New Day, Same Demons | Steve Kelly

I've had the privilege for the last, let me see, since I was 17, I've been preaching since at least 20. I'm now 62, so for 42 years, I've had the privilege of traveling all over the world and preached all over the world. And I've discovered something, what I go to different countries, different nationalities, different cultures, that probably the thing I've discovered the most in all my travels is the devil isn't a national. There is no unique problem in any one country. There's challenges with every culture, but the devil's the same everywhere you go. I talk to pastor, tell me, what are the challenges you face in pastoring your church and every one of them will say, you know, just trying to teach people to live a life that's like Christ, to not to give in to the culture of that world, not to, you know, I remember in Japan, you know, young girls and they were, I was talking to the pastor and, you know, I said, what's the greatest challenge for the young, you know, young people in Japan and some of these young girls got into this thing called compensated dating. And it's a new word for prostitution. And rather than call it prostitution, they call it, you get compensated for dating somebody with benefits and trying to help these young people in Japan understand, no, you save yourself for marriage.

Amen. And then I go to India and I talk to the pastor and the India, I'll go to Japan or I'll go to Russia, I've been to China, I've been to Papua New Guinea and to Africa, in Australia and different parts of the world, the devil's the same everywhere. It's the same problem, you ready for it? Sin. Amen. And so the title of this series is New Day, Same Demons. New Day, Same Demons. And I want you to think about this, people have the same challenges all around the world. There are different names, cultures, people and cities, but they all have the same issues. Listen to Ecclesiastes chapter one, verse nine. I love this verse and we're gonna read through all of it in just a moment, but listen to verse nine. What has been, this is Solomon by the way, the wisest man in all the world. What has been will be again, ha ha, ready? And what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. That's another way of saying New Day, same demons. Let me read to you the whole context of it, okay? Meaningless, meaningless says the teacher. Utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless. That's enough to get depressed right there, isn't it? What do people gain from all their labels and which they toil under the sun?

Generations come, generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets and it hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north, round and around it goes, ever returning to its course. I love this one, all streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the places the streams come from, there they return again. All things are worrisome, more than one can say. The eye has had enough of seeing, never had enough of seeing. All the year, it's full of hearing. What has been, look at it, what has been will be again. What has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, look, there's something new and it was already here, long ago. It was before our time. And listen what he says now. No one remembers the former generation. This is his moment when he's realizing no one's gonna remember me, okay? No one remembers the former generation, even those yet to come, will not be remembered by those who follow him. Solomon is lamenting.

Solomon is talking himself into a state of depression. No one's gonna remember me. The wisest king in all the world. But in just a few decades, I'll be addition memory. And I wanna tell you, it's a new day, same devils. I want you to think about what he's doing. He's talking about the sun, think about this, and he describes, if you like, how the earth operates. He's reflecting on how the earth works. He talks about the sun, the wind, the water, and he continues, listen to this, and the continuing functioning they have to the past. And here's the thought, despite human efforts, the world continues unchanged. And part of the writer's frustration from this observation is that no one remembers former generations. Even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. People tend to forget the past, isn't that true? And we tend to repeat the mistakes of the past. One of the things we learn from history is we don't learn from history, amen? This can leave a man thinking, why bother even trying to improve the world? Why bother trying to improve myself? What's the point? And this is the wisest man in all the world, reflecting it, and then in the end. I didn't read these verses, but in the end, Solomon writes, "Now all has been heard,

and here is the conclusion. Fear God, keep his commandments." Who can say amen to this? For this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including, listen to it, every hidden thing. Come on, whether it is good or whether it is evil. You see, I guess what I'm trying to say is, new day, same devil, amen? But the same spiritual forces are behind them. Listen to what Jesus said about the devil. We're gonna talk about him for a minute. You belong, he speak into the Pharisees. You belong to your father, excuse me, the devil. And you wanna carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning. Not holding, and we're gonna look at that in just a moment. Not holding to the truth, to the truth. For there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language. For he is a liar and the father of all lies. When Jesus speaks of the devil, he says like this, John 10, 10, the thief comes, but to steal, to kill and to destroy, amen? Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, you are like your father, the devil. He was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. New day, same devil. You catching this, amen? So let me just help you understand

that we need clarity on who the devil is. And the first thing I wanna say to you is he is real, but let me tell you, he may not be who you think he is. A lot of people have a wrong idea of who the devil is. And I think a lot of what is the devil, we're ignorant of what is the devil. And a lot of what isn't the devil, we think is the devil. Come on, okay? So let me just show you in scripture what the Bible talks about what the devil looks like. Two Corinthians 11. For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. He can appear as a servant of good. He can even use it to bring up a religion that gives the looks like it's good, but it's false. And I'm gonna offend some people right now. And if it doesn't offend you, come up to me afterwards and I'll personally offend you. But let me tell you, the Mormon church is a doctrine of demons that appears as an angel of light doing a lot of good stuff. But when you study the Mormon faith, it is riddled with a doctrine of demons yet. It's all about the family. It's another testament of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Bible says any who adds to this book will be added judgment. And let me tell you, when you really dig into the Mormon church, as much as it appears to be a servant of good, it is false.

Amen, sorry if I offend you. Well, I'm not really sorry to tell you the truth. Listen to what the Bible says when Revelation 12 verse 10. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying now salvation who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. So the devil can appear as an angel of light, a servant of good. Amen? And yet he is an accuser of the brethren. He loves to accuse the church. He loves to attack the faith of Christianity. Come on, somebody. The second thing is, I want you to understand about the devil, is Satan can only copy, he cannot create. All right? He is an original. He can only copy and imitate what God has created. And I want to give you three ways, because we want to talk about the new day, same devil. So we're going to talk about the same demons. We need to know what his work is. Who is he? And I want to tell you, the devil works through three ways. He works number one through the power of suggestion. Anybody relate to that? General Australia, where I spent from when I was eight to when I was 35, the indigenous people of Australia are aboriginals. And in there, I'm trying to figure out the right word for that. In their tribe, they have these chiefs that we would understand the leader, the elder of a community. And if the elder of a community ever grabbed a bone and pointed the bone at someone, it was a sentence of death to that person. And that person may have been physically, completely normal, but the moment that bone is pointed at them, within weeks or months, they died. See, it's the power of suggestion. It's cultish, it's demonic. Amen? And number two, the devil works through the power of manipulation. It can be a subtle as peer pressure. It can be just as simple and as innocent and naive as that, but it can be submitting and subjecting yourself to cultural norms, manipulation. He can manipulate. He can control. And number three, he works for the power of deception. So he works for the power of suggestion, manipulation, and suggestion. He can tell you, because he's an accuser of the brethren, go ahead and do this. And then when he tells you, there's nothing wrong in doing it, but as soon as you've done it, seeing you call yourself a Christian, you're not a Christian. Anybody want to hear me? And he's a deceiver. Amen. The Bible says, "The God of this world, small G, has blinded people so they could not see the marvelous light of the gospel." It is deception. Think about Eve. Eve was deceived into eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Think about Adam. Adam knowingly ate from it. Amen? So look what the Bible says. One Peter 5, verse 8, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lying, seeking whom he may devour." Well, if that's true, end of this, then I'm going to make sure I'm going to live my life, making sure he may not devour me. Because he's looking whom he may devour. But if you've built your life and I'm going to share some principles on how to do that in such a way that when he looks at you, he goes, "I've got no end. I've got no way." He's looking whom he may devour. And let me tell you, church, he is coming after you because he already has people who are lost. Amen? You're each target. And throughout the history of the world, I want to say it. Man's problem is sin. Amen? So we must see the devil for who he is as the word describes him. Not what you see in Hollywood, not what you see on television, not what you see in the media, not what you see in movies. Come on, somebody. We've got to see the devil how the Bible describes him. So I'm going to read some verses. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 14. "How thou art fallen from heaven? O Lucifer, son of the morning." That goes to show that mornings are of the devil. the nation. He's speaking about Lucifer, which is who he was in heaven before he was a fallen angel. Everybody see this? For you said in your heart, listen to how many times the word I appears, I will ascend to heaven. Lucifer, a created angel, I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of the congregation and the sides and the north. I will ascend to the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high, yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. And look at this now, we've got to see the devil. How the word tells us to see him. But how movies tell us, come on somebody, they that see you will look narrowly upon you and consider you saying, that's the devil. That little beauty, look, that's the man that made the earth tremble who shook kingdoms.

You mean when we see him, for who he really is, we're going to look narrowly. You've got to be kicked that pipsqueak, that little weak, pathetic, give me, that's the devil that tried to take away my marriage. That's the devil that caused conflict around the world and there was wars. That's the devil that gave rise to some of the most awful things that have ever happened. Did that? You better see him how the word tells you. Look at Ezekiel, that's where they get into it. You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were an Eden, the garden of God, every precious stone adored to you, emerald, tow packs, onyx, jasper, turquoise, your settings on your mountings were made of gold. Watch this. On the day that you were created, look at that, the devil was created. In the beginning, God, nobody made God. God made Lucifer. Just thought I'd point that out. They were prepared. You were the anointed guardian. For so I ordained you, you were on the holy mount of God. You walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until wickedness was found in you. For your widespread trade, you were filled with violence and you sinned. So I drove you into grace from the mount of God. I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. You became proud on the account of your beauty and corrupted your wisdom because of how wonderful you looked. So I threw you watch, not to hell. You often wonder, why didn't God send him straight to hell? Why not just go straight to hell?

Do you not go to earth? Do you not collect $200? Amen. So I threw you to the earth, and look, I made a spectacle of you before kings. How do you see the devil? I think a lot of what is the devil, isn't? And I think a lot of what is the devil, sorry, a lot of what is the devil, isn't? And I think a lot of things that we are ignorant of his devices. I think part of that is wrapped up in his deception, how he can masquerade as a servant of good. And in this world today, we can call things that are pure evil, good. Come on. So let me give you one more Bible verse about how I think we should see him. It says in Psalm 8 verse 2, through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemy, even a child. to the devil. I had a guy tell me he's a warlock. He cursed me and that night I died. He was going to go get a chicken and sacrifice it with his fellow warlocks and they'd be up all night cursing me and I would not wake up in the morning. I told Christian friends of mine, "You know what that guy just told me? Tell me, can you get a chicken? I'm going to kill it. They're going to curse me." And my friend said, "Steve, we should spend the whole night up praying against that curse." And I looked at him and I said, "Well, the Bible tells me the curse caused us shall not come." The Bible tells me greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. The Bible tells me when a prophet for the gain of money was going to curse God's people, you cannot, listen to this, you cannot curse them for I have blessed them. You can't curse those whom God has blessed. Amen. They can go to Chick-fil-A, they can get all the chicken they want to get. I'm going to bed. I'm not losing a night's sleep. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. Two Corinthians two. Less Satan take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. So here's the fourth thing I want to say. Don't give the devil any access in your life. Listen to Ephesians chapter 4 verse 27. And don't give the devil a foothold. Can I give you my version of that? Don't give him an inch.

Don't give him any access. Do you see the devil? I want you to think about it. I want to hear about door stops. Do you know those door stops? They have a thin edge and they get thicker, okay? Well, the devil wants to get the whole thick part in, but he starts with the thin, just a little. That's why the Bible says, "Beware of the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vine." That's why the Bible says a little sleep, a little slumber, a little father can get hands and poverty will come. That's why the Bible says, "Be faith on the little things and God can trust you with the greater things." Just don't give the devil an inch. So let me talk about that. Things like that the world plays with that I think Christians are ignorant enough. And we allow and tolerate things that I believe we ought to have some better convictions over. If I mentioned the word sorcery, you say, "Steve, that's enough that we don't play with that kind of stuff today." In this modern advanced technological scientific world, let me read to you Galatians 5. The acts of the flesh are obvious. Sexual immorality. Who could say amen to that? I mean, that's obvious. Impurity, debauchery. But what the Bible says, another work of the flesh is, idolatry. Well, yeah, you don't want idols in your life, yeah? Witchcraft. Sexual immorality, witchcraft. What? Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of raids, selfish, ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, and orgies, and the like. And I warn you, as I've done before, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Listen to Exodus 22. Do not allow a sorceress to live. Live way about when Saul, you know, Samuel's dead, and Saul used to have Samuel come and bring prophetic words about his life and what would happen. But now Samuel's gone, and Saul wants to talk to Samuel, but Samuel's dead. So Saul then says to his attendants, look at this, 1 Samuel 28, "Fimely a woman who is a medium, so I may go inquire of her. There is one in end all," they said. That single decision to and I think sometimes we are ignorant of what is the devil in today's world. Terror cards, psychics, fortune telling, mediums. Come on, somebody. Deuteronomy chapter 18. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their sons or daughter to the fire. Well, pastor, we don't do that today. You've ever heard of abortion? Come on, somebody who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omen, engages in witchcraft or cast spells or who is a medium or a spiritist who consults with the dead. Let me put you to your new day. We've got new age. We've got cults and religions.

And a lot is what is the devil we fall for. Come on, somebody. The Bible says in Ephesians 6, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness, this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. I remember I went away for a trip somewhere. I was gone for several weeks and hadn't really seen anything of the news. I got back to America and I just laughed. I went, it's the same media cycle. It's the same thing. Just here it is. And it's true in politics. You know, people say to me, America has never been more divided than it is right now. Really? Do you not remember the civil war? New Day, same demons. I remember, I remember reading about when the BBC radio was first made. It was first in the radio, BBC. And the person who created and known it went to the church of England. I want you to have this. I want you to own this. Because if you own this, you can spread the gospel through the radio. And the church in England said the devil is the power of the year. That is a satanic. And now churches spend money to be on the BBC radio when it has been offered to be given to them. Think about it. I remember when the first, how many remember when the internet first came out? W, W, W. I mean, Al Gore invented it, right? Right? But remember, this is, oh man, this is going to open. Oh man, the problem was with this. And the internet. And sure enough, we got used to how to work with the internet. I remember Y2K. She only came here in January of 1999. And everybody thought the world was going to end. Have you remember this? Come on. And all when the computer ticks over to a new millennium 2000, all the dating and history and all the data is going to disappear. Computers don't know how to cope with, and people that shirts, especially with brand new to the United States. I'm going, can we really be this ignorant? But then for me, it's nothing new. I remember, I got saved in January 1981. And when I first got saved, there were movies like Thief and the Night. And The Rapture scared the hell out of you. I mean, literally scared the hell out of you. I mean, I was so scared that if I was in a movie scene, because I was taught, if Jesus comes back with The Rapture and you're in a movie cinema, he will leave you there. I remember waking up some mornings going, I need to call another Christian to make sure I haven't been left behind. One of my greatest fears was Jesus would come back before I got married. I wanted to have sex. And then I was scared that Jesus would come back before we have kids. Remember this? And now I've got 10 great children. I'm not sitting at the Rapture bust on New Day. Same devil's. Come on, somebody.

bit about, nothing's new under the sun, what has been will be again. We all have a sin problem. Amen? Yeah. Same devil behind all of it. You've got to see the devil for who he really is, not as Hollywood, but don't give him a foothold. Don't open your life to things that are demonic in its origin. Come on, somebody. I'm strong on this. You have no idea how strong I am on this. I don't believe in opening yourself up to those things. Amen? I would rather just, okay, what does the word say? Be not ignorant of these devices. He appears as a servant of good. He masquerades. Amen? I don't want to be one of those people like Jesus spoke about in that very first verse I read about when he said to the Pharisees, "You are like your father, the devil." He was a liar from the beginning and a murderer. He was speaking to religious people. And I don't ever want to get caught up in being so religious and bound up in things, but I don't want to be deceived. I don't want to be ignorant of his devices. Come on. Can you say amen? Come on. Last thought. Here we go.

Here we go. Is this helping everybody? Come on. Oh, I'm speaking. This is dad talking to all of the campuses on the... It's not the first Sunday because Sunday was Easter, first Sunday. So now I'm speaking today because I speak once a month to all of our campuses, and especially when we're launching a new series. I kind of want to do some of the heavier lifting. We're going to get into some other topics on this, but I want to give it, and I'm closing with this thought. Singers, musicians, come on back. Praise God. That's not the thought. That was just me. How do the mouth of babes? I love that thought. We give the devil way too much power. The devil has as much power of you as you give him. Here's a fifth thought. Your power over the enemy is knowing who Jesus is for yourself. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and the Word... This is John chapter 1, by the way, for those of you who don't read your Bible. And the Word was with God, and the Word dwelt amongst us and became flesh. Jesus is the Word personified. And your power over the enemy is knowing who Jesus is for yourself. You cannot live with hand-be-down theology. You cannot live with second-hand revelation. You cannot live your Christian life with a borrowed faith.

Why do we clap when we come to church? I know, I just came to church and that's what everybody else did. Why do we lift our hands? I don't know, but everybody else needs to be doing it. Why do we give? Well, it just seems like they pass buckets. So I know there's people who are putting money in there that I might do the same. Why do we shout? Why do we dance? Well, I think it's just a learned behavior. It's called BS. Belief systems. What were you thinking? You carnal church. Oh, church. When I first got saved, man, I used to love getting drunk. No idea. You know, out in my friends, and the best night was the night where I woke up on a beach at five in the morning going, "What happened last night?" I thought that was fun. You know why? The pleasures of sin are but for a season. But the wages they're in is death. And then I get saved. I meet Christ and man, do I love Jesus with all my heart? I love Him. and gave me a vision for my life more than just trying to get drunk, do some drugs, go out my friends, meaningless, empty, going to be more to life than just this, oh, I encountered Jesus. I felt clean on the inside for the first time in my life. I even, I even clean my bedroom. See, why would you do that? I thought about it. That was my first intuitive

response to salvation. And you say, what would that be? I think it's because for the first time of my life, I felt clean on the inside. And what am I outside to match how I felt on the inside? Honestly. And I read in the Bible that drunken has no place in the kingdom of heaven, the drunkard. Word to him who carries long in the wine. Word to him who has redness of eyes. Alas, she is like a viper that tastes good but is poison. And I went to some Christian friends. I love Jesus. And I read a Bible verse of something I used to really enjoy doing, eating drunk. And what do I do with this Bible verse? And some Christians, oh, that were beautiful. They went, oh, Steve, there's nothing wrong with drinking alcohol. Jesus turned the water into wine. Oh, that's. And then I went to some other Christian. I said, what do I do with this Bible verse? Never forget it. Steve, when you drink beer, it's like drinking the devil himself in here. So I'd still go to the bars and I'd get my beer and I'd look and I could even see the devil's face in the phone. So I put my hand over it, drink it anyway. But I'm wrestling with this verse because it's calling for a change in me and I love Jesus. I went to my pastor. Good thing to do, go to your pastor. I said, what do I do with this first man? I got some people telling me Jesus turned the water into wine. I got other people who tell me I'm drink of the devil. He says, you ask God. You go to the Word. You know what he didn't do? He didn't give me a second hand revelation. He didn't give me a hand me down theology. He goes, no, when you've done that, come back to me and check with me. That was also smart. And you know, for me, that was something that was a stronghold in my life. And I think maybe for 10 years, I never touched alcohol ever again. I wanted to make sure. I remember the Lord said to me, you know what I did, I went to God, God, what do I do? He says, Steve, go ahead, get a glass of water. And if I turn that into wine, you can drink it. Because it was something that meant too much to me. I got it from him. In church, we need people who know Jesus and the Word, because in the beginning with the Word, the Word was God, the Word was with God, and the Word dwelt amongst us and became flesh. Some people go, I love Jesus, but they know nothing about the Word. And they live their life in ignorance of the devil's devices because they've been suggested, manipulated and deceived. Come on, somebody. So let me show you how this verse finishes, how this thought finishes. Acts chapter 19. You've been around this church for any length of time. You've heard me read this verse. "Some Jews went around driving

evil spirits, trying to invoke, use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were deemed and possessed." They would say, in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, in the name of Jesus, there's power in that name. In the name of Jesus, whom Paul, they didn't know Jesus. using that name. Let's give that a crack. That looks fun. Don't know who this Jesus guy is, but boy, demons come out. So they said, "In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceba, a Jewish priest, were doing this. One day an evil spirit answered them, "Oh, man, these are scary words." Jesus, I know. Paul, I know who the flippy you. Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on the seven sons of Sceba, overpowered them. He, the one name who had a demon, gave them such a beat him that the seven sons of Sceba ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Your power over the enemy is numbing who Jesus is for yourself. Not a second end. Why do we praise? Why do we lift our hands? Oh, every else does. No. The Bible tells me, clap your hands or you people shout on to God with a voice of triumph. The Bible says, "I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter his courses." Why do we give? Because God takes pleasure in the prosperity this people give and it will be given under you. Good measure, press down, sheet together, running out all over. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He is Jehovah Jaira. He is my provider. He will supply my needs according to his riches and his glory. Come on, somebody. Your power over the enemy is your relationship with Jesus. He's alive. He wants to live in you. He wants to rule in you. He wants to reign in you. But you've got to be somebody who's in the Word of God. It is alive. It is active. It is powerful. Holiness isn't living 10 years behind the times. Well, we're not like the world. See how that's working out for the Amish people. There's a lot of things about the Amish people I admire and respect. But you can have freedom in Christ. We can be in this world and not of it. Amen? Come on, somebody say amen. So, I guess all I'm trying to say this morning, watch it. New day. Same demons. I'll close and I'm down. I promise. I would have thought that Alyssa, Josh and Sam, when I saw things invading and creeping into culture, I want to go back maybe say 15 years ago. And I would have thought, boy, I can see somewhere in their lifetime, not mine, that they'll be really having to take to task some real issues in the future. And

I'm shocked how much traction those things have gotten over the last 15 years. The whole LGBT community. Come on. The woke ideals. And honestly, in my naive, I thought as a parts well, that'll be something they'll have to face. And yet here they are today. We got to be people of the word. We cannot let culture form us. We got to push back on some things. Be not ignorant of the devil's advice. He walks around seeking whom he may devour. Don't give the devil a thought. Don't play with things that are demonic in their origin. Can you say amen? That's a good word. I hope I've wet your appetite for this series. Amen? [BLANK_AUDIO]