(gentle music)

Amen.

I hear rumbling,

the under and all of the things going on outside

and I know that the wind is quite strong.

So the chances of the power going out in here might be great.

So what I want to tell you is, if the power goes out, I can just speak a little louder.

All right?

And you can use your bibles instead of looking at the screen.

So don't worry about that.

We're going to continue to worship.

Amen?

All right.

So unseen things.

I can't see that thunder but I can hear it.

I can't tell where the winds thunder, but I can hear it. I can't tell where the winds

coming from, but I can feel it. There are a lot of unseen things that happen in

this world. And so today that's what we're talking about is unseen things, but

not white in that way. The passage today is going to be in second Kings. So if you

want to turn to second Kings chapter, and go ahead and be there.

Second Kings, Chapter 6, that's where we will begin this morning.

So one of the things that I want to talk about is angels.

Angels.

Angels are not seen normally.

There have been plenty of reports that angels have been seen.

People have seen angels and

recognize that to be angels, but angels typically are not seen, but yet God's

Word tells us that they exist. God's Word tells us that they are here. We have

seen in Scripture where angels spoke God's Word to people of things that

were to come. We have seen incredible things and we know that angels are here.

The crazy thing is a lot of people will consent that, yes, I believe in angels. But then at

the same time turn around and say, but I can't believe in God. I don't quite understand

that, but it is something that happens. Angels are not seeing, but we know they are here.

They are of God and they do God's work. So we know that they are here. They are of God, and they do God's work.

So we know that they are here.

In the early 20th century, there was a painting seen in many houses.

In this painting, maybe some of you had this painting in your house.

It was a painting of two children crossing a wooden bridge over a water,

some body of stream, a river.

There were some boards missing. And behind the two children

was the big angel standing behind them. Now this famous painting was painted by a German

artist and this painting in the 20th century was in so many houses. I've seen it, it used to

hang in my grandparents' house, it's been something that I've seen all along.

And it's one of those things that made me think about,

how often maybe that is more true than we know.

How much time do we go through things?

How many times do we go through things

and not know, but that there's an angel watching over us?

Probably many of you have had close calls

when you were driving. Maybe you had something happen within your own life and you weren't

quite sure how that worked out, how it happened. But perhaps this painting of an angel watching

over to children reminds us that there really are angels around us. I can tell you there's been many times when something happened and I just

don't know how I avoided an accident. And I just believe that God sent an angel

to watch over me in that time. There was something going on, something that

happened. We know that they're here. And so, Second Kings chapter 6, verses

9 through 17, we're going to talk about unseen things. And we're going to see in this passage

some amazing things. So look with me to Second Kings chapter 6, beginning in verse 9. Since

the man of God sent word to the King of Israel saying, 'Beware that you do not pass this place, for

the Armenians are coming down there.'"

The King of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him, thus he

warned him so that he guarded himself there more than once or twice.

Now the heart of the King of A-Ram was enraged over this thing and he called his servants

and said to them, "Will you tell me which

of us is for the King of Israel?" One of his servants said, "No, my Lord, O King, but

Alayshah, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the King of Israel the words that you speak

in your bedroom." So he said, "Go and see where he is that I may send and take him and it was told him saying behold he is in

Dotha. He sent horses and chariots and a great army there and they came by night and surrounded the city.

Now in the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out behold an army with

horses.

and chariots was circling the city.

And his servant said to him, "I last, my master,

what shall we do?"

So he answered, "Do not fear,

for those who are with us are more than those

who are with them."

Then Elijah prayed,

he said, "O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see."

And the Lord opened his servant's eyes,

and he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around

Alayshah. Do not fear. It's one of the first things we see in this passage. I want

to say think about that. Do not fear. The servant had come out and all around him surrounding them were soldiers.

There were horses and chariots and soldiers that were surrounding them. And knowing that

the King of the Armenians wanted to do harm to them, certainly there could be fear. Certainly

certainly there could be fear. Certainly there would be fear.

If today we sitting here suddenly were told that there was a force trying to come into

the building that was armed people and they intended to do harm to us, certainly fear

might come across us.

Certainly there would be an opportunity for fear to arise.

So do not fear it says in the passage, so my thought was, well what is fear anyway?

What do we consider fear anyway?

Well, I looked it up.

What is fear?

This is what it said.

Paralyzing dread or danger of evil. Paralyzing dread of danger of evil.

Paralyzing dread of danger or evil.

Hmm, that sounds pretty accurate.

I talked about being up on the roof and trying to get down

and the fear that I suddenly had, paralyzed me, I was not able to get down off that roof

until God allowed it. Sometimes it's paralyzing. Sometimes the fear

calls you to run away. The fear in your body tells you to get out of here and you run,

you get away. But fear is an overwhelming emotion. And oh there are plenty of people that

say, "I'm not afraid of anything."

They're liars. They're afraid of plenty. Fear is something that comes into our earthly minds,

our hearts, and it causes all sorts of trouble. Paralyzing dread or danger of evil. That's what fear is.

We know that these dangerous and evil things do exist in this world.

There are plenty of dangerous and evil things that exist in this world.

Just a week or so ago we heard of a congregation where armed people came in, angry,

right in the middle of a service.

We've heard in the past of people just storming into homes.

We've seen things that happen and we know there's evil in this world.

There's plenty of dangerous things that happen in this world.

So fear is something that all of us tend to have in our life at some point or another.

We know there is a reason for that in our earthly walk.

In our fleshly walk, Fear is something that is here. So why is the first thing that

Alisha said to his servant, "Do not fear." Do not fear. Well of course he was already

fearing because he saw all of the things that was around him, all of the danger that existed,

he saw all of it and he said, "Do not fear." Why would we not be afraid? Why would he tell him not to fear? Well, here's the

thing. The next thing that he said is this, those who are with us are more than those who

are with them. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

He couldn't see that.

When he looked all he saw was the enemy forces surrounding them.

That's the only thing he could see.

Elijah said, "Do not fear."

Do not fear because those who are with us are more than those who are with them. I can say to you today, do not fear,

because God is with us.

And God has provided for us,

and God is going to take care of us.

I can tell you that.

Can you see that?

For some of us, yes, we have learned to turn to God

and understand that even though I may not be able to see it

with my eye, I can see it with my heart that God is here and that He is providing that for me. Some of us can

see that. Others may not. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. It's an

incredible thought.

all, with all the things that are going on in the world today, all of this evil that's

happening, all of the things that are going on for us to hold on to the fact that we

don't have to fear because those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

In this passage, more means literally a greater number. It means literally a greater number.

Well, if you got 100 people, I got 200, right?

If you got this many, I've got even more.

It's one of the things that militaries always try to do, right?

They try to recruit more and more people.

They have a bigger force.

So if I have the biggest force, nobody's going to come against me because my force is bigger

than yours.

So in this passage more, when he says, "Those who with us are more than

those who are with them, when he looks out, he doesn't see that." But I just tell him

there is more. There is more than you can even imagine. And so there's more, a greater

number as we walk through this world. Dread, fear, all of those things come over us because of the evil that's in this world.

But we don't have to fear because those who are with us are more than those who are with

them.

There are more forces of God.

There are more of God's angels.

There are more that God has placed in this world than the evil spirits that Satan has recruited.

There's more, surely in number, there's more.

So if there's more, why aren't we afraid?

Why aren't we worried?

Why do we struggle?

Why is it that we don't do what we know God is calling us to do?

Why do we have that paralyzing fear if we know there are more for us than there

are for them.

Number one, we don't ever think about that.

People don't consider the fact that there are those spirits in this world, that God has

placed them here, that they are going around ahead of us and behind us and encircling us,

that that's happening.

We don't consider that. We only consider what we can see. I'll just serve it, can only see

the evil forces that were around him. He couldn't see the greater forces that

were around them. It means more as in number, but it also means a stronger

better army. It's more. It's more than, right? As the kids might say today, it's more than.

It's more than. It's not equal to. It's more than. It's better. It's greater. It's something

that is superior to the things of the world. The forces that were there that he could see

were certainly a great force. Our minions were taking over large parts of the known world at that time.

But yet even that large force that was there, the force that God placed around them was greater than

there were better army, stronger army, a better army.

Understand that sometimes a smaller army can be stronger than more people if they're trained properly

and they know what to do, they can win.

Of course Hollywood likes to promote this.

If you ever see a movie where you have a superhero or even a police officer or an undercover person, whatever, and suddenly

there's five against one.

And somehow that one beats up all five of them, right?

Why?

Because they were better than the five that came against them.

That's the movies.

The reality is what God provides is greater in number, it's greater in strength, it's greater in ability than anything that Satan could put in this world.

It's more, but it's also stronger, better, so it's more than.

So when we look at this around us in this world today, we need to not believe that we are alone.

We are not to believe that we are alone. Why? Because God tells us we're

not alone. The forces of God are always more than the forces of evil. They're always

more. From the very beginning, from the very beginning, the forces of evil. So if I believe that, why is it that I struggle in

my walk? Why is it that I struggle in doing things that God calls me to do? Why do I fear

about things that I can't see? Why do I have that fear? Listen, child of the King, won't you

to go and tell? But I can't. Because what if I mess up all these people that are

looking at me? I'll be so embarrassed. The forces that are with us are great

than the forces that are with them. Why is it that we allow ourselves to be paralyzed

with fear? Do not fear! That passage is sprinkled all throughout Scripture. Do not fear.

Everywhere we turn around, we can look at the children of Israel as they were departing

from Egypt and they were heading out into the world as they're going out away every time you turn to round. They're told, "Do not fear." Do not fear. Why? Because fear is powerful.

Fear is paralyzing. Fear is something that can overcome you if you allow it to.

But God's telling you that those who are with us are more than those who are with

them. Don't fear. Don't let it paralyze you. Don't let it stop you.

Go and do what I tell you to do

because those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

I'm here.

I've given you all that you need.

Go and do what I've asked you to do.

Go into the world and share the gospel.

Go into your families and share the gospel. go into your families, and share the gospel,

live your life in a way that others would see Jesus in you. Go into those situations that are

unrest and give rest by sharing the Word of God. And all the things that are going on in the world

today, I wonder how many people are sharing the gospel. I think about all of these protesters, thousands of protesters angry and coming against

what's going on in the world and how many people within that group are pausing to say,

let me tell you about Jesus.

Let me tell you about Jesus because the forces that are with us are greater than the forces

that are with them.

And if we were sharing the gospel and we were living that and showing that, then God would

begin to give peace that passes all understanding. I think about in our world today, how far away from living for

God have his people come. Many of you in this room remember 40, 50 years ago. And you

remember church is full. You remember people coming into a moving into a

neighborhood. One of the first things they looked to join was the church. One of

the first things they did was find a place to plug in. It was less people that

didn't go to church than those who did. It was less people that didn't go to church than those who did.

It was less people that didn't talk about God than those who did. We considered ourselves

a Christian nation and God's Word was shared in the workplace, in the home, in the church,

in the restaurants. It was everyone would bow to pray before their meal.

All the things that happened, God was seen.

He was very much seen.

And over the years, those things have begun to dwindle.

Why?

Why have they begun to dwindle?

Is it because God's not strong enough anymore?

Is it because the forces of God have pulled out?

Is it because they've left us to fend for ourselves?

Absolutely not. The things of God may be unseen, because they've left us to fend for ourselves, absolutely not.

The things of God may be unseen, but that doesn't mean they're not here.

God has always been with us. He said, "I will never leave you or forsake you."

He's always been here. The forces of God have been here.

The unseen things of God have been here all along.

Yet God's people, those who say, I believe in Jesus Christ,

I know that God is real.

I have given my life to Him,

have pulled away from doing what we need to do.

We have drifted apart from that,

and we have begun to...

He paralyzed with fear.

We're paralyzed with the fear of what if I do that and I lose my job because they say

I can't talk about Jesus here.

What if I do that and my family member gets angry and they don't want to talk to me anymore?

What if I do that and people shun me?

They don't want anything to do with me anymore.

What if I do what God's calling

me to do? But yet I'm looked at as a terrible person because of it. I mean after all, the

world is saying that the Scripture that we all hold to our hearts near and dear is hate

speech. The world says it's hate speech because it says that things that God has deemed

or wrong or wrong. There is no

gray area there. So the world says, well if you tell somebody that's wrong, that's

hate speech. No it's a truth. It's the gospel truth. Why are we afraid to

speak the gospel truth? Why are we afraid to live the gospel?

We're afraid of the things that we see and we forget that the things we don't see are greater than the things we see.

The things that we don't see are greater than the things we see.

Do not fear!

That's what God's Word tells us.

Do not fear.

Like a lice is servant, our eyes just need to be opened.

Our eyes need to be opened. Our eyes need to be opened.

What if, right now God opened our eyes and we can see around us,

the forces of God.

How incredible would that be?

God's Word shows us that there's a battle going on around us on a daily basis.

The forces, the spirits of evil and the spirits of God are constantly in a battle in this

world. Constantly in a battle. What if we saw that? What if we could see that? We need

to be constantly aware of that battle. It's going on around us, but understand this, God is the victor. The battle is already won, even though it's going on on a daily basis. It's already

won. Jesus died on the cross and paid the price for every single one of us. He was buried

in when he overcome the grave. Death is defeated.

It's defeated. The opportunity for salvation and resurrection

for every single one of us is there.

We just have to accept it.

Maybe we haven't accepted that because our eyes

have not yet been opened.

Maybe we haven't been able to see the things

that we need to see.

I pray before every service, God, if there's someone there who doesn't have their eyes open, would you open their

eyes and let them see? Because God's Word tells us and the less he calls us, we

can't see. But if he's called you and you've seen and you've chosen to turn away

then what you've done is rejected. If you've seen and you've accepted but then

you're not willing to follow through and do what God is calling us to do, what are you doing?

Are you allowing yourself to be paralyzed by fear? Are you allowing yourself to be in a place where the devil says, "I like that one because I'm not worried about what they do."

They're unsuccessful in the kingdom of God. They got their card punched and they sat

down. I'm not worried about that one. We need to be constantly aware of the

battle that's going on around us. Look with me to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter

six. We're in the Old Testament now we're gonna move into the New Testament.

Ephesians chapter six verses 10 through 12. Don't you see what it says there?

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God

so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not

against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the

world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in

the heavy and the heavenly places. What I want you to see is this. Well, I'm trying to go backwards, but I've first. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood. That passage begins with

don't be afraid. The battle that we fight on a daily basis is not against flesh and

blood. We don't need to be worried about what flesh and blood can do to us.

We don't need to concern ourselves with that because they can do nothing to us that God

doesn't allow.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but it's against the rulers and the powers and

it's against the world forces of the darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness.

That's who our battle is against.

It is not against the flesh and blood in this world. Listen, it's the flesh and blood in this world that needs

to know about Jesus. Our battle is not against them. Our battle is for them. Our battle is

for them. That they would know what God has said. That if you confess, if you confess with

your mouth, Jesus, that Jesus as Lord and believe that God

raised him from the dead you shall be saved. Our battle is for them. Our

battle is to tell them that you have the opportunity to be saved. Let me show you

what it is. Our battle is not against them.

our battle is against the spirits of wickedness, the spiritual forces in this world.

That's who our battle is against because the more we try to serve God,

the more they try to put us down. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

No matter what. No matter what. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Do not fear. The unseen things

are around us, they are dangerous. The unseen things around us are dangerous. What do you

mean? Well, the spirits of evil. They are dangerous. They are around us. Every day those spirits are around us.

Perhaps some of you in here can say,

"I have been in a spiritual battle."

Maybe for some of you, you've been fighting

because the forces of evil have put you

in a place of depression.

They have knocked you down and tried to render

you useless in the kingdom of God.

There are things going on in your life and you can't seem to get past them.

And one of the reasons you can't is you don't understand that it's a spiritual battle.

I shared with you before that I

I didn't believe in depression and anxiety and all those things.

I thought those were just people that were making up excuses.

When I was overseas, I got into that place of depression.

But I didn't want to hear anything about it. I thought I was perfectly fine.

I thought I was perfectly fine. People would say there's something going on with you.

I'd say, "No, I just don't feel like talking."

I don't feel like doing these things.

I did my job.

I took care of myself.

I ate my meals that I needed to.

I did all the stuff that I was supposed to do.

But I didn't want to socialize.

I don't want to socialize. I don't

want to talk to anybody. I sat by myself when I ate. I was always wanting to be alone.

I just felt like, I just don't feel like talking to anybody right now. Somebody came and

sat by me. They said, "What's going on with you? I've never ever seen you this quiet." You

know what I did. I got mad. I said, "You always tell me I you? I've never ever seen you this quiet." You know what I did? I got mad.

I said, "You always tell me I talk too much. Now I'm not talking too much and you won't know how can

I'm not talking. Make up your mind. What do you want?" Lashed out. Angry. Not me, but I did it.

Friend of mine came and said, "We're going to do this Bible study.

Eventually I gave in."

Said, "That's fine."

And what I learned as I began this Bible study is I was fighting a spiritual battle.

Satan was dumping on me.

Everything was coming on me and telling me how useless I was and how terrible this place

was and all of the awful things that was going on and I was and how terrible this place was and all of the

awful things that was going on and I was buying every bit of it.

But when I began to read God's Word on a daily basis and really pray and study

and talk to God suddenly the tables turned. Suddenly I began to get a foothold and I realized the things that were going on in my life.

You see, I was dealing with depression, just good old-fashioned depression.

But one of the reasons I couldn't get out of it is I was fighting a spiritual battle.

And I didn't realize it.

When I did and I began to call on God,

those unseen things around me showed me that there are more with us than there are with them.

And I came out of that battle. I learned from that battle. I fight to stay out of that place again. These same things around us are dangerous,

but the unseen things of God are ultimately more powerful,

exponentially more powerful than any of these things in this world that can bring us down.

Any of the things going on in this world, our fight is not with flesh and blood,

it is with the evil spirits that are in this world, it's with the principalities of the devil, that's

where our fight belongs, but in order to do that, we have to trust those forces that are

around us that God has placed around us. And we need to be fighting for those people

that our natural instincts say we should be against.

You know, if you hurt me, I don't want anything to do with you.

If you've said something negative about me,

I don't want to talk to you.

If there's been a time when you acted in a way

that I didn't think was right,

I don't want to talk to you.

I don't want anything to do with you.

That's the natural response of flesh and blood.

But God says, I forgive you.

I forgive you, therefore you forgive them.

You forgive them.

You reach out to them.

You let them know.

They don't know what they're doing.

When they placed Jesus on the cross, he said,

"Forgive them, God, they don't know what they're doing."

They were literally killing him.

He said, "Forgive him." Yet somebody can

say, "Pose a bad thing about it on Facebook and we don't want to talk to him ever again."

The reality is those who are with us are greater than those who are with them. The unseen

things of God are ultimately more powerful. Be strong and courageous. Be strong

and courageous. How can you overcome fear by being strong and courageous? How can you

be strong and courageous by walking in Christ? By being filled with the Holy Spirit, by

spending that time with Him and saying, I know that the forces are more with me than

they are against me.

And so therefore I can live and do the things that God wants me to do.

I can share the gospel of Christ in ways that perhaps I used to be afraid to do because

I know that God is with us.

Be strong and courageous in what we do.

It would be incredible if all of God's people began to

share the gospel the way we should be doing it. But it takes putting God first to be

strong and courageous. It takes putting God first. When we put God amongst all the other

things in our life, we're not going to be able to be strong and courageous. When we put God amongst all the other things in our life, we're not going to be able to be strong and courageous.

When we put God first and everything else revolves around Him,

we can be strong and courageous.

The unseen things that make you scared are not nearly as powerful

as the unseen things there for you.

Live every day for God knowing this.

You are backed by those unseen things.

You are backed by those unseen things.

They were walked into a place whose dark, quiet,

couldn't see a lot, and immediately fear overcame you.

Number one, why are you afraid?

You can't see what's in front of you.

But sometimes it feels like there's something else.

I was at another church.

Someone had broken into the church. I had come up and I was going

in to see what had happened. Open the door of the church who was dark. I walked

into the building, I had a flashlight, but I walked in and I walked in every hair on my body stood straight up.

I was just almost paralyzed with fear.

I thought somebody must be in here.

I'm looking around, I'm looking all over the place, I don't find anything.

Finally I muster up enough courage to try to take another step and I'm just again I'm

paralyzed. Finally I just prayed, God I don't know why I'm scared. Maybe there's something

evil in this room. I don't know what it is but I'm asking you to go before me

and help me as I go through this and suddenly the fear left. I was able to walk

through the building and find out everything and it was no one was there. There

was nothing in the building. I didn't see a thing,

but I still believed to this day there was evil spirit in that room.

When I stepped in, I felt it. When I called upon the name of Jesus, it fled.

I absolutely believed that. You can call me crazy if you want to. I believe it. Every day that we live for God knowing that we are backed by those unseen things are days

that are victories for Him.

Every day it's a victory.

The question becomes this, are you prepared for the battle?

Are you prepared?

You see, the reason I ask if you're prepared is because most are not. Most people

aren't. Most people are not prepared because you see we are not being strong in our walk

as we should be. We're not putting God first as we should be. We're not trusting and being strong and courageous as we should be.

And what's happening is we're halfway doing what we're supposed to be doing.

What do you mean by that? I've talked to you about this before the average

Christian

It spends less than five minutes a day in prayer.

The average Christian spends less than five minutes a day in prayer based on a survey done.

Well if I only spend five minutes a day in prayer, how can I further my relationship with

God?

How can I put Him first and trust in Him if I'm spending less than five minutes a day?

The average Christian does not read their Bible on a daily basis.

Again,

another survey that's been done. Average Christian does it read their Bible on a daily basis.

If I'm not reading my Bible, if I'm not praying, it's spending time with God, how can I possibly

think that my walk is going to get stronger? In other words, I'm satisfied with where I'm at.

In other words, I'm satisfied with where I'm at. I'm satisfied with where I'm at.

You know, I read the Bible three-one time.

I pray sometimes, sometimes when things are going on,

I spend time praying.

I go to church on Sundays.

The average Christian is halfway,

living a Christian life if that.

I'm satisfied. I'm busy. I got a lot of things going on.

I don't have the time to sit and read the Bible on a daily basis.

I understand. I'm a busy person. But then I ask this question, I mean television shows, do you watch?

Oh, I've got four or five that I keep up with. What if you dropped one of those off and

read your Bible for 30 minutes? You see, the things that we say that we're not able to do most of the

hammer excuses because we don't want. [BLANK_AUDIO]

Transcribed by https://soundwise.ai