GTM - Satan’s Great Defeat- By Lyall Johnston - 02-17-2023

The transcript discusses Satan's deception and how even though he knows his days are numbered, he will continue to fight until the end. It also talks about our human nature and the power of God's Spirit in controlling it. The transcript mentions that we are heirs of the kingdom of God and joint heirs with Christ, and that suffering is temporary compared to the glory that awaits us. The creation itself is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, and it was subjected to vanity not willingly, but in hope of immortality. The purpose is to deliver creation from bondage. Satan's Great Defeat. It's interesting that there was articles that appeared in the Plainsworth magazine back in 1959 and 1960 called Satan's Great Deception. So I've taken that as the title for tonight's message because even though Satan's deception is so great and so powerful, he has already lost the end battle. But do you think, even though he may know the Scriptures, even though he may know that his days are numbered, do you think he will give up? Do you think he's just going to pack his bags and go away and say, oh, it's, you know, Jesus has already defeated me. I'm just going to go and sit in the corner and chew my fingernails, and I'll just wait for it all to happen. Well, no, that's not him at all, because Satan in his position is going to keep fighting right to the very bitter end. And we need to understand and appreciate that because, you see, God has a message for him, and God has a message for us. And that's the very key to our salvation. Let's turn to Romans the 18th chapter and see what Satan and his sin is all about, and how that affects you and me, and how it affects God's plan, not only now, but in the ages of eternity. So Romans 8, and this is just such a powerful Scripture. We can come back time and time again because there is so much encouragement in it, there's so much hope in it, and there's so much knowledge and understanding and wisdom of God and his plan. The plan of God is just so great that despite the most wretched work, most evil work of Satan, God has got it all figured, it's all planned, and he's already set the final battles and the future. Paul says, verse 17 of Romans 8, he said, now if we are children, now we are the children of God, if God has called us, we have come to understand the nature that is within us, that rotten, vile human nature, which every human being has possessed from our mother Eve. It's been passed on from generation to generation, and it is alive and well today. Of course, our battle is keeping that under wraps, keeping it totally under control by the power of God's Spirit and by our minds being so filled with the Word of God that we're able to push out every thought, every idea, every stronghold. We're able to control them by the power of God's Spirit, the power of his Word, and by the indwelling presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ. We understand that, don't we? Because now if we are the children of God, and as I was saying, if we have repented deeply and we have been baptized and had hands laid on us and received the Spirit of God, we can remove that if, because we are the children of God. So for those who are not, then of course there's still some work to be done. Now if we are children, and that is this next amazing statement, we are also ears. Truly, the truth is ears of God. Can you imagine anything greater than that in our calling? Which means, what does an ear do? Doesn't an ear possess everything that's passed on to him or her by their Father? Well, God is our Heavenly Father, the Father of all fathers. So great is his might. So great is his power. Now here we are on the earth, and we're so wonderful because we can invent these telescopes like the James Webb, and we look at the beauty in the heaven. And as David wrote, it expresses the knowledge, the existence of God in a language that's not spoken. And that's what David understood when he looked up into the heavens. But you know, when you think about it, the James Webb or any other telescopes only zeros in on one very minute particle of the entire cosmos. The cosmos, the creation that was done with the hands of the one that became Jesus Christ is so vast, because you move that little dot. How many millions of years would it take for the James Webb telescope to view every particular corner, every particular area of the universe? Just not going to happen. Man is not going to see that until man becomes, truly, the born again sons and daughters of God. So we are heirs of all that kingdom and everything else that hasn't been revealed to us yet. The calling, the challenges are so great. And right now and here in our time, our time, the calling into the body of Christ, which is his church, being called ahead of the rest of mankind, along with the saints from the Old Testament and the saints from the time of Jesus and the apostles. It's just a few, really, by comparison to the billions upon billions of human beings that have been born and never understood that plan. God has plucked each one of us out of this world and revealed this to us. And because we are members of the body of Christ, there is a connection between each one of us as part of the body with Jesus Christ himself and his rule over the entirety of everything that he has created. All the principalities and powers, everything that existed or exists by the power of God and upheld by his hand, moment by moment, nothing fails. And we are joint heirs with Christ. Very important statement. If Christ is in us, then we are going to inherit all things. And all things means the entirety of the creation, the entirety of the universe. There are some people who say, well, I don't want that. Well, I do. I'm sure that you do. Otherwise, you wouldn't be listening to these programs. And joint heirs with Christ. Now, change in mood here. He says, because indeed, if we suffer together with him, have you done any suffering with Christ? If you're in Christ, then yes, you will have. He suffered, and we become a part of his suffering. It's not that we suffer for him, but we become his sons, his brothers and sisters. And therefore, because of that, the world is going to persecute us. And it's going to cause us to suffer just like it caused his suffering together with him so that we may also be glorified together with him. We stop and think about that. We can understand that, but only as Paul said, looking through a glass darkly. He says, for I reckon that the sufferings of the present time, and we can probably keep this in mind with all our aches and pains, our sicknesses, our flus or COVID, whatever. The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory. So think of that suffering on the one hand, which is momentary, as Peter says, and Paul says basically the same, compared to or contrasted to glory in eternity. And that's a hope that we need to cling to, not only now in our present day troubles, but the troubles that are going to come upon the church, particularly, and then the rest of the world. And as was said in an online meeting recently, how that Satan is out to get the church. The church is the number one target because of what we're reading right here, because Satan's main plan is to stop, prevent human beings from becoming the sons and daughters of God, so that we may inherit all things in the kingdom of God, that we may be the heirs of the kingdom of God and everything that God has, that he is, by his own word, by his own truth, he says he's going to share with us, that we may also be glorified together with him. So again, verse 18, for I reckon that the suffering of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Now comes a statement. For the earnest expectation of the creation itself, the entirety of the creation, this is talking about the angelic realm, this is talking about every heavenly object out there in the heavens, the visible heavens, even though the heavens that we can't see, if we had the ability, if we had the eyesight to see to the extent or the extremes of the universe, it's all of that. For the earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God. Do we understand that? The entirety of what we're able to see, and even what we can't see out there, is waiting on you, is waiting on me, to fully put on Christ, to get rid of everything that is from Satan, the devil, all the works of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the presumptuousness of the human living. The pride that is within us. More of that as we continue. So the whole creation here, note, is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God. That's you and me. Let's read that again. The earnest expectation of the creation itself is awaiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. You see, because this is what God is doing. Let's read on. Because the creation was subjected to vanity. Have you been subject to the vanity? Have I been subjected to vanity and pride? Yes. And that's the key to our inheritance. And we'll unfold this. And this is nothing new. This is nothing that you haven't heard before. But as Paul says, he says, you know, it's no problem to him to repeat what he's saying. And I think John says the same thing. But it's necessary for us to hear these things over and over again, because our minds forget. The older we get, the more we're inclined to forget. So this is vital. The creation was subjected to vanity. Now, who did that? Who subjected the creation to vanity? Who subjected you and me to vanity? Was it God? Well, we'll see as we continue. Notice the next phrase, not willingly. So what Paul is telling us here, there's a reason why God, who is the one who has subjected the whole creation, including us, to vanity. Not willingly. Why then? But by reason of him who subjected it in hope. What's the hope? The hope of immortality. The hope of eternal life. The hope of being raised with Christ. The hope of being and experiencing the resurrection as Christ experienced it, so that we may be in the kingdom with him. That's the hope. But you see, the vanity, being exposed to vanity, is so important. Why? Well, let's continue. In order that the creation itself might be delivered from the bondage. So what God is doing in you and me today, and all the saints of God, drawing us together in the body of Christ, in groups here, groups there, scattered maybe just two or three sometimes, but Jesus said, where two or three are gathered together, I am there in their midst. God is even with us. He's acting even when we're by ourselves. He is also in us. The Father and Christ are dwelling within us if the Spirit of God is in us. So in order, so he's subjected the creation that includes you and me, and all the saints, and all the saints, cleared back to the patriarchs, so that the entire creation itself might be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Who caused the corruption? Satan. Into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. So God today is freeing us from the weight of sin and the second death. He's delivering us from this world. He's delivering us from the evil that is within, so that we may, the holy creation may experience that freedom. Do you see what's dependent upon our faith, our love, and our hope? Do we realize what Paul is saying here, that the creation is waiting on us? Why? To deliver it from the bondage of corruption. Where did that corruption come from? How come the whole creation is corrupt, or was corrupted? We'll see that in a moment. We'll see that in a moment. For we know that the creation is groaning, yes, because of the damage done, together and pervading together until now. And not only that, but even we ourselves who have the first fruits, that is, the first fruits of God's Spirit, also groan. Everyone out there is groaning in some way because of the nature we have within, because of the evil we see taking place in the world, because of what we see Satan is doing through the various organizations to the children of this world. Bright, young, fresh, young lives being destroyed by all his evil works. Does our heart not cry out to God because of that? So again, the first fruits of the Spirit also groan within ourselves awaiting the sonship, the redemption of our bodies. Let's move across now to Acts the third chapter, because we pick up the next step here in Acts three, beginning in verse 19, I believe it is. Verse 19. Let's go to verse 18. But what God has before announced by the mouth of all his prophets, so this is not something that's been hidden, that's been announced. The prophets did not understand some of the things that you and I understand, because a lot has been given to us because of the life, ministry, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And he's shown us so much more than they actually had access to. It all comes together and everything is perfectly in harmony and is the truth of God. So by what God has before announced by the mouths of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he has accordingly fulfilled. Therefore, and this is a message for us every day, repent, as we should be repenting and confessing our sins daily before God, and be converted, converted from what we were into the perfect image of Jesus Christ, that we can get closer and closer to where he was when he said that the ruler of this world is coming. Oh, isn't he coming today? But he does not have one thing in me. And I know that I mention this almost every time, but it's such a classic text. It's such an important text. John 14 and verse 30. The ruler of this world. You know, Jesus called him the ruler of this world. Who's that? Satan, the devil. Okay. So repent and be converted. Why? In order that your sins may be blotted out. And how are they blotted out? Well, 1 Peter 1, about verse 19, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Day by day by day, so we're covered by the blood of Christ. So we can progress and walk in the laws and the commandments, the statutes, the judgments, the ordinances, and the precepts, which David continually repeated, particularly in the 19th Psalm. That your sins may be blotted out. Next. So that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. And that he may send him who was before proclaimed to you Jesus Christ. So there is coming a time of the refreshing of all things. We can go back to Genesis 1, and we know the story how that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Satan was given rule over the earth with a third of the angels. We know that he did not like the fact that he was on the earth. And here was God with the other two thirds of the angels. You know, Michael and Gabriel, 24 elders and the four beasts all there before God's throne. And he was only going there as a visitor. And resentment and jealousy began to build up in him. And we can see that in two scriptures particularly. So let's just turn to one of them. In fact, let me just use my phone, which is faster. Let's turn first to Ezekiel, the 28th chapter. And we've been over these time and again. But again, let's remember, it's not a waste of time going back over these same scriptures because these scriptures help us to keep a focus of God's to keep a focus of God's plan. And we need to be reminded, you know, all of us day by day, what God is doing, why he's doing it, and the outcome. So the 28th chapter of Ezekiel, what do we read? We know, first of all, it talks about the king of Tyre. And then it talks about, well, the prince of Tyre, the king of Tyre. But the king of Tyre is talking about the power that's behind the king. Psalm 11, verse 12, lift up the lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord God, you seal up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. This was Lucifer, which was his name before he sent. And you have been an Eden. So at the time that Ezekiel's writing this, can't be talking about a human being, it has to be talking about a man. I'm sorry, it has to be talking about a spirit being, which we know was Lucifer. So what happened? He talks there about the beauty that he had. And it goes on to that. He says, the workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was repaired in you in the day that you were created. And of course, it is thought that that's a reference to music and the way music has been perverted today. You were the anointed Chiron that covers. He was one of the three that covered God's throne. I just have something I haven't looked into. It says, you were the anointed. Did that mean that he perhaps had a position greater than Michael and Gabriel? I don't know. It's just a throwaway point. You are the Chiron that covers, and I set you so. So here God had put him in a very, well, as a principality and a power in his kingdom at that stage. You were upon the holy mountain of God. And you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, a little bit of insight into what it's like to be before God's throne. It's absolutely incredible. When you read about even the appearance of the archangels, particularly Gabriel, just what Daniel saw when he saw Gabriel, it was very similar to what Jesus Christ has described as. Just so powerful. His eyes are just like flames of fire. His feet like shining brass. So much so that Daniel, he was just flattened. He was trembling. He was afraid because of the beauty and the glory of Gabriel when he came to him. Mind you, he'd been fasting without food, without meat, without drink for three weeks. Interesting to read that. You can read of those incidents and Daniel 9 and Daniel 10. You are the anointed Chiron that covers, and I set you so. So God had given him great importance. But what happened? It went to his head. It went to his heart. Did God plan that? No. What God did when he created the angels, he did not want angels that had artificial intelligence. He gave them free moral agency so that they could think for themselves and decide what they were going to do, because that is the only way that character can be built. God was not creating character in them. God created them so that they would build the character by their choices and their decisions through the freedom he had given them to think. Now, he had given them all his laws. Well, where does it say that? Well, it doesn't, does it? But what we are told is that God gave Adam and Eve his laws and commandments. God gave ancient Israel his laws and commandments. And the scriptures say that God changes not. So did God give angels laws and commandments for the angels? Absolutely. But he gave them freedom of choice. He wanted them to choose the way of life that God had given them according to the laws and commandments for angels. Interesting. I said to you, so you're upon the holy mountain, you have walked up and down, you were perfect. See, that's how God created them. Just like God originally created the heavens and the earth, and it was destroyed because of Satan's rebellion. So then God recreated the earth for mankind. And what do you think that did to Satan? When God planted these weak human beings, these beings that God had created out of the dust of the ground, just clay and just kind of molded them like a potter, that when he wanted to, he'd just bring his fist up and smash that clay back into the ground again, which he will do if we refuse to obey and keep his commandments. But that's the past for us. God has called us. And now our desire is, Father, you are our teacher. Please teach us your ways. Please teach us your laws. I have all these people who are against me because I'm obeying you and following you, but I will not let them get to me because I'm going to continue to walk in your ways and in your paths, but help me. I'm weak. This is David, king of Israel, totally humble before God. You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created until iniquity was found in you by the multitude of your merchandise. And you can refer that back to Revelation 17, 18 and there, where it talks about the agents of this world with all their merchandise and so forth. Again, who's behind that? Well, Satan is. We know that. And God is going to bring an end to that. You were perfect in the way from the day that you were created until, here we are in verse 15 of Ezekiel 28, until inequity, sin was found in you by the multitude of your merchandise. They have filled up the midst of it with violence. So whatever it was, whatever industry, whatever merchandise it was, we're not told. We just accept that because we can make the comparison with the wickedness that occurs on today in trade and in government and education, you know, in every avenue of human life. Satan is in there driving it because, you know, as it says in John, the fifth chapter, the whole world, including Christianity, so called, is under the sway and the power of Satan, the devil. But if you read verse 18, well, actually, we'll get there in a moment. You have filled the midst of violence and you have sinned. Therefore, I will cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And he did. And I will destroy you. And that will happen when God finally puts him into outer blackness and darkness, where he will not be able to do anything but grinding his teeth in absolute, total frustration because he's been blocked now in absolute, total frustration because he's been blocked now from the entire plan of God. God's just going to remove him, never to be seen of or to have any influence of again. I will cast you to the ground, which was back onto the earth. I will lay you before kings that they may behold you. And then this goes between the king of Tyre and of course, Satan, who is the power behind him. You can read also the passage, which I'm sure you're familiar with in Isaiah, the 14th chapter. Again, Satan's plan is what? Satan's plan is to stop you, to stop me from becoming part of the body of Christ, because it's the body of Christ, the church, which is so melded with the mind and humility and love and power of Christ, that eventually is going to free the entire universe from the destruction, from the bondage, as Paul said, from Satan, the devil. So again, God created us from the dust of the ground. And today we have that opportunity and we have made the choice to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and all those who are true followers of him. So Satan, unless we let him, cannot stop us from attaining eternal life, salvation, and rulership in the kingdom of God. That's an absolute certainty. Only we can take ourselves out of that. Now, some people who have been in the church, some who have been converted, sadly, decide to go back into the world and the ways of the world. There are others who are in the church, and sometimes they cause problems. You know, they get hot-headed. They can get angry. They can stir up congregations, and they have to be removed if they don't repent. Because God wants peace and harmony. He wants love in the church. He wants the fellowship between one another. We are brothers and sisters, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, the Spirit of God, which God has shared with us, and the Spirit of Christ, which Christ has shared with us, to bring us into that place of eternal life. You may want to read Hebrews 10 about our future, how God has promised us all things, but we don't see that yet. But what we do see is we see what Christ has accomplished, and what Christ has accomplished, he has drawn us, the Father and He, have drawn us into that plan, in such an important plan. Everything in life, everything in the universe, everything in the kingdom of God is focused on that area. So we find that Adam and Eve were tempted, and of course that attitude was passed on down toward us. And we're very aware, as so many scriptures say, that Satan is the God of this world. He is the prince of the power of the air. He is the rule of this world. And we find in Revelation 12, that well-rehearsed chapter, where we get a lot of the history of Satan and also of his demise, but also we see the threat that he is to the church. The destruction of Satan, we begin to see this in Genesis 3 verse 15, where it says that what was going to happen in the future, Christ was going to come, and Satan was going to get to his heel, and of course cause his death, but then eventually Christ was going to crush the head of Satan, totally crush his government, totally crush and remove his rule from this earth and his influence on the entirety of the creation. So again, the problem for Satan and the message of his destruction comes through Jesus Christ. His problem is Jesus Christ, because he knows that Christ is coming to destroy his kingdom, that Christ came to destroy his work. And what is his work? His work is trying to inspire or instill within you and me, by his temptation, God tempts nobody. Now, God did lead Jesus up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, but God didn't tempt Christ, and he will not tempt us. God gives us the ability to be tempted by God, and God gives us the ability and the power to overcome that temptation. And in Matthew, the third chapter, we see those three temptations. Rick mentions them, but he only mentions two of the temptations in Luke, the fourth chapter. And at that point, Jesus Christ overcame the temptations of Satan, the devil, and that is a picture for us to cling on to with all our strength. Satan could not tempt him in one point. He can tempt you, he can tempt me, and occasionally, because we are still weak, we still don't have that fullness of maturity, we don't have yet the fullness of the fruits of God's Spirit in our life, and he can trip us up. We quickly repent, and that precious blood of Jesus, I love that expression, the precious blood of Jesus, and its effect on the entirety of the creation, because it's that, and everything that happens because of that, that the whole of the universe, the whole of God's creation, is going to be purified with one exception. Satan and his demons. Because you see, once Satan sinned, once his demons sinned, their character was set as evil, and only evil, continuously. There is no sacrifice for Satan, but there is a sacrifice for you and me, and for those who take that, who take the precious blood of Jesus Christ, receive the indwelling of God's Spirit, you see, that gives us eternal life. If we, on the other hand, turn around and say, well God, I don't want anything to do with you, I understand, I've seen all your plan, I've read your word, I don't want it. I want the lust of the eyes, I want the lust of the flesh, I want the presumptuous pride of the physical life. That's for me, and then I'll die. Well, if that's what we choose, we will die, and we will go back to the dust. But because we have chosen to confess our sins and to struggle against the sin of Satan through humility, you see, it's humility that within us, that God gives us, that overcomes the power of Satan. So on the one hand, you have the vanity, the pride of Satan. I have just something here that I wrote down. What's the difference between, I asked myself, what's the difference between pride and vanity? Well, here it is. I just got this online, but it's a reasonable explanation. Pride, well let me do vanity first. Vanity relates to what we would have others think of us. Pride relates to our opinion of ourselves. You know, I, me, mine. And there is a system whereby it can tell, you know, how much you are involved and how much you are vain and proud of yourself by the degree of how many times you use those words, those pronouns, I, me, and you. Now it's interesting that Marilyn Monroe, I think, had, she was able to keep the mind off herself for about three minutes, I think it was. On the other hand, Eleanor Roosevelt was able to go two, three hours when, you know, her mind just didn't come onto herself. Now to use the pronouns I, me, and mine is not evil. Look how Jesus talked about himself, how he declared that he is the Son of God because that's what God made of him. Look how David talked about the I, I, you know, I love your Lord. I worship you. You are my Savior. You are my King. So there's the right use. But when we use the pronouns, and this was Satan, he got his eyes, now he didn't have a belly button, but you know the term, he got his eyes on his own belly button. He got his eyes on himself. That's all he could see. And you know, isn't that true? There's so many that we know, but isn't it also true that it's something that we have to be very careful of to get our mind on ourselves for a selfish, even jealous, lustful means? When we think about ourselves, when you think of some of the saints, of some of the saints, you know, reading through Daniel, and when you look at Daniel, when he's praying to God, fasting for three whole weeks, and it says he was fasting, there's another key to humility. I would like to offer a comment that to understand true, heartfelt humility, fasting is a major key to that. Now, we know that God's command, and we love that command, is to fast on the Day of Atonement. And as Daniel said, when he fasted, he ate nothing. No food, no wine passed over his lips. But the depths of humility can be examined by fasting. And Jesus was asked one time by the apostles of John, you know, well, look, we fast, and the Pharisees fast. Why don't your disciples fast? And Jesus answered and said to them, you can find this in Matthew. He said, well, he said, well, the bridegroom is, you know, was with the people. Well, what he's saying is, well, while I'm with them, you know, I'm the bridegroom, while I'm with them, they don't need to fast because I'm here. But when I go, they will fast, because they're going to need to fast to get close to me. And I would just say that I understand that when we understand how to fast. Now, if we fast, what do we find? We become weak. We find that if we continue to fast and never eat again, we become so weak we'll die. The fasting, therefore, shows us also that without contact, without eating the blood, sorry, eating the body of Christ and drinking of his blood through the Passover, through obedience to him, we're going to starve spiritually, and we're going to die spiritually. And there are times in our lives when we have, we face mammoth events, like David, where the potential birth of his unborn child was Bathsheba, illegitimate. He fasted and he prayed, pleading with God to save that child's life. The child died, David finished his fast. And I'm sure that every time David had a serious problem, he fasted. He was fasting three weeks. Why? Because he wanted to understand the scriptures. You can read this Daniel 9 and 10. And what did God do? God sent Gabriel, this brilliant archangel who terrified Daniel initially until he laid his hands on him and said, Daniel, you know, don't be afraid. Stand up. I've come to bring an answer to your prayer, the prayers that you had about the prophecies of Jeremiah. And he said, you are greatly loved. Now, the reason I was three weeks getting to you, God heard your prayer the very day you started to pray it. And here three weeks later, he receives the answer. So should we always expect immediate answer to prayer? No. Should we expect answers? Yes. Even if God says no, is that not an answer? Why would God say no to a prayer request like that? Well, think of Paul. Paul asked three times for God to remove, for Christ to remove this affliction of probably one of his enemies who followed him around, making things upsetting, you know, as the scriptures indicate, upsetting things for him when he was trying to preach the gospel. And God says no. Why? He said, because I want you to understand that if I take this affliction from you, you're going to get proud. You're going to have Satan get to you and you're going to get puffed up because I have given you so much that you need this affliction, whatever it was, to keep the humility. And so when God gives us a lot, there's big responsibilities on our shoulders, but we always look to him. And did Paul continue to look to Christ? Thank God the Father, thank Jesus Christ that he was faithful. Look at the knowledge, look at the wisdom, look at the ability given to us through the writings of Paul, of the indwelling of God's Spirit, by his many writings. And there's some incredible writings there. Ephesians 2, chapter, and Ephesians 3, just amazing scriptures. In fact, why don't we turn to Ephesians, the third chapter, and verse 10. This is a massive subject, and I appreciated from the start that I would not be able to cover everything that I've been looking at in the last several months, in fact, over the last number of years, just on this one subject. Now you can get a copy, I believe, you can download a copy of Satan's Great Deception from the church website. I have downloaded a copy myself, I have it there. This is written by Dr. Paul C. Meredith, who died about March-April 1968. We just happened to be passing through Pasadena at the time, and we did attend his funeral. But he was the one who was the founder of the Ambassador College Correspondence Courses, which, you know, a lot of people grew up in and cut their spiritual teeth on that material. Something else I just pulled out here regarding the subject, if you want to study more about it, it's called—this is Appendix 2 from Did God Create Satan the Devil? Now, that's from Why Were You Born book, this one here. If you look in the appendix, the second one at the back, you'll see that subject, Did God Create Satan the Devil? That answers more and goes over some of the same material we've been talking about. But you see, Satan is our number one enemy. The second enemy is, of course, ourselves, and the third is the surrounding world. God has called us at a time when we have to battle all three. And because of our battle, what is going to take place? We'll come to that in a moment. But I would like to leave a message that humility, which is the opposite, and it is the dire enemy of vanity. You see, this is a tool. This is a spiritual tool. This is a gift God gives to us, humility. Now, if we don't have, and if we're not concentrating on humbling ourselves before God, we're not going to go anywhere very fast at all. Humility is a key because, as Peter says, we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Some people say, well, I've got no humility. I've got no vanity. I've got no pride. And what are they saying? We're actually confessing that they have got it. Because if you can't see it, vanity and pride is part of the human nature. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. Jeremiah 7, 10, 9. Man, without the help of God, we cannot see the vileness that is within us. God exposes this so we can get rid of it. Getting rid of all the vileness that came and goes back on the head of Satan. And again, this is why the Passover is so important. The precious blood of Christ. That's for the church, as we know. Then comes that important counterpart, which is the Day of Atonement, which has the same message with a lamb chosen to represent Jesus Christ, the Azazel ram, rather, kid goat. That was representative of Christ, which covers his blood, then covers the rest of humanity that have never been called, going clear back possibly to Adam and Eve, when they are called at a future time. You and I have been called now to become humble. Humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God so that he will exalt us in due time. Humility comes before promotion. Humility comes before exaltation. Humility comes from the Spirit of God, from the mind of Christ. God the Father himself is humble. And could we even say even meek of spirit, because he praised Moses because of all men, he was the most meek of all men. But isn't God meek? Look what he's done for you and me. He's actually called us. And I think a lot of us can say, I was the scum of the earth, but God called me. But God called me. Why? Well, that's why. Because as Paul wrote again in Corinthians, the first chapter, verse 26, God hasn't called the high and the mighty. He's called the low. He's called the offcast. That's what we were. That's what we are. He hasn't called me high and mighty and noble. And anyone who thinks he is, you know, what's that old statement, which is a biblical principle, pride comes before a fall. Because once you have pride, there comes jealousy, lust, greed, and with Cain, the first murderer, anger. And God says to Cain, you must rule over it. If you do, you see, you are going to put yourself on the path to building and developing holy and righteous character and humility, which is the opposites of what you are exhibiting, anger, hatred, murder to your brother. And we know where his anger led to, murder. And we have to be so careful that we don't, in that spiritual sense, murder a brother or sister with the viciousness of our tongues and our lips. If we cannot humble ourselves before our brothers and sisters, joint ears in Christ, do you think God is going to see us as humble before him? God is going to test our humility of how we are prepared to humble ourselves before one another. We never got to Ephesians 3 and verse 10, did we? But do read that. Ephesians 2 and 3, just fantastic chapters. Just the mind of God just pouring out to us through the words of Paul. The inspiration, as David said, your words are like honey to my mouth as we read, as we devour the word of God in that sense. We just have that feeling that God is talking to me. I understand what I'm reading. I couldn't understand it before, now I can. I'd like to close with a couple of scriptures. I see I'm almost out of time here, if I am not already out of time, but it's in Ephesians. Again, the writings of Paul. Ephesians 3 and verse 10, let's start there. I'd just like to leave with you, do spend some time in the book of Ephesians. Philippians 3 is also a great chapter, a great book. But a particular point at certain times, there's information in there that is so unlifting, so inspiring. It's a driving force to help us to to help us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, because that is how Satan is going to be destroyed. Ephesians 3 and verse 10. In verse 9, Paul writes, and I might enlighten all as to what is the fellowship of the mystery that has been hidden from the ages in God who created all things by Jesus Christ. Yes, he created Satan, sorry, Lucifer, but by choice and free moral agency, Lucifer decided he was not going to obey God. He disobeyed God and became Satan the devil, and he's our great problem in the world today. Verse 10. So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church. That's you. That's me. That's all the saints going back to Christ, the apostles, and the church ever since. The manifold wisdom of God, the humility of God, the very aspect, one of the aspects along with the blood of Christ that's going to throw, well, it already debunks Satan, that's going to throw him out into the outer darkness. That that manifold wisdom of God, now listen to this carefully, might now, present time, be made known through the church. To whom? To the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places or in the heavenly realm. And generally that term, principalities and powers, is a reference to the evil demonic spirits. Now it can refer to the principalities that God has set in place. And we know that the angels sit in and listen to what's being said by physical human beings who are preaching the word, and they learn things, and I think a lot of that happened in the past. Don't know about the present time. But in relation to that, now let's go back to chapter one. Because the church, which is humble, which is meek, which is dependent on the blood of Christ, which is dependent on the spirit of Christ, has a place in bringing freedom to the entirety of the universe, including humanity. And I'd like to read here at the last, beginning in verse 19 of chapter one of Ephesians. Paul was wanting to open the people's minds and their eyes so they could see and understand the wisdom and the knowledge of God. And that, or verse 18, and that may the eyes of your mind be enlightened in order that you may comprehend what is the hope of his calling, what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of power, the exceeding greatness of his power toward us. We can claim that. That's what he wants us to claim, who believe, us who believe according to the inner working of his mighty power in us, so that we may be able to humble ourselves before him so that he will exalt us in due time. Now, notice verse 22. This is one I've mulled over time after time. I don't know that I understand it yet, but I get an impression it's got something to do with Romans, the eighth chapter, where we began. And he has subordinated all things under his feet. Jesus Christ has subordinated all things under his feet. Why? And he has given him, or rather, he is referring to God the Father, has subordinated all things under his feet, and has given him, Jesus Christ, the living Jesus Christ, the Son of God, given to him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all things in all. That will not be able to be said as we understand to those who come up in the second resurrection. And so tie that in with what we read in Romans, the eighth chapter, how that the whole creation is waiting on you and on me. Now, that's not to be a matter of pride and vanity. That's our calling. That's what God wants us to do. God wants us to humble ourselves before him, like he was Daniel, humbled before Gabriel the angel. And I'm glad that the cyclone we had here in New Zealand took the female, not the male spelling, Gabriel. But anyway, by the way, so that's important. Your calling is so important to God the Father. God wants you. God desires you. God desires me to humble ourselves before him, and I'll say it again, so that he is able to exalt us in his time when he knows it is the right place. And we find the answers to that, of course, is all laid out for us in God's annual holy days, beginning with the Passover.