself in a pickle here. Isn't that ludicrous? What's shocking to me is this exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think power. It's not attributed to God. Of course, it's of God and it's from God. But the verse says, "That power worketh in us." Does it? Yes.

This is for another day when the kingdom is consummated and every tear is wiped away. And then we'll have that resurrection power anchored in us. And, oh, we'll be able to move some mountains then. Is that a true statement? No. No. That's a lie from the pit. Satan would be glad if we were looking ahead to having the resources to resist him. We have those resources. They're here today, and they are real. No excuses. I put that for myself. If it helps you, good. Luke 10, verse 17 to 19, I'll set the stage for you.

I have a text, but I'll let it go. No, I'm watching the clock. Set the stage. Jesus has breathed the Spirit of power of Almighty God onto His disciples. This is before Pentecost. I don't know how to rate Jesus breathing Spirit on the disciples and the mighty rushing wind of Pentecost and the centuries since that we are blessed to live under. I don't know. But the Spirit of power of Almighty God was breathed on the disciples. He sent the seventy out to confront the forces of darkness.

I want to notice their experience, because I believe our experience is well able to be theirs. If anything, I would say Pentecost, the influence of the Spirit of power of Almighty God is greater since Pentecost than it was on those seventy. I know some people will come argue that with me, but that's my position. The seventy returned with joy. How many people have experienced a painful, damaging encounter with the kingdoms of this world, with the forces of darkness, and walked away from it with joy?

I know there's some. God bless you. God bless God for that. But most of us cringe. We recoil. It's something our flesh just recoils from. We're--it's a revulsion to us to engage the forces of darkness. And no, we're going to take a licking. These seventy came back. They came with joy. They came with joy because they overcame the forces of darkness. They said, "Lord, you're not going to believe this. Why do we tell you?" And Jesus, you know, yeah, Spirit made a difference, didn't it?

Lord, even the devils are subject to us through Thy name. The devils became the servants of the disciples of God. They answered the commands of Jesus' disciples. The devils are subject. And I don't think it's because they went around saying, "Jesus Christ," every time they saw a devil behind a bush. I don't think so. Jesus said, "I saw Satan as light and fall from heaven." You know, when we do damage to the kingdom of darkness, we're knocking some pegs out of His building.

Some of the demons are becoming subject to us by the name of Jesus. The whole edifice gets kind of rocky, doesn't it? And at some point, Satan himself tips off, falling as lightning from heaven. Jesus said, "Behold, I give you power." He says that again to us today. Behold is not a throwaway word. Behold means prepare to be amazed. Behold means if there's a seat around, take it. I have something to tell you that's going to shock you.

Jesus said, "Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions." I believe these are euphemisms or metaphors for the demons and the forces of darkness. You will tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. There's nothing excluded. The power of all the enemy is under our feet. We should go to Ephesians 1 at the end of the chapter and see Paul's prayer and see that the forces of darkness are safely and crushingly under the feet of the people of God. Infinite resources. No excuses.

Did something dumb. Nothing shall by any means hurt you. It's interesting in the Greek. It's kind of a clumsy construction. It's redundant. You won't get hurt. Nothing shall hurt you. Nothing shall by any means hurt you. It's almost insultingly redundant. Jesus told them, "You are safe. You are safe if you are in Me." Resurrection power, a predestination we could talk a little bit about. I don't want to get open a can of worms. I will say, do we believe in predestination? The Holy Spirit seems to believe in it.

The Word itself is four times in Holy Scripture. Something is certainly predestinated. I'm not here to hash that all out today, but I am going to say that the victory of the people of God is predestinated. In the Greek, it's pro horizon. That is beyond the horizon. God has made it so that it cannot be otherwise. Predestination. The people of God will prevail. If you are a part of the people of God at your last breath or on the last day, you will be victorious. The matter is settled. It's predestinated.

Jesus said, "I will build My church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it." In Daniel 2, we want to look a little bit, even in the Old Covenant, the confidence that the people of God carried into their battles with the forces of darkness. "In those days, the kings" Daniel 2:44, "The days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." The church will endure. You know, people have this expression, "Nothing certain but death and taxes." You go ahead.

You ever hear somebody say that and add on, "And the church, the church shall never be destroyed, and it shall stand forever." Daniel 7, "There was given Him Christ dominion and glory and a kingdom." His dominion is everlasting. It shall not pass away. It shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7, "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom." What a blessing it is this morning to possess the kingdom. We have much to be thankful for forever, even forever and ever.

Another clumsy construction here in the Hebrew. We will possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. John 4, "You're of God, little children. You've overcome them. Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world." You know, John is just saying what Elisha already said. You're up against a potent force, but the force standing behind you is greater. Romans 8, "In all things we are more than conquerors." I haven't wrapped my mind around what more than conquerors is. I mean, you win or you lose.

We're conquerors. We defeat the forces of darkness. Somehow, it's a resounding defeat. Somehow, we're above conquerors through Him that loved us. Revelation 11, there were great voices in heaven saying, "I don't know about you, but when the voices in heaven speak, I'm listening." Here, there's great voices speaking. Let's pay attention. What do they have to say?

"The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." Saints of the living God rest in that. Revelation 27, verse 7 to 12. I'm at 45 minutes and 13 seconds. I'm going to leave that for you to look up on your own. But it's an inspiring confidence-building passage for God's people facing the conflicts with the kingdoms of this world. I will say, the Book of Revelation has much to say about this conflict.

And I expect there might be some people tell me, "I missed some pivotal passages." I know I did. But come and tell me. Six-word commentary, the Book of Revelation can be condensed into six words. I think pretty well. I may just write that commentary someday. Jesus wins, and so do we. Why don't we stand for prayer? Heavenly Father, we praise You this morning because You're worthy of that praise. We thank You, Father, for Jesus.

We thank You that He has conquered sin and death in the grave and the power thereof, and that the forces of darkness behind the kingdoms of this world are battling against Your people. We thank You, Father, that You have equipped us, that we are without excuse. We stand in possession of Your Spirit of power. Father, open the eyes of our understanding.

Father, help us to be able to see through the turmoil and the conflict of this dark world and see spiritual forces behind it and be encouraged that You have not left Your people alone. You've not forsaken us, and You never will. Thank You for resurrection power and all that it entails. Father, give us grace to walk in the confidence of it. We ask it for Christ's sake. Amen.