ANTICIPATING EVIL

My message today is titled; Anticipating Evil. Thats because many Christians have never been taught how to anticipate evil, and how to deal with or come out of trouble when trouble shows up. It's not a problem to get into trouble, but it sure is a problem if you cant or dont know how to come out. You have got to learn how to come out. Proverbs 22:3. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Proverbs 27:12. A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished. When God tells you the same thing twice, you've got to take it seriously. When you have the Holy Spirit, he guides you, he leads you, and he directs you. As a result of this there're several things you begin to experience in your life. The end result of this is total and absolute success and victory in your life. His job is to make you a success in your life. But you must learn how to listen to Him and to follow Him if you are going to be a success in anything in life. He knows what stage and level where you are in your life right now, so He can guide you and lead you to where you ought to be if you would only listen to Him. Romans 15:30-31. Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;

Here, Paul knows he's still got some work to do for the Lord in Judea, but he senses some trouble ahead. He anticipates evil. He got a signal from within his spirit. There's a difference between being attacked by the spirit of fear and anticipating evil from within your spirit as the Spirit of God talks to you to warn you. Most Christians have not been taught on this. Fear is an outside force. John12:18-27. 18For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. 20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: 21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 27 NOW IS MY SOUL TROUBLED; and what shall I say? FATHER, SAVE ME FROM THIS HOUR: BUT FOR THIS CAUSE CAME I UNTO THIS HOUR. Jesus was troubled from within, He anticipated evil. Have you ever been troubled from within and you don't even know the reason why? Jesus

knew that that trouble was part of His destiny. He said: but for this cause was I come. You can be trained by the Holy Spirit to recognize people and events that are part of God's destiny for your life, and those that are not. There're two types of destinies; Gods destiny for your life and your destiny in the world. Gods destiny for a man begins when he is born again. But you've got to know and be conscious of it to walk in it. When you realize that an evil occasion or event is part of your destiny, and it has got to happen, what are you going to do? What you need is strength from within. Matthew 26:36-46. 36Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and BEGAN TO BE SORROWFUL AND VERY HEAVY. 38 Then saith he unto them, MY SOUL IS EXCEEDING SORROWFUL, EVEN UNTO DEATH: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: BEHOLD, THE HOUR IS AT HAND, AND THE SON OF MAN IS BETRAYED INTO THE HANDS OF SINNERS. 46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. Luke 22:39-46. And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And THERE APPEARED AN ANGEL UNTO HIM FROM HEAVEN, STRENGTHENING HIM. 44 And BEING IN AN AGONY HE PRAYED MORE EARNESTLY: AND HIS SWEAT WAS AS IT WERE GREAT DROPS OF BLOOD FALLING DOWN TO THE GROUND. 45 And WHEN HE ROSE UP FROM PRAYER, AND WAS COME TO HIS DISCIPLES, HE FOUND THEM SLEEPING FOR SORROW, 46 And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. On this occasion when Jesus went to pray His disciples noticed He wasn't

so joyful. This was a horrifying moment for Jesus; He anticipated such terrible evil coming. Evil which he wished would not happen yet he knew it had to happen. This is the time to make the right choices. Understand this, there's no trouble that comes to you which God allows, that has come or is meant to destroy you. It only means that you can surely win. But that can only be when you know what to do. Jesus willfully laid down His and endured terrible excruciating pain at the cross even though He could have chosen not to do it. As Jesus prayed earnestly this time, the Holy Spirit the Bible says came to strengthen him. EVEN THOUGH HE WAS IN AGONY, HE STILL PRAYED MORE EARNESTLY UNTIL HE WAS STRENGTHENED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. His disciples were also sorrowful and were in agony but their agony put them to sleep instead. That's just like some of us; we just go to sleep when challenges come and hope that when we wake up from sleep the trouble would be gone. But Jesus prayed more earnestly during His great agony. Sometimes you can be stopped by the weakness of your body or flesh. Jesus told his disciples: your spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. That means the spirit is still being dominated by the flesh. The spirit is alive and ready to engage in something but the flesh which is apparently stronger than such a persons spirit is unwilling to act. His or are her body has not been subdued and is still uncontrollable. Learning to exercise your spirit to dominate the body is part of the

Christian training and discipline. The bible says exercise yourself unto godliness.1Timothy 4:7.But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For example when you are fasting, you have to stay away from food, no matter the temptation. You are learning to dominate the cravings of your body and its appetite! You must learn to make your body your slave. YOU MAKE YOUR BODY TO DO WHAT YOU WANT IT TO DO AND NOT IT MAKING YOU TO DO WHAT IT WANTS YOU TO DO! Every time there's an opportunity for spiritual exercise, you must take it and use it. The human spirit has its own senses and the natural man also has its senses. Which one are you going to train to have the mastery? When you train your spirit to have the mastery, you'll always be a success in whatever situation you find yourself. Yes, because success is in your spirit! 1 Corinthians 16:8-9...."8 But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. 9 For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries". In training your spirit, you can see an opportunity that is surrounded by lots of adversaries. So what do you do? There's so much we could learn because God has already presented us with a glorious life in which we can always win. Amen. We'd continue from here next time, go ahead and praise Him.