Exalting Jesus Instead of Idols, Part 1 - Acts 19:11-20

[0:00] We're in a series and if you're new here we just take the Bible. We believe is God's word and we try to understand it the best we can and the job of the preacher is to try to explain to the best of his capacity what the Lord intended us to understand from the book and so we are working through this book of Acts together and we're in chapter 19 this morning we're gonna be looking at short section verses 11 through 20 and I think it's entitled turning from idols to the living God or if you want to put another title up there a darkness and emphasis so up to you let me pray for our time and then we'll we'll spend some time considering what the Lord has for us so let's pray father we are so thankful that you are a God that saw fit to forgive sinners and we recognize that you are the highest authority in all the universe that by all things they were made by your hand and because you went to the cross you you disarmed rulers and authorities and you put them to open shame and so today we stand here forgiven knowing that there's there's no condemnation the enemy can bring against those in Christ so Lord we delight to be called your people we delight to to begin our week seeking to worship you Lord Jesus we pray that you receive our our adoration and our our hearts humble to hear your directives

[1:53] Lord help us to think your thoughts to think about life and people in the way that you think about them might we have your mind this morning and Lord might it affect us this week so would you accomplish something good and powerful in each of our lives might we hear from you today we love you Jesus it's in your name that we pray and all that people said amen amen well apparently it's after Memorial Day and you wouldn't know it from looking outside for those of you that don't know my family myself we moved from the west side about three years ago we thought that we would be able to move here and grow stuff and I feel like that's a lie but I was thinking about gardening this week as I was studying and it reminded me of a news story that I had read a few years back about a farmer in Southern California and this farmer spent four years experimenting with growing pumpkins and not ordinary pumpkins but but pumpkins in the shape of Frankenstein there you got an image of them in fact you call them pumpkin stines and he grew over 5,000 of these charged like a hundred hundred twenty five dollars a piece for them I mean not a bad little side hustle there but I was thinking about this image because what what occurred here is this farmer took this organic you know this this plant this fruit stuffed it into a mold and then as it grew it conformed to the shape of the mold that it was placed within and I thought man what a clear biblical example for us of

[3:49] Romans 12 to that we have been called not to become like the mold of the world in which we live we're called not to be conformed to the patterns of this of this world and let's not be ignorant because the pressure is intense during every phase of life for us to conform and to be like everyone else the enemy wants God's people conformed he wants them domesticated he wants them blunted and and really useless in the advance of the gospel because see if you're in Christ he's already lost the battle in your life but the next best thing is to keep you from helping another person here and understand the gospel and a leading strategy of his is to conform God's people or melt them into the mold of the world surrounding them now today we are in Ephesus we're going to consider this darkness in Ephesus and and really the challenge of these Ephesian Christians not to be conformed to remain useful for noble purposes useful in the advance of the gospel now typically when we think of

[5:20] Ephesus we we don't think of it as a dark place we think of it as a training center for pastors and for missionaries and for church planters we don't think of a city that was steeped in dark magic lost in entertainment but both of those realities were actually present see in Ephesus they actually house the largest amphitheater in the ancient world they had a theater that could fit 50,000 spectators they love their entertainment it was a center of worship for the Greek goddess Artemis this multi-breasted fertility God and this was one of the largest religions in the ancient world there were 33 shrines to Diana which is the Roman version of Artemis 33 shrines scattered throughout different cities but in Ephesus they had the temple it was one of the ancient seven wonders of the world and it was actually four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens so this was a big deal this was a place where visitors would make pilgrimage and they would come to worship to recite incantations and who knows what else was associated with that worship of this fertility God and so as people who were rescued spiritually out of a godless culture Paul understood the necessity man I got a ground people in God's mind in God's word they need to not be conformed but transformed okay by the renewing of their mind to know how to think about life to see life through the lens of the gospel and that's exactly what Paul did he was committed to doing that in Ephesus and it's really the model for us Eric shared this two weeks ago with us and back in verse 9 in it actually says that that Paul had reasoned daily in the hall of tyrannous and for two years so that all of Asia heard the word of God and so Paul he was investing in discipling others and the fruit of that is that churches were planted churches had pastors to lead and in fact it says all of Asia so it tells us that many of those churches what we the we read about in Revelation those seven churches of Asia Minor that many of them may have been planted from the students that Paul invested in their in Ephesus Paul knows that people need to be taught God's word in order to make much of the gospel and Jesus in this life we need that amen that's why as a church we follow that pattern that we are committed to discipling to making disciples to teaching them to obey all the Lord has said and so I want us to have that backdrop that's the context as we encounter some some pretty strange things in the section I'm not sure how these passages are divided up and how I receive like the sons of Sceva but that's the one I got so that's where we are this morning but there's some strange things and we're just gonna have to dive into this together and again all of this I want us to see through the lens of how is it that we cannot be conformed to the patterns of a very godless culture in which in which we exist so let's just begin here starting in verse 11 Luke writes and God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them what in the world who wants a sweaty headband from the apostle Paul he's been tent making all day what in the world is going on here and really this is akin to what we see in in earlier in Acts 5 where where cops were brought out so that Peter's shadow could pass and and even Jesus you know folks wanting to reach out the hem of his cloak and and power emanating from that what is going on here and I'm gonna give you my best thought on the matter we know that Ephesus was a place steeped in magic in fact Ephesus they possessed this this ancient magical formula for the from the 4th century BC probably from ancient Babylonian religions archaeologists have found this the Ephesian Gramata and it is this these words that if you say them correctly then power is granted to you and so this was part of this culture in which Paul is doing ministry and and and this sort of superstitious sort of magical practice then became entwined with the worship of Artemis it sort of reminds me of in Catholicism you have this religion of bones and relics that if you go somewhere and you you know you kiss this certain sort of top sort of cut you know grave or or item or you put your hand on where supposedly a saint put his hand and then you receive some sort of power some sort of emanation and you have to wonder what's going on here I believe what God is doing here is he's actually simply accommodating to this culture I believe that that that when someone was healed from an item that had touched or belonged to Paul and and I don't believe it was the item I believe it was the Lord that healed that individual that person thought it's associated with this item but I think what the Lord was doing was accommodating so that the healing would be attributed not to Artemis but to the guy who was talking daily about Jesus and I would just caution us not to read this unusual scenario and decide God has called us to like begin or enroll in some sort of supernatural school of magic or miracles that's just very bad

[11:58] Bible and Scott even shared with us last week the idea that you can take God's word and you can twist it all around right you can take this this statement I can do all things through Christ and then decide well I'm gonna go eat a gallon of ice cream and it's not gonna affect me well that's an abuse of scripture and people do this all the time and I would say there's plenty of witchcraft on the planet in which we live let's not get involved with it and then attach the name of Jesus to it and in fact if you're a careful student of God's word listen to how Luke describes these particular healings because he actually calls them what he says these are extraordinary miracles or we could say miracles not of an ordinary kind these are not normal miracles which miracles are not so these are even more unusual is what Paul is saying or Luke here and so my sense is this occurrence is simply the kindness of God towards sinners him stooping down and in the faith of these individuals even if somewhat misdirected the Lord met them there just like the prodigal his repentance was not something that you want to like be proud of he got hungry and yet you see the mercy of God directed towards him also I want us to notice here Paul's not sending out these handkerchiefs and I don't think it was him doing this honestly he wasn't asking for donations there's nothing in the book of Ephesians that tells us how to infuse napkins with power so this was a very very unusual a miracle not of an ordinary kind which miracles are not some of you may think this narrative is like wow let's decide let's be like the Ephesian

[14:00] Christians and and chase miracles and yet if you want to be like an Ephesian Christian study God's word because that's the context people are being discipled in Ephesus and what's what's actually pretty astounding is in one of our ancient New Testament manuscripts there's a scribal edition in this section and it actually says that the school of tyrannous that people were meeting probably from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m. in the afternoon and if that be so Paul is pouring five hours a day in the off hours of people's day lunchtime siesta time he's instructing them six days a week think about that there's an investment in teaching God's people God's word you want to not be molded into something grotesque in this life fill up on God's word have his thoughts and that's the model that's the example in Ephesus let's continue look at verse 13 and 14 then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists see this passage just continues to get really in exciting undertook to invoke the name of the

[15:19] Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva we're doing this itinerant Jewish exorcists probably none of you saw that coming this morning but as I stated there's a darkness here in Ephesus there are individuals that are observing Paul and and the healings that are associated that are following him and there are individuals that want this power for themselves it's not as though they're interested in Jesus convicted by the gospel they want power they want influence and most likely these itinerant Jewish exorcists they were traveling exorcists and there's a good chance they were charging for their services and so perhaps they are leveraging their family connections their father being the high priest and they're thinking man we can make some money off of this we can experience some power we can have some influence and I want us to note here that these are not these individuals they're not described as Christians this thing is very odd they don't even know the Lord in fact as they're trying to exercise demons this is what they they say I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims they don't know the Lord Jesus

[17:03] Christ and so these are just like those magical words in that culture that one could recite seeing God as an incantation as a genius bottle a source of power to manipulate and perform for them church you do not invoke the name of the Lord if you don't also bow to him as king amen you don't do it and certainly you don't go around chasing opportunities to engage in exorcisms or deliverance type ministries as though you are somehow God's gift to demon hunting that's not the point of this passage and I would say individuals who do that they have like these itinerant Jewish exorcists have been intoxicated with who not with the Lord but with who with themselves look at us look what we can do look at our special connection to God it's obnoxious and and to have power actually over demonic forces it's not for the elite it's actually a reality for every

[18:27] Christian and maybe that's news to some of you this morning and maybe you're here this morning going Jay I'm I'm a Christian so I don't really need to worry about the spiritual realm I don't need to worry about the demonic realm I'm in Jesus and yet what we have in the New Testament our cautions are warnings for us related to just that James 4 7 submit yourself therefore to God resist the devil and he will free from you similar thing is said in 1st Peter 5 8 be so reminded be watchful your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring line seeking someone to devour and then it goes on and I says resist him resist him we have a real enemy Satan is real demons fallen angels they're real and so maybe you're going well Jay are you gonna get weird on us and suggest that every sin that we're struggling with is due to demonic influence no I'm not saying that this morning scriptures quite clear that we have three enemies in this life the world the flesh but also the devil there's three pieces to that pie now the world solicitation from without flesh solicitation from within I mean there's there's plenty that we can be struggling within this life in terms of waging war on sin but there's also a third category that I think in North America we often think oh that's for another continent not here and yet the biblical presentation is that this is just how things are for every believer and maybe that's uncomfortable for some of you and maybe some of you're like well Jay I'm not sure where you're going but only unbelievers can be demon possessed

[20:34] Christians can be oppressed have you heard that paradigm possession oppression I grew up with that and I would say if what you mean by possession is ownership then no Christians cannot be possessed but I would say those words they're really only useful in terms of describing degrees of influence and intensity because in both cases as scripture describes those demon possessing those demons oppressed it's actually the same word demon it's a my is the verb demon it's though menos is the participle it's the same word I think a better word a biblical word is to say a person is being demonized and what is demon demonizum menos if you break this word down it it's it's translated demon caused passivity so the result of passivity in a person's life and in a believer's life you are inviting the enemy to mess with you that's what scripture actually teaches I think we have an example of this in Ephesians 6 16 you have an entire chapter given to spiritual warfare it talks about the fiery darts of the enemy what are those I believe those are those are demonic accusations I believe every believer receives those different times accusations you're not really forgiven you're not really in

[22:29] Christ you're a victim you're not loved you're a loser I mean the list goes on and on and on I think every Christian experiences these at times some Christians however instead of like a little arrow here and there it's like the heavens is filled with arrows and what are we talking about there I think we're talking about degrees of influence and scripture indicates that it's possible for a believer then actually to be demonized read Ephesians 4 26 27 with me here Paul says it this way be angry and do not sin do not let the Sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil this word opportunity what is that word the Greek word is topos there's two senses this word is used one is it can be translated in advantage and it's a military concept that you are giving the enemy better ground higher ground and the images you want to give the enemy high ground for the archers to rain arrows down on you you can do that how by letting the Sun go down on your anger by being involved in habitual sin not repenting taking evil lightly that's what scripture says the other way this word actually used opportunity topos a place of inhabitation and not possession it's not ownership but could a believer Jesus owns the deed of the house can you put out a sign in front of the house saying they can see renters welcome I have a room available for you it appears what Paul saying in Ephesians 4 that that is so you let the Sun go down you don't deal with sin in your life you're just inviting the enemy to throw down more and more accusations arrows upon you some of you are uncomfortable with Jay man how can light and darkness exist together I mean that's actually I mean theologically how can God be omnipotent if that's not if there's no ability there right I mean that's a whole another discussion God certainly indwells us and yet we're still struggling the evil of the flesh so I'm not sure that's what Paul was meaning there I think he's saying hey they have no fellowship if you if you claim to love Jesus why are you participating in evil and if it's kind of the house metaphor is like uncomfortable think about it this way can a Christian decide like I'm gonna go swim in the swamp and then get out and have leeches attached yeah and I think that's the essence of of what is Paul is talking about here we can give demons permission higher ground to oppress or better to demonize when we don't deal with sin our life and this whole passage church is about don't harbor sin don't be involved in habitual sin and what I want us to understand additionally is as these exorcists were trying to make a show of things like deliverance is not a dog and pony show it's actually just part of pastoral ministry and to deal with spiritual bondage in a person's life it's really a simple matter of walking through a process of repentance asking the Lord to reclaim that ground and then commanding no spirits to go repentance of the doorway how do demons have ability to demonize Christians because you've given them a topos a handhold a place of inhabitation how do you deal with that you take away the ground you repent of the sin you stay close to the Lord they have no choice then I don't actually relish this aspect of the ministry I was not brought up in a church that even talked about this I became involved in working through some deliverance with individuals because I had people that I didn't know what to do they were spending time in the word they were walking with they were they were doing the spiritual disciplines and yet they're dealing with accusations mental messaging that they could not turn off by the way I've categories where everything's not a demon okay there's mental health this is a lot there's a lot of things at play but let's not discount the fact that there's also a real devil and he has underlings that want to do his work and when you have people that they're being accused of things I had one individual this couple was the first couple I had to work through this sort of thing with the husband he every time he opened the book he opened the Bible he was condemned he could never read God's word that doesn't make sense you're a Christian you love the Lord why can you not read God's book and hear from him and be encouraged every time you open the book he was condemned and so we just went through a process of figuring out man is there sin in your life that you need to deal with and yeah there was some stuff that had never been dealt with there was some premarital sex that occurred between him and his wife never repented of they were also presently overindulging in alcohol and there were things that that that were repented of turned from ask Lord take back these areas and then we together commanded name Lord Jesus Christ spirits go to the pit and I'll tell you what the countenance changed from that day forward he's able to read

[28:28] God's word and hear from the Lord so I have this category because I think scripture actually tells us that this is something that actually is true for many a believer I don't actually believe this is a unique thing I don't believe I have unique authority over demons that you also don't possess by the way fact we can read Jesus says this in Luke 10 19 and 20 he says behold I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you nevertheless do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven now believe this is just for the 72 at this time because if you turn back a chapter in Luke 949 John has an occasion where he goes Jesus hey there's guys casting out demons in your name but they're not with us and Jesus says if they're you know what if they're not against us they're for us they're working in in my name they're with us so I think the essence of rejoicing that your name is written in heaven as man celebrate the fact that you're a believer you have this delegated authority and so we shouldn't relish in this delegated authority but but rejoice that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ he's the one that heals it's his authority that he's given us it's delegated from him and there's nothing like seeing the joy return to a believer's face after years and years of accusations to have their mind free of all that litter question how does playing evil playing games with evil work out for these itinerant exorcists let's look at verses 15 and 16 but the evil spirit answered them Jesus I know and Paul I recognize but who are you and the man in whom was the evil spirit leapt on them mastered all of them and overpowered them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded demons understand authority they're in a hierarchy just like angels there's order they understand authority and these unbelievers did they have spiritual authority no did they have delegated authority trample on our score on scorpions and serpents no they did not which is why this occurred to them additionally if a believer is harboring sin do demons have to respond no the issue is is there a topos have you given the enemy a foothold to be able to accuse harass demonize years ago I worked with a gal who I thought was willing to just be in a place of surrender to the Lord and so we worked through we confess some sin and ask the Lord to cancel the ground and then together you know we command and I said we because it's not me it's she's got that authority the ground the vacancy she's the one that invited that in and and so we commanded these spirits to leave and this went on this was early on

[32:14] I didn't really know what I was doing and the demons continued to curse at her in her head accuse mock me and then her head would continue to kind of bang on the wall and and I didn't realize till later as she shared she was harboring sin she wasn't really willing to deal with everything and so she didn't have the authority to say go why you can demons harass a believer because we've given them permission so what is like the doorway to freedom repentance repent of the sin turn from the sin ask the Lord to forgive the sin also ask him to take back that ground if the enemy holds it and if there's demons there just command him to go I don't share these things to sensationalize what I want us to understand is we have a real adversary we have a real adversary and there is a cost of playing games with sin treating God is common demons as pastime entertainment it is the height of foolishness church and so I don't want to have a mindset of well I'm in Christ so man the enemy man I'm good I can kind of do what I want your disciple of Christ yield everything yield everything don't harbor sin one of the leading areas where the enemy has ability to increase influence harboring unforgiveness unforgiveness massive one okay I don't deal with you I'm not I'm where where does darkness show up in our lives we live in a in an age that is dismissed God we have an age that loves dark things we call good evil evil good I can recall an occasion some of you met a few weeks back my friend Victor pastor from Russia and he came to a marathon think it was first visit we were in a Barnes and Noble and he saw for sale on a on a stand a key chain and had a voodoo doll on it and just kind of as like you know it's a joke and he just looked at me and he didn't understand at all he was like Jay do do you know what this is so yeah do people know this is real I said no not in America everything we're sarcastic about everything we make light of everything we live in that kind of culture we make light of evil I mean zombies are our big business video games film TV day the dead it's like it's it's art it's decoration this is the mold church of our world trying to squeeze us into something to make us into something actually grotesque Jay doesn't affect me please don't say that because I think what you're what you're actually acknowledging is you've been so mashed into this mold you don't even see it there are some things that are to bother our spirit what is it that pricks your spirit where is that line in your life but Jay man it's just entertainment of course it's entertainment because if it was real you would want to have nothing to do with it and somehow because things are entertainment like we create the special category we're just it's okay we can indulge in all things evil Jay man I'm not into zombies I'm good great where's the darkest present in your day and that's where the spirit of God speaks convicts and if the Holy Spirit this morning is convicting you of something we're like man I know I've been playing loose with this sort of this area this thing hear God's voice delight that he's speaking to you and responding to obedience turn turn and that's exactly what they did in

[36:52] Ephesus let's look at the last few verses here 17 to the end and this became known to all the residents of Ephesus both Jews and Greeks and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled also many of those who were now believers came confessing and divulging their practices these are believers and a number of those who had been cracked who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all and they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 pieces of silver for our six million dollars in our economy so the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily yes books were very expensive before the pre-press but what you see here in Ephesus church is is the veil is lifted there's a real enemy there is real darkness God is real don't harbor sin don't play with darkness it's not a game you know usually when people come to see me if they're dealing with something they think man I think there's something going on here that feels very demonic usually what's occurred is they've seen everyone else and I'm their last resort because we poo poo this in this country what I want us to see we have a real enemy let's not be ignorant let's not be deceived he's a thief he wants to steal he wants to kill and he wants to destroy take your joy take your ministry man this was a wake-up call in Ephesus they realized they had been ingesting darkness realizing that they had been given the enemy footholds opening doors in their lives to the enemy to be at work and they repented they turned from the evil notice they didn't like put their books on Amazon marketplace they burned them I don't want anybody else being touched by this stuff they destroyed them and the thing that they found so much value in they realized there is no value and they got radical there was like a place of like Lord you get everything church when you're in that place that's where joy is that's where joy is you're harboring an area number one it's a joy like number two you may be giving the enemy opportunity to mess with you and you don't even realize it and some of you who if you've heard these thoughts these condemning accusations and you're hearing you're this you're that you're no good who speaks to them in the second person you hear that pronoun that may not be yourself talk okay and what I'm saying is you actually have delegated authority to deal with that and if the Lord has pointed out the Holy Spirit of God has pointed out in the air of your life that you're like man I know I have given this to the enemy then confess it go to him confess it ask him to take back the ground and because you have delegated authority as a Luke 10 command the spirits to go there's no spirits great you're just seeking to be obedient to the

[40:32] Lord but if they're there they'll respond and I'm telling you what there's joy in that place as total surrender to the Lord when we turn from evil church our eyes they brighten there's joy we become useful we be actually become dangerous for the Lord and actually and this is directed specifically to the men we actually are able to spiritually lead our families powerful the enemy wants us to slumber when it comes to darkness in our life why because at the end of life we'll recognize that we have done very little to advance God's kingdom because again if you belong to Jesus he's lost you but he can keep you ineffective for seeing others come to know the saving grace of the Lord let me give you three practicals on not being conformed blend with this waging war on our sin because that's what gives the enemy permission to just to accuse and to harass first thing is this you want not to be conformed take discipleship seriously take your study of God's word seriously the abiding life take it seriously spend time with the Lord hear from him get involved in a class one of the things we're committed to at this church is training anybody that wants to be a teacher we're gonna train you we're gonna do it again in the fall

[42:14] Kamesh has a class we're gonna teach you sound doctrine have you prepared that you could actually then teach lead others we're committed to that here we want you to have God's thoughts we want the lens of the gospel to be that which you see life through and what I love about this example in Ephesus is they they burn books what are books but books are instruments of learning so here was a culture that had invested time into their evil it wasn't passive I'm just gonna fill its center they're actually learning it's systematic don't just burn those books and then go into like neutral no take the same skills that you use to learn evil and learn the things of God amen I think how do we use our time are we investing in studying the things of God I trophic gal a few months back who got in my car she was a gamer and I could tell I could sniff gamers I know the type I love board games I'm you gotta keep those things in their place but this gal was obviously a gamer and she was in this D&D club but how many how much time you spend in this like invested in this gaming group and she did not want to tell me she did not want to acknowledge she was so embarrassed she's like you know what I spend so many hours each day preparing for my gaming group I don't even want to tell you she wouldn't tell me but it was a daily thing and it was hours each day is the spirit of God convicted don't hate me talk to the Lord talk to the Lord how much time do we spend preparing to understand the things of the Lord to draw near to him take your discipleship seriously secondly if there's a check in your spirit related to evil don't dismiss that because that is God speaking to you delight the fact that God is still speaking to you if you're convicted over sin praise God I'm not happy about it but you know what God's speaking to me then you know what respond to that just obey don't start going okay I can well maybe I can manage and I can and I can and God will be okay if I just give him 2% of this thing and no just obey if the Lord pricks your spirit don't dismiss that remove whatever that thing is you're right I caused you to stumble cut it out when I was getting into ministry I was working with students one of the things I did this is how I can spot gamers I used to collect comics I had a massive collection and I got into ministry I began to intern and the Lord began to convict me I'm not like this is between me and the Lord just what the

[45:27] Lord did to me and I began to be convicted at this collection that I had because I knew much of the artwork the way that the female anatomy was drawn was not something I could have my students come and look at it and it's like I can't can't continue to do this and be a youth pastor and you know what I don't collect comics anymore that was just one of the things that I'm just giving you an example when the Lord convicts you just obey you know it is okay to watch half a movie in fact I would make that a spiritual discipline every year find a movie well don't find a movie but it's okay to stop watching the show to cancel subscription like as a spirit of God convicts respond in obedience because there's freedom there there's joy there but yeah I enjoy that so much you know what there are many things that you can enjoy it doesn't have to be that third thing you know what we're family let's help each other in this the Lord's convicting you in area something going on get a brother get a sister talk about it maybe have them help you tell the man there's something the Lord's convicting me but I don't want to give it up I mean that's usually the way the conversation starts right amen yeah amen yeah you know how it is enlist help so you have somebody to go man okay if you're with me I think I can do this I want God's blessing on your life I want God's joy in your life I want us to be as a church is useful as we can be and I don't want anything to do with darkness amen so let's take it seriously take it seriously father thank you for your word that is true thank you Jesus that indeed you disarm rulers that they are actually subject to us as we walk closely with you that we don't have to be we don't have to do life under the barrage of accusations Lord I pray that we would be a people that would be quick to hold up the shield of faith that if we are accused something that we would be quick to remind ourselves of the gospel that's the power there's no condemnation for those in Christ that we're more than conquerors let's claim that Lord I pray that we would be that we would take our thoughts captive and Lord if there's some here that they're just been living under the barrage of accusations give them courage to just repent if they know sin in their life they need to deal with they would have courage to do that ask you to cancel any ground the enemy holds and command those spirits to go and then ask you to fill up those vacancies that space that house is clean Lord that your spirit would fill that in Lord I know there's been times in my life where I have harbored sin and I have withheld areas and I have had to give those back and I pray Lord that we would be a people that would be quick to repent of sin and Lord that we would exhort one another we would encourage one another because we are on the winning side Jesus you have conquered sin and death there is only life and there is only joy that lies ahead for those in

[48:42] Christ and I pray that we would walk in that identity today Jesus we love you to pray amen