 Amen. So, you know, who says the Bible is not exciting, huh? There's all kinds of exciting stories all throughout the Bible. So, it's a great book to read. But just more action and things happening here in Acts chapter 23. So, where are we in Acts chapter 23? It's been a couple of weeks. So, basically Paul is at Jerusalem. You know, he was told after his third missionary journey, at the end of the third missionary journey, everybody was warning him, the people at Ephesus, and nobody wanted him to go to Jerusalem. And, you know, even the Holy Spirit said, Paul, don't go there, you're going to end up bound. They're going to try to, you know, get you, like they've been trying to get you. And Paul said, you know, I don't care about my life, I'm going anyway. So, this is Paul in Jerusalem. And, of course, he's having the same trouble. The Jews are after him just like they've been after him throughout the whole book of Acts. They're still hunting him, trying to get him here. We're going to pick things up in verse number 10. So, Paul, of course, in the first few verses of Acts chapter 23, basically rebukes the high priest, which, you know, doesn't seem to be going well for him because they come up with a plan to get Paul. Okay? So, they've tried to kill him. I don't know how many times so far throughout his missionary journeys, and he's just kept coming at them and just coming at them again and again and again. And as you see, what does Paul do? He just goes and he just speaks truth over and over again. All right? So, that's what we're going to kind of look at this evening, is kind of the contrast of how, you know, Christians or prophets have acted versus, you know, the other side. That's what we're going to look at tonight. And this is a great example in Acts chapter 23. So, let's go through the story here, and then we'll apply it towards the end of the sermon. Look at verse number 10. The Bible says in there rose a great dissension. So, Paul, you know, causes this, you know, dissension, this chaos when he rebukes the high priest, and this Roman rescues him. Again, just notice like the persecution in the book of Acts is coming from the Jews. You know, it's not coming from the Romans here. The Romans are actually the ones that have saved Paul a couple of times already, and they're going to save him again here in Acts chapter 23. The Bible says in there rose a great dissension. The chief captain, fearing less Paul should have been pulled the pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them and to bring him into the castle. So, this chief captain saves him again, and the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul. For thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. He basically, you know, God tells Paul here that, you know, you're going to make it through this. You're going to be in Rome to testify about me there as well. And it was day, when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and bounded themselves under a curse saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now, this is interesting right here because normally in the Bible, you know, you would think of what's happening here as these men getting together and swearing what the Bible would call an oath. But instead here it's called a curse, and I'm going to explain to you why it's called a curse here. So they basically enter into a curse here. So just a heads up, if anybody gets together, you know, brings you into their group and says, hey, you want to get in on this curse with us? Just say no, okay? Because curses are bad, all right? So these people are entering into a curse saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. So this is like a wicked deal that they're entering into, but they're literally cursing themselves in this way. And they were more than 40 which made this what? This conspiracy, all right? So this conspiracy is kind of equated with that word curse, all right? And they came to the chief priests and elders and said we have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. Now therefore, ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow as though you would inquire something more perfectly concerning him, and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. So this is the conspiracy, all right? This is the plan. The conspiracy is some underhanded secretive plan entered into, this is what a conspiracy is. It's some underhanded plan executed in the dark that only a few people know about. That's what a conspiracy is. Notice how the Bible calls a conspiracy a literal curse here. It calls it a curse, all right? So these people, the plan, the conspiracy is this. These 40 men, or about 40, whatever it was, went to the chief priests who they knew wanted Paul dead, and they said hey, you guys, so they're bringing the chief priests into the curse too, right? They need the chief priests to be part of this curse or this conspiracy, and they say you guys go and tell the Romans, see, because now the Romans have Paul, and they can't win that fight. They can't go up against the Romans in strong arm, this chief captain, the centurions, and these soldiers. They have no power over it, so they have to come up with this way. They say the chief, you chief priests go and tell the chief captain that you just want to ask him a few more questions. That you just have some doctrinal questions about the law, and then the chief captain will bring him forth, and then whichever of us 40, because there's going to be a big crowd, this is why they needed the numbers. There will be this crowd around Paul, and all of us as closer to him will just jump out and stab him or kill him in whatever way they were going to do. That is the conspiracy, all right? That is the plan. But look at verse 16. And with Paul's sister's son, so that's Paul's nephew, right? Heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle and told Paul. And Paul called one of the centurions under him and said bring this young man under the chief captain, and brought out a certain thing to tell him. So he took him and brought him to the chief captain and said Paul the prisoner called me under him and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee who has something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand and went with him aside privately and asked him what is it that thou has to tell me. So here we have Paul's nephew. So we have this young man, all right? Now we don't know how old he is, but you know there's some signs here that this is a fairly young man. I mean young man in the Bible would be like probably less than 20 years old, but then you see the chief captain takes him by the hand and leads him into a place where he says this is a small child. This is a child that's probably, in my mind, obviously we don't know, but 12 years old or younger probably, this is a young child doing a very brave thing here. This is a young child that's coming and is found out about this murderous plan to kill his uncle, and instead of just doing nothing, what does he do? He risks himself, he risks his life, and he goes to these soldiers that must have been a pretty scary thing for a young child to see these Roman soldiers and even risk the anger of the Jews who want to murder his uncle. So we have a young boy making a big difference is what I'm trying to get at here. Look, this is one of the reasons that this isn't one of the reasons. The reason we're a family-integrated church is because that's what the Bible says. That's the reason we are, but this is one of the things that you will see as you grow up and your kids grow up in a family-integrated church and you see other kids grow up in other family-integrated churches that are preaching the Bible. What you will see is you will see that kids at a very young age stand for their faith. Kids at a very young age they go out and they win souls. At a very young age they go out and they literally make a difference in this world at a very young age. Like young, like 10, 11, 12, 13 years old. So look, it's not don't ever let anyone tell you kids that you're just a kid. Because kids, children can be very powerful soul winners. They can be very powerful. And look, I've seen kids that are 13, 14 years old stand for their faith. Kids that are young, look, they don't have control of their lives. They don't have control of everything. But they still put their foot down and they stand for their faith. I've seen that in young children. And it's because they grew up in the Word of God. So here we see just a side note. We see a very young child making a very big difference here. He's being used of God. God's plan, God told. We know Paul's getting a room. How do we know? Because God told Paul. He's getting a room. But God uses people to execute his plan. And he's using this young child to execute this particular plan. So look, kids can make a big difference. Kids can make a big difference. Look at verse number 20. Verse number 20. And he said, so now he's telling, this young child is telling the nephew is telling the chief captain, the Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldst bring down Paul tomorrow into the council as they would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly. He's telling them, they're going to use you. They're going to use you. He's like, but do not yield unto them. For they lie and wait for him of more than 40 men which have bound themselves with an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now are they ready looking for a promise from thee? They're going to use you, he says. So the chief captain let the young man depart and charged him, meaning he told him, see thou tell no man that thou has showed these things unto me. And he called unto him, two Centurions saying, make ready 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea. This guy doesn't mess around, right? He's up against 40 people. He's like, go get me 200 soldiers. He goes, he's three score in 10, three score meaning three times 20, a score is 20. He's like, go get me 70, you know, 70 horses and Spearman 200. So 200 soldiers, 200 Spearman and then, you know, 70 Calvary at the third hour of the night and provide them beasts that they may set Paul on and bring him safe unto Felix the government. This guy wants to make sure that Paul gets there. He's going to make sure that he's successful. You know, I like this attitude. I've always said, you know, if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. You know what I mean? So this is my kind of guy right here. And he wrote a letter after this manner and he says, Claudius Laceus, the most excellent governor, Felix Sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews and should have been killed of them when I came with, then I came with an army and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. He's kind of, you know, saying, look, I saved this Roman citizen. And when I would have known the cause, wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law. So he's like, I thought that they were arguing with him about their religion, their law, which we know that the Romans have no respect for the Jewish law. They put up with the Jews. And look, they're not going to put up, you know, Jesus was right when he predicted the temple would be destroyed. The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. We're probably looking at, you know, just a few years after Jesus's death. We're probably like 20, 25, 30 years away from the temple being destroyed here where the Romans are just like enough of this. And they just destroy everything that has to do with the Jews. So the Romans don't have any respect for the law. They don't have any respect for the law of the Jews. But he's just like the Jews are upset because they don't like what he's teaching. But to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or bonds. He's literally saying like, I don't really care. Like it doesn't really matter if what he's teaching is against the Jews' law. He said because he's not doing anything that's violating our laws. He's not doing anything that would put him in prison or, you know, get him executed according to our laws. Look at verse 30. Basically what he's saying is, this guy's innocent. This guy's innocent. And when it was told me how the Jews laid and wait for the man, I sent straight way to the in-gave commandment to his accusers also to say before the what they had against him. Farewell. Then the soldiers, it was commanded them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipratris. And on the morning they left the horsemen to go with him and return to the castle. Who when they came to Caesarea and the epistle meaning the letter that he just wrote to the governor presented Paul also before him. When the governor had read the letter he asked of what province he was and he understood that he was of Cilicia. I will hear these said he when nine accusers are also come and he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall. So Paul's going to get to give his case to this governor which we'll look at in chapter 24. But the point I want to look at tonight is just this idea of this conspiracy or this conspiracy what the Bible calls a curse here. A curse, a conspiracy and it's a curse upon all those who enter in but it's always a conspiracy in the Bible is what I want to get you to understand. There's conspiracies all over the Bible. We'll look at just a couple. Turn to Isaiah chapter 7. There's conspiracies all over the Bible but they all follow the same pattern. This is what I want you to understand this evening. And then we'll see why. We'll look at why conspiracies exist. We'll look at why every conspiracy in the Bible exists. We'll look at why every conspiracy that we can think of today exists or doesn't exist. We love talking about conspiracies here. We love talking about what could have possibly been behind all these different events that we're all living through. It's a really it's a thinking man's game to think about, you know, what could really be behind a lot of the things that we see in the world today. So let's look at what the pattern of the Bible conspiracies are first. Look at Isaiah chapter 7. Let's look at a conspiracy in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 7, look at verse number 1. And look, you're going to see the pattern is the same with these conspiracies. So here we have in Isaiah 7 we're looking at, you know, we've got the northern kingdom of Israel and we've got the lower kingdom of Judah which is, you know, a much godlier kingdom at this point. Look at verse number 1. And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah. So this is the king of the lower kingdom that resented the king of Syria and Pika, the son of Ramalia, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it. So they always say up to Jerusalem. I'm not sure if that's like an elevation thing or what, but they're literally going south. Okay, so they're coming Syria and Israel are going to Judah to go to war in Jerusalem. They're attacking the lower kingdom. It went to, but they could not prevail against it. So what are they doing? So Israel, the northern kingdom in Syria are attacking Jerusalem. They're attacking Judah. But they can't win. That's the first thing you need to understand. Conspiracies are always born out of situations where just like being straight up isn't going to work. We're just doing it the right way or just doing it the normal way is not going to work. So look at verse number 2. They couldn't win. They couldn't beat Jerusalem. And it was told the house of David saying Syria is confederate with Ephraim. So Ephraim is many times and his heart was moved and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Basically saying to the lower kingdom of Judah Syria has aligned itself with the northern kingdom of Israel is what that's saying there. Then the Lord sent an Isaiah who's the prophet go forth now to meet Ahaz thou and share just hub thy son and at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the Fullers field and say unto him take heed and be quiet fear not neither be faint hearted for the two tales of these smoking firebrands for the fierce anger of resin with Syria and the son of Ramalia. So he's saying fear not don't be worried about this confederacy that's coming against you. Because Syria, Ephraim and the son of Ramalia have taken evil counsel against thee saying let us go up against Judah and vex it and let us make a breach therein for us and set a king in the midst of it even the son Tabeel. So here the Bible is saying Isaiah is telling the king of Judah that it doesn't tell us exactly how they're going to do this it doesn't tell us exactly what their plan is but they're going to go there and they're going to vex them they're going to do some kind of trickery they're going to do some kind of false I don't know if that's a false deal a false treaty a false something they're going to do something because they can't just go up and straight up fight them so they're going to do some kind of trickery or some time what the Bible calls subtlety to try to beat this king. But Isaiah is telling the king of Judah he's telling him look at verse number seven he says thus sayeth the Lord God it shall not stand neither shall it come to pass he's like don't worry it's not going to work alright so that's another thing that you'll see with conspiracies in the Bible is the Lord always brings those things to light alright the Lord always brings the conspirators out to light turn to Jeremiah chapter 12 it doesn't always look that way at all points in time though in Jeremiah chapter 12 we're going to see where there's a conspiracy where there's evil things and look sometimes in the Bible sometimes in our lives we're going to look and we're going to think like hey these bad conspiracies and these conspirators it looks like they're winning it looks like it's working it looks like the trickery is working but we can always just remember this pattern in the Bible look at Jeremiah chapter 12 even the prophet Jeremiah said this to God he's just like they're winning it's like these evil wicked people are winning look at verse number one of Jeremiah chapter 12 righteous out thou oh Lord when I plead with thee he's got that respect with God because he's really going to like sort of complain about some stuff here but he's just like God you're righteous he's like Lord you're righteous you're all powerful but he's got some issues with what's happening here he says when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments he's like God can I please discuss what you're allowing to happen here is what Jeremiah says remember Jeremiah is the prophet that no one ever listened to you know whenever I think as a pastor like man it seems like I'm preaching and no one's listening you know I don't think like that all the time but the point is Jeremiah literally lived his whole life like that I can't think of a single point in the Bible where Jeremiah went and preached something and they're just like that's great we agree with you like they just hated everything that he said they're like you're a traitor they threw him in prison they threw him in the mire I mean Jeremiah was just beaten down his whole life and at this point in Jeremiah chapter 12 he's saying God he's like can I get you to rethink you know your judgments here wherefore doth the way look what he says wherefore meaning why now how many times have you thought about this in your life this is a this is a decent thought that Jeremiah has here but we need that God answers wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper he's saying why God why God are if they're wicked and they're bad why does it look like it's they're doing well their ways are these people that are wicked these people that you're telling me about to go and preach against they're doing well and they're prospering he's like why is that wherefore are they all happy that deal very treacherously isn't that what this conspiracy what these conspiracies are about that's exactly what a conspiracy is a bunch of people that get together to deal or a curse of some kind and deal treacherously but in Jeremiah chapter 12 he's saying look God he's like they're getting away with it he's like it's working for them he's like these people that are doing these treacherous things through all these lies and all this wickedness he's like it's working out he's like and he's just asking God he's just like why he's just like why thou hast planted them yea they have taken root they grow they bring forth fruit they're getting stronger Lord he says thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins it says you know they talk about you he's like but they don't you know they don't have anything to do with you you know actually but now go back down to verse number 12 because God always here's another pattern that you'll see with the conspiracies God always has the final say in the conspiracies so with the conspirators and with the curses that people enter into God always has the final say and look we know he had the final say in Jeremiah's life as well because they got taken over just like Jeremiah said they were going to get taken over by you know the the nation or the empire of Babylon look at verse number 12 now God answers he says the spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness Lord of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land even to the other end of the land no flesh shall have peace remember how he said remember how Jeremiah said look Lord they're even bearing fruit look what God says they have sown wheat but they shall reap thorns they have put themselves to pain but shall not profit they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the what the fierce anger of the Lord I was like no no no I will have the last say here that is not going to be fruit that they reap that's going to be thorns from the fierce anger of the Lord and look you see this pattern throughout all conspiracies in the Bible you think about just think of the conspiracies think of the conspiracy of Absalom Absalom David's son he forms this conspiracy where he gets all these people with him he's actually able to throw David out of Jerusalem he's actually able to dethrone his own father I bet David at that point was just like wow it seems like the wicked are prospering here what happened to Absalom he was killed he was killed 2 Samuel 15 Absalom his David's advisor Hithafel went back and went into the conspiracy with Absalom took his side and God literally cursed him he entered that conspiracy and it literally says in 2 Samuel 15 that Hithafel is among the conspirators and how did that end up for him he killed himself he ended up committing suicide what other conspirator do we know in the Bible that ended up committing suicide Judas Judas conspired against the Lord Jesus Christ of course we know that was fulfilling prophecy but he was a wicked man that conspired so how did it end up he ended up killing themselves you say where do all these conspiracies come from who operates this way turn to Genesis chapter 3 in verse number 1 there's a word in the Bible that is always associated with Satan or the people that are working with Satan and that word is this subtle subtlety being subtle being subtle is not a good thing if you say well I'm subtle well you're not using the word right because it's an evil thing look at Genesis chapter 3 look at verse number 1 these things are always pushed forward by the devil these subtle plans look at Genesis 3 verse 1 the Bible says now the serpent was more what was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman not eat of every tree of the garden he said yay he's subtle he's subtlety trying to get the woman to get Eve to doubt God's word is that really what God said thou shalt not surely die so he starts out with subtlety and then he just heads straight into just straight up lies but Satan is the subtle one subtlety is Satan's way not God's this is what you need to remember God's way is just head on truth that's it God's way is just head on truth you say well there's been Christians that fought in the good guys that fought in the Bible too well yeah but when David fought Absalom what did he do he just fought him he just went straight forward and fought him with an army that's what he did and it said it's Satan that is subtle that uses this trickery that uses all these conspiracies in the Bible that are basically just a bunch of people operating under darkness and operating under the philosophy of lies is what it is God just tells the truth here it is take it or leave it and look a lot of people want to leave it because a lot of people don't you know it's hard to take the truth but that's the way the prophets always were the prophets are just like truth you know there was never any you know conspiracy Jeremiah to try to trick somebody into doing something just like no God actually went to these great extremes to have these prophets like basically to risk their own lives to the point of the death of a lot of them just to go out and speak the truth to the face of these leaders but that's why governments that's why people lie it's the same as Satan it's the same so you say word of all these conspiracies come from well it's not of God it's not of God any conspiracy by a government is not of God all the you know all the conspiracies that you can think of you know in your life and the history of your life or whatever all the government whatever's and the false flags and all these different things it's just it's a subtle way to get a goal done because they can't come out and say like hey we just want to go to war here because we want the stuff over there they can't do that so instead they have to come up with these conspiracies they have to come up with lies they have to be what they have to be subtle about it but look look it's gotten to the point in this country where other countries I read a lot of foreign news I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing but literally other countries at this point are just like the United States lies so much that they're literally what's the word that their agreement incapable is the word I've been reading a lot of because like look I'm not for China and for Russia and for India and for all these other countries you know but I'm just saying they're just literally saying like how could we ever believe anything that the United States say because they've been lying for like literally 50 years they just lie again and again and again but it's because who but who whose philosophy is that is what we have to ask ourselves by operating in these covert subtle ways we've just made ourselves complete liars look at the media today it's just most of the media is just complete lies like literally the opposite of the truth I remember a few years ago at one of the red hot preaching conferences when I was still living in Sacramento this is why I think I would never talk to the media like never because I remember there was one of the red hot preaching conferences I still lived in Sacramento the preaching conference is like four days long and it was found out that there was an L.A. Times reporter attending the conference because she wanted to see what this church that had been in the news was all about and I was like you know I'm this optimistic fool apparently I'm just like because I mean you've never been there and you've ever been to these conferences it's just like there's like tons of kids and they're having all kinds of fun and tons of games and all this spiritual stuff going on and it's just like super fun there's a lot of soul winning events going on this lady so they knew they knew about this lady and they like paired her up I won't mention any names but they paired her up with like the nicest lady in the church to go soul winning with and this lady like went soul winning the L.A. Times reporter I think I could be wrong I think that lady got somebody saved when they went out soul winning and I'm just like there's no way she's going back and like writing something bad about this I mean you got this church and you got these pastors standing up preaching and if you've ever been there you see like when Pastor Anderson gets up to preach a lot of times there's nowhere to sit so all the kids like come around there's like 50 kids when Pastor Anderson is preaching and they're all just sitting there just listening to preaching from the Word of God for like an hour and a half and you know it's just like the coolest thing ever you know it's like 90 degrees in there no one cares you know and it's just it's just this super spiritual fun thing everybody's just the nicest people you'll ever meet like here's this stranger a lot of people knew who she was just super nice she could have never been in a situation where people were nicer to her like she's going to go back and like you know she'll be like this is a great place and this was awesome and all this and it was terrible I went back and she wrote this article and just making fun of how people looked making fun of how people dressed making fun of even the kids making fun of like it was terrible it was crazy just wrote this wicked article that was literally like 180 degrees from truth it's like what's the point of reading the paper what's the point of reading any news I mean what's the point of the media they just lie and twist everything I mean I'm starting to think that the American media especially is not capable of telling the truth you know it's kind of like Gresham's law right let's say that that lady was good and she wanted to write the truth the organizations themselves are so wicked at this point they would never allow a truthful article to be published you see what I'm saying so Gresham's law you know what is Gresham's law Gresham's law is like a coin analogy it's like a currency analogy my grandpa used to be quarters before 1960 used to be made of 90% silver quarters and dimes so Gresham's law says that you know the bad drives out the good so what do you think when we start making quarters and dimes in 1962 we start making them out of tin and zinc and worthless metals well pretty soon all the good silver coins come out of circulation because people just keep them my grandpa used to always just like he used to hit quarters because he could tell if they were silver he used to hit them keeping that one and he would take it out of circulation he would collect them but Gresham's law states that the good that the bad sorry drives out the good but look it works for the media too because what kind of good report is going to waste their time writing a bunch of truthful articles that just never get put in the paper that just never get published on that site so then what do you end up with after a few years of this type of of wickedness just everyone's bad the bad drove out all the good I said the same thing about public school public school you know you think you're going to get a bible believing teacher in a public school probably not why because the bad drove out the good that's why because you have to teach evolution you have to teach all this sick perversion teach all this stuff and no Christians going to do that there's going to be like no no no no I'm out so the bad drives out the good I'm not even sure where I was going with this but the point is this conspiracies that conspiracies are they operate and they're executed because they're of Satan because that's how Satan operates Satan operates through subtlety God operates and God's people operate through straight in your face truth that's the difference that's Satan look that's Satan's game that's Satan's game is this conspiracy this subtlety this operating in the dark why because he doesn't have a better plan these people that were after Paul they couldn't go to the Roman to the Roman soldier the chief captain and say hey this guy's guilty of X, Y and Z they couldn't do that they didn't have any truth on their side so they needed a conspiracy see this is how Satan operates Satan doesn't have any truth he doesn't have he doesn't have any ideas so he operates in the dark he operates in lies that's just a subtle lesson for ourselves turn to Luke chapter 12 Christians can fall into this kind of darkness too turn to Luke chapter 12 here's a lesson for us out of this always be above board in your life you talk about kids need to learn this young young men young women need to learn this young teenagers need to learn this always be above board in your life always be above board operate in the light that's how you are supposed to operate look at Luke chapter 12 and look at verse 2 because for us for us if you're safe tonight I mean I don't know you're not getting away with anything so operate don't operate in the dark look what the Bible says there's nothing covered that shall not be revealed neither hid that shall not be known God always shines the light on all of them He always shines the light on these conspiracies so you say why I mean you ever think about this like what is the devil's endgame you say like Satan look Satan's a real being on this earth that's where he's at right now you know Satan's a real being and he's operating on this earth but here's the thing you ever go to Matthew chapter 25 you ever ask yourself what is he trying to do what's his endgame he knows what revelation tells us other places in the Bible tell us he knows he loses he knows he doesn't win so like what's he doing look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 25 verse 41 revelation literally tells us great detail about exactly what happens to Satan there's a lot of prophecy that's kind of like oh man you really got to cross reference Daniel and stuff and revelation and Daniel 70th week and all these things and you really got to piece some things together there I'm not saying it's not possible to do but it's pretty easy to see it's pretty spelled out what happens to Satan in the Bible I mean Revelation chapter 20 is pretty clear where he's put but look at Matthew 25 verse 41 the Bible says then shall he also say unto them unto the left hand in verse 33 he's talking about the sheep go on the right hand and the goats go on the left comparing people that are going to be with Jesus and people that are going to be with Satan notice how there's not a pen in the middle you're either a goat or a sheep you say well I know some people that don't believe in Jesus that they're not that bad of people they seem nice they're goats because you're either with me or you're against me Jesus says they're going to be goats in this scenario but look at Matthew chapter 25 verse 41 then he shall he say to them on the left hand these are the goats depart from me he cursed isn't that an interesting word there into what into everlasting fire talking about hell the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels so all these people that followed Satan are going to go to the place that was prepared for Satan look that's what hell was all about that's why hell was created it was prepared why for the devil and his angels Satan was first created for Satan to be punished in it just so happens that all the people that go with him are going to be punished there too but look the whole point of hell was so Satan could be punished there that's why I like these people that are like I'd rather be a ruler in hell than a servant in heaven like you're an idiot you're a moron there's nobody ruling in hell you know who rules hell God there's no porcupig with a fork or whatever he's holding in hell everyone in hell is screaming and tormented in hell and God rules hell God created hell he rules hell and he created hell for Satan and his angels and there's nobody in hell that's going to be like I'm glad I'm here I mean you see these people that are like oh well all my buddies are in hell I'm going to go to hell your buddies are screaming in pain for you to get saved every single person in hell believes on the Lord Jesus Christ they believe him now but they're in hell they're in hell they wish they trusted on him in their life but you know that knee will bow that's what the bible was saying every knee will bow even the people that hate him even the people that hate him they spent thousands of years in hell and then they're pulled out of hell and they stand at the great white throne judgment in the lake of fire they're going to be begging they're going to be begging on their knees to be let out of what they're not going to be let out of because now today is the day of salvation not once you're in hell James chapter 4 James chapter 4 James chapter 4 verse number 4 just kind of explains like there's no halfway there's no in between the bible says in James chapter 4 it explains that there's only two sides there's only two sides we're talking about what's the point of satan satan knows he loses, satan knows he's going to be in hell what is he doing look at James chapter 4 verse number 4 it says know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God whosoever there for will be a friend of the world as an enemy of God there's your two sides right there so that liberal church looks like it's a lot of fun has a false gospel they're an enemy of God they have a cross on the building though enemy of God satan's going to leave them alone satan doesn't have any problem with that church you say why, what's satan's goal what's the point what's he doing here I'll tell you why it's always through a conspiracy I'll tell you why satan operates I'm going to tell you why look at first Peter chapter 5 verse number 8 this is the difference between satan and God look at first Peter chapter 8 you say what's the point this satan is walking around he wants to be like God he's never going to be like God that's why he got kicked out of heaven he wanted to be like the most high that's why you see works based salvation it's literally satan's religion because what I want to be like the most high is what satan said and he got kicked out of heaven for that you know what works based salvation is saying I can get myself to heaven look it's the philosophy of satan it's exactly the same thing look at first Peter chapter 5 verse number 8 what's satan doing then it says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about doing what seeking whom he may devour this is all satan does this is what he does he only look he only destroys look does God destroy sometimes yeah he does does God judge sometimes here's the difference first Peter chapter 5 verse number 8 write a little reference in your bible chapter 5 Amos chapter 5 look at Amos chapter 5 verse number 15 this is the difference between satan and God because here satan just devours it says in first Peter chapter 5 but look God judges too God comes down and he's destroyed cities he's destroyed nations I mean just read the Old Testament God destroys but the difference is this look at Amos chapter 5 verse number 15 you see look satan only destroys he only devours satan is operating strictly and only out of hatred that's it that is all he is doing he hates God he hates God's plan he hates everything about it he's operating strictly out of hatred now turn to Amos chapter 5 Amos chapter 5 verse 15 now the liberal Christian would say well we need to operate strictly only out of love and just love everything all the time Hitler I love you Stalin love you buddy no look at Amos let's read the bible tonight look at Amos chapter 5 verse number 15 this is the difference between satan and God right here hate the evil and love the good and establish judgment in thy gate the bible saying here have righteous judgment read the bible so you can have righteous judgment there's evil hate that there's good love that satan is like destroy it all burn it all down look you know what satan only destroys do you know what that means he destroys his own people he destroys those that follow him you see all these like satan worshipers and all this I'm like I mean I know you're gonna go to hell but I mean are you an idiot I mean he's he just how it's like it's you see the occult and what happens people just commit suicide and all these like just people that get into all this witchcraft and all this and it just destroys their life they kill themselves they murder people I mean just all this terrible things happens to these people these people end up ruined or devoured and destroyed is maybe a better word his own people why because he doesn't care all he does is destroy that's it there's no look there's no possibility of victory being a satan worshiper you're like I'm gonna be a satan worshiper and be on the losing side of everything and only be destroyed there's no glory there's nothing satan destroys even the people that follow him it's crazy they follow him literally to their own destruction you know it's I get it it's like think of the sons of belial in the bible show me a successful son son of belial in the bible they're being they're being killed God kills the sons of Eli judges 19 there's certain sons of belial it says you know they set the house round about you know and just said like beat at the door and speak to the master of the old man saying bring forth the man these sons of belial what happened to them they're destroyed they were destroyed along with an entire tribe of the nation of Israel saved 600 the entire tribe of benjamin was destroyed see that's what satan wants he wants the sons of belial the sons of satan his followers not only be destroyed but to destroy as many as they possibly can with them this is you know Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed it's just he only destroys just being a son of belial we talked about a couple weeks ago is a curse in itself it's literally the wrath of God upon you on this earth the point is it's not like satan takes care of his own is what I'm trying to get at here all will end up destroyed so two points about satan and why he operates under these conspiracies because he knows his fate he knows his fate and he is a destroyer so he's trying to destroy as much as possible and let me tell you something he's doing a pretty good job you think about the percentage of people that are saved you think about the percentage of the sheep and the percentage of the goats he's doing a pretty good job his goal is simply to destroy as much of God's plan as possible turn to 1st Timothy chapter 2 1st Timothy chapter 2 because God's plan is what God's plan look at 1st Timothy chapter 2 in verse number 4 God's plan this tells us what God wants in this verse satan's trying to destroy it all he's trying to burn it all down including the people that follow him and you know this is what God wants God says this in 1st Timothy chapter 2 in verse I mean God is trying to save everybody that's what God's trying to do he's literally trying to save everybody well I thought the Bible teaches that some people can't be saved yeah but God wants it's not God doesn't want people to turn on him he doesn't want people to hate him that's not what God's will was for their life okay but yeah satan won that battle with that individual that did that that turned on God but in 1st Timothy chapter 2 this is what God wants it says who will have all men to be saved meaning by it says who will have it means it's God's will that all men be saved that's how you read that it doesn't say he's like going to make all men it says it's his will to have all men be saved and what and come to the knowledge come unto the knowledge of the truth God wants everyone to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that's what he wants that destroys Calvinism right there I mean God wants just because all men will not come to the knowledge of the truth that's not what God wanted that's what satan wants satan wants to hide the truth he wants to what conceal the truth and darkness and this is why we see men operating this way because what are they trying to do they're trying to conceal the truth in darkness it's like conspiracies are they're bad they're bad if something's true hey let's just come out and let's just say the truth that's how God operates it's men operating under these conspiracies they're literally working for satan doing things the way satan does things and you think about your life that are in darkness we all should reflect on this from time to time are there things in my life that are in darkness just on an individual level are there things in my life that are in darkness that if people knew about would be shameful to me and bad you just need to get your life in the light you need to be above board in your life all things are going to be revealed all things are going to be revealed but satan operates under conspiracies because he has no ideas you know he's like the kid that goes into the playroom and all the kids are building block towers and he just goes over and kicks everybody's tower over that's what he's doing he doesn't have a better mousetrap he's just kicking over everybody's blocks he's just kicking over everybody's Legos but turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 I'll just read it for you children of light and the children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness none of this is for us is what the bible is saying we should be above board she say you know why all the conspiracies today just to end on this no why all the conspiracies today I always considered like I have a lot of friends and maybe some of you that are pretty good conspiracy theorists and you know the older I get probably more of the conspiracies are true and not less because the rulers of this world are operating the same way Satan operates and they're subtle and they're trying to get evil things done under in the darkness and that's why you see these conspiracies that's why you see these big conspiracies on national scales you know from to every war has conspiracies that started the war and kept the war going and all these different things where the people just literally had no idea what was going on I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it because I don't think that there's anything that I can do where I'm at to know the truth so like it doesn't consume my life but you know I'm not an idiot either and it's fun to kind of discuss things as well but just understand that these conspiracies many of them are probably true because Satan is real that's really what it comes down to Satan is real and that's exactly how he operates and look you just see it we just touched the surface there's conspiracies all over the bible and they're all wicked people trying to just do wicked things is what they are but god look you say what happened to these 40 men the bible doesn't tell us but you know what you know if you're any good at pattern recognition I'm sure it wasn't a good thing I doubt they starved to death I doubt that they kept their curse and we're just like no we're going to die now but you know what I bet you the lord got them because that's the pattern that I see in the bible with conspirators let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer