All right, it's working, praise the Lord. 1 Peter, in your Bibles if you would please, 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter number five. 1 Peter chapter number five. I would invite you to stand with me as we read the word of God tonight, 1 Peter chapter number five. Thank you all for that song, what a blessing that was. It's good to hear people singing about the Lord. You know, we were talking about this even, you know, last week I mentioned about music on Sunday night and different things like that. It's just amazing how music affects your heart and how it affects your mind. And don't be fooled by Satan and making you think that it doesn't bother you, because it does. And it's good to be able to be in church and hear the word of God being sung, not just preached. These songs that they sing have a message to them. And that message is out of the Bible. And thank you so much for those songs. 1 Peter chapter number five, Starting in verse number one, the Bible says, the elders, which are among you, I exhort who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of ready mind. neither being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. You know, that's what he's giving command here to the elders and the preachers and different things like that. He's saying we're not to be lords over the church, but to be examples over the church to feed the flock of God and things like that. But guess what? It's my job to make sure you got some stuff when you come here to church, but it's your job to eat it. You understand? It's your job to saturate yourself with it, to swallow it down and to make it apply to your life. Verse four, it says, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. We don't like that word submit. That's become a bad word in today's society. But it does say this, younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Why? They know more than you. That's why. Don't worry, that's not in the verse, I'm just telling you why. I'm answering the question here, or tell you, why does it say that? Because they know more than you. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, whom resists steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who has called us into eternal life by Christ Jesus, and after that he has suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. And we ought to give God the glory. But verse eight says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Now, I know you've heard this before. Travis, I think there's a little bit of a ring in this, if we could try to work on that. Thank you so much. Travis does a good job back there. And we don't need to forget about what he does. And so praise the Lord for that. But it said here, seeking whom he may devour. And I know you've heard this before. That word may is associated with giving permission. And if somebody says, can I do something, what they're doing is asking, do they have the ability? But when somebody says, may I, they're asking for permission. And when the Bible says that Satan walked about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, what he's trying to do is he's trying to devour some things in your life, but he can only devour those things if you let him. It says well, how do we not do that? It says in the next verse whom resists steadfast in the faith Resist the devil and he will flee from you But there's some things in in our lives that Satan wants to devour and I'm gonna preach a message to you tonight on things that Satan wants to devour from you, some things that Satan wants to devour from you. Let's pray. Lord, we love you. Thank you for the day that you've given to us. Thank you for the opportunity we have to be in your house tonight. Lord, I stand where the arm of the flesh will fail me. I need your help and I need your touch tonight. Lord, I ask you please to hide me behind the cross, fill me with your spirit, empty me of self. Forgive me of sin. Lord, let there be nothing in and of me that will hinder your word from coming across tonight. Lord, I pray that you'll be with the listener this evening, that they'll not just listen with their ears, they'll listen with their heart. Lord, that they'll open their heart's door to you and let you do a work in their life. Lord, we love you and thank you for all that you've done in Jesus' name, amen. You can be seated, thank you for standing. In this passage of scripture in 1 Peter chapter five, We know that verse, even verse 7, casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you. God is letting us understand some things that we have to have some humility about us and to cast our cares upon the Lord because He cares for us and then He tells us to be sober and vigilant. And then He tells us why. Because we have an adversary. You know, an adversary is not somebody who's on your side. An adversary is somebody who's against you. There's adversity that comes from them. Satan is not your friend. So we ought to quit acting like he is. We ought to quit living in such a way, acting like Satan is, it's okay to do what Satan's doing because he's our friend. No, he is our foe. He is our adversary. He's our enemy. And the Bible says, he walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He's going to go up and down every one of these rows, even in here tonight, and try his best to devour the Word of God from getting to your heart. He's going to try to devour some things in your life, but the only way he's able to do it, church, is if you allow him. to devour. He can't do it if you'll resist him, if you'll resist him steadfast in the faith. And you need to do those things knowing that the same afflictions as are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world, but God of all grace. He's telling us why is it different? What's the difference between us that are under the adversity and those that are out in the world that are under the adversity? I'll tell you what it is. It's the God of all grace that has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After that, having suffered a while, make you perfect. establish, strengthen, and settle you. That's an alliterated outline right there that God will establish, strengthen, and settle you. But the only way that you do that is by walking with God and getting into his word and doing those things. And we talked about that a little bit this morning, but I want to share some things with you that I believe Satan wants to devour in your life. And the first thing I want you to see in Revelation chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12, There's a battle going on. In this passage of scripture, verse 7, it says, And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not, neither was there a place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, and the old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world. He was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. See, there was a battle that went on. They were trying to fight. Why? Satan wanted to exalt himself above God, didn't he? He was cast out, put here onto the earth. He's walking to and fro in the earth and up and down in it Listen, I know hell was created for the devil and his angels look at verse 10 It said I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of the brethren is cast down which accused them before our God how often You know, He's our adversary, but He's our accuser, and He does it day and night. He tries to accuse you before God, and guess what? He's right. when he goes and he accuses us of our sin and the wrong and the wickedness. But the God of all grace, who saved us by his blood, he gets to say, hey, they're justified. And I'm glad for the blood of Christ that we've heard about. But look what it says in verse number 11. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. See what it says? And by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives, unto death. Look what it says in the word of their testimony. First thing I believe Satan, I want to talk to you about tonight that I believe Satan wants to try to devour in your life is your testimony. He wants to try to destroy your testimony. The Bible says, a good name is rather be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. You know, it's very important how people identify us. Now I know there's times that I don't care what people think. And what that means is according to your stand for the cause of Christ, it doesn't matter if somebody doesn't agree with what you stand on on the Bible. If you have Bible to stand on, you just keep on standing. But when it comes to your testimony, everybody is known by something. If we were to go around and we were to call you by name and I mentioned the name Jim Coggins, if I mentioned his name, I know I usually cut up with him and probably in your mind, you guys would think of, oh, that's the guy Pastor picks on a lot, things like this. But if I give you the name of Jim Coggins, everybody has a idea in their mind of who Jim is to them. If I mention the name Doug Burroughs, most people would associate him with the R.U. Director of Reformers Unanimous. But most people understand Silas would have a different outlook of his dad than you and I would. Why? Because he knows him probably better because he sees him a lot more than we do. But Doug has a testimony to every one of us that come to this church. It's what our name is. It's what people know us as. We have a testimony. And that testimony ought to be a good one wherever we go. You say, why? Because we are the light of the world. You say, I thought God was the light. Yeah, but he says you are the light of the world. Why? Because we have the light of the Lord Jesus Christ living inside of us. Therefore, what goes out ought to be a reflection of who's in. You understand? We're supposed to be a reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God, who lives inside of us. We're supposed to be a reflection, and we have a testimony. When somebody says the name Pastor Caldwell, every one of you have an idea of who that is in your mind. If I say Brother Shane Hildebrand, most of you know exactly who that is, and in your mind, he's got a testimony to you. And Satan wants to devour our testimonies because if he can destroy our name, guess what he's destroying? The name of the one who lives inside of us. See, don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. It's not about you. Satan's not coming after you because he doesn't necessarily like you. He's coming after you because he knows God loves you and if he hurts you, he hurts God. So you think about that. It's not about, well, Satan's got to worry about me. No, he doesn't. Not if you're full of pride. You're full of yourself anyway. He ain't got to battle you. But when you're living for God, understand something. He wants to devour your testimony. You say, preacher, why is that important? Well, we need to watch what we say. We don't watch what we say. That's part of our testimony. You say, what do you mean that we gotta watch what we say? Have you ever heard the phrase, my parents used to tell me this, it said, make sure you engage your brain before you open your mouth. My parents used to tell me that. See, Peter wasn't good at that in the Bible, but you know what, God used him in a mighty way when he did do those things, when he listened to the Lord. But the fact is, a lot of times we speak more than we listen or we say things before we even think. And those words in which we say, we can never take back. And they're part of our testimony. I'm talking about those little Christian curse words that we say. We just add another letter to a cuss word and think it's okay. Or we'll use some of the slang that the world tries to use and act, well, just fit it in. Well, that's just the way we talk nowadays. No, it isn't. It's the way the world talks today. Why are we talking that way in church? And the thing is, what's good enough for church, friend, you don't just have a testimony inside the walls of this building. You have a testimony everywhere you go. If people know that you come to Tabernacle Baptist Church, they have some expectations for how you as a professing child of God should live. And they're going to be watching to see what your testimony is like, what you say. I wonder when we go to our jobs or when we're out communicating with others. Listen, most of you know, I'm a cut up. I enjoy laughing. I enjoy joking. I enjoy telling jokes. I enjoy all that stuff. But we need to be careful what jokes we tell to people. We be careful what kind of things we say to other people and most time people say well preacher I think you're too serious. The fact the matter is living for God is serious It's not a game. It's very serious and we have a testimony and the testimony that people see us you understand they've never seen God physically neither have you but we are a testimony of who God is and to us. And Satan wants to devour your testimony. Let me tell you what a testimony is in today's society. You say, what are you talking about? I'm going to give you an example. What do I got to go to church for? They live just like me. That's a testimony. I don't go to church. There's hypocrites in church. That's a testimony. And again, I used to fret over that. I used to say, man, that used to bug me when people would say that. There's hypocrites in church. And I think, man, that's just an excuse. There's hypocrites at Walmart, too. There's hypocrites everywhere you go. But the problem is that they understand there's going to be hypocrites at Walmart. They understand there's going to be hypocrites at the gas station. They understand. They expect that because that's the world. But when you come here, they don't expect people to say one thing and live another. That's a testimony. We're supposed to have a testimony. for God. And what we say affects us. Where we go affects us. It's part of our testimony. Be careful where you go. You say, why? People are watching you. And the importance of that, understand churches, that you are an example of a greater light. That's God. And I fear sometimes we take God in places that He would never go. Because he lives inside of us. And the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us, Brother Jason, has to frequent places that he would never go to. Because we take him in those places and it's just part of our testimony. And people look at him, we wonder why they don't want to come to church, we wonder why they don't want to be faithful, wonder why things are, I'll tell you why, because Satan is devouring our testimonies. Not just in where we go and what we say, but even what we think is part of our testimony. Why? Because it comes out. What we allow in the privacy of our own home. When nobody else is watching. Who you are when nobody else is watching is who you really are. And guess what? You have a testimony. And that testimony is gonna come out. You can only sweep dirt under a rug for so long and eventually there's gonna be a big mound underneath of that rug and somebody's gonna say, what's that? And lift that rug up and guess what's gonna happen? All the dirt's gonna be there. We have a testimony. We have a testimony. That's how people identify us. If I were to ask your name to this church, what would people think? How would you have as far as your name? Now listen, I'm not trying to exalt you, understand that. But do people see Jesus in you? If they're looking for counsel, if they're looking for someone to talk to, Would it be, would the pastor feel okay saying, hey, yeah, go ahead and talk to him? Or would I be like, whoa, no, you don't need to go over there. Why, they're gonna steer you down the wrong road. See, you have a testimony. You have a testimony. I have a testimony. We all have a testimony, whether you want one or not. You all do. And guess what? Your testimony tells on you. Guess what it does? It testifies of who you really are. And a lot of people might say, well, preacher, nobody really knows who I am. Guess what? Satan's got you fooled. He makes you think that nobody knows who you really are. But if you're not having a testimony that is living that of godly testimony, others know about it. They know if you're living right, they know if you're living wrong. Why? Because it comes out. Satan wants to steal your testimony. Remember, a good name is rather be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold. You know, the Bible tells us that we ought not to take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. I've asked several people what that means, and you guys who've been in church, you've heard me preach this before and give you this illustration. But when we take the name of the Lord thy God, they say, when I say thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, one of the commandments, most of us think it's using his name inappropriately. And that is part of it. But when we get saved, Brother Miller, God likens us to the bride of Christ. That's how he pictures it, a marriage union between us and God. You know, when I got married on September 8th of 2001, that lady right there took my name upon her. as the bride. It went from Lori Michelle Bider to Lori Michelle Caldwell. Why? Because she took my name. That was part of that marriage union. She took my name. See, the Bible says that when we take the name of the Lord thy God, guess what we're doing? When we join with him through salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, we take his name upon us. And when it says thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, it's not just talking about what you say, it's talking about how you live. Because guess what? You can take his name in vain. You say, well preacher, what is that? That's your testimony. It's your testimony. What people know about you. Guess what people know if you're a phony? They know if you're putting on a facade. You're not fooling anyone but yourself. Satan's got you fooled. You need to have the right kind of testimony. Satan wants to devour your testimony. I'm not going to belabor this next one, but turn to 1 John chapter number two. We talked about it a lot pretty much this morning and even on Wednesday night and a few different last week, even a little bit, but 1 John chapter number two. Verse 15 and 16, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Not only does Satan want to get your testimony, he wants to get your love. He wants to take your love away from God. He wants to get you to love those things that you're not supposed to love. Guess what? I love football. I enjoy football. But I don't watch it anymore. Why? Because it's become a big sideshow. There's nothing holy. There's nothing righteous about it. Guess what? You're going to live a perfectly fine life if you don't watch football. You are. But you're not going to live a perfectly fine life if you don't love the things of God. And what Satan tries to do is he tries to get you to love the things that really aren't important to love. You know what we ought to love? We ought to love others as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Husbands, you ought to love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Why? We ought to put others before us. The word joy is Jesus, others, and you. See, Jesus ought to come first, others second, you last. Listen, married couples, let me explain something to you. Husbands, your wife is not supposed to be first place in your life. God's supposed to be first place in your life. Your wife's supposed to be second. If you put your wife first, guess what? She's not going to be treated the way she's supposed to be treated. Why? Because you're insulting something above God. Just being honest. It's the way it is. Wives, you ought to be settled for second best in your husband's life. Say, why? I want to be first place in his life. Why? You want to be God to him? You're not God. Just being honest, you're not God. I'm not God. You're not God. She don't need to treat me as God. She treats God as God. And I need to treat him as God and her in the rightful place where God's put her. Parents, you ought to not exalt your kids above God. See, there's a structure. God is first place in all things. He might have preeminence. God ought to be first. Our love ought to be towards God. then it ought to be towards others, then to ourself. We're not supposed to love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the Bible says the love of the Father is not in him. If you love the world, think about what you're loving, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That's what it says for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. So if you love the things of the world, those are the things in which you're loving. And Satan's devouring your love. He wants to devour your testimony. He wants to devour your love. But look at Psalm 22, if you would please. Psalm 22. Verse one, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me? And from the words of my roaring, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night season, and am not silent, but thou art holy. Oh, thou inhabitest the praises of Israel. Look at Psalm 71. Flip over there quickly. Psalm 71. Look at verse 6. By thee have I been holding up from the womb. Thou art He that took me out of my mother's bowels. My praise shall be continually of Thee. I am as a wonder unto many, but Thou art my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Thy praises and with Thy honor all the day. See, the psalmist is saying, listen, God inhabits the praises of Israel. He ought to be my praise all the day. The words that come out of my mouth ought to be praising to God. See, what Satan's trying to do is Satan tries to devour your praise. He tries to devour your praise. You know what praise is? It's praise is letting other people know how you feel about God. When people are singing praises or singing to the Lord and we're worshiping God, which is directly to him, praise is a shout and hallelujah, letting other people understand what's going on. David's saying, listen, God, you held me up from my mother's womb. You brought me out of her womb. You've holding me up. Lord, you're worthy of my praises. You're worthy of my praises. But Satan's trying to devour our praise. He tries to get us to praise other things rather than God. Praise our bank accounts or praise whatever it is, but God wants our praise. God is worthy of our praise. Satan tries to get you to, he tries to devour your testimony. And the Bible says to be sober, to be vigilant, because your adversary, the one who's against you, That accuser who comes after you as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. He wants to devour your testimony. He wants to devour your love. He wants to devour your praises towards God. Guess what? It does something to other people when they hear you praising God. It just does. It does something to people. It does something to me. I hear people praising God. It gets me all excited. I get all excited about it. Why? Because that praise just is contagious. They start praising God, it just gets contagious. Why? Because He's worthy of our praises. He's worthy of our praises. Not only does He try to devour our testimony, try to devour our love, try to devour our praises, but look at Nehemiah chapter number 8. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10, then he said unto them, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send the portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy unto the Lord, neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Satan wants to devour your testimony, he wants to devour your love, he wants to devour your praises, he wants to devour your joy. He wants to devour your joy. We walk around a lot of times depressed. That woe is me type syndrome. Listen, as a child of God, there's no reason for you and I to walk around depressed. That melancholy attitude that I talked about last Sunday night, that down and dejected and discouraged type attitude. We ought not to have that. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is our strength. That's where it comes from. We can have happiness and not have joy. You say, what do you mean? We can enjoy some of the things that we're doing, having some happiness of the things of this world, but not have lasting joy. Because the joy of the Lord comes through him. Joy comes through a relationship with God. You know what Satan wants to do? He wants to devour your relationship with God because he wants to steal your joy. He wants to devour your joy. Listen, there's a joy that's unspeakable and full of glory. The day I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I had the Holy Spirit of God take up residence inside of me. And man, that just excites me. And then when I got baptized and followed him in believers baptism, began to grow in the things of God, began to read the Bible, began to study the Bible, began to get closer to God. There's just something that brings joy in the life. People have asked me all oftentimes, why are you happy all the time? I'm not. when I'm in the flesh. But when I'm walking in the Spirit, guess what? I can have joy even in the valleys. I can have happiness and excitement and energy even through those black times that it seems. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is our strength. And Satan wants to steal our joy. We'll sit in church. Bless me if you can, preacher. Never smile. Why do you think the world wants that? They got enough of that. They want to see some joy. And guess what? We have salvation through Jesus Christ. If you're in this room and you're born again, you're a child of God, you don't have to spend one second in hell. And that ought to make you joyful and excited to understand one thing, that God loved you so much that he took your place on the cross, that he died, was buried, rose again, offers life everlasting. When you received it, he said, you shall be saved. You were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise into the day of redemption. You can't go to hell even if you wanted to. That ought to bring joy. That ought to bring joy, because the joy of the Lord is our strength. Then we have maybe financial difficulties, or maybe we lose loved ones, or maybe we have sicknesses, or maybe we have things and we wonder, Lord, why is all this stuff happening to me? How could Job go through all Job went through and still hold fast to his integrity, still do all of that? Why? Because the joy of the Lord is his strength. I was, somebody keeps asking me, and I appreciate everybody asking me how my Aunt Debbie is, and I've asked my Uncle Howard on several occasions, how's she doing? He said, she's the same as she always is. She's sore, but she's happy. She's excited. She can't keep her home all the time. She stays at church and doing those things. Now, she'll sit at home. She's sore, but she'll go to church. Oh, I said, why? Because she realized something. The joy of the Lord's her strength. The joy of the Lord's her strength. That's where we gain strength is from joy, but Satan doesn't want you to be strong. He wants you to be weak. And so how does he do that? He tries to devour your joy. He tries to devour your joy. Look at Matthew chapter number 6. Verse 21, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye, if therefore the eye be single, the whole body shall be full of light. But if thine evil, but if thine eye be evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. Look what it says, no man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and man. Satan wants to steal your loyalty from God. Amos 3.3 says, can two walk together except they be agreed? Remember, we talked about Satan walking as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. That means you have to give him permission to devour you. But in Amos 3, verse 3, it says this, can two walk together except they be agreed? You know what it's doing, Ms. Joy? It's not asking permission for two that disagree to walk together. It's questioning the ability of two walking together without agreement. See, the fact of the matter is you cannot walk with somebody that you don't agree with. No man can serve two masters. It said else you will love the one and hate the other. You'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Satan wants you to have a little bit of foot in the world and a little bit of foot in church. He wants you to straddle that fence. Why? Because he's stealing your loyalty from God. He's devouring your loyalty. He's making something that God says is impossible for us to do He tries to make us do it when God says we think it's okay. And here's the deception, Brother Miller, is we think, well, we're still coming to church. We're still doing okay, but we're still, you know, living this way because we don't want to really offend anyone, things like this. And Satan makes it, he paints this picture like it's okay. And God says this, you cannot do it. You can't serve God and Satan at the same time. You can't serve two masters. You can't have a rock group up on stage and then preach the whole counsel of God. Can two walk together except they be agreed? No, you can't. God doesn't have to adopt anything from Satan to get his work accomplished. Do you understand that? We don't need anything from the world to come into the church to get God's work to be accomplished. No, they're two opposites. They're opposites. Satan is our adversary. He wants to destroy us. And God is our father and wants to lead us. They're opposites. He wants to steal your loyalty from God because if he can get your loyalty from God he gets your focus off of God and then he's able to devour you. Look at Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29. In verse number 18, where there is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Not only does Satan want to devour your testimony, your love, your praises, your joy, your loyalty, he wants to devour your vision. He wants to devour your vision. See, He blinds the eyes of us. That vision that we have, that spiritual vision, that motivator that gets you going on for God, that leads other people to the saving knowledge of Christ. He wants to steal that vision. Why? Because if He can devour that vision, the work of God doesn't go forth. The Bible says where there is no vision, the people perish. People are dying and going to hell all across Salisbury, North Carolina. Why? Because churches don't have a vision for God. Satan has devoured their vision. Devoured their vision. And he's trying to devour your vision personally, make you think, oh, it's not important to be serving God. It's not important to be doing those things. What's important is just coming to church. What's important is just making sure you give in the offering plate. No, those are commands that you're supposed to be here. A vision is getting up and doing as much as you can do for the cause of Christ. Paul said, those that run in a race run all, but one receives the prize, so run that you may obtain. He said, I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I kept the faith. Henceforth, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness. See, the fact of the matter is we need to get a vision once again and begin to do things for the cause of Christ, not just sit down on our backsides and never get anything accomplished. We've got to do something for God. Satan wants to devour your vision. He wants to devour your vision. Then he wants to devour your fear of God. You say, I thought we're not supposed to be afraid. See, there's a difference between the fear that Satan brings and the fear that we're supposed to have of God. See, when Timothy was worried about Nero, that king, coming to destroy him, His mentor, the Apostle Paul, writes to him and he says this, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. So what was this fear that Timothy was facing? It was the fear that Satan brings, that devouring type fear that gets you off of the fear of God and onto fear and trembling of serving him. And it brings doubt, discouragement, defeat, that's that kind of fear that he was saying, God didn't give you that, that's from Satan. The Bible says, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. See, the fact of the matter is we need to have a reverential fear of God. We ought to fear God enough that it makes us live holy, that it makes us live righteously, that it makes us live godly in this present world. See, God is a holy God. He is a just God, and that God will judge sin. He will judge sin. But you know what, we don't fear God anymore. If we feared God the way we ought to fear God, it would strive to help keep us right. If we understood, by the way, why is it so hard for us to confess our sins to God? Brother Jason, he already knows what they are. He already knows. I think all the time, well, I don't wanna go down there and tell God what I'm doing. That doesn't make sense. God knows everything. You know why we come? Why does he say to confess it then, Pastor, if we already know it? Because confessing it brings humility in your life. And he cannot lift you up if you will not humble yourself and lower yourself. See, the fact is, though, he tries to devour our fear of God. He makes us fear where the next paycheck's coming from. He makes us fear about, are we gonna have enough groceries? He makes us fear about, well, is my car gonna make it? Am I gonna be able to have a retirement plan when I get old enough to retire? Am I gonna have all of this stuff? And that's where we begin to fear and focus. And I wonder, oh, listen, guess what he's doing? He's taking your fear off of God and putting it on material things. And he's doing a good job of it. But you understand, the Bible said in 1 Peter 5.8, that he walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." That means, Brother Billy, he'll come up to you and he'll say, hey, why don't you fear about this? Why don't you go away from God? Get the vision away. I don't want your loyalty to go to God. He'll do all this stuff, but you know, he cannot do it unless you allow him to. Unless you allow him to. He can't do it. It says, resist him, stand fast in the faith that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, get rid of the devil, resist him through what? Through Jesus. The blood of Jesus Christ, it cleanses us from all sin. The Bible says if you'll just resist the devil and he will flee from you. So why are people being destroyed by Satan? Well Jason, because people are allowing Satan to destroy them. We're allowing Satan to devour our testimony. We're allowing Satan to just get in there and destroy our love for God, to destroy our praises to God, to destroy and devour our joy, to devour our loyalty, to devour our vision, and to devour our fear of God. And guess what? It's nobody's fault but yours. It's not the person sitting next to you's fault if Satan devours part of your life. Because you have to give him permission to do it. But aren't you glad that we have one inside of us? That just by his word, Satan runs for the hills? See, we fear Satan as if he has the ability to take you to hell. And guess what he doesn't? Once you're saved, you're sealed into the day of redemption. I love the story of Job. It just talks about so much, the sovereignty of God and how even Satan has to obey God. He said, all that Job has is in thy hand, only upon himself, but not forth thy hand. Why didn't Satan at that point go out and just, I'm not gonna listen to God. I'm Satan. I'm gonna go out here and I'm gonna mess with Job, no. God could have destroyed him just like that. He even has enough sense to understand that he's no match for God. But he tries to get our fear of God to fear of the world and fear of circumstances and fear of all that stuff around us. But God has not given us that spirit of fear. He gave us power, love, and a sound mind that brings that reverential fear of God. You know what, when we start playing some music in our car, you know what we ought to ask God, is this okay with you? Well, I don't have enough fear of God to... You know what I fear about God, Brother Shane? I fear God having a broken heart because of how I live. That's what I fear. I don't want God to weep because of the way I'm living as his child. Well, I don't have that kind of fear. I fear breaking his heart. I fear disappointing him, Brother Nick. We ought not to have that mindset. It's sad that we care more about, we have a fear of upsetting our friends and upsetting our coworkers and upsetting all those on the outside that have nothing to do with God. But in the meantime, we'll spiritually smack God right in the face by our lifestyle. Some things that Satan wants to devour in your life, your testimony, how's your testimony? Would you be nervous if I mentioned your name? And ask people, what do you think about them? And they gave a public testimony of what they thought, how you represented God to them. Has he devoured your love? Has he devoured your praises? Has he devoured your joy, your loyalty, your vision, and your fear of God? If he has, it's because you let him. But with the help of God, he says, cast all your cares upon me, for he cares for you. Guess what? You can get your testimony back. It's gonna take a while, but you can get your testimony back. You can get your love back, your praises back, your joy back, your loyalty back, your vision back, and your fear back. What Satan has tried to devour and destroy in your life, God can restore. What Satan took from Job, God gave it back to him abundantly. And God can give it back to you if you just be willing to stand up, resist the devil, and let God do a work in you. Are you letting him devour you? Or are you trying to stand steadfast and unmoving and abounding in the work of the Lord?