What Christians Need to Know About the Unseen Realm

Now, how many of you woke up this morning and just thought, "God Only Knows." God Only Knows. Now, what's so interesting about that is the context for why you might have said that is so different for each one of you, right? Some people woke up this morning and your kids woke up before you and you just thought, "God Only Knows, what is that sound that's happening?" You know, I woke up and I went downstairs at the Airbnb that we're sitting at sitting at and I noticed that at the front, there's a little, like, stool thing and on it are three bear spray canisters. So I thought, "God Only Knows, what has happened for the Airbnb owners to think that that is essential, right? Like, God Only Knows." It was not that long ago that I found myself in Atlanta and my entire family was there and it was amazing. I was going to read a teach at a pastor friend of mine's church and we decided to go to this location where it was pretty awesome. You go on the first floor of the location is all food, like different food areas, you know? And so they can go and everybody can kind of pick their own different food. And then the second layer is all boutique shops and you can kind of pick what kind of shops that you want to go to and at this time, my daughter, Amelia Jane, I've nicknamed her MJ after the greatest of all time. So if you all know, you know, that's right, that's right, that's right, that's right. Pastor Jenny, y'all are discipling your people well. I just want you to know, it just makes my heart so, so happy. And so, you know, we're doing that. My boys, they'll ask me, "Dad, can we go and shop for ABC and D?" And as a dad, my instant reaction is, "No, we're not doing that." My daughter, MJ, goes, "Daddy, can we get ponies?" I'm like, "Yes, yes.

We will go on the greatest mission ever right now to find wherever we can find ponies." A real pony is on the table. You know what I'm saying? And so, we go and there's this boutique shop and I want to forget going up and I just need to let you in a little secret about me. I am for sure a people watcher and a people listener. And so what that means is if you see me at a coffee shop and you see me, I've got my headphones and like my Bible and commentaries all out, you'll be thinking, "He's doing serious theology work," which I'll get to that after I listen to your conversations. I just honesty, right? And this is kind of what happened. So, like, I go up and we see this boutique kind of toy store and I have a sales background and you kind of know that on the glass front display is what you put the most important things to try to push your market or sell. And I walked into a conversation, over here a conversation between a dad and a daughter. Now, the daughter must have been between 9 and 11 years old and you could hear the daughter and she's saying, "Dad, Dad, Dad, can we go look at that?" And I'm just intrigued, it piqued my interest and I kind of look over and I see that she's pointing at something. And so I trace her line of the hand and she's pointing to this place on a glass display. And it's like monopoly, it's like clue, and then I saw what she was pointing to. And the dad had this like restlessness. He was like, "Mm-ah." And I looked at what she's pointing to and it's a Ouija board. Now, I want to take a moment and connect with those of you that made that hmm sound, right? Like, honestly, I've done this so many times and I want you to just, I want to name that for you. It's called the Holy Spirit that I'm not quite sure. That's called the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is pricking your heart and your conscience and saying you, "Be careful, don't go there."

And I remember listening to the dad just kind of like fumble his way through because he had that moment. I don't know if he was a believer. I don't know his relationship with the Lord, but I know the Holy Spirit was doing something to him saying, "Don't go there." And the longer they had a conversation, it was so fascinating because I remember reading the marketing line underneath the Ouija board and it said this. It said, "Find the answers to the questions you've always asked." Right? Right, right. I know, right? And so the dad just finally goes, "Okay, I guess we'll check it out." And went over there. I just want to let you know that the title of our message today is what Christians need to know about the unseen realm. And I want you all to know that you and I are part of an unseen battle that is taking place. And one of the greatest deceptions of the enemy is to believe that there's no battle taking place at all. But we're in the middle of an unseen battle and even if we cannot see it, we can feel it. Right? There's this proverbial kind of story and you guys probably know this one. It's of a frog and the hot boiling pot of water, right? And so you know, like if you take that frog and you put it on a pod that's already boiling water, it's going to hit the water and jump the heck out of there, right? But if you take that frog and you put it into just lukewarm kind of room temperature water and then turn the burner on. then that frog will just eventually allow itself to be burned alive.

Well, I believe that we as Christians as believers are living in a climate, and we are the proverbial frog. And the climate around us is a spiritual climate that is just being turned up and up and up, and slowly over time you and I are being desensitized to the reality of real spiritual beings, and listen to me very carefully, that hate God and hate you. They hate God, and they hate you because you bear the likeness and the image of God himself, and they know they can't ever take God Yahweh. So if they can't take God Yahweh, who are they gonna go after his kids? I once heard it said that there is no pain like kid pain, and I want us to consider that. See, it's Lewis in his book, Screw Tape Letters. He gives this example, and I think that we are found in the exact same spot. He talks about a magician versus a materialist. And he says, like one of the dangers when it comes to this spiritual war that we're in is this magicianship that we all of a sudden become obsessed with the things of the spiritual realm. And so we look at those things and it's like, we go into this demon hunting phase of our lives, like, let's go find these things, and let's go take them out, and it's like, and we're all consumed, but we become obsessed with it in a way that we distance ourselves from the creator himself. You get what I'm saying?

But then the second is equally a danger, and the dark power is love either one. Either your obsession or the second one is a materialist, the one who just demythologizes everything. Like, there's no such thing as spiritual beings, like, like, we are post and live in 21st century. I mean, y'all know what we can do, at TikTok and Instagram right now? I can livestream myself across the world, like, come on, miss me with that. The dark powers love both of those things. And so the goal for us this morning is to avoid both the magicianship and the materialist. It is actually to be a people who are aware that we're in the midst of a spiritual conflict. And because we're in the midst of spiritual conflict, you and I need spiritual discernment. We need to be able to discern and to determine what are the things of God and what are the things of the enemy so we can rightly relate to this world. If you got your Bibles turned to James chapter three, we're gonna start in verse 13. And this is gonna give us kind of the framework for how we talk about the unseen realm and how we make sense of angels and demons and spiritual conflict. And notice what James says, he starts this way. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life,

by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor, if you're circling or highlighting, circling highlight these surprises, bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts do not boast about it or deny the truth. And then, James says, such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but it is earthly, unspiritual and circle this word, demonic. It is a demonic wisdom. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder in every evil practice. There is a world that is trying to con us into believing that earthly demonic wisdom has our ultimate good in mind. And yet, look at what scripture says, verse 17. But, so that's a contrast. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. Then, peace loving, it's considerate, it is submissive, some of you panic with that word, submissive, like the Greek word there has in mind a wilful yielding. Do you all have roundabouts in here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so any of you ever come to a roundabout and you hit the roundabout and you see the other car coming your way and you're like, forget it. I'm gunning it, right? And if you do, please don't. (congregation laughing) Like, what is the reason when you see the car coming that you willfully yield?

What is the motivation for you? Go ahead and tell me. Safety, you don't wanna get hit, right? So you willfully yield because you're aware of the situation. This is the idea that James is getting at submissive here. Submissive, it is too willfully yield. And then it says full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. You see in James, we find that there are two different sources of wisdom. And the labels that we're given are demonic wisdom that's earthly, it's self-centered, it's about self-gain, no matter the cost. And notice that every evil practice stems from this kind of selfishness, the viral TikTok reel is like, you do you boo, you know? But in contrast to this, there's a heavenly wisdom. And this wisdom is pure, it's peaceful, it brings Shalom, a rightly ordered world, both for you personally and for those that you do life with. And because James draws us to these two categories, demonic and heavenly, you and I ought to be aware of what that actually means. What does it mean that there are demonic entities that are out there that hate us? What does it mean that they are trying to motivate a kind of earthly demonic wisdom? So here are the three things that these dark powers love to do. Here's the first thing, they wanna deceive the children of God.

That's the goal, deceive the children of God. Now, some of you are like, oh yeah, yeah, like demon exorcisms and possession and all that. We're gonna get to that, but I want us to actually be aware of the normative way that the dark powers love to work. Here's what they love to do. They love to take good things, make those good things, ultimate things, and any time good things become ultimate things, they always become idolatrous things. This is the deception of the enemy. And this is why it's so dangerous because it breaks the creator creation distinction. It puts our mind and our focus and our love and our affection on created things that distance us from the creator. The dark powers love that because it fuels self-emission and can see that produces all kinds of evil practices. Here's the second thing that dark powers love to do. They love to divide the children of God. By the way, anybody experiencing any kind of division in humanity right now, right? We laugh 'cause otherwise we start crying. I mean, this is so real, like, if we don't think that this is not demonic and spiritual, we are vulnerable to the tactics of the enemy. We have to be especially careful of this in the household of God who Jesus shed his divine blood to bring unity to the body of Christ.

So why would we intentionally participate in actions that would divide the body of Christ? That is spiritual warfare. And here's the last one. It's ultimately to destroy the children of God. Remember there ain't no pain like kid pain. Think for a moment the emotive feeling for the hiking of heaven who in love and compassion and adoration created you and I in his likeness and in his image only to find his children in absolute bickering and despair and fighting one another. It hurts the heart of God. Now you might be wondering, okay, where did these beings come from Joel? And you might just be like, well, God only knows. You know? Well, actually, yes, God does know. And here's the really great thing. God gives us information in Scripture so that we can know what he wants us to know, but here's the distinction. Let's be very careful. We have to be careful that we don't try to step into things that God doesn't really disclose to us. Right? So actually, Colossians 1, 16 through 18, lets us know where these created beings come from. And the first thing that we have to remember is everything that God creates, he creates good.

That's what Genesis 1 tells us. It's series of seven instances. God creates, it's good. God creates, it's good. God creates humanity. It is very good. What God creates is good. This means that he creates earthly things, he creates spiritual things, and when he first creates them, he creates them to be good. And he also loves these things that he creates, so he gives them this thing called agency. He gives them the ability to choose him willfully, to love him and to adore him. And guess what happened with humanity in the Garden of Eden? We're gonna talk about that in a second. They chose rebellion. But it's not just rebellion in the earthly context, it was also rebellion in the spiritual context. One of the things that we have to be very careful of is we don't perceive this unseen realm, like the Asian idea of ying in the yang, right? This isn't like this divine tug of war of equal and co-equal. God on one side and dark powers on the other. And this like eternal tug of war, trying to figure out who's gonna win. That is not the picture that God gives us, that the scriptures testify to,

actually testifies to. And if you're wondering, like last week's message, God has no origin story. Yahweh is the uncreated creator. He's the first cause of all of creation. And this is what Colossians 1, 16 through 18 says. For in him, all things. The Greek term there is panta. I was doing some really intense Greek biblical word city. You know what I found? Panta actually means? Here's what it means, all things. It does, everything. And just in case you're like, "Well, I'm not quite sure what does all things mean?" Paul actually identifies it for the church in Colossa. Because things in heaven and things on earth, things that are visible, things that are invisible. Whether thrones, or powers, or rulers, or authorities, these are technical words that Paul uses for spiritual beings. All things have been created through him. "He, Jesus, is before all things, "and in him all things hold together. "He is the head of the body, the church. "He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead "so that in everything he might have supremacy." So they're like, "Jo, are you proof texting? "Nope, I got you." Psalm 148 verses two through five. This is what the Psalmist declares.

"Praise him, all his angels. "Praise him, all his heavenly hosts. "Praise him, son, in the moon. "Praise him, all you shining stars. "Praise him, you highest heavens, "and you waters above the skies. "Let them praise the name of the Lord," 'cause catch this, "for at his command they were created." And the Nehemiah says this in Nehemiah 9.6, "You alone are the Lord. "You made the heavens, even the highest heavens. "And all their starry hosts, the earth and all that is in it, "the seas and all that is in them. "You give life to everything "and the multitudes of heaven worship you." So right off the bat, what does God tell us that he is the first cause of all creation? He's the uncreated creator and he creates spiritual beings, but here's the problem. These spiritual beings go into rebellion, a subset of them against Yahweh and they hate Yahweh's children, his human children. We find this in Genesis three, we find this in Genesis six, we find this in Deuteronomy 32, eight and 19, and Deuteronomy four, 19. I could go on and on if you wanted, just check out the unseen battle, all the footnotes are in the back. That's the best part of the book, by the way,

if you wanna know, it's the footnotes. I'm a nerd, it's just the way it is. (congregation laughing) I'm such a nerd that I wanted to give you a concept of what this looks like. So I've got some infographics for you to kind of see. So at the top you have Yahweh, he's the first cause of all of creation. We're gonna go through this fashion, I wanna take pictures. He is the first cause, he's the uncreated creator. He created a human family and he has spiritual beings that he created as well. He gave the human family the promise of the Holy Spirit, God himself. The spiritual beings are split into loyal spiritual beings and rebellious spiritual beings. So we gotta understand the framework, did the game plan here, right? So the next slide is gonna show you how the split is. So you've got the loyal host, and so you've got the Hebrew phrase sons of God. They are seen in Job one and Job two. You've got the cherubim, the royal throne guardians, they show up at the end of Genesis three. You've got the seraphim, the burning ones or the holy ones. Think of Isaiah chapter six. You've got these princes, the prince Michael, the Greek term is Archon, and this shows up in geopolitical warfare in Daniel eight,

nine and 10, and then there is a contrast. You've got rebellious beings. You've also got a subset, the sons of God, they're going to rebellion. This is Genesis six and that odd story of the sons of God and human women that create this offspring called the Nephilim that create all kinds of evil. Y'all ever wonder, like how can we don't talk about Genesis six, one through four, but in vacation Bible school, we talk about the flood. You know what I'm, and by the way, like I don't know if Fresh Office is on the flood story, that's kind of a wild story to do in vacation Bible school. You know, what is the precursor to the flood? It's these things called the Nephilim that spread evil out and into the world, that is spiritual conflict. It's not just there. You've also got the Tower of Babel story. You read it with Deuteronomy 32, eight and nine. This is the origin story of the gods of the nations. That's the background of the entire Hebrew Bible. You've got also geopolitical warfare happening in Daniel eight, nine and 10 with the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece, the backing of spiritual entities and human authorities and rulers. And this is the layout, but here's the thing that I want you to really understand. Here's the next slide, and this is how in the Old Testament, the gods of the nations are actually mapped

onto the New Testament with similar terminology. So when Paul talks about powers, principalities and authorities, he's not making up something new. He's actually drawing from the Old Testament 'cause he's a good Jewish kid that understands his Hebrew Bible. And then the next slide, and this is the one that I want us to pay attention to. How do the demonic entities gain ground? Here's how they gain ground. Witchcraft, necromancy, hallucinative drugs and devices of the flesh. Like think through this, and we've got three examples of this to see in scripture. You see in first Peter five, eight through nine, Peter gives a warning to everybody. He says, "Be alert and of sober mind." You can circle that phrase, sober mind. He says this, "Your enemy, the devil, prowls around "like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour him. "Resist him, stand firm in the faith "because you know that the family believes "throughout the world is undergoing "the same kind of suffering." That English phrase, sober mind. instantly you would be thinking, wait a minute, the opposite of sober-mindedness is intoxication. In the same way today, if I said MJ is the goat, you instantly know that means LeBron James is not, right?

(audience laughs) It's the antonym, it's the opposite of the thing. So if you live in the ancient world, you're like, oh yeah, wait a minute, sober-mindedness, I'm thinking the antonym. And so the Greek word for sober-minded is nepho, the antonym, the opposite is material. And what's fascinating is this was the word that was used in temples, like the Temple of Oracle, of Delphi, and elsewhere in the Greco-Roman world, where intoxication took place with nectar, the same thing that happened in Egypt with the blue lotus leaf and DMT. And it was used to describe a state of mystical enthusiasm and union with the deity. So you know everyone, Joel, why should this matter? Here's why this matters, this is the principle. God wants a variety of mind. He wants you and I to have the full faculties of our mind, so that we can love him and he can love us. He wants to be known and he wants to know that's the way that God wants to be in a relationship with us. The dark powers want you inebriated. They want you intoxicated. They want your mental faculties compromised, so that you can be deceived, so that you can be taken. This is why this matters. That same phrase, Methuio, the intoxication, appears in Paul's letters in Romans 13 and Galatians 5, where it shows up in two vise lists.

And Paul describes these as the work of darkness and the work of the flesh. I want us to look at three stories in scripture that help us see the contrast between demonic wisdom and what it tries to give us and push us into verses a heavenly wisdom and what the promises of that, the first story happens in the Garden of Eden. I mean, everything goes back to the Garden of Eden. Now, we know what takes place, right? You've got this serpent, the nakash who comes in. Has anybody ever wondered how come Eve doesn't freak out when the serpent starts talking? You know what I'm saying? Like, you would think that would be an important detail in scripture. Like, Eve's like, whoa, you're talking, weird. That doesn't happen, here's why. Because the issue, and this is an issue of spiritual discernment, the issue is not the appearance of the serpent, the issue is the substance of the words that come out of the serpent's mouth. You see, the serpent is most likely a spiritual being, probably a cherubim, which is why we see that in Genesis chapter three. What the serpent does is comes in and the serpent questions the goodness of God. Through deception. Now, a little bit of Bible trivia for all of us. By the way, what are the two trees that are named in the Garden of Eden?

Anybody know? - The tree of life. - The tree of life? Excellent, the tree of life, and welcome to seminary with Dr. Joel, here we go. Okay, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of God and evil. Now, here's like the seminary level protest right after that. Where are the trees located? And be know where the tree is located. Yes, but where in the Garden of Eden? Okay, so Genesis two nine. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of God and evil. So which tree was in the middle? Yeah, the answer is yes. The answer is yes. I actually think that this is both a theological and philosophical reason. You see, what was it routine for Adam and Eve to do daily on the cool evening breeze? Anybody remember? To walk with God. By the way, I think the best definition of life, true life, is simply walking with God. This is the Edenic ideal. So the serpent comes in, the serpent's like, wait, by the way, you can get knowledge and wisdom. You can get it separate from God.

You can see desire and take because that's what you deserve. And that's exactly what happens. They see the desire they take. They eat of the fruit and they get what was promised to them. They get all of the knowledge, but here's what they don't get, the protection of God. So I have a question. Any of y'all like going on walks? Yeah, some of y'all are walking people. I'm glad for you. I'm not a walker for fun or a runner for no reason. Just not my thing. It's just true, it's true. I have to leave, I've tried to help me become a runner. I tried for about 60 days. At the end of it, I just said, you know what? You do you, bro. I just can't, I just can't. And so my wife, though, she loves to walk. And so one of the things that she loves to do when we walk is to talk about life, right? Is that what y'all do when you go on walks with your friends, you talk about life? Have you ever thought about what Adam and Eve did while they walked and talked with Yahweh? Where'd they talk about? Life. By the way, what do you think Adam and Eve were growing in on a daily basis as they walked and talked with God? They're growing in knowledge and wisdom.

You see, the issue was not if they would grow in knowledge and wisdom. The issue is how would they grow in knowledge and wisdom? this wisdom promising such goodness for us and in the end all it does is separate us from God and it destroys us. You see right here you have a kind of demonic wisdom that suggests to you and I to see desire and take for ourselves. This is the path that will bring pleasure, but heavenly wisdom says something else. It says you can see that's fine. You can even desire that's just honest and human. What happens after that matters for us we have to learn to submit. Then me wants us to see desire take, Yahweh wants us to see desire and submit to his will so that we can receive his wisdom which brings us peace in both what we can know and what we cannot. Sometimes we think if I just knew all the answers that it would ease the pain and suffering of our lives right as the famous philosopher once said the more money the more problems. Guess what y'all the more questions and the more answers the more questions you're going to have and the more answers you're going to want to what you really want is the presence of God. This first example is a demonic wisdom that invades the people of God. I want to go to a second example where the people go to demonic wisdom. This is the story of Saul and necromancy and the Witch of Endor. Like is this the scene of the Lord of the Rings? Well yeah where do you think the Lord of the Rings got its inspiration from? The Bible. This isn't just some fictitious novel like no this is and by the way when you turn to 1 Samuel 28 you'll notice something really interesting about King Saul. You see King Saul already kicked out all the witches and all the necromancers of the land. Why?

Because King Saul knew better. You see he was aware of Leviticus in 1931 that said do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists for you'll be defiled by them I'm the Lord of your God. He knew of Leviticus 26 through 8 that says I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them and I will cut them off from their people. Consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord who makes you holy. See Saul actually took all of this seriously but in the end Saul ends up being led by his own selfish desires he participates in a priestly activity he wasn't authorized to do he tries to keep for himself riches and treasures that were not authorized for him to do and as a result of sin there's a consequence and God goes silent on him. Samuel goes silent on him and then Samuel dies and Saul is like I'm in a mess. So what does he do he goes I gotta find the witches and necromancers so he goes to the two homies and he's like hey by the way were the witches and the necromancers and the homies look back at him and they're like bro you're the one who kicked them all out. By the way this is Joel's translation and Saul is like we gotta go there's gotta be one in the land where I go and the guy's like well you know what there's a reddit thread there is maybe one option in the end door and so they go to the witch of end door and Saul begs and says hey I need you to bring up Samuel for me and the witch is like wait don't you know like this has been outlawed by King Saul and like don't get me in trouble so I was like just do it everything's gonna be okay very important detail. The witch of end door was bringing up real spiritual beings like this is not a fitment of the imagination of some ancient people there's actual evil demonic entities that were giving a kind of wisdom what the witch of end door was not expecting to see was the actual ghost or the shade of Samuel. This is what happens this is wild. 1 Samuel 28 13 to 14 the king said to her don't be afraid what do you see and the woman said to Saul I see a god the term there in Hebrews Elohim it just means disembodied spirit

I see a Elohim coming up out of the earth and he said to her what is his appearance and she said an old man is coming up and he is wrapped in a robe the Hebrew word for robe is mal and Saul knew that it was Samuel and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage. Here's an example of Yahweh working in the midst of something that is actually not authorized this is not an excuse for you and I to participate in this behavior it's actually a warning that God goes by the way y'all messed up and now if you actually read what Samuel says he says to Saul by this time tomorrow you and your sons are gonna die this is not good news now how do we know this is actually Samuel here's a really interesting detail Saul hears the phrase mal the robe you see there's a scene that happened earlier with Saul in Samuel where Samuel walks away and you all remember what happens Saul reaches out and grabs his what robe and it's torn in half and Samuel looks to him and says and just like that the kingdom will be torn from you so you're left wondering this is a bit of theological speculation on my part. Does the witch of Endor see? You see, the demonic wisdom here is do whatever it takes to get what you want. Force the answer. But heavenly wisdom says, do what God says and trust his know is for our ultimate good. Now you're like Joel, this is an ancient issue back then. We don't deal with this now. Let me just suggest to you that the simple fact that there was a commercial on Chipotle that used a Ouija board as its major marketing tool, begs to differ. Or the growing popularity of ayahuasca and DMT to seek secret or hidden knowledge. That tells a different story. Or the numerous medical studies that have been done where people take slow-drip DMT and they come back

talking about entities that they have seen that are all described in the same way, but these people don't even know each other and they're separated by different tests. That begs to differ. I saw online the other day a famous social media marketing influencer who was talking about how she's tripling down about her woo. The crystals and the energy in each of her rooms that gives out the good vibes and setting water out on full moon nights that the water can gather the light that they can drink all month long or the study of astrology to gain wisdom and knowledge. And I want you all to know something. The Bible says something about this. You see the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 8, 19 through 20, when someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God's instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Now here's the most important thing. Why would you ever want to go after all of these counterfeit JV experiences? When it's the people of God, you have something infinitely and internally better promised to you. And that is the indwelling presence

of the Holy Spirit himself. That is what we ought to seek after. The last example is the example of the cross. You see in 1 Corinthians 2, 6 through 8, the dark powers and the rulers, they think that they got Jesus. So the cross is not invented by the Romans. The cross actually shows up much earlier in ancient Near Eastern history with the Persians, the Babylonians and the Syrians. The Romans perfect slow death on the cross. And actually there's dark powers behind that are just utilizing this thing to create despair and fear in the hearts of humanity. And so when the Messiah comes, they go, yeah, yeah, we got him. We got sent him to the cross. Look at what 1 Corinthians 2, verse 8 says, none of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had, they would have never crucified the Lord of glory. Y'all run the story of Haman and Mordecai. I actually think this is a hyperlink all the way back to the Book of Esther. Do you remember how Haman was determined to kill Mordecai? He was gonna build what? The Gallows. So Haman builds the Gallows. He's like, I got that dude Mordecai.

He about to go out. Who ends up dying on the very gallows that he builds? Haman. Do you see what happened to these dark powers? They thought they had Jesus. They thought as Jesus is being marched to the cross that they have hung the Messiah and they've assured their own victory. Little do they know that as Jesus hangs on the cross that they themselves are being hung. You see, Jesus is victorious through sin and death itself. Demonic wisdom suggests that pain and suffering is the evidence of failure and defeat. But heavenly wisdom says actually, in this paradoxical way, pain and suffering are a unique ability to relate to Christ which equips us to proclaim the good news of the resurrected King of heaven and earth. If I were to give you a visual example of the epitome of the wisdom of the earth in the time of Jesus, I would have to show you the Temple of Artemis so we've got a picture of this. In the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis was considered one of the seven wonders of the world and I write about it in my book, Dancing in Battle. I say this, in its prime, the Artemisian Temple was four times larger than the Parthenon in the Athenian Acropolis and it had 127 pillars each representing a different king.

It was first constructed around 550 BC. Pliny the Elder here reports that it probably took about 120 years to build but there's discrepancy. Some people think it took up to 220 years to build God only knows. At the center of the temple was an image of the goddess Artemis whom we now understand to be one of the gods of the nations and in 356 BC the Temple of Artemis how could the Temple of Artemis burned down? This is so sad. So Plutarch sarcastically suggests, well, Artemis is the goddess of midwifery, and so she actually had to leave to go help Alexander the Great be born. So the house was left unprotected, but it's unprotected, like that's how it burned down. From this point on, the temple is destroyed. It's rebuilt several times. The house of the goddess was built on marshy land, and so over time the temple begins to shrink and to fall apart and the gods end up destroying it around 263 BC and it's built again, but just 600 years later, it's destroyed again. Did you know of those 127 pillars, you see it on there? You all know how many of those pillars still stand today? What did the Temple of Artemis look like? Here, here's what it looks like today. Of the 127 pillars, if you look in the far back and zeroed

and you would see one pillar that is still standing today and that one pillar, this temple home of the great goddess Artemis, the epitome of wisdom, the wisdom of earth, of that the one pillar is home to a family of storks. You ever wonder, but 2,000 years later, what is the wisdom of heaven bring? 2,000 years later, while the temple of Artemis, the house of Artemis is in ruins, listen carefully, the household of God is alive and well. If you need proof, look at this, look at all of the streamed locations, look at the move of God that is taking place in our world today. The outcome of demonic earthly wisdom will always be ruined but the outcome of the wisdom of heaven will always be a flourishing life. Listen, not in the absence of pain and suffering, something more miraculous in the very midst of it. And this is a truth that only the resurrected king of heaven and earth could give for you and I today. This is why we ought to be a spiritually discerning people aware of the tactics of the enemy. So honestly, when it's presented to us, we could just be like, miss me with that. Why? Because I have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and that is significantly eternally worth more than anything the dark powers could ever offer. Let's pray, look, thank you. Thank you for your kindness and your goodness

and thank you that we have examples throughout scripture to remind us that you are good to us, that you are a good God who wants humanity to flourish and to do well and that we can be a discerning people, that we can learn to reject the demonic wisdom of earth that comes from below and we can learn to receive the heavenly wisdom that comes from above Jesus himself. We trust you and we love you, amen.