Sunday morning church service from the La Porte Church of Christ, La Porte, Colorado, with Pastor Peter J. Peters.



SERMON NOTES for April 5, 2009.
Message Title: SHEEP, SNAKES, SORCERIES, AND SPELLS.



1 Kings 19:4, and the Elijah syndrome.
"But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." NASV.
Some of the preacher's Bible College Chapel teachings included:
Don't rest on yesterday's victories;
Never make a decision when you're down;
Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.
The Elijah syndrome illustrates this conceptual teaching.
He defeated all the false prophets; he stood against the king.
Read 1 Kings 18, about the great victory Elijah gained over the establishment of church and STATE.
Then in 1 Kings 19:4, we read about the defeat, discouragement, dispare, and even a death wish.
You can only teach what you know. These things about the children of darkness, the sons of the devil, the slithering snakes, the brood of vipers, were not part of the curricullum in Bible College. 
SHEEP,SNAKES,SORCERIES, AND SPELLS, is today's message title.
Understand what took place with Elijah the Prophet.
2 Corin 2:11, "So that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." "Be not ignorant of his schemes." NASV.
Satan is after you, as in  1 Peter 5:8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." NASV.
Matt.10:16, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." KJV.
As sheep in the midst of wolves, be wise as serpents.
Serpents are wise and sheep are simple.



The preacher was raised as a cowboy. After working with cattle for a number of years, you get to know the positioning of the horse to the cow.
After over 35 years in the ministry of sheepherding, the preacher has come to recognize that simple sheep think like simple sheep.
This is their nature, as their DNA programming.
Snakes understand this, and they use it to their advantage.
Bible college didn't teach about the truths of the serpents.
The preacher got kicked out of the fellowship of the brotherhood, as he began teaching the sheeple about the snakes.
Sheep think that others think like they think.
Simple sheep think that if they do no wrong to somebody, they will be liked, or at least not disliked.
"Where there's smoke, there must be fire," they reason as they believe the slanderous accusations, unfounded by two or three elders.
The serpents know when false accusations are made,
however, the sheep do not discern this and tend to believe everything they hear.
Prov.14:15, "The naive believes everything,
but the sensible man considers his steps." NASV. 
"The simple believeth every word:
but the prudent man looketh well to his going." KJV.
Naive means simple, as in,
"Simple by nature; Having or showing natural simplicity."
This, our known trait, is used against us by the serpents.
Those that do the bidding of their father the devil,
use this simplicity against us.
Become wise as serpents and they won't be able to get you.
Proverbs 1:32, "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." KJV.
In the KJV version of the proverb, "Prosperity of fools will destroy them."
"What me worry?" asks the useful idiot,
Alfred E. Neuman, in "Mad Magazine."
Their naivity will kill them.



A child has naivity, but maturity brings an end to the simpletons.
Our Heavenly Father expects us to grow up, and not remain as naive children forever. We are admonished to acquire wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
Prov.1:20-22, "Wisdom shouts in the street, She lifts her voice in the square; At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the city she utters her sayings: How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?" NASV.
The prayer that this sermon will help Christians not to love the naivity and simplicity that they delight themselves in; that you may save your life.



Sheep can hate ....because.
Snakes hate...just because.
"THE DAY THE SAXONS BEGAN TO HATE," the Rudyard KIPPLING poem.
John 15:18, ""If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." NASV. THEY hate just because.
How about defending your preacher once in awhile?
For example, "I'm proud of our preacher because he is a hated man, as this is a validation of a prophet's preaching."
1 John 3:13, "Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you." NASV. "The world hates you." "They will also persecute you."
"They do not know the one who sent Me."
"They hated Me without a cause."
Prov.1:32, "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them." NASV.
Their waywardness shall kill them.
Psalm 35:7-8, "For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come upon him unawares, and let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall." NASV. David is a representation of Christ Himself.
THEY have taught the saints to be "Nice."
There is a self-imposed $5 fine for the preacher saying "NICE,"
if he is caught using the word by his grand children and their friends.
The preacher has taught them not to be "Nice."
Nice means "Fooled," as a root word.
David figured it out and said, "Let destruction come upon them."
The sheep have been programmed with the "NICE" spell.
Grow up! This is a war, and they don't want you fighting back.
"The slave is not above his master."
Don't receive any accusations, except by two or three elders.
Psalm 35:19, "Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me; Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously." NASV. "Who hate me without cause."
These words are against the serpents, as they hate without cause.



In the 80's, a "Patriotic" movement began, as the snakes slithered in and started networking amongst the sheep.
Many have heard things said about the preacher over the years.
Psalm 35:20-21, "For they do not speak peace, But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. They opened their mouth wide against me; They said, "Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!" NASV.
THEY like to get in close and buddy up with you, and when the time is right, they bite you, as they are snakes.
Why do they do it? They do it just because it's their nature.
When a man of God stands up against them, then they will slander him.
Psalm 35:11, "Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know." NASV. There is nothing new under the sun.
The preacher learned it the hard way,
by being snake bitten on more than one occasion.
Psalm 35:15-17, "But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together; The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me, They slandered me without ceasing. Like godless jesters at a feast, They gnashed at me with their teeth. Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions." NASV.
In Psalm 55:12-15, David said it well, "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together walked in the house of God in the throng. Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, for evil is in their dwelling, in their midst." NASV.
"You, you bastard, a man my equal...walked in the house of God......evil is in their dwelling, in their midst."
Do not be deceived and taken away by the slander
and the lies put out there.



The Elijah story in 1 Kings 18:17-20, illustrates the greatest victory over the establishment of church and STATE.
After this tremendous victory, Elijah became a wanted man.
He was on the top of the ten most wanted list in Ahab's kingdom.
1 Kings 19:1-4, "Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers." NASV.
The wicked witch Jezebel called upon her gods with a death penalty spell casting. "And he was afraid." "It is enough now My Lord."
This is spiritual warfare training,
as the days we are now in are more evil than the days before.
Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, and he became a killer.
He was already a snake, a thief, and a liar.
That's what snakes do, they disguise themselves as angels of light.
Keep your heart right with God and be not destroyed.
Pray the prayers against those that come against you.
Prayer for the Lord to send repentance upon the two-fold sons of hell proselytes of the dark side.
2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." NASV.



We come against Satan with the "DC Street Sorcery" DVD,
as the Satanic attacks have come against us.
The witchcraft is used against us,
with the evil thoughts that come into our minds.
The real reason for Elijah's fear was due to the Satanic witchcraft spell casting used by Jezebel.
2 Kings 9:22, "When Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" And he answered, "What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" NASV.
Jezebel used black magic idolatries and witchcraft.
"And her witchcrafts are so many."
Jezebel used witchcrafts.
Elijah was hit, when he was physically exhausted, after the great victory.
Put on the "Full armor of God" in Ephesians 6:11-12, "Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." NASV.
Put the armor on daily, because these evil forces are real.
Fight back with the good fight of faith.
Fight these forces and stay in the fight!



Simple sheep don't believe these black arts are practiced upon them.
Here are some lessons dealing with snakes the preacher has learned the hard way.
Recently, about a year and a half ago, there was a freezer and refrigerator on the back porch of the Radio Ranch House. In the freezer, some rotten yeast was found, and it looked like an antelope quarter.
Last week, a small antelope was found in there, and it had been skinned out and somebody had put it in there.
These creatures use spells and targeting, 
but the spells only work for awhile.
1 Peter 5;10, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." NASV.
1 Peter 5:8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." NASV.
A Gypsy bitch witch was caught poisoning the goat's milk with manure, as an attack of e-coli, when the grandson had been drinking pure manure in the poisoned goat's milk.
The preacher thinks he knows
who has been putting the carcasses in the ranch freezer.
A witch was putting out a curse at his daughter's wedding.
A witch threw it in the face of the entire congregation years back that,
"My husband is the devil." Witches have a husband, and he is Satan.



Acts 19:18, "Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." 
The preacher has learned this through his many years of ministry and sheepherding, that magic is real. The dark side has a power available to them through their gods.
Deut 18:10-11, ""There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead." NASV.
These serpentine sons of darkness are not to be found amongst us.
2 Tim.3:6-9, exposing Jannes and Jambres, the Egyptian magicians.
They opposed Moses, and opposed the truth, "Obvious to all."
Exodus 7:11, "Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts." NASV.
Witchcraft sorcery is going to be made known to the people.
Many discount the magic as a mere illusion, and don't believe that the dark side power really exists.
Acts 8-11, 'Simon the Sorcerer,' "Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God." And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts." NASV.
Stories have been written about 'Simon the Sorcerer'
in numerous publications, including a Time magazine book,
The Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs.
and The Encyclopedia Brittanica, 11th. edition.
"Even Simon himself was baptized."
Don't be amazed that snakes get baptized.
Peter tranferring the Holy Spirit by laying on hands.
Simon gave money to try and get the Holy Spirit.
"When Simon saw that the Spirit was imparted by the laying on of hands, he approached Peter and tried to buy that power with money."
Acts 8:20, "But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" NASV.
"May your silver perish with you," replied Peter to 'Simon the Sorcerer.'
Was the sorcerer's heart right with God? He had been baptized.
John the Baptist had the Spirit of discernment and recognized the snakes as they came out to be baptized. Don't think that snakes won't get baptized, as they slither in as hidden reefs in our love feasts.
"Full of gall and bitterness."
Deut.32:24, full of gall and bitterness, that's the poison they have. KJV.
THEY want what you have and they play church, attempting to gain it.
Deut.32:33, the poison inside them, their venom has to do with wine.
Deut 32:32, they have gall inside of them.
They are full of gall and they strike, as they can't help it.
Their venom is formed of gall and bitterness, and they use wine.
The Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, in the
Apostalic constitution, Simon the Sorcery lead a lot of people astray.
Peter took Simon the Sorcerer on, as Simon was flying through the air in an unnatural manner. Maybe as a forerunner to flight
on the witch's broomstick.
"Simon was dashed against the earth."
The early church fathers talk about it.
The Roman Senate built a statute to him,
as they had declared 'Simon the Sorcerer' to be a god.


1 Tim. 3:11, where a part of witchcraft is using slander and gossip.
"Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things."
1 Tim. 5:13. Acts 19:19. "Gossips and busybodies," as Satanic vessels.
"At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention." NASV.
"And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." NASV.
Magic is busybody slander and gossip, as part of their magic black arts.
They hate without a cause, as the darkness hates the light.
Learn to hate evil, as you grow up.
The early church knew about spells and spellcasters,
and the Bible talks about spells.
"THEY transmit both love charms and spells" in Satanic seduction.
Sorcery spell casting overcomes its victims, and they are not themselves, once they have been put under the spell casting influence.
2 Tim. 2:24-26, "The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." NASV.
Fear was part of the witchcraft sorcery used on Elijah.
You have the greater power. The Light overcomes the darkness.
This has a been a spiritual warfare lesson in the difference between sheep psychology and snake psychology. They are not the same.
Grow up little children,
and become wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Pray the Lord's Prayer daily, "Deliver us from evil," 
and put on the full armor of God everyday, morning and night.
Grow up, and become wise as serpents and harmless as doves.


Closing prayer in accordance with Numbers 6:24-26.