The Architecture of Evil // Ty Gibson

well hello everybody welcome to storyline worship online I'm Ty Gibson and I want to ask you to grab a Bible maybe a note-taking device of some kind of pad of paper a computer whatever you like to use because we're going to be exploring some biblical material today that I think you're going to find extremely enlightening and helpful I've titled the message the architecture of evil that sounds pretty dark and it is pretty dark but the Bible actually opens to our understanding the realm of darkness and how it operates the architecture if you will of evil within the biblical narrative we are called upon to perceive our world and the universe as a whole as being composed not of one but two levels of reality two levels of reality watch what Paul says here in Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 by him that's Jesus all things were created that are in heaven note the language and that are on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers notice that the Apostle Paul says there's a heavenly realm or a heavenly level of reality and then there's an earthly level he says that the heavenly level is invisible and the earthly level is visible so we're to understand that something is going on in the world around us that oftentimes involves more than what meets our eyes the visible world around us with the people we see coming and going and all of the material things that we can see and smell and touch and taste all of that composes just one plane or one tear of reality but then there's the invisible tear the invisible dimension of reality and it is just as real although invisible usually generally to human perception so come back to the passage in Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 because Paul goes on to say that not only is there heaven and earth not only is there visible and invisible but he tells us that the invisible and the visible realm have Thrones and dominions principalities and powers now we oftentimes think of human leadership and governmental structures is merely pertaining to our world and the plane on which we live and have access to with our senses but according to the Apostle Paul there are not only kings and queens and presidents and prime ministers rulers on the earthly plane but there's also principalities and powers that operate on the heavenly plane of reality on the invisible level principalities and powers is fascinating language in the Greek Paul is using the words R K and X cozia and these two words essentially mean rulers and authorities now if you think of it through very carefully you realize that where there are rulers there are those to be ruled where there are authorities there are structures over which to exert authority so the scripture very clearly implies was pretty explicit it's more than implying is telling us that there are organizational structures that are there beyond our sight beyond what we see in the world that we have access to with our senses on a daily basis now Paul uses the language again in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 15 having disarmed speaking of Jesus dying on the cross that Jesus when he died on the cross giving that most monumental and glorious revelation of God's self-sacrifice he loved that revelation of God's love had the effect of disarming principalities and powers and he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by it by which Paul means in the context the cross of Calvary so again notice that this is not a unique thing in the writings of Paul Paul again a second time speaks of principalities and powers rulers and authorities organizational structures that lie without outside of the realm of the world that we see around us all the time in Ephesians chapter 3 in verse 10 Paul says very interestingly to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places so here we have an earthly institution called the church that is a vehicle through which God is working to give a revelation of God's wisdom to the inhabitants of the heavenly plane of reality even to principalities and powers God communicating through an earthly institution the church to heavenly inhabitants and then in chapter 6 and verse 11 put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil please note the language for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places so lest we mistakenly think that the heavenly realm is only composed of good beings fun fallen angels holy angels the Apostle Paul very clearly says that the heavenly places heavenly realm is occupied not only by good angels and good inhabitants but also by the rulers of the darkness of this age and hosts that is whole groups of wicked individuals fallen angels that are operating on that heavenly level the connection Ellen White and author of some hundred years ago and more the connection of the visible with the invisible world she's using Paul's language here the ministration of angels of God and the agency of evil spirits watch this all of that she says all of that these things are plainly revealed in the scriptures these things are plainly revealed in the scriptures and inseparably inch or woven with human history and I want you to hold onto that idea because just as the Apostle Paul has been saying to us already now this extra biblical author Ellen White says hey history itself human history itself is the stage upon which we see unfolding a an intersection between heavenly beings and earthly beings heavenly angels and evil spirits are according to Ellen White active in the visible realm of human beings so we should think of it more like this the invisible and the visible the heavenly and the earthly aren't so much up and down in distance like miles or kilometers apart not up in the sky and down here on earth it's more the idea that the heavenly and the earthly realms inner penetrate they intersect they're connected they overlap the heavenly and the earthly are overlapping realms the heavenly in the earthly are inter penetrating realms and and with that language we have a better sense for not just distance the distance of space between human beings and good angels and evil angels but as it were two realms that are constantly overlapping and interacting so I'm gonna suggest to you that what scripture is teaching and what is on display in history itself if we are attuned to it if we open our eyes to it is that the inhabitants of the heavenly realm are generally more conscious of us than we are of them in other words holy angels are constantly deployed according to Scripture by God to come to the aid of human beings we're told in the book of Hebrews that sometimes we entertain angels while being unaware of the fact but also evil angels do are constantly endeavoring to co-opt and get control of human individuals and human systems to do their bidding and so when we come to the Gospels for example in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 24 we begin to get a sense of the organizational structure of the heavenly realm specifically on the demonic side with this passage because we're told here this is an observation being made by the Pharisees the religious leaders of the time Jesus has been casting out demons okay that's the context here and the religious leaders of the time come along and they say this fellow speaking of Jesus does not cast out demons except by note the name here Beelzebub well who's Beelzebub well according to the Pharisees and the people of that time would have been well aware of this name and its connotations the name Beelzebub is a name that refers to what do they call him the ruler of the demons the singular ruler of the demons now Paul has spoken to us previously about the rulers plural now we have the ruler singular of the demons or the the junior rulers if you will that operate under him Ellen White again an author of some hundred years ago plus gave us remarkable insights to the heavenly realm the heavenly level of reality and she says essentially what we've just read in Scripture she says that the central power of the earth is a demon remember what we just read there in Matthew chapter 12 that Beelzebub is the ruler of the demons in this world the central power of the earth is a demon his throne is in the midst of the world where should have been seen the throne of God are you tracking with what she's saying here we live in a world that is governed in son some sense by a demonic ruler that occupies the position that should have been occupied by God himself so this Beelzebub this singular ruler of the demons is a usurper he is constantly trying to take control up - co-op - to get into earthly systems in order to advance his agenda on the good side of the great controversy between good and evil Matthew chapter 26 verse 53 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane has something fascinating to say because he tells us that while Peter is trying to defend him with violence he tells Peter don't you know that I could if I wanted to Peter I could call to my father and he would provide me with more than twelve legions of angels good angels no doubt holy angels unfallen angels twelve legions of them could have been sent to the aid of Jesus if he would have just called upon God the Father to send them the same word is used of the organizational structure of the realm of darkness or Satan and his angels in mark chapter five and verse nine then he that's Jesus asked him he's addressing a demon that is possessing a human being what is your name what is your name and he singular this one demon answered apparently on behalf of a group saying my name is legion for we are many a legion is a military term at the time of Christ and the Apostles it referred to a regiment of soldiers in the Roman armies that consisted of six thousand eight hundred and twenty six men during that time and that would have been consisting of 6100 foot soldiers and 726 horsemen this is a legion it is a term of military order or organization interestingly enough not only do we find in New Testament demon possession that is manifested in certain characteristics that are flashing forth from the human being Ellen White again interestingly speaks of demons being in charge if you will of certain negative or fallen or sinful or debased attributes of character and personality she speaks of the demon of strife the demon of intemperance the demon she says of selfishness the demon of greed can you imagine the demon of ambition the demon of heresy all of these in quote marks these are these are all her words describing demonic activity in the human realm the demon of jealousy the demon of passion the demon of unkindness the demon of hysterics and satanic imaginings now this isn't to say that everything bad that human beings experience in their characters and and and and in their personalities and in their in their actions are directly the result of demon possession or demon activity what this is to say is that the demonic realm under their supreme ruler Satan is extremely organized I mean think about it they literally are organized in such a way that there is a demon if you will that is in charge of trying to tempt people toward jealousy there's a demon who's in charge of unkindness I mean apparently his whole job is to tempt people to be unkind to one another of course the human agent has to cooperate free will is not bypassed in this process but there are demons who are in charge of certain kinds of behaviors that will work the ruin of human beings if allowed to take control so summarizing what we've looked at so far we might say that the demonic order is composed of at a bare minimum there could be more to it than this of course but there's not less to it than this as we've seen in Scripture the demonic order consists of the supreme ruler Euler the Arkon singular that is the devil Beelzebub the one who is the supreme ruler of all the demonic hosts and then there's junior rulers rrk plural these are individual demons that have control over certain territories or certain areas of temptation there are authorities that operate under the junior rulers called X cozia and then we've noticed that there are legions in other words there are entire hosts of demons that are under the control of authorities and junior rulers all of which under the supreme ruler satan himself and all of this is simply to say that the demonic realm that the heavenly realm that is occupied by the demonic forces remembering however that the heavenly realm also is inhabited by good forces by good and holy angels that are waging war with the unholy and fallen angels but the demonic forces are organized in territorial they are organized in territorial what do we mean by this well for example in Daniel chapter 10 and verse 13 we're told that there is a demonic force that bears the title the Prince of the kingdom of Persia now Persia is an earthly Kingdom and earthly government of course but there is a demonic force a supernatural force operating on the heavenly plane of reality in concert with the kingdom of Persia or the kingdom of Persia we might say in Reverse is operating in concert with and responsive to the biddings and temptations of this particular fallen being this fallen angel this demon in verse 20 of Daniel 10 we're told that also there is a prince of the kingdom of Greece so so Greece is a earthly Empire but Satan the ruler singular the supreme ruler of the demons the fallen angels has apparently deployed a particular Jr demon in order to exert influence upon the kingdom of Greece and the same would be true of every Kingdom every nation of the world sane would have followed through with his organizational blueprint here to assign demonic forces to rule over or to seek to tempt and destroying to work through earthly governmental structures so essentially what we're noticing in Scripture is that heavenly agents heavenly doesn't necessarily mean good heavenly is the unseen realm in the context that we're using it here so heavenly agents either good or evil are intersecting with are working through or in cooperation with earthly agents demonic forces in other words operate in the world by means of earthly counterparts now this is a crucial point to understand for where we're going in our time together please allow it to register that scripture is teaching us that demonic forces operate in the world by means of earthly counterparts by means of earthly counterparts Michael in the book of Daniel is said to be your prince speaking to Daniel that is Daniel is an Israelite and Michael is the prince the ruler that presides over Israel just as there is a prince that presides over a fallen angel that presides over Greece and over Persia well there is a holy and good ruler or being named Michael that presides over Israel and he is also called in the Book of Daniel the Prince of the Covenant he's called the Great Prince who stands watch over the sons of your people Daniel or speaking of Israel the Prince of the host the holy host the unfallen angels he's called the Prince of princes he's called Messiah the Prince and with that we know that this one that is call the Book of Daniel sometimes Michael the prince and now Messiah the Prince these are one in the same person this is Jesus before we know him as Jesus in human history this is Jesus before his incarnation as the ruler as the governor on the heavenly level over Israel so watch this you guys from the book of Acts in chapter 7 in verse 35 we have this fascinating connection between the agency and activity of heavenly beings and the agency and activity of earthly beings or humans so in this passage we have Moses and in this passage we have the angel who appeared to Moses and we're told that this is amazing that this Moses whom they rejected who Israel rejected saying who made you to be ruler and judge over us so so this is referring back to Israel's history when they were resisting the leadership of Moses and this Moses is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer watch the language by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush so again we have here a earthly agent a free moral agent his name is Moses we have a heavenly agent simply called the angel and Moses is performing a deed he's executing a task what is that deed what is that task he is the ruler of Israel that is sent to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage from slavery and the angel is said to be working in concert with Moses in fact it says that the angel is using the hand of Moses now again Moses if you read the story as a willing subject his his free will is not bypassed God came to Moses and said hey I have a job for you to do I want you to go to Egypt and deliver my people Moses remonstrated with the Lord and said I'd rather not because I don't I'm just not a person of words and he had his own reasons for not wanting to go on this mission but the Lord reasoned with him and said I'll be with you I'll be with you and I'll use your brother Aaron as well as your as your second-in-command and so Moses with his own free will as a free moral agent yielded and allowed the angel of the Lord to use Moses on the earthly plane to get things done please hear it God through an angel used Moses to get things done on the earthly plane namely to deliver a group of people a people group from slavery to the Egyptians I don't have time to show you this but the angel with a capital A here he is none other than Jesus not as a created beam not as a created angel because Jesus of course is none other than God the Creator but sometimes Jesus shows up in human history through the Old Testament narrative as the messenger of Yahweh to human beings as the mediatorial conduit if you will through which things are communicated to human beings on this occasion Moses now the same is true on the demonic level a demon needs a legal host a vehicle an agent in the form of an individual a system of law or a structure to get things done in the world just as God is working through Moses the human agent on the earthly plane the heavenly and the earthly intersecting overlapping just so the devil and the fallen hosts of fallen angels the demons need legal access to human beings in other words human beings need to agree through their behaviors not necessarily consciously inviting the devil or demons in but through moral choices doing things that are in harmony with the care Durov satan and thereby giving him legal legal access to use the individual to use the system to enact a law that is unjust in order to subjugate or to abuse or to oppress a group of human beings a structure the devil can work and often does work through structures in the world now there are three primary there's more to human organizational structures than this but not less at a bare minimum earthly structures fall into three categories there are political structures every nation has some kind of political structure there are democratic political structures there are Republican structures of politics there are dictatorships there are socialist governmental structures there's all kinds of politics going on in the world and politics take the form of structures with human beings occupying positions within the system there are religious structures denominations churches all kinds of different religious structures operate in the world and there are economic structures ranging from a small business in a town to Wall Street all the way up to the large corporate financial institutions of the world that operate on the level of lending and usury or interest and and all kinds of financial exchanges that are taking place in order to engineer the best outcomes as they deem best for themselves and for their constituents now Ellen White again with peculiar insight says that satanic agencies are in every city satanic agencies are in every city what are what are satanic agencies doing in these cities busily organizing into parties those opposed to the law of God demons are busily give in cities organizing people into parties professed Saints and avowed unbelievers take their stand with these parties the word party here or parties means a group that has band together for a common purpose now a group can band together for a good common purpose for example a group of people can band together to plant a church a group of people can band together to stage a protest against some wrong some injustice a group of people can band together to let their voice be heard on behalf of some good or a holy or elevated purpose of justice but listen the moment a group of people organizes into a group for a good purpose simultaneously the devil moves in to try to corrupt that organizational structure sometimes he can sometimes he can't but he's eager to get access and sometimes the devil himself is the architect of working through human agencies a party or a group from the from the ground-level satanic agencies are in every city busily organizing into parties those who are opposed to the law of God this is an astounding insight in other words the heavenly level of reality is constantly overlapping with the earthly level of reality what's taking place in the world is mirrored is a mirror image oftentimes of what's taking place in the demonic mind Woodrow Wilson the 28th president of the United States offered an observation that is just next level in perception he looked out at the world around him as he was departing political office as the president and he said the government the government which was designed for the people watch what he says here has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers and the special interest groups the special interests what is he saying here saying that the political structures that were intended to serve the people now the tables he says are being turned were bosses and their employers what we would call CEOs or managers CFOs of corporations multi multinational corporations he is essentially telling us here are beginning to move into to take control of the democratic process the political process they're beginning to control politics in America in such a way according to Wilson that they're special interests can be carried out in the affairs of the American people he goes on and says startling language you guys an invisible Empire an invisible Empire has been set up above the forms of democracy but that language just settle in an invisible Empire an invisible Empire composed of what bosses and their employers human beings that compose structures and systems that are economically driven and because they are economically driven they do not have as their higher interest the well-being of the citizens of the United States of America and Wilson is warning in this statement that if you open your eyes if you begin to pay attention you will see that an invisible Empire is operating as a parallel Empire to the American nation so think of a state or a corporation as having an outer aspect in an inner aspect let me explain what I mean by this according to the Apostle Paul reality is composed of a heavenly or a spiritual level or a dimension and a physical material earthly dimension there is the part we see and then there's something else watch this the outer aspect of a state or a corporation is simply the building's the employees and the employers the computers the bank accounts the vehicles the copy paper the toner all of the physical paraphernalia whatever's necessary to operate this company or this state that's the outer aspect that's the part we see but then there's the inner aspect and the inner aspect of a state or a corporation is the collective spirit it begins to take on what we might call a vibe or an ethos a drive a momentum what the Germans call a zeitgeist in other words when human beings come together they begin to compose something that is bigger than their individual parts this is what the Christian psychotherapist Carl Jung called the collective unconscious the collective unconscious that is to say that that human beings human beings as individuals watch this you guys human beings as individuals come together to form a state or a company a corporation and then that state or that corporation begins to take on a life of its own it begins to take on a certain ethos of vibe it begins to be a certain kind of thing that transcends the individuals and this happened by the way in Nazi Germany in the book engaging the powers by Walter wink the late biblical scholar from New York University check this out he reports to us that visitors to Nazi Germany in the late 1930s that is leading up to World War two now watch this visitors to Nazi Germany in the late 1930s spoke of the palpable that word means tangible you could feel it it's just it's it's it's invisible but you feel it they spoke of the palpable evil in the air you know in Nazi Germany leading up to World War two people came to visit and they said there's something there's something going on here we can feel it there's a palpable evil in the air of the prevailing atmosphere that hung over the land full of foreboding and menace this is astounding this is this is a historical report of people who were visiting Germany leading up to World War two when the German people had been been listening to Adolf Hitler's propaganda speeches when when Adolf Hitler had been working the people up into a frenzy of egocentric self exaltation with his Aryan Nation superior race philosophy we're the greatest there's no one like us we're superior to all others we're going to rule the world we're the ones we're the ones were the ones let's super seed every other nation all of that propaganda all of that that that ideology was going into people's minds and arresting their attention and captivating their imaginations until finally there was a there was a kind of evil air hanging over Nazi Germany there there was a kind of atmosphere that visitors could feel it was palpable it was in the air a feeling of foreboding and menace I don't know if you're paying attention to American culture right now but it is becoming pretty dark it's difficult to even watch any kind of news commentator who doesn't end up going in the direction of ideology who doesn't end up going in the direction of expressing some kind of extreme opinion in order to work people up into a frenzy of hatred and menacing attitude toward one another a a party spirit and us-and-them spirit a spirit of of superiority of one group over another this idea that that America is the the greatest and the best and and we're going to exalt ourselves that rhetoric that propaganda is captivating the imagination of so many citizens of the United States of America that it sure appears that Woodrow Wilson was right that there is a kind of parallel Empire an invisible Empire that has co-opted American democracy and there is something in the air for those who are taking notice in fact I've had people from other countries friends of mine come to visit America and have said something very similar to this Wow man the spirit here is heavy people are angry there is something going on in American culture it has become toxic some people have observed when they have come here to visit something is taking place scripture gives us insight to what's taking place because events occurring on the heavenly plane of reality are mirrored on the earthly plane of reality demonic forces are looking for points of access and history reveals and prophecy reveals that they have had points of access one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible written by the Apostle John when he was a prisoner on the island Patmos here John says in Revelation 18 verse 2 Babylon the Great is fallen Babylon the Great is fallen pause right there Babylon in Scripture is a symbol in Bible prophecy Babylon is a symbol for our fallen apostate institutional Christianity institutional Christianity the the the Christianity that operates on the visible stage of history as the institution that the world recognizes oh that's Christianity sometimes today just called the evangelical Christian adhi protestant christianity catholic christianity that's what babylon is meaning to to convey in the symbolism of bible prophecy now watch this this is written 2,000 years ago and John says Babylon that is institutional Christianity Babylon the Great is fallen is fallen noticed that and has become the dwelling place of demons the prison a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hateful bird wow this is amazing language this is essentially can we bear it can we even process what Bible prophecy is telling us here that institutional Christianity became demon-possessed in some kind of very real historical sense that that institutional Christianity became a vehicle in history through which the devil and his demonic hosts were working to produce effects on the stage of human history and in what sense well we're not left to guess because revelation 18 goes on and says check this out for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her pause right there American Christianity institutional Christianity according to this passage would become a vehicle through which the nations of the world would in some sense become drunk or intoxicated with institutional Christianity in some sense well we're told in verses 11 and 13 check this out and the merchants of the earth that's an economic word that's a financial word the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury whose luxury the luxury of institutional Christianity institutional Christianity became a a financial vehicle for the of wealth for nations according to this prophecy and what did they traffic in the merchandise of gold and silver of course precious stones and pearls watch this fine linen the word linen here means cotton and purple and silk and scarlet what else did they traffic in the bodies and souls of humans of men this is an explicit prophecy that foretold the development of chattel slavery under the influence of institutional Christianity apostate Christianity became the vehicle according to revelation 18:4 chattel slavery let me repeat this apostate Christianity according to Thai no according to my opinion no according to Bible prophecy according to John the Apostle under inspiration Babylon or institutional apostate Christianity became the vehicle through which chattel slavery became a financial Institute institution a merchandising institution that made nations wealthy and rich according to the prophecy this is fascinating Ellen White again an author we referenced earlier that some of you are familiar with if you're unfamiliar with Ellen White as an author she wrote some hundred years ago Plus and I would encourage you to explore her writings with unique insight this is fascinating she puts her finger on the sensitive nerve of what took place what took place after the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln in 1863 64 period once frees slaves were set free legally by the Emancipation Proclamation Ellen White followed up and she said this as soon as an effort is made to educate and uplift this people by which she means black human beings are black brothers and sisters who were set free legally but as soon as they were set free legally Ellen White says there were efforts made by those who were abolitionists those who had always been using their influence to try to liberate the slaves from their bondage in their masters as soon as the Emancipation Proclamation was given there were efforts to educate the slaves education as a a a privilege for the elevation of human beings all of us as human means need education in order to know things in order to operate successfully in the world that's what education is for and as soon as an effort was made to educate and uplift these people who have so long been held in ignorance and slavery the jealousy of the whites is aroused she's actually observing this real-time as she made a trip herself multiple trips down to the southern United States in order to participate in mission work and what she observed was that the moment people began to try to give African Americans in their newfound freedom access to education that jealous white people began mobilizing to block their access their equal access to education she goes on and says in the south the spirit of slavery notice slavery is associated in her mind with a spirit with a demonic spirit with a fallen spirit in the south the spirit of slavery is not eradicated this is after the Emancipation Proclamation the slaves were legally free and Ellen White says they were free legally and yet she says that the spirit of slavery was not eradicated it was not eradicated it has only been smothered for a short time and boy was she right she had no idea what was coming even after her death in 1915 but what she said here began to unfold after the Emancipation Proclamation step one block the access of black people to education step two watch what she says here watch what she says here the desire to show their masterly authority over the blacks is still burning in the hearts of many who claim to be Christians Christians in name who were possessed of a spirit of masterly authority over black people but whose lives although they claim to be Christians declare that they are standing under the black banner of the great apostate that Satan himself these are professed Christians by and large who were supporting the institution of slavery defending it and then once slaves were set free legally professed Christians were mobilizing to block their xx equal access to education and Ellen White says explicitly that Satan himself engineered the institution of slavery and presided over it through apostate Christians just let that register people were standing in pulpits as ministers of the gospel defending slavery pulling any scripture they could to twist and Bend and as Frederick Douglass said to torture scripture into supporting the institution of slavery they use their influence from the pulpit and from the pew and then in the community to block access equal access to education for black people after the Emancipation but it didn't stop there Ellen White goes on to observe that when the whites commit crimes now we're talking about the criminal justice system when the whites commit crimes they are often allowed to go uncondensed the blacks ignorant the based knowing nothing of the Word of God and scarcely knowing their right hand from their left are treated worse than the brutes by what she means animals this was written over a hundred years ago so bear with some of the older language she's saying here that through slavery the white masters kept the slaves in ignorance educationally once they were free they blocked their access to education to keep them down having kept them down the best they could then the criminal justice system was levered leveraged against the now free legally free black men and women and when crimes were committed by white people oftentimes they went uncondensed or sentencing and yet she says that black people were punished and treated like animals for the same crimes that white people get off the hook for this is written in 1899 you guys and she foresaw at least two aspects of what would follow the Emancipation Proclamation number one that black people would systematically be blocked from having equal access to education in an effort to keep them down and she says that the motive was jealousy on the part of white people who claimed to be Christians by the way she says secondly that the criminal justice system would be perverted to heap heavy penalties on black people for the same crimes that white people were committing and getting off Eung condemned and then she says that the demon of passion is let loose and all the suffering that can be devised is instituted against them that is against black human beings who bear the image of God that in the criminal justice system that was so perverted as to punish blacks for the same crimes that whites were getting off scot-free for that black people she says would be punished on a level that was actually demonic demonic and what we have in our experience as Americans is the fact that we are face to face with a generational demon possession that hangs like a haunting darkness over America I'm not suggesting that every individual is demon possessed what I am suggesting is that we have received as a legacy through that horrific demon instigated demon engineered the the the the architecture of evil in American history and other nations as well of slavery was not fully extinguished after the emancipation and we need to face the fact that once the black human beings who bear the image of God and had suffered for hundreds of years had been set free we need to face the fact that according to the facts of history and according to the writings of an observer at the time Ellen White that black people were treated horribly due to jealousy and the demon of passion that was gripping the hearts of professed Christians to try to continue to keep black men and women down by two means specifically blocking their equal access to education and engineering a criminal justice system that would impose upon black people extreme penalties for the same crimes that white people could commit and suffer either no penalty at all or a mild penalty by comparison the fact that there is systemic evil should come as no surprise to the Bible student the fact is that the great mastermind of evil himself has sought to weave his oppressive and demonic and fallen characteristics into every institution he possibly can too often human beings are cooperating and we've seen that kind of cooperation down through history even as institutional Christianity became a vehicle through which chattel slavery was imposed upon millions of human beings I want to call upon my own heart and call upon you to deeply deeply repent for our lack of empathy for our lack of engagement for our excuses and our pushback for for not embracing the reality that is all around us that men and women who bear the image of God are suffering because of the history that has unfolded in this nation a history that has unfolded to their great disadvantage and I pray that you and I would be among those who use our influence our voice our time our resources our influence everything that we have in everything that we are in order to bring about just and righteous systems for our black brothers and sisters Father in Heaven thank you for your word that enlightens our minds please Lord fill us with a sense of responsibility fill us with a sense of deep heartfelt empathy for our brothers and sisters most of all Lord mobilize us make us active in the cause of righteousness and justice in Jesus name we pray amen thanks so much for watching we hope that message was a blessing to you God's Word is powerful it penetrates into our minds into our hearts brings about transformation in every aspect of our lives listen we don't want you to miss any content so again we want to encourage you to click on subscribe and track with the content that's going to be coming out week after week and if you'd like to partner with us in this global Ministry of taking the gospel of Christ to the whole world we want to invite you to become a partner in this ministry click give and join with us

Channel: Storyline Church

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Keywords: storyline church, ty gibson, racism

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Length: 53min 52sec (3232 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 22 2020