The Devil's Blind Spot

Pastor Stan Mons

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Sermon Transcription:

I want to start off with a story. I was just saved. I still remember what car I was driving, and I only owned that car for about four to six weeks being saved. I still had that car. So, it was very early in my journey of being saved. And I have those things that help me remember what year or what season something was in. For me, it's usually cars, because a lot of thinking and a lot of encounters with the Lord will happen. Also, to me, when I'm driving in my vehicle and when that happens, I tend to remember exactly where I was and what vehicle I was in. And then I kind of know what year it was. My wife is way better at it. She just knows, but she wasn't around yet, so I know what car I had. This was a couple of weeks into being saved. And I was continually visited by the devil. He had all kinds of messages he was speaking over my life and temptations he was trying to draw me into. And the Lord was so near. And it was—if you've ever seen that in a movie, it's not really how it works, but it felt that way—where there's an angel in the character of the movie, there's an angel on one shoulder and a little devil on one shoulder, and they're bickering back and forth both in one ear. That's a little bit what the first, I would say, two, three years was like for me being saved.

The Lord's presence was so thick and near and never ever separated from me—not for a second. His manifested presence, where you can sense and feel the presence of the Lord. His voice being so clear and so near. Ever since the day I got saved, but for a pretty consistent amount of time, the enemy seemed to not consistently, but frequently, draw just as near to try and talk me out of things or into things or convince me of some of his rhetoric. And at this particular day, I remember just weeping in the car, driving, the Lord's heart pressing heavy on my heart and praying for all kinds of people that were on my heart. People that I knew were going to church but did not know Jesus, did not know the manifested presence of God upon their own life. They would get touches of it when they would be around people that carried that presence, but they didn't have it themselves. They didn't know the voice of the Lord themselves. They didn't have back-and-forth prayer between them and the Lord. It was always, for their feeling, one-sided—them sending off a letter to heaven, but not getting a reply. And I'd be praying for those people, so broken, weeping. And it came to a point where I pulled the car off the road, and as I sit there on the side of the road, the baptism of the Spirit came over me.

Again, as you read it in the Word, we get baptized by the Spirit of God multiple times throughout our journey with Him. This was, for me at that time, the second time, a few weeks into being saved. And a boldness came over me. And in praying to the Lord, I finished my prayer. And with that boldness that came over me, I then turned, as it were, the attention of my speech towards Satan. And I remember telling him time and time again, on the top of my lungs, right there in that little black car: "I'm coming for you. I'm coming for you. I'm going to keep going until I destroy every work that you do in the lives of my loved ones. I'm coming for you. I want you to know that I know you. You've been too close to me my entire life before Christ conquered me. I know your secrets. I know how you work. I know how you operate. I'm coming for you." I remember addressing the devil like that for the first time in my life, and a quietness settled on my life where, for quite a while then, the devil kind of seemed to have left me alone for a little bit. And that story was brought to mind as I was praying over all of you, over the congregation here at Safe House Church, and for those that regularly join us online. Because last year, towards the ending of last year, the Lord gave us a prophetic word—that this year, for you in the congregation here, would be the year of power.

And I took my prayer to the Lord, sharing that I've seen some of you go from an average relationship with Jesus—if I can call it that, an average walk with the Lord—to entering into some of the power that heaven offers. As Jesus says, "Wait for my Spirit. When the Spirit comes, you will receive power and you will be witnesses unto me." And I've seen some of you enter into that power. And I've seen some of you have the same relationship with Jesus that you had last year—the same struggles that you had last year, the same difficulty, the same lukewarmness, the same distractions that you had last year. So, as I was taking those concerns for the congregation here to the Lord, praying, "God, you have given us a word that this would be the year of power. Lord God, I don't want anyone to miss out on the heavenly power that you had reserved for them to enter into this year." God's going to do something else next year. He's not doing this work. You can miss what God is doing. I will try to make that very simple to your understanding.

When the Lord gives a word to be preached at a pulpit and the anointing of God shows up in that service—in other words, the presence of God shows up in that service to do something in the hearts of people—but you were not in that service, it doesn't matter what excuse you have. If God showed up and you didn't, there's not an excuse in the world that explains away why you didn't have to be in that service. Now, I know some of us join online when we are in a situation. That absolutely counts. The Lord can do a work in your heart when you are with us online. The Lord can do a work in your life when you are with us online. But various people actually reminded me yesterday when we had the wedding here of our dear Norman and Shiloh. They came to me, quite a few people. They said, "We've been regular people online, but man, when I was here in person, there's such a difference. There's such a difference."

The Lord will do a work in your heart when you seek after Him and you join a service online. A 100% will He do that. But the congregation, or the people themselves, testify that there is a benefit to joining the meeting and not forsaking the meeting, as the Bible tells us to not forsake the meeting.

That's not speaking of one time in a situation. That's a consistent thing—missing prayer, missing discipleship school, missing the gathering together of the believers that you know God placed in your life. When you get around other people filled with the Spirit of God, it's not just the preaching. It's not just the worship that you need. People get that when they join online.

What are they talking about? "It's so different in person. There's such a presence of the Lord." When that sister comes in that knows Jesus and has been alone with Jesus in prayer this morning before she showed up to service, and that brother comes in and he's going through difficulty and he's going through a hard time, but he's decided to trust Jesus—and even though everything in his life is going wrong, he has decided to show up because he's been inviting some people, and if they show up to church and he's not there, oh, they would feel so alone.

So he is making sure to be there. And when that kind of a people consistently all come together to worship Jesus, to be there for sinners, to be there for the discouraged, to be there for one another, to do what Jesus told them to do, walking in obedience—God does a very special work when His people walk in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And others can tell God is doing a special work when people come together and they walk in obedience to the Spirit of God.

Now, as I was praying about this desire—that each and every single person would enter into that power that God has reserved for the year of power, for your situation, for your character, for your relationships, for your struggles, for your distractions. He brought something to my mind aside from that story that I shared—another story where I don't remember the car I owned, but I think it was 2015 or 2016 when my wife and I were in the country of Norway as missionaries. We had a little cabin that I was allowed to use to go and pray in. And one night, when I prayed in that cabin, the presence of God showed up in an unusual way. To my knowledge, I’ve only experienced that one time in my walk with the Lord. I was on my knees, weeping before Him, and the Lord came into the room. I laid flat on the floor because I just could not remain on my knees, and it was as if a hand was laid on my back. The weight was so heavy—a measure, a very small measure, but a measure of the glory of the Lord entered that room.

The weight of the glory of the Lord was literally pressing me, if you will, onto the floor. And all of a sudden, a voice as clear as day as I've ever heard from the Lord said: "Whatever you ask of me, this I will do for you." And in that same instant, without thinking, without ever having said or thought this before, I cried out on the top of my lungs again, just like that time in the car where the Spirit prayed through me. I cried out this time saying: "God, I want a safe house for your people. God, I want a place where people can be clothed in righteousness, where they can also be clothed physically, and be helped, and be encouraged. A place where they will learn to testify in such a way that the enemy is put away out of their lives and out of the lives of their loved ones." And that last part of that prayer that the Holy Spirit prayed through me—that they will learn to testify. Testify to the Word of God. Testify to the works of God. Testify to everything Christ has done in you and spoken through His Word.

They will learn to testify in such a way that the enemy is put away out of their life and out of the lives of their loved ones. And this word that the Lord has given me is part of that work—part of that work of the year of power in your life, and part of the work of that prophetic prayer the Holy Spirit gave long before Safe House was ever a thing: that they will learn to testify in such a way that the enemy is put away out of their lives and out of the lives of their loved ones. This is the year of power for your life, church. And if your heart can still hear, then you will know today if God is sending a message into your heart. It can be something very personal. It can be different for every single one of us. It can be instruction. It can be a call to faith. But in every case, I want to invite you to take a moment together with me to pray and to ready our hearts to see if God would lead us into a new step in that prophetic foretold thing—the year of power in our life.

Lord, I pray, Lord Jesus, that my heart may be ready. Lord, I pray that every heart here may be prepared. Lord, that every skepticism, Lord God, every doubt, every bit of unbelief, every bit of reservedness that creates an attitude of standing on the sidelines—Lord God, I pray that every single one of us would put it on the altar today and let you take it away. Lord God, I pray that every single one of us online and in person would wholeheartedly seek with all of our heart after You, Lord—after who You've made us to be, after the reason that You've still left us on this earth after hearing about Christ Jesus, after the reason that You have sent Your Holy Spirit who cries out in our heart and teaches us to call You our own Father. Lord God, I pray that You lead us into Your will, Lord God, by the power of Your Word and the power of Your Holy Spirit. I pray, Lord God, that You turn Your people wholeheartedly unto Yourself. Lord, I pray that You may send every single one of us, online and here in the house, that You would send us out, Lord, to be a voice that can put the enemy away out of their own lives.

But not only that, Lord—a voice that can put the enemy away out of the lives of other people. Lord God, I pray that one more time Your church may be a supernatural church—a church, Lord, that walks in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ. A church that walks in the dignity of the name of Jesus Christ. A church that walks out the proof that Christ has come alive and conquered the grave—the grave in our hearts, the grave in our lives—changing us from glory to glory into the likeness of the image of God. Lord God, I pray that none of us may fall short, Lord Jesus, and that every single one of us can testify to all of the things, the biblical things You have done in our lives, Lord God—that the enemy may be put away out of our lives and the lives of our loved ones. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. The title of this message is The Devil's Blind Spot. The Devil's Blind Spot. And I want to take you to the story of Ehud. The story of Ehud. I first want to read the whole story with you, but then we will come back to that story and break it down and see what the Lord is revealing to our hearts today.

Judges 3:12–30 — The Story of Ehud And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the City of Palms. So the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, 18 years. But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud, the son of Gerah the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now Ehud made himself a dagger. It was double-edged and a cubit in length, and fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. So he brought the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.

And when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.”

He said, “Keep silence.” And all who attended him went out from him. So Ehud came to him. Now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber. Then Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” So he arose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. Even in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly, and his entrails came out. Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. When he had gone out, Eglon’s servants came to look, and to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, “He’s probably tending to his needs in the cool chamber.” So they waited until they were embarrassed. And still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and there was their master, fallen dead on the floor.

But Ehud had escaped while they delayed and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seirah. And it happened, when he arrived, that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains, and he led them.

Then he said to them, “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand.” So they went down after him, seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. And at that time they killed about 10,000 men of Moab, all stout men of valor. Not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest for 80 years."

Now, why look at a story like this? I mean, you can't make this stuff up. It's such a story of extremes. Such a story written out with so much death. Even though we know the Word tells us that God does not delight in the death of the wicked, we know that it's not a story of rebellion against a king—because we know that even the New Testament tells us the children of God, the people that believe in God, are to always honor the king. Even when the king is wrong. Even when the king doesn't line up with the Scriptures. To always honor the king. One of the trademarks of the believer in Christ Jesus is to always honor the authorities. And here we read a story where seemingly that's not what is happening. So why look at a story like this? What does God want to do with a story like this in my life? Why is this even written down? Why is it even in the Word? What is the point? How do you explain this?

Let's read together Romans 15:4. Incredibly important verse: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Now, this was written in a letter to the Roman church when the New Testament wasn't a thing yet. There were letters going around from preachers, if you will, at that time and apostles at that time—seeking to basically write out a sermon, send it to a certain congregation, and have someone else read it to that congregation to make sure that they are encouraged, to make sure that they keep things biblical. And those letters became our New Testament that still today we use as encouragement to the church. But they all talk about the Old Testament. They all refer to the Old Testament because that is what they had at the time as their complete Bible.

So when Paul refers in a letter to the things that were written before, he's talking about the things that were written before Jesus showed up, rose from the dead after He was crucified, and returned to be with the Father and sent His Spirit to begin planting His church. He's talking not about things that you read a little earlier in the New Testament. The New Testament wasn't a thing yet. He couldn't have referred to the New Testament. He's referring to everything written in the Old Testament. Now, don't confuse Old Testament with Old Covenant. The Old Testament is filled on almost every single page with New Covenant truth. It's called the Old Testament because it took place before John the Baptist showed up to announce Jesus's arrival. And then a new time started, and that collection of books is referred to as the New Testament. But the New Testament has Old Covenant explanations in it and also New Covenant explanations in it. Same goes for the Old Testament. And so the Old Testament is incredibly important because that was the Bible these people had—and the church was flourishing. Amen. Amen.

I'm not going to ask you by a raise of hand how many of you daily read in the Old Testament, but really you should consider that that is all the early church did. They studied and read the Old Testament and then encouraged one another daily. And those letters, if you will, the New Testament, are part of that daily encouragement toward one another. But whatever—that includes all things—whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we may learn something, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. So if you desire to be filled with hope, if you desire to leave behind a trail of hope everywhere you go, if you desire to pour over with hope into the lives of other people—be in the Old Testament. Understand your Word. Study it. Dig into it. Because there's something there for you to learn about Jesus and to learn about what Jesus wants to do in your life and through your life. It's going to cause you to be full of hope.

So, let's look at this story together. Now that we've established that the New Testament points us back to the Old Testament, let's look at this story together and at the many things we can learn from this story. There's so many things we can learn from this story. But today we want to look at what we can learn about the devil's blind spot. Judges 3:12 "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Then he gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, went and defeated Israel, and took possession of the city of palms. So the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, 18 years." Church, this is exactly, to the letter if you will, a textbook case of what happens to people that are called after the name of the Lord. When their heart is not completely right with God and they begin to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord—what happens to a people that says, “I'm a Christian.” You know, Christians never called themselves Christians.

They were first called Christians in the book of Acts because people lived a life that so closely resembled what Jesus had been doing. When they lay hands, the sick are healed. When they get reviled, they bless and they forgive. When they are stoned or crucified or killed for their faith, they forgive and they pray for those people. They are behaving just like Jesus did, and they started calling them Christians. It wasn't always a compliment. But when you have a generation where people begin to call themselves Christians, and yet they give their eyes to things that are evil. They are Christians, but they can watch movies that are filled with violence, filled with words that you would never dare to speak when you visit a church. And you can still watch them and take them in and fill your mind and your heart with these things.

When you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, when you are able to harbor a grudge in your heart against someone else—whether they vote different, or lead different, or do anything wrong at all in your personal opinion—when you can take on a grudge and you're secretly doing in your heart what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and you still dare to call yourself a churchgoing born-again believer.

When the people of God that are called after His name, called literally by the name of Jesus—Christian—do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, loving the things of this world just as much as the world does, willing to work their entire life to make as much money as possible so we can have as many things in this world and live as good as possible in this world, just like the world does. How does the world look at you and say, “Clearly they're living for eternity. Clearly this is a different kind of people. Clearly this people has been purchased out of this world. I don't quite understand it, but I can see it's genuine. I can see it's honest. I can see it's different.”

It's all happening around you, church. People that call themselves after the name of the Lord. And the people of the land look at them and say, “These are Christians. Look at them. They're in bondage themselves. They have secrets. They get caught sleeping around. They get caught watching things they ought not to. They have no power. They have no ability to walk away from their sins. How is their Christianity any different than any other religion? It's just another religion. How could you claim that there's a difference? It's just what you were brought up in.”

But I believe with all of my heart that there's people here today, and that there's people online—that's not you. You have a stirring inside of your heart.

There's a pain that you live with that is inside of your heart. It is an uncontentment that comes from heaven, that has been poured out from heaven into the hearts of some. And it causes a cry. It causes something that makes a cry come out of a person that says, “God, there must be more to Christianity. God, if you actually come and live inside of my heart, surely things would no longer be the same. God, when you come into the room when I worship, surely people couldn't be still at peace with their sin if they are in the same room as me. Surely, God, when I worship you and you show up, surely people would be moved to repentance. God, surely when a man actually walks with you, actually knows you, surely people can't help but be stirred up in faith. God, I believe there's more.” And when God is allowed to stir someone's heart, when God is allowed to break someone's heart for souls and for His own glory, God begins to choose someone from the crowd. Not necessarily here today, but He will also do it here today. But He chooses someone insignificant. He chooses someone that everybody else overlooked.

He chooses someone that is made fun of. He chooses someone that has no skill. He chooses someone from the crowd. And He sends that broken, weak person into a situation to heal it. He sends that person into a family that is drifting away from Christ. A nation or a city that no longer knows what it is like to experience the presence of the Lord and to know something—a touch of the glory of God. He chooses someone, and He begins to send that person. And He seeks to send you. He seeks to send those that He has purchased. He seeks to send those that He paid for. He legally paid for your life. You've sung it a hundred times, that you laid it down into His hands. And He's inviting you to actually let His hands do with your life what He so pleases. He seeks to send those who believe Him with all of their heart. Verse 15 But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them—Ehud, the son of Gerah, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him the children of Israel sent tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab. Now Ehud made himself a dagger. It was double-edged and a cubit in length. And he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh.

This is a very important, very important detail. God raises up a left-handed man. God raises up someone that is a little out of the ordinary, probably at times made fun of. But this man is fit to be the devil's blind spot, because this man gets to carry his sword on the right thigh. This is very important, because when you would come into the presence of a king, you couldn't come and bring your weapon. When you would come into the presence of royalty, you couldn't bring a weapon. And so, they would have looked right there on the left thigh to see if he was carrying a sword and to make sure that he was unarmed. Because in general, people were right-handed and their sword would be on the left, so they could easily present it. But since Ehud was a left-handed man, he could hide his sword on the right and still be handy with that sword.

And so here comes a man that is literally made to fit right into the devil's blind spot, where he won't be looking, won't be recognizing it. And church, you need to understand this morning: I don't care who you are. I don't care what you've done. I don't care how new you are to Jesus Christ—you are designed by God to be the devil's blind spot.

You are a new creation in Jesus. The devil doesn't know you. The devil still knows your body and he can still recognize you. But he knows you from before. He thinks he knows what you're like. He thinks he knows the way that you think. He thinks he knows the way that you are triggered and the way that he can get to you. But you've been made a new creation, except you're still in the same body. That new creation, if you will, is camouflaged so well that now you have become the devil's blind spot. He doesn't know what to expect when you come in. And to his own pride, the devil thinks a normal man is showing up when you show up. A man who will still give him some room. A man who will still pay him tribute—in other words, a man that will still allow some of the devil's devices to try and satisfy something in his heart. He'll still honor some of the things the devil offers. He'll still obey some of the devil's suggestions of taking offense and speaking bad about your enemies. Even though Jesus told you to love your enemies, the devil still thinks that he can trigger you and get to you because he doesn't know you anymore.

He doesn't know the new creation you have become. And so he expects that a normal man, a normal woman, is showing up. A man that is so willing to still make some room for some tribute and acknowledge that the devil has some say and something to offer in my life. But it's a left-handed man that the Lord picked. And church, there's something very deep, very powerful that God will do in your life. It is the areas of your life where the enemy was flourishing the most. The area of your greatest weakness, the area of your deepest sin—when you have come to wholehearted repentance towards God and trusting wholehearted faith towards Jesus Christ, God begins to do something so marvelous. He makes you, if you will, to paint a picture—He makes you a left-handed man. He makes you a man where the sword is hidden. The enemy can't tell that you're coming armed. The enemy is deceived. The enemy is confused. The enemy thinks that you're coming to show up and you still want something that he has to offer, something that he can provide for you. And he can't even tell that you're coming into the room armed. He is excited about you being there until the very last moment.

It is a left-handed man. It's the blind spot of the devil. Do you understand? The worst thing the devil has ever heard is no. The devil didn't like to hear no. He didn't get the word no in the garden until God began to say no. No longer. No further. No hell. No condemnation. All of these no’s from God begin to resound in culture, begin to resound in history, begin to resound in the Word of God. And now God is raising up weak, broken people that once belonged to the devil. And now these broken vessels that once the devil could control—now those people are going to say no to the devil. It's going to break the devil's heart. It's going to rub him so wrong. It's going to be amazing. Listen, if you ever have given your life to Jesus Christ with all of your heart, you may have been touched or deceived by the devil afterwards and you may have made the biggest mistake in your life. If you have believed on Jesus Christ and you have given him your life, that means you are saved. You are redeemed and you are born again by that precious blood of Jesus Christ.

There is no condemnation for the man or the woman that has come to Jesus Christ with all of their heart. And that means that God has made you new. He changed you and he has made you into the devil's blind spot. There's parts about you. There's parts about you and you may look at it as one of your weak areas. There's parts about you. God wants to use them to bring the devil down. Not just in your life, church, but in the lives of those around you. There's so much going around unspoken and some of it spoken of Christians being afraid to stand up against the devil. Being afraid to speak up and to speak out against sin and against all the brokenness and the deceiving loneliness that so many Christians experience. Calling themselves Christians, there's no presence of the Lord. Calling themselves Christians, there's no power of the Lord. Calling themselves Christians, there's no voice of the Lord. And we tolerate things that allow people for a road where they can get to tell themselves everything is fine. Everything is fine until they stand before God and realize nothing's fine. Nothing's good. Going to church didn't help. Praying didn't help. Reading my Bible didn't help because I never fully gave my heart to Jesus Christ. And I never sought after him until I found him.

As the Bible had promised, if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. You will know my voice. The scriptures will be alive and sharper than a what? A two-edged sword. Your weakest areas of sin will flourish the most when you place yourself in the hands of God. And God will turn it all around and he will make it into a weapon against the devil's activities. The weakest area of your sin, the stuff the devil wants you to be ashamed about—when you place all of your life in the light in the hands of Jesus Christ, God will take the most broken and the weakest and the dirtiest areas of your life and he will form it into the most powerful weapon. And he is going to send you to use that weapon in the face of the devil.

Verse 17 "So he brought the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Now, Eglon was a very fat man, and when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who had carried the tribute. But he himself turned back—that's Ehud—he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal and said, "I have a secret message for you, okay?" And he said, "Keep silence." And all who attended him went out from him. So Ehud came to him. Now he was sitting upstairs in his cool private chamber. Then Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." So he arose from his seat. Then Ehud reached with his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. Even the hilt went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not draw the dagger out of his belly, and his entrails came out." Church, the devil, your enemy king, the devil still thinks that he can come close to you. The devil still thinks that he can come close to you and that he can draw you near because the devil doesn't believe you are changed. The devil doesn't know you changed. The devil doesn't know what you are after you are born again.

The devil still believes there's something in your heart that wants to bring tribute to him. That means the devil thinks there's still something in your heart that wants to watch those kinds of movies. The devil thinks there's still something in your heart that wants to watch filth and sexual immorality. The devil still thinks there's something in your heart that is willing to take offense with your enemies. The devil thinks there's still something in your heart that he can persuade to wholeheartedly seek after things in this world, whatever it may be, to find some satisfaction or to seek after a relationship with godly worship because you believe that relationship is what is going to make you happy. The devil still believes, still thinks that he can draw you near and that you will respond to these things. He doesn't believe you are a new creation. He doesn't believe you are changed. And he will invite you to come very close. And then there comes the dagger. There comes the word of God all of a sudden hidden away, drawn out in the midst of temptation.

When the devil invites you to draw very near to him, there comes the word of God and you say: "No, no, I've been made a new creation. No, I actually put to death now the enemy activity. I actually am called now to put to death your plan. I actually am called now to cut apart your dominion both in my life and in the lives of my loved ones. Devil, I'm saying no. And I'm saying no on behalf of this generation. I'm saying no on behalf of the people that I love. And I am drawing the word of God. I'm drawing the sword." Let me read to you Ephesians 6:12:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. This is where we wage war. This is what the word is trying to help us understand in our journey today—that we may have hope in our situation through an old story, unusual story like this. Understanding what God is trying to teach us, he's willing to do through you in this generation. Willing to do through your hand, through your mouth in this generation.

When there's churches and church people, they've lost the heart of God. They've lost their passion. All they do is attend, but there's no life. There's no power. There's no change.

And God is looking for a man or a woman that will say: "No, not on my watch. Not in my generation. I don't care the church. I don't care the denomination. I'm saying no on behalf of every person that has ever called themselves a Christian. Even though they doubt you, God, I'm saying no. These people are called after your name. God, this is about your name. This is about how you're looked at in this generation. God, I'm coming against it. God, I'm repenting on behalf of this generation, and I'm going to say no to the enemy. I'm going to say no to him over the lives of my loved ones." Verse 23 "Then Ehud went out through the porch and shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. When he had gone out, Eglon's servants came to look. And to their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. So they said, "He's probably attending to his needs in the cool chamber." So they waited until they were embarrassed. And still he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them. And there was their master fallen dead on the floor."

Church, the devil's blind spot is so severe. It is so detrimental to him. It's just like the way that God sent confusion into the camp of the enemy ahead of Gideon. Gideon was going to fight the enemy. Again, a very spiritual story that we can learn so much from. But Gideon was showing up in the end only with 300 men. The Bible tells us the enemy, it couldn't be counted. It was like locust that had settled on a field. And God sends confusion into the camp of the enemy ahead of Gideon that is willing to march up to it by faith. And the enemy gets so confused and the confusion in the camp even leads to the enemy tearing down his own kingdom, tearing down his own fighters, stabbing one another to death. And that confusion—you see that same thing happen here in this story. We're learning something here. The devil's blind spot is so severe. All of his workers will be confused.

They don't understand what's really going on. "We know that guy. We've messed with that guy. We've had in bondage that woman before. We were kind of expecting her to show back up in this place. But now something confusing is happening." And all of a sudden, the enemy and all of his workers, they don't really know what to do. Confusion is all over the place. And even though you brought a painful blow to the enemy activity in whatever area we are speaking about in your life or the lives of your loved ones, the enemy will never touch you. He won't know what's happening until it's all over and done. And you're already long gone shouting victory with the people of God. He will never touch you. The confusion will be so severe that none of the enemy, none of his fallen angels, no demon in hell will know what to do when a child of God stands up and says, "No, not in my generation." When Gods people pick up the two edged sword of the spirit the confusion and tear down in the camp of the enemy will be so complete that you will get away with it every sigle time. Verse 26 "But Ehud had escaped while they delayed and passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Sarah. And it happened when he arrived that he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains and he led them."

That's your call, church. You are called to lead those that cannot see God, don't really trust him anymore, don't know how to put the enemy away out of their life. You are called to lead all of them into victory. Even though they didn't fight for it, even though they weren't the first ones to believe, even though they didn't know how to pray, they didn't know how to stand up against the devil. They didn't know how to turn from their sins. They only knew how to call themselves a Christian and keep it a secret. Try to behave as good as they can. Those people are not your enemy. You're called to lead them to victory. You're called to lead them down the mountain with a trumpet shout that says, "God is giving us the victory." Verse 28 "Then he said to them, "Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. I'm going to show you that God has put the enemy into your hand." That's your call—to help other people see it. So they went down after him, seized the forts of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross over. And at that time, they killed about 10,000 men of Moab, all stout, men of valor. Not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest for 80 years."

Church, an entire generation, an entire generation was changed and brought into freedom when one man took advantage of the devil's blind spot and picked up a two-edged blade. Are you seeing this? One man dared to pick up a two-edged sword and take a step towards the devil instead of running from him. Whether he's messing with your family, whether he's messing with your loved ones, whether he's messing with your city, one man, one step towards the devil, one blade, a whole generation was changed. One man did it take. Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Ephesians 6:17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Church, here's how the story of Ehud is seeking to fill every single one of us with hope today. Take the sword. Take the sword of the Spirit. Take the word of God. When the devil draws you near because he's trying to tempt you and he still believes you pay him some tribute, you obey him a little bit, you give him a little bit what he wants. When he tempts you, you take that sword with you. Draw the sword. When your family is in blindness, when your family is in bondage, draw the sword on the devil. Take a step towards him and say, "No, no more. God has given his children authority. God has given his children a word. God is with me. God has given me a sword. I'm saying no over my generation." Take the sword and cut away things that the devil has planted in people's minds. Never tolerate. Never be kind. Never ever leave room for things that will lovingly send people to hell. That's not love. If you love a person at all, you will never allow them deception that will guide them to hell.

Tell them about the sword. Draw the sword out of its sheath. Hide it in your heart. You don't have to walk around with your Bible. Hide the word in your heart. Ehud wasn't walking in with the sword all open for all of the enemy workers to seize him and carry him out before he could do the damage. He had a hidden sword. He'd prepared it. He paid attention to it. He got it ready. It was ready for a purpose. What do we learn? Get in the word every morning. Spend time alone with Jesus every morning. Don't pick up your phone when you wake up. Don't run to a cup of coffee when you wake up. Run to Jesus first. Get his word hidden away in your heart first so that when the devil draws, or when you run into someone's life and you recognize that the devil has a hand in their life, you can draw that hidden sword out and the truth will come forth and you can tell them Christ did not come to condemn the world, but that the world may be saved through him.

The devil tries to put on people's minds that they are condemned, their lost cause, too far gone. Draw the sword on the things that the devil has placed on people's minds. Tell them, "God hears the cry of the oppressed." The fact that you're oppressed, the fact that you're going through it, doesn't mean that God disapproves of you. The word says God hears the cry of the oppressed. You can come to God today. God is near to the brokenhearted. Just because you're hurting and you're in pain, that doesn't mean you're alone. God is near to you when you're going through it. The word says God is not far from any of us. I think the number one lie the devil places on people's minds is how far away they are from God. You may have already believed in Jesus and the devil still tries to make you believe that there are times in your life where you are far from God. You may say it different. You may just say, "I got to get closer to God."

The moment we say we got to get closer to God, we already have believed the devil that he's far from us, that the Lord is far from us. It's not true. Draw the sword on him. Take a step towards him. Draw the sword and let the devil have it. Tell him, "I didn't read my Bible. I did it wrong. Guess what? I get away with my wrongs nowadays, devil. Yes, I didn't pray. And when I prayed, it was only 2 and 1/2 minutes. But guess what? It's not my righteousness that allows me to show up in the courtroom of heaven. I have been given the righteousness of Christ. I'm drawing the sword on you and I am not stopping until the devil activity is put away out of my life and out of the lives of my loved ones." Church, you are the devil's blind spot. If you don't draw the sword, nobody will. We need to say no to Satan. Take your two-edged sword with you in your heart everywhere you go. You don't need to know every verse in the Bible, but Jesus has a way of showing you just one little thing each morning. And he's giving you the dagger for that day. He's giving you everything you need to put the devil away out of somebody's life or to put to death the devil activity in your own life.

He will prepare you every morning. The Bible tells us this: The Lord teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight. He'll do it. He'll teach you exactly how to make that custom sword for the day. If you will start your day with Jesus, read your Bible, consume his word, and you'll always carry a hidden sword with you. Everywhere you go, you'll carry it in your heart. Church, I want you to understand this with all of my heart. I pray that you can hear this when I say it. You are able to take out enemy strongholds in other people's lives. Out of all people that have ever walked the face of the earth, you are able to take those strongholds out. Don't tolerate them. Don't explain them away. Don't value the relationship you have with that person more than their eternal freedom. You draw the sword on the devil, not on that person. You draw the sword on the devil. Never attack a person with the weapon of the spirit, because it will always backfire on you. The Lord loves people a whole lot more than I can ever explain to you. You draw the sword on a person, you will lose every battle you step into. You draw the sword on the devil. Recognize what he's doing. Get close to him. Step forward towards what he's doing. Confront it. Draw the sword. He won't even see it coming. You will be able to break his dominion everywhere you go.

I'll prove it to you from the word. He won't even see it coming. Mark 16:17-18: And these signs will not a suggestion, not a maybe. And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons. In other words, the dominion of the devil's broken. Any one of my believers shows up, demons have to flee and run. The devil's activity is going to be shredded to pieces. They will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents. And if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Church, the greatest serpent of all, speaking symbolically, the devil. The word, it's no coincidence that Jesus says, "My followers, they'll pick up serpents. It'll be nothing to them. They'll cast out demons. They won't even know what's hitting them, what's coming. They won't know until the believer's already gone. They don't even know what hit them. Confusion will go before them. Healing will be the trail that they leave behind. Restoration will be the fruit of their life."

You are the devil's blind spot. You are sent into this world for a purpose. Draw the sword on the devil. You will never be disappointed when you see what you cause by the word of God in the lives of others. You will never be disappointed. They will be set free. They will be delivered. Many of you I had the privilege of doing it in your life. And those of you that that's true for, you know that I never shied back. I never wanted your friendship more than your freedom. If you live for the freedom of other people and you're not afraid to take a step towards the devil, you will see people brought into freedom. You will see the lukewarm and the cold-hearted believer set on fire again for Jesus Christ. If you would stand with me for a moment, the altar call is very simple.

If you want to say this to the Lord today, if you want to affirm this, I want to invite you to come forward. If you want to say, "God, throughout this sermon, I felt the heavenly stirring in my heart. Lord, help me to gird myself with Your sword daily that I may bring deliverance everywhere I go." If that is what you want to say to the Lord—"Lord, help me gird myself with that word, with that sword. I want to bring deliverance everywhere I go"—if that is you, would you join me here at the altar? And as people come forward here in person to join me at this altar to pray and to make that declaration before God: "God, I'm willing to believe that I'm the devil's blind spot. Lord, I'm willing to believe this aspect of the gospel, this part of becoming a part of the armies of the living God. Lord, I want to learn how to carry that sword with me every single day. Lord, I want to see deliverance be caused, healing be cast everywhere I go."

If that is your heart as well online, I want to invite you—if you have someone there, please let them know that the Lord is stirring your heart. If you are watching alone, I want to invite you to simply send us a message, go on our website, go to our contact page, tell us a little bit of what God is doing in your heart, that we may pray for you and that we may stand with you in this very thing that God is calling you into.

We're going to pray together, church. And I'm going to invite you—if you have a stirring in your heart and you say, "There's something that I feel God is birthing inside of my heart, it is something of the wrath of God, something of the pain of God, something that is against the kingdom of darkness, against the workings of the devil, against everything that he's been causing in me or around me"—and I'm going to take a step and say no and speak against it according to the Word of God. If that is in your heart, I'm going to ask you to speak that out loud. I'm going to ask you to address the devil. And after you have told the enemy what God is stirring up in your heart, he's teaching you to say no.

The very thing the devil hates the most is that those who once he could ply like Play-Doh and turn into whatever he wanted—now somebody like you stands up, turns around in his face, draws the sword of God, and says, "No, I'm a new creation." He hates it so much. It hurts him. It wounds him so gravely. It breaks his dominion. And God is stirring your heart to wound the enemy so severely that he disappears out of your life and out of the lives of your loved ones. God is stirring your heart to declare something, and I'm going to invite you to do that out loud.

-Pastor Stan Mons