[Peter Eddington] There's an unnatural hatred for biblical values in our society today, have you noticed? The vitriol is not normal. It's not just a differing of opinions, but an unnatural hatred for anyone on the other side, whatever side that might be. There is a spiritual reason for this, and we've got to take a look behind the scenes of today's geopolitics. We have to understand, many people do not fully grasp what's going on in the world today because there's a missing dimension in understanding. It isn't just a physical matter. There's a spirit element at work. God has given this world over to a spirit being who is hostile to Him. And there are numerous fallen angels who are hostile to God as well.

We have a satanic and demonic force which influences world events. God is ultimately in control, no fear, and He is the one who ultimately directs human events and nations. But He has allowed another god to rule over our planet for a short time. And God has a plan through all this, and we can see it prophetically unfold. He is the one, though, ultimately guiding and directing world outcomes. And this has been the case for millennia. God is the master geopolitician. There's a lot going on behind the scenes invisibly, that we do not readily see. And on top of this, there are spiritual disinformation campaigns launched against both sides of any ideology.

Let me quote to you some notes from Greg Touhill, the first federal chief information security officer of the United States. He wrote this at hstoday.us. It's a government website, Homeland Security Today dot U.S., it's hstoday.us. On February 11, in an article titled “Homeland Security Experts on the Biggest Threats and Challenges the U.S. Faces in 2021,” and here's what he believes is one of the biggest threats today for the United States and the world.

He says, “Disinformation remains a huge threat to the United States and is likely to grow in magnitude and impact during 2021. Disinformation always is crafted around nuggets of truth to lure in their intended audience. Misinformation is the unwitting sharing of disinformation often by those consumers of social media who share the disinformation without checking the source of the disinformation, nor the veracity of the reports. Disinformation was used to attack the integrity of the U.S. election system in 2020, as well as key societal institutions. I suspect we will continue to see malicious actors using disinformation campaigns to shatter our societal fabric and undermine confidence in our constitutional government.”

There is a spirit at work in the politics and governments of this world, and there's a spiritual disinformation campaign put forth by the devil. An evil influence is cast over the leadership of many countries. Satan is stirring up strife and disinformation in his effort to thwart God's plan of salvation for humanity. And Satan also attempts to influence your mind and my mind with misinformation and disinformation. But God is watching carefully, and His plan is systematically unfolding. And this has been the case for 6,000 years of civilization. Here today, we're going to look at the hidden world of spiritual politics, the hidden world of evil influence over nations. It's hidden because we cannot see these things with our eyes, but our mind can come to comprehend them if we're led by the spirit of God. And as we look into the unseen spirit world, we need to recognize it may also have an evil influence on us if we're not led instead by the spirit of God.

The title of the sermon today is The Spirit World in Geopolitics, The Spirit World in Geopolitics. Turn to Acts 17:26 for a moment. Acts 17:26. When the Apostle Paul came to the New York and London civilizations of his day, the city of Athens, he said this.

Acts 17:26 “And God or He has made from one blood every nation,” the rule of one blood, “of every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. And He has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”

See, God has directed the way this world has been settled, the geopolitical boundaries. We're all familiar with the Tower of Babel, and God separating the nations by language. But it goes beyond the Tower of Babel. God has appointed the boundaries and dwellings of people and nations for millennia. And you can study a lot more about it in Genesis 11 if you ever wish to. But there's a major reason for so much negativity in human history, and here it is. Our world, in a way, is being held captive by an evil spirit influence. The good news is it won't last forever. When Jesus Christ returns, He's going to eliminate that influence. But notice His scripture in Luke 4 about geopolitics. On the gospel of Luke 4, I'm going to read verses 5 through 7 here for a moment. Here's an interesting scripture about geopolitics in our world. And this is written about the time when Jesus had been fasting for 40 days.

Luke 4:5-7 “Then, in His weakened state, the devil took Jesus up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” So Jesus saw kind of all of the governments, and humanity, and kingdoms of the world in a flash, supernaturally saw our planet. “And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You and their glory. For this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.’ Therefore, if You worship before me, all will be Yours.”

So, yes, the world has been delivered into the hands of the devil for a time. Satan is the god of this current world. There's a spiritual dimension which directs international events and geopolitics. God allows, at times, certain rulers to be on the respective thrones, to be presidents and prime ministers, to be kings and queens.

As we've seen in verse 6 here, the devil has been delivered a certain amount of authority where he can appoint leadership too. And he offered it all to Jesus, showed Him the kingdoms of the world in a flash of time. And this all happens invisibly to our eyes. We don't see the devil choosing leaders, it's behind the scenes. We don't always know what's happening, but we must be aware there are spirit forces at work. And Jesus didn't deny that Satan had that power. Instead, of course, Jesus resisted him.

Luke 4:8 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind me Satan, for it's written, You shall worship the eternal your God, and Him only shall you serve.’”

And I might like to point out here that you and I don't have to be afraid of the devil, and the power that he's been given for a short time. Resist and he will flee from you. We don't have to be overly concerned when led by the spirit of God. And so we resist and he leaves, just as Jesus did here. Now in the meantime, the world is very troubled. This trouble is caused by humanity's sin, and sin is self-destructive behavior. And because we have so much sin in the world, unfortunately, we have a lot of problems.

And we look forward to and pray for the time when Satan will be bound for 1,000 years, and Jesus will be king. I'm going to turn to 1 Peter 2 next. The Word of God became flesh in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, that the world's sins may be forgiven, and every human have the option for eternal life. And so, as we approach the Passover and days of unleavened bread, we're thankful Jesus' sacrifice and following resurrection to life makes it possible for your sins and my sins to be covered, for us to be reconciled by His blood. We are thankful we too will have the opportunity to be resurrected to spirit life just as He was.

1 Peter 2:21 “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps.” So those are the steps we follow, right? Not the god of this world. Verse 22, “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth, who when He was reviled did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” In verse 24, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.”

We talk about physical healing, but it's also a spiritual healing of our minds when we accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice. And it follows from this as found in other scriptures, this offer of living for righteousness, this offer of eternal life extends to all of humanity eventually. Let's turn to Matthew 26. This is a passage that we will probably read during the Passover service next Friday evening, as we probably will of 1 Peter 2 as well that we just read.

Matthew 26:27-28 “Jesus took the cup of wine and gave thanks, gave it to them saying ‘drink from it all of you, for this represents My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’”

Yes, Jesus' blood is for the remission of the sins of many, ultimately all of humanity. For all people who humble themselves, repent, and follow the example of Jesus Christ who walk as He walked. Our world desperately needs the blood of the new covenant. It's a world in dire need of redemption and protection from the invisible, hidden evil spirit world. Let's turn to Hebrews 9. Just want to read two verses in Hebrews 9:12 and 15. Hebrews 9:12, to begin with, speaking of Jesus' sacrifice and His shed blood.

Hebrews 9:12 “Not with the blood of goats and calves,” you know like in the old days, “but with His own blood, He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Hebrews 9:15 “For this reason, He's the mediator of the new covenant by means of death. For the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, the promise of eternal life.”

This is the hope we find during the upcoming Passover season. The promise of eternal life eventually adds a spirit being. This is why we rededicate ourselves to our baptismal vows each year at the Passover service and strive to live as a new person, putting our old self aside, burying our old self.

And so, I'd like to return to imagining the unseen spirit world of geopolitics. Imagine what is going on in the heavens as nations strive for dominance, as superpowers come and go, as both good and bad leaders are found ruling our countries, and as attempts are made to influence your mind in an evil direction. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 32 and read just one verse, verse 8, remember, God, though, is ultimately in charge, and He directs overall events according to His plan and purpose. And here in Deuteronomy 32, Moses spoke to the nation or the people of Israel before they entered the promised land. We see how once again, God directed overall events for nations and peoples.

Deuteronomy 32:8, “When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.”

God had a plan in mind as Israel entered the promised land and set the boundaries of where they would live. But note in verse 8, it says He separated the sons of Adam. It doesn't say the sons of Noah. So, even prior to the great flood and the Tower of Babel, God directed human events in terms of separating the nations from the very time of Adam. If you study archeology, you'll see that even pre-flood, there were different languages in the world. Just as God intervened after the flood to give people different languages, He also did so before the flood.

There's a story in the Book of Daniel we often go to to study the spirit world's influence on the geopolitics of our world. You may recall the Prophet Daniel had been eating and drinking very little, like a fast for three full weeks. And he was getting very hungry and was beginning to wonder why his prayers were not being answered. Now after three weeks of fasting, Daniel finally finds out the reason for the delay in him being heard by God. Unbeknownst to him, he is told a powerful battle had been going on in heaven, which kind of took up their time. And there was a battle between the Archangel Michael and the evil spirit, the Prince of Persia. And it's often a story we go to when we get a glimpse into the spirit world and what's happening up there while we are down here doing our thing. But there's also a lesser-known story of spirit events in heaven not seen. It's in 2 Chronicles 18. And I want to look at that one here for a little bit. It's another classic case of how events behind the scene, spiritual events have an influence on how major world events take place.

We're human, and we're limited to our five senses, but there's a spiritual dimension. There are spiritual matters which scripture illuminates for us. And here in 2 Chronicles 18, we're in the 9th century BC. This is when King Ahab is ruling the northern kingdom of Israel. The nation had split into north and south. And Judah was predominantly in the south with Benjamin and Levi, and the other 10 tribes, which eventually became known as the last 10 tribes, comprised the northern kingdom. King Jehoshaphat is ruling the southern kingdom of Judah.

Now, King Ahab is a wicked king, while Jehoshaphat is a more righteous king. And unfortunately, Jehoshaphat gets too involved with Ahab, and even married a daughter of Ahab. And now, he gets involved in a war as an ally with Ahab.

2 Chronicles 18:3 “So, Ahab, king of Israel, they're in the north, said to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah in the south, ‘Will you go with me against Ramoth-Gilead?’ And Jehoshaphat said, ‘Sure, I am as you are, and my people is your people. We'll be with you in the war.’”

You see, they were all Israelites at their core, even though they'd split into north and south. They were brothers when it came to the end of the day. Jehoshaphat said, “Sure, I'll go into battle with you.”

2 Chronicles 18:4-5 “But also, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, ‘Please inquire for the Word of the Lord today.’” You know, wonder what God thinks of all this. In verse 5, “Then the King of Israel, Ahab, gathered the prophets together, 400 men, and said to them, ‘Okay, shall we go to war against Ramoth-Gilead, or shall I refrain?’ So the 400 prophets said, ‘Go up for God will deliver it into the king's hand.’”

So here's the answer from the prophets, go for it. So what does Ahab do here? He goes to the prophets, sounds like a good idea, right? Except, they're not God's prophets. These are 400 pagan prophets. They're more like seers. And somehow the seers felt inspired to say go for it.

And we're going to find out in a moment who inspired that response. They all agreed to go into the battle against Ramoth-Gilead, which were the Syrians of the day. There's a little birdie in the back of Jehoshaphat's head, and he's thinking about this.

2 Chronicles 18:6-8 “Is there still not a prophet of the Lord here, though, isn't there at least a true prophet that we may inquire of him? So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him. Because he never prophesizes good concerning me, but always evil. He is Micaiah, the son of Imlah.' Jehoshaphat said, ‘Don't let the king say such things against the prophet of God.’ Then the king of Israel called one of the officers and said, ‘Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly.’”

And so we understand how God's prophets are often not so popular. Many times, it got them killed, or tortured, or sawn asunder when the message from God was not what the king wanted to hear, you know, off with his head. If we don't like the message, we kill the messenger. And that's been the case, unfortunately, throughout much of history.

2 Chronicles 18:9 “The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, clothed in their robes, sat each on his throne, and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the, you know, 400 prophets prophesied before them.”

And look at this one in verse 10, one of the 400 prophets, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah. Now, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah...now, this is, like, super dramatic, right? He's trying to look like a real super prophet here.

2 Chronicles 18:10-11 “He made horns of iron for himself and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, with these you shall gore the Syrians until they're destroyed.’” Holds up these iron horns, ta-da, wow, what a prophet, huh? “And all the other prophets prophesied so saying, ‘Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hand.’”

Very dramatic. These false prophets, the seers assumed to speak for the God of Israel, but they weren't true prophets of God but had mingled the religion of Israel with pagan practices. I find it fascinating when you study the migration, eventually, of these 10 northern tribes after their captivity at the hands of the Assyrians several decades later then were released. They broke free from the bonds of the Assyrians and migrated north and west throughout Europe.

Have you ever studied the pagan practices found 2,000 years ago in the British Isles and Scandinavia? It's just like this, with strange evil prophets and seers of the druids, and the Scandinavians worshiping Odin, very similar. We received a letter earlier this year from a reader asking to be removed from my mailing list. Here is exactly what was written, “Take this address off your mailing list. Stop harassing us. We are Norse pagan. Hail Odin.” It was from the UK, go figure. The same people actually what we're reading about here in Chronicles, I think. In the northern kingdom, there was even a golden calf. In fact, they had two of them, not just one golden calf, let's have two. A bull was worshiped in the northern area of Dan, and another one in the area of Bethel. They'd moved the Feast of Tabernacles in the eighth day to a whole month earlier because it was more convenient. And King Ahab and his nation were going totally off the rails. And now, King Jehoshaphat pretty much has an unholy alliance with King Ahab. He had to go to war with him against the Syrians at Ramoth-Gilead.

2 Chronicles 18:12-13 Now, “Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah, you know, the true prophet, spoke to him saying…” “Okay, buddy, now listen, the words of the prophet with one accord encourage the king. So please let your word be like the word of one of them, say something nice, speak encouragement.” “Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.’”

He wasn't about to be influenced. He pulled him aside, tried to influence him, but he said, “Uh-uh.” And, of course, this is our responsibility as people of God to proclaim the truth of the Bible, not just what everyone else is saying.

So that's what we try to do, no matter how unpopular I might seem. And we're still able to do it in this country for the time being. And I pray we're able to continue to do it because there are evil spirit forces at work influencing world events. And you and I have been called now to be part of God's Church, to be leaders and teachers in God's kingdom in the future at the resurrection. We're not trying to run the world right now, but we're learning God's way so that we can. And so we can and should continue to pray about events in our world, and as we see what's happening.

2 Chronicles 18:14 “And Micaiah came to the king. The king said to him, ‘Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-Gilead, or shall I refrain?’ And Micaiah said, ‘Sure, go and prosper, they shall all be delivered into your hands.’” whatever.

He was being very sarcastic. Micaiah doesn't sound sincere here. He's just repeating the talking points, right? Of course, the king realized he wasn't being sincere. Because look what happened in verse 15.

2 Chronicles 18:15 “So the king says to him, “No, how many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’”

Well, King Ahab is the one that just said, "I hate what he always says." Nevertheless, Ahab insists. And so here in verse 16 and 17 are the cold hard facts from God.

2 Chronicles 18:16-17 So Micaiah says, “Okay, here's the truth.” “‘I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, these have no master, that each return to his house in peace.’ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.’”

Crazy. See, there is a spirit world not in opposition to God. And many of our leaders and vast swaths of our population really don't want to hear what God is asking of us. The gospel message is not popular. I'll talk about this a bit more in a minute, and the cancel culture, and some of the things we're facing as a Church. Because instead, our leaders and governments would rather follow the false prophets and seers of the world, like to hear, you know, nice things. And now, here in the next verse is where the curtain is lifted, and we see what's going on in heaven at this moment behind the geopolitical scenes. It's very rare, but interesting to get a glimpse into the spirit world here of God. And, of course, we see a few of these instances throughout the Bible, but it's going on all the time, day by day, hour by hour.

But here's just one example.

2 Chronicles 18:18-21 “Then Micaiah said, ‘Okay, therefore, hear the Word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne,’” so Micaiah has a vision of heaven here, “‘and all the hosts of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth-Gilead?’’” So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Verse 20, “‘Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’” So verse 21, “So this spirit said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’” You know, those 400 prophets, “‘I'll be a lying spirit to those 400 prophets.’ And the Lord said, 'You shall persuade him, and also prevail, go out and do so.’”

See, God had a plan unfolding here. We see here in verse 21, a lying spirit, a negative spirit, an evil spirit, who evidently came before God, and was willing to perform this function. It's kind of like a wild beast that's caged, and then God allows the beast to go out and do harm. And God here allowed it because Ahab was a sinful person who needed a lesson, and God had already decided that Ahab was going to fall. Israel was a sinful nation that was not going to be blessed in this instance. God can restrain these beings, or He can turn them loose. So this is a glimpse into what is happening above us. And in this case, He turned one of them loose.

2 Chronicles 18:22 “So Micaiah says, ‘Therefore, look, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.’”

Micaiah says, “You've been duped by all 400 prophets. God allowed it. You're going to lose.” And unfortunately, this is the way the world often is. Nations are predatory like beasts. And in Daniel 4, we're told that God may allow someone who we think should never be running a country to run a country, like a King Ahab, or maybe a modern leader you would think of today. Keep your finger here in Chronicles for a second and turn to Daniel 4, look at verse 17. Daniel 4:17, because it's God who decides who's going to be in charged ultimately at any given point in time.

Daniel 4:17 “This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men.”

Ultimately, it's God who rules over men, and gives it to whomever He will, and sets it over the lowest of men, even puts people in charge that we will consider lowly. And God is using angels here to carry out His will. The New International Version puts it this way, “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict.” You see, God can appoint somebody whom you would never consider to be a president or a king. You think, “How did that person ever wind up rising to power, running a country?” But God can direct such things in a way in which we would never think. And so we often don't know what's being discussed in heaven, and what lying spirits have been sent out to influence things, do we? So, by extension, we need to be very careful in our own discussion of politics, we may never know what God has allowed. Let's go back to 2 Chronicles 18:22.

2 Chronicles 18:22-27 “And therefore, look, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours. The Lord has declared disaster against you. Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah,” you know, the guy that put up these iron horns and said ta-da, “went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, ‘Which way did the spirit from the Lord go for me to speak to you?’ And Micaiah said, ‘Indeed, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide quaking in your boots, then you'll know.’ The king of Israel said, ‘Take Micaiah, return him to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son, and put him in prison.’” Yup, I don't like what he told me. Verse 26, “Say thus says the king, ‘Put this fellow in prison, feed him with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction until I return.’ And Micaiah said, ‘If you ever return,’ the Lord has not spoken by me. Micaiah said, ‘Take heed all you people. You know, you've been warned.’”

And so King Ahab made a prisoner out of Micaiah, one of God's prophets. The idea was if Ahab came back from this war in peace, he would release Micaiah. Well, Ahab did not come back alive as we're about to see. We're not sure eventually what happened to Micaiah. Hopefully, he did finally get outta prison. But let's quickly read here what happened. Hope he did get outta prison because the king died. Now, at first, it seems that King Jehoshaphat is the one to die, but then Ahab gets shot by a random arrow. Ahab thought he could protect himself by not dressing up as the king, just wanted to just look like a regular soldier, so then he just got killed like a regular soldier. So, being in disguise didn't help. So let's read quickly what happened here.

2 Chronicles 18:28-32 “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, went up to Ramoth-Gilead.” They decided to do what the 400 seers had said. “And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your robes.’” Make sure you look like the king. But I'm going to disguise myself. “So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle.” This is a slimy character, by the way, don't you think? “Now, the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariot who were with him saying.” So here's what Syrians had decided to do. “Fight with no one, small or great, but only with the king of Israel.” You know, I don't care about anybody else, I just want Ahab dead. So it was, verse 31, “When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat in his robes, that they said, ‘Hey, it's King Ahab.’ Therefore, they surrounded him to attack, but Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, cried out and the Lord helped him. And God diverted them from him. For so it was, and the captains of the chariot saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.”

So they weren't going after King Jehoshaphat, that was not their orders. When they realized it was King Jehoshaphat, they left him alone.

2 Chronicles 18:33 “Now, a certain man drew a bow at random,” I'm not sure how random it really was, “and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, ‘Turn around and take me out of the battle for I am wounded.’ And the battle increased that day. The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening, and about the time of sunset, he died.”

2 Chronicles 19:1 “Then Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned safely to his house in Jerusalem.”

God miraculously intervened to save Jehoshaphat, but allowed Ahab to be killed, which was the plan all along. And here, we see these national events being influenced by spirit forces. And God made a decision because of Ahab's sinfulness, and the sinfulness of his nation. And then in the rest of chapter 19, we actually see Jehoshaphat reforming the nation, removing lots of idols, and bringing the people back closer to the way of God. Let's now go to 1 Kings 22, which is the parallel account in 1 Kings 22. And here, we see various prophecies being fulfilled. You see, the Books of Chronicles were among the last Books in the Old Testament to be written. They're early on in the Book for us, but they're actually chronologically near the end. Ezra, and Nehemiah, and Chronicles are among the last ones to be written. The Kings were written much earlier, so they're like a parallel account.

1 Kings 22:37-39 “So the King Ahab died, was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. Then someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed, according to the Word of the Lord which He had spoken.” God had prophesied this very thing in advance earlier in the Book of Kings. Verse 39, “Now, the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, the ivory house which he built himself, all the cities that he built are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.”

So Ahab rested with his fathers, then Ahaziah, his son, reigned in his place. So there's an interesting lesson in this for us, watch out who you associate with. Be careful about getting deeply involved with people who obviously are on the wrong track. So King Ahab died and was brought to Samaria, and it's a very ignominious death. Dogs are licking his blood, and they're washing the chariot in a pool where prostitutes are bathing. And those details were exactly prophesied ahead of time.

But here's the takeaway, God is in control. When He gives a prophecy, He fulfills it. When He says this is what's going to happen, that's what happen. When He says dogs will lick your bloody chariot wheels, that's what'll happen. And this is one of the indications there really is a personal God. There is a God who intervenes in human events, who's in control of our destiny, who inspired the Bible. A very powerful passage in Isaiah 46:9-11 that says this very thing about the power of God, when He says something, be sure it will be carried out.

Isaiah 46:9-11 “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, there is no other. I am God, there is none like me.” Then Isaiah 46:10, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, things that are not yet done. Saying my counsel shall stand, and I'll do all my pleasure. Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes my counsel from a far country. Indeed I've spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will do it.”

God can make sure it happens, He's in control. He's above time. He's outside of time. He's outside of space. He's in another dimension. And we are not going to have a full understanding of world events in totality, but we know the narrative. We know God's overall prophetic timeline, and how things will eventually unfold here on this planet. The good news is we know where it's going, and it's going ultimately in the direction of world peace, prosperity, and freedom. That's what happens at the end of the story. It's going in the direction of the rule of Jesus Christ and the saints. There is a hidden dimension in geopolitics, don't think there isn't. There's a spirit world guiding and directing the outcome of nations, battles, politics, and our Father in heaven is allowing much to happen for a time under the hands of the God of this world, Satan, even allowing lying spirits to do their work.

We noted at the beginning in Luke 4, where the devil offered Jesus rulership over all the nations of the world, if Jesus would only bow down and worship the devil. The scenario is very real. It happened. Those kinds of things were going on in heaven. There is an unnatural spirit-driven hatred for godly values. The vitriol, like I said, it's not normal, that level of hatred for people on the other side of whatever issue it may be. It's not just a differing of opinions, but a hatred. And many people do not fully grasp what's going on because there's a missing dimension in their understanding. There's a spirit element at work, and you and I must not be taken in by this. We have to put on the nature of God. There's a human spirit in us which can be influenced by either the spirit of Satan or the spirit of God. And so we resist and not overcome by evil. We have the spirit of God, and we need not be afraid. Let's look at Ephesians 4, which talks about God's spirit interacting with our spirit, God's spirit working within the minds of his saints.

Ephesians 4:21-24 “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, if you've heard God and you've been taught by God, as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man, the old woman, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust, but be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.”

See, our mind is renewed by God's truth in His spirit. I'd like to conclude here today with a brief note on what we're already seeing with United Church of God, and our ability to proclaim biblical values.

We have some challenges in preaching the gospel in today's media landscape, and it is because of an evil spirit's influence in this world. Look at Amos 8:11 and 12, prophecies from God talk of a famine of the Word. And more than ever, we see how this may come about for us as an organization. I just remember years ago in the Church hearing about a famine of the Word. We haven't really said that much lately from what I recall.

Amos 8:11-12 “Behold the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, the words of the eternal. They shall wander from sea to sea, from north to east, you know, from coast to coast, up and down, run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord, but you'll not find it.”

This is the prophecy of the end time, the end days that are coming, when there'll be a famine of hearing the truth. And I think more and more we see how that could happen. Christianity in our world is facing an uphill battle against secularism, against all kinds of “isms”. And in the Church of God, the battle is even more pronounced for us because the message we bring is found to be unpopular even amongst those who call themselves Christians. Even Christians don't like everything we preach. In fact, we're accused of not believing in Jesus because we don't believe in the Trinity. Not only are we asking our readers and viewers to keep the Sabbath, but to turn their lives bright side up in so many other ways. It's not a popular message when you ask people to actually change what they're doing, change things they're comfortable with.

With all of today's technology, also comes the opportunity for our work of preaching the gospel to be censored, to be cut back in effectiveness by governments and big technical corporate giants. For example, Google, who owns YouTube, is already censoring our ability to advertise online. Many of our online display ads are being censored and limited in where they're allowed to be seen. There's a label on them that says religious bias in advertising. They're already putting labels on what we do. It's especially true, actually, in France and United Kingdom right now where we advertise, but we're also seeing it in the United States on some of our online display ads.

How long will it be before the United Church of God becomes fully noticed and scrutinized like some other organizations already have, who've been canceled? We're kind of flying under the radar right now, we're not really noticed. How long, though, before our teachings are deemed to be hate speech, or against a publicly accepted narrative? I believe it will eventually come to our doorstep. We're already seeing signs of it in restrictions to our online advertising. Some of our “Beyond Today” magazine articles and television programs are not published or aired in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom already because of newly enacted vilification laws. They say, “Nope, you can't put that program on.” In those countries, we are not completely stopped from publishing, but direct articles against homosexuality and Islam would bring expensive lawsuits against the Church, and stop us being able to preach at all there in the interim. So we're choosing our battles wisely.

Of course, if a person searches our website, it's very obvious what we believe on these subjects. We're not hiding it. It's being careful in some areas what we say. We've already faced censorship from Christian radio networks who won't allow us to air because we don't believe in the Trinity. They've made that part of the contract. And for many Christian outlets, not believing in the Trinity labels you as a fringe cult. And many contracts for airing on Christian networks require that belief. And I can imagine at some point we'll face censorship and blocking because of other beliefs we hold that are not mainstream Christian. Not just the Trinity, but, for example, our biblical teachings about the Sabbath, the holy days, our belief in the promises made to Abraham and prophecy, our teachings against Easter and Christmas, and more.

Eventually, our stand against the end time religious and political beast power, refusing to take the mark of the beast, will bring an end to our ability to preach God's word, and there truly will be a famine of the Word. So that's when God says, “Okay, I have to send these two guys to Jerusalem, my two witnesses, to take over now, and they'll supernaturally do it.” God has given this world over to a spirit being who's hostile to Him. We have a satanic, a demonic force which influences world events and geopolitics. God is ultimately the control and directs the final outcome of nations and peoples. But this other god with a small g is the one ruling our planet for a short time. It's been the case for centuries, for millennia.

Remember, God is the master geopolitician. And so each of us must set our minds on the things of God, on things above. We must not entertain our thoughts and minds on the things here below, and those things under the influence of the god of this world. I've seen all kinds of attitudes and questionable thinking on social media by people in the Church, saying, “Oh, don't say that on there. Be careful what you're get involved in.” Now, lying spirits in heaven may not tempt us to start a war with Syria, they're not tempted to go against Ramoth-Gilead. No, it's much more subtle than that, what the devil will do to try and influence your mind. Not going to send you into battle, no, it'll be something a little different.

Maybe it is a social media post, will get you distracted. Maybe it is the media that you're consuming, who knows? But just be careful. There is a spirit world out there. And our observance of the Passover service, because it's symbols of foot washing, bread, and wine as a reminder of the cleansing of our sin, is very important as we commit ourselves ceremoniously once again to Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven. If we think once again about our baptismal vows that we made before God to follow Him, not follow the god of this world.Final scripture.

Colossians 3:2-4 “Set your mind on things above, not on the things of the earth.” You know, set your mind on the things of God, not the things of the god of this world. “For you died,” yes, you died in baptism, which is what will be reminded of on Friday night. “You died, to that old way, in baptism, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” You see now you're a different person in Christ. And verse 4, “When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear. You also will be resurrected with Him in glory.”

And that's when that change happens, is when Christ appears, when He returns. So, do not underestimate the importance of the sacrifice of our savior. As you prepare a partake of the Passover symbols again this year, there is an invisible spirit battle going on, not just between nations and global powers, but also for my mind and for your mind. Take it seriously.