Psalms 124:1, "If it had not
been the Lord Who was on our side, now may Israel say," he
said it again in verse two, "If it had not been the Lord Who was
on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had
swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against
us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had
gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our
soul." We would have been overcome,
overwhelmed, washed away. "Blessed be the Lord, Who has
not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird
out of the snare of the fowlers," we have missed trap
after trap that the devil has set for us. Our soul has escaped as a bird
of the snare of the fowler, "The snare is broken, and we are
escaped." We got away. "Our help is in the name of the
Lord, Who made heaven and earth." Somebody say: "The Lord is my
Helper." If you back up to the hundred
and eighteen Psalm, Psalm one hundred eighteen, he says very
similar thing. Psalms 118:6 says, "The Lord is
on my side," what's the result of that? "I will not fear." Now, if we are full of fear,
then it's because we don't know that He's on our side. The presence of fear indicates
the absence of being fully persuaded, that God is really
with us, that He is real and that He is with us to help us. I won't fear. "What can man do unto me?" You know the Lord told people,
"Don't be afraid of man that can kill your body and after that
there's nothing else he can do." Didn't He say that? Somebody said, "I'm going to
shoot you. I'm going to kill you and blow
you away." You should say, "I'm about to
see Jesus? Right now? Well! But before you pull that
trigger, are you saved? I mean, I'm ready to go. But you don't act like you are." "So just a minute here." The absence of fear shows the
presence of faith. A faith that knows God is real,
He's right here with me right now, and He's not just here to
watch me while I spiral down the drain, He is here to help me. Help me. Somebody say: "The Lord is on my
side." He went on to say in verse
seven, "The Lord takes my part with them that help me," glory
to God. Psalms 54:4 says, "Behold, God
is my Helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul." I believe we should meditate on
this week after week as the Lord has us on this series. You should just go long every
day, as people would say out of the blue, you say, "God is my
Helper. The Lord is with me. He helps me. He's on my side. He is for me." Don't assume you know that. "Oh yeah, I've heard that, I
know that." If you knew it, you would be
excited beyond words, if you really knew it. If it's ho-hum to you, you don't
know it, it's just some information stuck in your head. It's not living and real inside
of you. No, the Almighty, the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ is also our Father. Is that right? And the Creator, Who can do
anything power wise. Knows everything. He is for me. He's on my side. As we like to say, "He's got my
back." Skip over to Romans, the New
Testament. Romans the eighth chapter. We looked at this last time. Romans 8:31, "What shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us?" And the implication is
successfully. We know we have an enemy against
us, we're going to talk about that in a minute. But who can successfully be
against us? If God is on my side, then in
order to beat my side, you have to beat everybody that's on my
side. And you might think you could
take me, but can you take Him? Is He really on my side? Just like a team, a ball team:
baseball, basketball, whatever, dodgeball, whatever it is. You may have a couple of players
that are not that strong, but if you have a superstar on your
team - is that right? While y'all are running to keep
up, he's already made forty points. And we got us a great team. Yeah, He's doing most of it, but
we have a good team. Still on the team, is that
right? A win is still a win. Halfway through the game you'll
be going, "That's right. Get sixty-eight points, that's
right, do it. He's got it." But if your team won, your team
won. That's exactly how it is with
us. There's so much we don't know,
our flesh is so weak, we have made so many mistakes, but we
have a Superstar on our team. The Superstar. Hallelujah. And in order to beat us, our
team, you have to beat Him because He's on our team. And then ain't nobody ever beat
Him. Nobody has ever beat Him. I'm just elaborating on if God
is on our team, who can beat us? If God is for us, who can
successfully be against us? Somebody say: "Nobody. Nobody. Go with me over to 1 Peter. God is on my side. He takes the part with those
that help me. He is among those that help me,
the greatest One Who helps me. First Peter 5:7 says, "Casting
all your care upon Him; for He cares for you." Well, that's another way of
saying He is for you, right? Cares about you. Keep going. "Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil," now, what does "adversary" mean? "Adversary" means the opposite
of being for you. It means "to be against," "to be
opposed to," "opponent," "opposed against." There is someone who is against
us. But there is Somebody Who is for
us. Right? And if God is for us, who could
successfully be against us? And yet, He is still against us. And He is going to continue to
be against us. And it doesn't help to try to
pretend like there's no adversary. You know, people have some goofy
ideas - they may not express them completely, but they live
like okay now devil, I won't mess with you, you don't mess
with me. I'm not going to cause you any
problems, and you don't cause me any problems. Deal? You know what he will say? "Deal. And week after next, he will
nail you if he can. "Be sober," so you don't need to
be 'head in the sand' and you don't need to be foolish, you
need to be sober. Sober is the opposite of being
drunk and being out of it. You need to be awake, alert, and
on the watch because somebody is out to hurt you. And you don't want to give him
any opportunity or any place. So important. We shouldn't just bump along. Much of the world, much of the
world is living like there is no God, there is no devil, there is
no heaven, there's no hell, there's nothing after this life. They are living in a dream. They are living in a fantasy. They're living like they're
going to be down here forever. They don't want to talk about
death. "Oh no, no, no. Just enjoy life. Enjoy life." It's this long. I said, it's this long. Our days are doing like this... We just finished another week of
them. Is that right? Like Thom was saying, another
half a year. How many remember when it was
the year two thousand? How long ago was that? Nineteen ninety? How long ago was that? Nineteen eighty? Decades are going... Is that right? You're not going to be here much
longer. If you live another fifty years,
if you live another seventy-five years, whatever, it's going to
come and go so quickly. You want to live like you are
ready to go now. Is that right? You do not want to live with
your head in the sand, don't want to talk about death. Fifty-five million people will
have died and left this earth before the year is over. Fifty-five million. Just about a little over a
second, just a second plus, two people leave the planet. Every second, just a little
over. It's not something we should
dread as believers, it's actually something we should
look forward to. But we want to stay and do our
job and finish up what we are down here to do. See how quiet it is? "I don't like talking about
that." Well then you need to grow up. Because it's going to happen. It's happening all around you,
right? It's going to happen. Just depends on when and how. How many people left from the
seventeen hundreds? How many? So in another hundred years, how
many of us will be around? Lord tarries His coming, another
two hundred years, how many of us will be around? But is that a bad thing? Is that a scary thing? This is reality. We are here for a very, very
brief time. As a believer, Somebody is for
us. Our God. We also have an enemy, an
adversary, is against us. And we need to be on the watch
about our adversary and give him no opportunities. And we need to be in full faith
and cooperating fully and completely with the One Who is
for us, so He can keep us and do for us and with us what He
desires. What His will is. One of the biggest lies and
deceptions that the church has bought into is that God is
controlling everything. And that everything is happening
exactly as it is supposed to. That's not true. That's not even close to being
true. There's a select group of people
that everything is going to work out for their good. It's those who love God. Those who love God are going to
do what He says. And it's going to also give Him
access to prevent what the enemy would do. For instance, tithing. So many people fuss and fight
about it. "Oh, that's under the Old
Testament." It was before the old covenant
and it's during and it's after. Jesus talked about it. It's in the New Testament in the
Book of Hebrews. We have teachings on this if you
care to know. A lot of folks don't want to
know; they'd rather be ignorant. And it's not about what they
really believe, it's about the money. We don't even teach that you are
supposed to tithe to us or to the church. Shocker. We preach that the tithe belongs
to the Lord. It's His, not yours. Anyway, if you believed that and
you honored Him, it's not just about money, it's about honor,
and it's about access. According to Malachi if you
honor Him with that, the tithe and the firstfruits of all your
increase, He's going to pour out blessings on you, is that right? And He's going to rebuke the
devourer for your sake. But can you see your act of
honoring Him allows Him to get between you and the enemy, where
your finances and material things are concerned. Glory to God. We had several things happen in
the ministry this week where no doubt in my mind thousands of
dollars were saved. The devourer is rebuked. We are tithers. It looked like we might had to
spend it, but we don't. Glory to God! Don't need to. That's like somebody giving you
a bunch of money into the ministry. Right? That's not just for ministers or
churches, that is for every tither. Right? We do have an adversary. He is out to consume and devour
and steal and kill and destroy. So when you see stealing and
killing and destruction, how ignorant it is to blame God. And yet, many do. "We just don't know why God's
done all these things, but He must have some reason." How about you messed up and let
the enemy in? And it wasn't God and it wasn't
His will at all. So many things are that way. Selah. Think about it. Religion. People have made the Scriptures
of no effect by their traditional beliefs. Somebody say: "Not me. Not me. By the grace of God I'm going to
believe the truth. And the truth makes me free." Put the scripture back up. Do you have an enemy? Yeah, you do. Do you need to take it
seriously? Do you need to be afraid of him? No. But do you need to take it
seriously? Yeah, you do. How do you take it seriously
without being afraid? He didn't say be afraid, He
didn't say go hide, He didn't say tremble, what did He say? Be on the watch. The scripture says we're not
ignorant of his devices. Be on the watch, just know that
the enemy is trying to work up something against you. I know it's not a nice thought,
but it's true. He's trying to find some kind of
access to get to you. And that's why we need to be
vigilant. What do we need to be vigilant
about? We want to make sure we follow
our good Shepherd real close. Because that's the safety zone. Is that right? We want to stay right under that
great big rod and staff, is that right? Under the secret place of the
Most High. We want to stay real close,
follow Him, that's where it's safe. We want to do what He says, when
He says, how He says. It gives Him access into the
earth on our behalf to help us. He said, "Your adversary," the
one who is against you, who is opposed and against you, the
devil, "as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may
devour." So there are some he may, and
there are some he may not. And we should be greatly
interested in how we become those he may not. Are you? We already see the top of the
verse. What does the top of the verse
say? "Sober, vigilant," we need to be
on alert for the enemy trying to get to us and not let him have
any access. Go with me to the Book of
Revelation and we'll begin to talk about how the enemy works
against us. It's revealed in the word of
God. In the twelfth chapter,
Revelation twelve. It's revealed in numerous places
in the word. It's not just all a hidden
mystery. It seems like where the devil is
concerned as with so many subjects, people tend to get in
one ditch or the other. They either talk too much about
the devil and they are scared of him, or they don't talk enough
about him and it's like he doesn't exist. There is a rightly dividing of
the word of God. In Revelation 12:7 the Bible
said, "There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,"
this is not a fairytale. This is reality. Keep going. "And prevailed not," who
prevailed not? The dragon, the devil. "Neither was their place found
any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan," who is
your adversary. I know you like to think that
everybody likes you. He is not for you. He's against you. And he is a killer. He's a liar, he is a thief, he
is a murderer, he is a destroyer. He's not even human. He's not even terrestrial. We would call him an alien. This is real. And those that are with him. And they don't care about human
beings. We are nothing to them. He has a God complex. He wants to be God. He thinks this planet is his. He wants everything. He wants us out of the way. And the ones he hates the most are the ones who have
been born again. Who are the sons - oh, somebody
say: "The sons." Because it's something he could
never be again. He has forfeited - he hates us. Among the reasons why is because
he envies us. We are beloved of God. Now compared to him and all
these beings, we are preemie babies. We've been in existence that
long compared to them, and we just don't know anything,
compared to what they have seen and what they have heard and
known throughout the eons. And yet, God, the Creator has
claimed us for His own and has made us a permanent part of His
family and has predestined us to develop and rule and reign with
Him throughout the ages. It's what He and those that
defected and rebelled with him, it's what they wanted. They wanted dominion. They wanted authority. They wanted to be gods. And they never will be. There are still trying to be,
but it's already done. Have you read the back of the
Book? It's already done. God has spoken the word. It's just a matter of time. But us - they are fading. Their life and their orbit is
smoking. We are just beginning. Hallelujah. And our future is so bright. So the Bible said we're going to
shine like the stars in glory. It doesn't yet appear who and
what we are, you can't tell by looking at us right now, but
it's going to be evident. Because of who is for us. The Bible says that the Master
Himself will claim us in that day. That we are His brethren. Phew. He's going to claim us before
all beings and all realms. The devil didn't and is not
going to prevail. Satan, "Which deceives the whole
world," that's his primary effective weapon is deception. Just like the truth will make
you free, lies will imprison you. Lies blind and lies bind. He deceives the whole world. It's happening right now. Billions of people are in total
spiritual darkness on this planet. Worship rocks and stars and
count beads and spin wheels and billions of them do nothing at
all. They act like there is no God. They are deceived by the god of
this world. "He was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night." This is insight into how he is
against us. How he is our adversary. I know some of this is involved,
but I'm just reading scriptures. Right? How does your adversary function
against you? Yeah, he's against you, what
does he do? How does he take action to put
that into effect? Something he does without
stopping night and day. Is what? Accuse you before God. He accuses you to God. Now the more you learn about
this, the more you're going to hate him. Why would he do that? Why would it be an issue? He is a created being and a
fallen being. He cannot just come destroy you
when he wants to. If he could, not a one of us
would be breathing in here tonight. He would've taken us out a long
time ago, and everybody like us. The reason he hasn't already
taken you out, he has not been able to. God has kept you. Is that right? And he hasn't been able to get
access to you. But that's what this is about. This is about getting access to
you. Getting judgment against you. So he can get to you. That's what the accusation is
about. Didn't we just read this in Job
not too many weeks ago? Well, go back there. Job one. Let me finish reading this. I'll finish reading this verse. The accused, our brethren, the
accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before
God day and night and they what? And the devil destroyed all of
them? No! They what? "They," the brethren, that's you
and me. The brethren, "Overcame him,"
the accuser of the brethren, the devil, the dragon, "by," two
things. Two things. Somebody say: "Two things." Not just one, two things. One of them, we didn't do. One of them, we do. Two things. They overcame him, the adversary
by, "The Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." Oh, hallelujah. How are we sober and vigilant where our adversary
is concerned? Know he is accusing you. He's trying to build a case
against you. He's trying to get judgment
against you. He's trying to get access to
you. So what's important? What's important is that I know
what's been done for me by the Blood of the Lamb, and my
testimony is in agreement with that. His accusation is a factor, the
Blood of the Lamb is a factor, and my testimony is a factor in
whether he can get to me or whether he can't. Go with me to Job and let's
remind ourselves of how this works. Who is against whom? God is for me. Right? The devil is against me. Shouldn't be scared about it,
but I shouldn't be dumb about it either. I should realize he's trying to
get - he's always trying to start something. He's a sorry cuss. I'm not going to shed a tear
when he gets thrown in the pit. You talk about evil sorry, him
and all his cohorts, that's what they do. Why? He wants to steal from you. He wants to destroy you. He wants to kill you. "Why doesn't he just do it?" He can't. Unless he can get access. Didn't the Bible tell us,
"Neither give place to the devil," in Ephesians, did he say
it? Don't give the devil any
opportunity, any space, anyplace, what does that mean? It means you can give him place,
and it means be on the watch and don't. How do people give him place? Well, go to Job, the first
chapter. Job chapter one. We actually get a behind the
scenes look, it's interesting, of activities of angels and the
enemy and God. And Revelation just got through
telling us that the enemy does this against the brethren night
and day. In Job 1:6, "There was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
Lord, and Satan," or the Hebrew there, the word literally is
"adversary," the adversary, "came also among them. And the Lord said to Satan," the
adversary, "Whence comest thou? Satan answered the Lord, and
said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up
and down in it." Does that sound familiar? Just read that in 1 Peter. What is he doing? Going to and fro. Is that right? What is he doing? We can put Peter with this -
what's he going to and fro in the earth and up and down in it,
what is he looking for? Those he can destroy. Devour. Verse eight, "And the Lord said
to Satan, have you considered my servant Job," now the King James
is a little bit rough on this. If you look in the margin of my
Bible it says the Hebrew literally says have you set your
heart on? The way some people read this
it's like God brought Job up and said hey, how about Job? Have you thought about attacking
him? That wouldn't be somebody that
is for you. That's not what happened. Look up the Hebrew. Like I said, it's even in the
margin of my Bible. Have you set your heart on him? It's like always. God is always ahead of the
enemy. He knows the enemy has been
doing his best to get to him. Have you set your heart on him? "That there is none like him, a
perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews
evil? Satan answered the Lord, and
said, Does Job fear God for nothing?" What is he doing right now? He is beginning to accuse Job to
God. And to question Job's faith,
question Job's heart, question Job's motives. What is he saying? Well, keep reading. "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made an hedge about
him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every
side?" How does he know so much about
that? Because he's been around it a
thousand times trying to get to him. And cannot. He can't do it. Oh, he would've killed Job a
thousand times over, but he couldn't get to him. That's what he's trying to do
right now. How can he get to him? Get judgment against him that
would allow him access. Now if you haven't understood
this, don't throw it away. Did you hear those phrases I
just mentioned to you? Judgment against that allows
access to. "You have blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But," if You will, "put forth
Your hand now, and touch all that he has, he will curse You
to Your face." The adversary has done this with
your name instead of Job's. Did we read Revelation or not? Accused who? Brethren. How often? Day and night. Some of it he might not of all
done personally, but those that are under him have done things
too. He has accused you. What is he saying? "Well yeah, no wonder. Sure, he serves You. You made him a rich man. But if the riches weren't there,
he wouldn't be there. And if he lost all of this, he
would curse you to your face. His faith in you is not real. It's not there." Accusations. Accusing. The language, in fact in the
Greek and Hebrew, it's like a courtroom scene. It's like a prosecuting attorney
presenting a case against the defendant, accusing them of
crimes. And to get a judgment against,
if you are found guilty, what is supposed to happen next? Punishment. Is that right? Punishment. Somebody said, "Yeah, but
Brother Keith, that's all Old Testament." No, it's not all Old Testament. We already read scriptures of
the New Testament, but somebody said that. Hold your place. Go to 1 Corinthians. First Corinthians eleven. Well, let's go back to chapter
five first. We're getting something to chew
on tonight. Not just skim milk. Something to chew on a little
bit. A little bit stronger. That's good. I said, that's good. You're not supposed to be on a
bottle your whole life. Is 1 Corinthians in the New
Testament? I want everybody to go on
record. Is 1 Corinthians in the New
Testament? Is it for believers? There's a whole lot of folks
nowadays are taking Books out of the New Testament and saying
they don't apply to us. Don't you believe it. But in case you're confused
about that, how about 1 Corinthians? Do you feel good about 1
Corinthians being for believers today? Are they a part of the same
church so truths and the way that things were happening with
them would be the same way things are happening with us. Yes or no? Good, good. We have something to work with. In 1 Corinthians 5:1, "It is
reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such
fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that
one should have his Father's wife." Now this wasn't his mother, but
it would be his stepmother. And this guy and his stepmother,
the stepmother left his father and they are living together,
and they are also part of the church at Corinth. Why would that be? I won't go into all this, but if
you read this and 2 Corinthians, you will see that there were
perversions of the message of grace going around even then at
the church in Corinth and other places that all things are
permissible because of grace. It's quiet in here. He got his father's wife because
of course, they must've been in love. What are you laughing about? And verse two, "And you are
puffed up," well, what would they be puffed up about? The church has got no problem
with this? Why? What would they be puffed up
about? They think they are enlightened. They have a greater revelation
of grace that other people haven't gotten that allows you
to do things like this and still be okay. You, "Have not rather mourned,
that he that had done this deed might be taken away from you. For I verily, as absent in body,
but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were
present, concerning him that have so done this deed," hold on
Paul, that doesn't sound like grace to me. "In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with
the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one
to Satan," huh? Huh? That sounds like Old Testament. But yet you told me it was New
Testament. Deliver such a one to Satan,
"For the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be
saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." He's talking about some things
transpiring that would result in the enemy having access to these
individuals. And if he does have access,
what's going to happen next? Destruction. But apparently the hope is that
even if some flesh things are destroyed, they will repent, and
their hearts will be right with God, and they will be okay in
the end. Can you see this? But part of what he warned
about, if this is not dealt with, it will go through the
whole church. Is this New Testament or not? Almost sounds foreign the way
some people think nowadays. Go to the eleventh chapter. In 1 Corinthians 11:26 he said,
"For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you
do show the Lord's death till He come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat
this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." Now, what they were doing is
they were being disrespectful of communion and of the body and
Blood of the Lord. They weren't just coming in like
we do and taking elements and honoring the Lord, they came in
and had a full meal and people were being gluttonous and they
were being drunk, and they were people there that didn't have
much going hungry. And it was just a big mess. And they were being
disrespectful. And they were making light of
the blood that saved us and washed us. They were making light and
trivial of the body. Verse twenty-eight, "Let a man
examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of
that cup." It's about respect and honor. I'm convinced a lot of folks
have gotten too casual. It's not about being stiff and
formal, it's about respect. It's about honor. Our God is a great God. He's an awesome God. The Blood of the Lamb is
amazing. It is eternal life giving. Sin cleansing. None of that should be handled
foolishly or haphazardly like it's nothing. And yet you hear a lot of people
say God doesn't care, God doesn't care. God doesn't care. To hear people talk, he doesn't
care about anything. It doesn't matter how you do it,
show up, flop it down, give it a pass. Whatever. If we want to. No respect. The reason I'm saying this, this
can give the enemy access. Not my idea. Keep reading verse twenty-nine. He said, "For this cause many
are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." Sleep means they have died
prematurely. Sickness, weakness, premature
death in the New Testament church. Verse thirty-one, "For," what? What's the solution? "If we would judge ourselves, we
should not be judged." How did they overcome the
accuser? Two things. The Blood of the Lamb, word of
their testimony. If we judge ourselves we should
not be judged. "But when we are judged," why? Because we didn't judge
ourselves, "We are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be
condemned with the world." Go with me to Exodus please. I'll explain it as you go there. Exodus twelve. When people read things like
this, especially reading the King James and even other
translations and with some people's doctrines, they think
God did it. God did it. Because the Scripture will
actually say especially in the King James, God did it. But, notice this in Exodus
twelve. And you get some insight as to
how this is happening. We'll just go ahead and give you
both barrels tonight. What do you think? He told them in Exodus twelve to
keep the Passover. And He had warned Pharaoh and
his household that He was going to pass through and smite all
the firstborn of the land. King James language. Are you there in Exodus twelve? Exodus 12:11, "And you shall ye
eat it," the Passover, "with your loins girded, your shoes on
your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it
in a hurry: it is the Lord's Passover." This is a faith meal. What is He saying? Eat it with dressed, shoes on,
bags packed, why? We're leaving. You are slaves, you are
Egyptians, you are property of the Egyptians, why would you
think you're going anywhere? This is a faith meal. God said I'm taking you out,
pack your bags, get ready. Put the blood on the door post. Take the body of the Lamb, two
things He told them to do. Apply the blood and eat the
body. Sound familiar? But eat it in a hurry and eat it
ready to go. Glory to God. Oh man, things happen when you
do it in faith. And when you're in faith about
something, you are ready for something to happen. He said it's the Lord's
Passover. Verse twelve are you there? "For I will pass through the
land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in
the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods
of Egypt I will execute," what? What? "Judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." Now in the King James and
English, it says it as plain as you can say it. I'm going to smite the
firstborn, God says. But read just a few verses
later. Verse twenty-one, "Then Moses
called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Draw
out and take you a lamb according to your families, and
kill the Passover. And you shall take a bunch of
hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike
the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in
the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house
until the morning. For the Lord will pass through
to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood upon the
lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over
the door, and will," what? Will what? What's actually going to happen? Who is actually doing the
destroying? It's the destroyer. And He's telling them to do this
so that what? So that He can prevent the
destroyer from getting to them. Oh, can you see it? Can you see it? And yet in the previous language
He said I'm going to do it. He didn't actually do the
destroying. Are you reading the scripture or
not? The Lord will pass through to
smite the Egyptians. When He sees the blood the Lord
will pass over the door and will, "Not suffer," that means
allow, "the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you." And yet both of them are
accurate. So why did the Lord say He did
it? Well, did you see that word in
verse twelve? I will execute judgment. He is the righteous Judge of all
the earth. And what happened because of
Pharaoh and his house and their defiance and God's word,
covenant word to Abram centuries before? This is going to happen. Right? And God has an obligation to
keep His word and to do what is right and fair. Did He give them a chance to
repent or not? Did Pharaoh and his house? They had all kinds of chances to
repent and what is shown here is that they never were going to. If they would've lived that
long, they would still be saying no today. So what did He do? He passed judgment. It allowed the destroyer access. Except for the people that
obeyed Him. Oh come on, can you see that? And for those people the
destroyer couldn't touch them. There were some the enemy could
devour, but there was a whole bunch he may not devour. Oh, can you see it? Can you see it? Oh, hallelujah. In Lamentations 3:32, talking
about God. "Though He cause grief, yet will
He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies." Verse thirty-three, "For He does
not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." God is perfectly right, and
perfectly fair, and perfectly just. No matter how much He loves you,
He's not going to lie for you, He's not going to pervert
justice for you. He's perfectly just and
righteous and true and pure. And when people don't listen to
Him and they don't judge themselves, what's going to
happen next or eventually? You're going to be judged. But if God passes judgment that
allows the destroyer access, it is not His will, it does not
please Him, and He didn't even pass the judgment willingly. Can you see this or not? This is true about what has
happened, it's true about what's going to happen even in the end
of all things with all the judgment. Brother Jesse Duplantis tells of
an experience he had gone to heaven and he said he saw the
Master and he said there are many wonderful things he talks
about, if you heard his testimony, but he said one of
them at one point the Lord looked at him and He looked
sober, serious. And He told him He was not
looking forward to that day, the day of judgment. He is Love. Can you see this? In 2 Peter 3:9, do we really
believe this verse? Second Peter 3:9, "The Lord is
not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward," what? Read it out loud. What? Congregation: "Not willing," we
just got through reading not willing, He does not willingly
afflict. What does that mean? Pass judgment that allows the
destroyer access. He doesn't do that willingly. Why? Because He's not willing that
the enemy should have access to anybody or steal from anybody or
kill anybody or destroy anybody. Some folks are going on,
actually unbelievers on TV one time talking about if God is
real and God is Love, how can Love send people to hell? Especially some people talking
about us, "Stupid people they talk about believing and eternal
hell. And then they turn around and
say God is Love. How can Love do that?" I asked the Lord. I was sitting there thinking and
said Lord, how do I answer something like that if it came
up with me? What do I say? Just like that it came up right
in my spirit. He said, "Keith, it's not My
choice." Do you believe that or not? "It's not My choice." He gave that choice to us. Is that right? And if people are judged and
people go to hell instead of heaven, it was not God's will,
it was not even His choice. What did the Scripture say? He is what? He is not willing that how many? He's not willing that what? "That any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance." Without taking time to look into
it, if you've read the Book of Job, Job actually did pretty
good in the first couple of chapters. They had no idea there was a
devil. No clue. Apparently these writings go
way, way, way back. And they were not aware of the
enemy coming and accusing Job like he did, and of all these
things. But at one point Job cried out
prophetically. He said, "Oh, that there was a
daysman betwixt us. Somebody that would take my
side. Somebody between me and God." He's prophesying. I said, He's prophesying. Oh, go to 1 John two, because
that prophecy has been fulfilled. He said, "Oh, that there was a
daysman," that means a mediator. If there somebody that is
against us, if there's a prosecuting attorney, what do we
need? What do we need? We need an attorney for our
defense. We need somebody that's on our
side looking out for us, pleading our case. Don't we? Job knew he needed it. Didn't believe he had it. And at that point, he didn't. Jesus hadn't come yet. Oh, but are you in 1 John? First John, makes me want to get
ready to run right now. First John 2:1, "My little
children, these things write I to you, that you sin not." Now there's a lot of folks to
try to tell you it doesn't make any difference what you do,
nothing really is sin, and if it is, it's already been paid for,
it's already been taken care of. Well, it has, but if you violate
your conscience and you don't do what you should do, the enemy
can get access to you and stuff can get destroyed in your life. It doesn't mean that God doesn't
love you, it doesn't mean that you are no longer His kid. But it means you didn't listen. He said, "And if any man sin, we
have an Advocate with the Father," we have a what? We have a what? We have a what? That's a legal term. Advocate. Somebody say: "I have
representation." Now say this: "Jesus,
represent." Represent what? He represents me. Come on, somebody didn't get
this. "If any man sin we," we, it's
not the whole world, those that have believed on Him, received
Him, we, "Have an Advocate with the Father." What's His name? "Jesus," the, "Christ," the Son
of God, "the righteous," One, "and He is the propitiation for
our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world." If they would let Him. Hallelujah. Phew. Every day of our lives the
enemy, if it's not him personally, it's those that are
under him, somebody he has assigned to your case and mine. I know it's a nice thought, but
we need to be awake. We need to be looking at this. And what are these imps, these
spirits, trying to do? Anything that you say can and
will be used against you. Not just in a court of the law
of the land, in the High Court. Didn't Hebrews say that He is
the Apostle and High Priest of our confession? What does that mean? He works with what I say. I don't care what kind of
attorney you got, you can have the best attorney in the world,
you take the stand, the prosecution comes and hits on
you and pressures you and you go, "I did it. Yeah, I'm guilty as sin. I did it." You are done. Is that right? I don't care who your attorney
is, you are done. You are done. And if the judge is not crooked,
I don't care if he likes you, you are done. If he's a righteous judge, what
does he have to do? He has to rap the gavel, is that
right? Find you guilty. You know in those days there was
no jury. And in this case, there is no
jury either. That's something we have
developed. The judge makes the call. Period. And there is no appeal. If you are dumb, if you're dumb,
the enemy comes and says, "You said such and such and you did
such and such. You didn't obey the Lord and
then you yielded to the flesh and you did this, you deserve to
be sick. You deserve to be broke. You deserve to be destroyed." And you go, "I know it. I know I am the sorriest excuse
for a Christian you ever saw in your life. I'm a miserable sinner. I've done all that stuff and
worse. I know I did. Yeah." You are done. Come on, help me out. You are done. Done. Because even though you have a
good Advocate, you have to listen to your Advocate. If you get attacked, the enemy
is trying to set something up against you, He never leaves
you, He will never forsake you, He'll show you up even though
you feel like you've been thrown the cell He'll show up and go,
"I'm with you. I got this." And slip you a book and says,
"Now, this is all you say. I don't care what the enemy
pushes you about, I don't care what you feel, this is all you
say." Now practice it with me. 'I'm innocent. Washed by the blood. I deserve no punishment.'" I
don't care what he brings up, come on, let's do it one more
time. "I'm innocent. I'm washed by the blood. I deserve no punishment." Revelation twelve, how did they
overcome the accuser of the brethren? How? How? "The Blood of the Lamb, and by
the word of their testimony." You won't see all that happens
behind the scenes, but the enemy is trying to build a case
against you so he can get judgment against you, so he can
get access to you. And you need to play it cool. You need to stay with your
Advocate. And if the enemy pressures you,
"You lied, you did this, you messed up. You yielded to the flesh." You go, "I'm innocent." "How do you plead?" "I plead innocent by the Blood
of the Lamb." "Yeah, but we have video of you
doing this and we have..." And they'll go to play it, and
it will be blank. Washed by the blood. Washed by the blood. "Yeah, but we have audio." And they'll go to play it and
it's just hiss. It's just static. Why? Washed by the blood! Washed by the blood. Say, "I told you, I told you I'm
innocent. Washed by the blood." "No, you said this, you did
this, you have been disobedient, you have failed, you didn't do
what God told you to do, you hurt these people, you were
mean, you're ugly, you did all this." You go, "I'm innocent. I'm innocent." Come on, help me out. I'm innocent. What did your Advocate tell you
to do? I'm innocent, washed by the
blood. I deserve no punishment. No punishment. And the righteous Judge will
only let that go so far. Then He will say, "Enough." "The Attorney for the defense?" "Yes, Your Honor, My Father." Are you feeling good about this
already? "The accused, My brother, Your
son has testified that they are innocent and they deserve no
punishment. I present Exhibit A: My blood on
the mercy seat." And the Father says, "The court
has accepted that evidence." "You've heard the accused, My
brother, Your son, testify they deserve no sickness. Innocent. I present for the court
evidence, Exhibit B: My stripes." The Father says, "The court has
accepted that evidence." And just like that it's all over
with. No judgment, no access, come on,
are y'all with me? How did you overcome? Come on, how? But that's not just the Blood of
the Lamb. You have to work - if you start
talking unbelief, "I'm not going to make it... This is not going to work... I don't deserve it..." Well, it's true, you don't
deserve it. It doesn't mean you can't get
it. It's already been bought and
paid for and given to you. It's not about you earning
anything. Practice it again. How do you plead? Come on, help me. How do you plead? Innocent. By the Blood of the Lamb. I deserve no punishment. Now that's only because of the
Blood of the Lamb, but it is true, because of the Blood of
the Lamb, you deserve - why? Because He was punished for
that. Is that right? Yeah, you messed up and yes I
have, but He was punished for that. He was judged for that. And the sentence was given, and
the adversary actually took Him into the heart of the earth, are
you listening? And we don't know what He
endured and dealt with for those three days and nights, but we
know that justice was satisfied, and the Father spoke from on
high, and the enemy had taken Him unlawfully, because He had
committed no sin. He was worthy of no punishment. What resulted was He was raised
from the dead without sin, that was our sin. That was our sin. Come on, are you listening? Oh, hallelujah. And now He is our Advocate, at
the right hand of Majesty on high where He ever lives to make
intercession - that's not prayer, that's a legal term. Make intercession for us. The reality is more in-line with
what we been talking about tonight. He speaks on your and my behalf
at the throne. He stands up for those who
identify with Him. Is that you? Stand on your feet everybody.
