The devil is a liar! I believe it is safe for me to say that every one here agrees, the devil is a liar!
But how many of us today can say we are walking in total victory, refusing to listen to satans accusations, little-lone refuse to accept his truth twisting lies as truth.
We have all heard the story of Adam and Eve, how the devil played with their minds and got them to long for something they already had. Do you remember he told them they would be like God, knowing right from wrong, good and evil? And he added a direct counter statement to what God had said. Do you remember? Genesis, chapter 3: verses 1- 6
1Now the serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, you shall not eat from every tree of the garden?
2And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden,
3Except the fruit from the tree, which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
4But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die,
5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity.
6And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate.
I know that some of you have heard this topic before, however I need you to bear with me a little while because I am taking this somewhere.
First notice the shrewdness of the devil, he got Eve to consider herself wiser then him by making a statement that he knew was wrong. That is the same tactic he uses today on those of us who believe we are so strongly knowledgeable in God’s word.
Then he outright called God a liar, he wanted to plant that seed of doubt in God’s trustworthiness. “You will not surely die!” he said.
This is the same statement that most of the world teaches today, you don’t really die, you just pass from this body to another state.
Some great people of God are convinced that when they leave this tent, this shell, then they will be present with God almighty. But is that what God says? Is the devil reusing proven tactics?
And then the master mind at deception did something that he is still using as his trump card to this day, he pointed something out that appeals to the flesh, something with immediate reward, a desire or lust that requires no patient endurance, partake, indulge, go for the gusto. Kind of like the Nike slogan, “Just Do It” No thought, no weighing the cost, just fulfill that desire NOW!
As humans we desire to be wiser, richer, happier and all without waiting, we want it now!
Did you ever consider the fact that the devil was still right there with Adam and Eve when God came to walk in the garden at the cool of the day?
I mean we know that God is all knowing, and I am sure that the devil knows God is all knowing. So what do you suppose the devil was waiting around for?
Could it be that he wanted to see the pain in God’s eyes, he wanted to hear the pleas of mercy from Adam and Eve, as they were required to carry the full load of their rejection of God?
And he wanted to make sure that God did judge and punish those that he knew God loved so much.
Have you ever felt like the prosecuting attorney was standing over your shoulder?
Just waiting for you to do something, say something, or even think something that we know we shouldn’t, then like a referee with a loud whistle and a red card he stands there pointing and accusing.
Hey God! You said to be angry is the same as committing murder, look at how mad this one is, or listen to the gossip, look at the greed, look at the lust, etc. etc. etc!
And, where is his or her punishment? You know You have to keep your word, you are God, You must do what You say!
There is a saying, which I am not sure about its original author, but this person wisely stated;
Sin will take you farther then you ever wanted to go,
Keep you longer then you ever wanted to stay,
And cost you more then you ever wanted to pay!
I often talk about two things that happen when we sin, when we miss the mark, when we fall short of the right we know we should do, conviction and condemnation.
Conviction, that what we have just said, thought, or done is having the same effect as a wedge has as it is driven into a log. If you keep hitting it long enough, driving it deep enough then you can split a log in half.
I have said that the Holy Spirit is the one who is responsible for the conviction, not in pointing the finger and yelling look at what you did type of way.
But a way to show that repentance is needed, a deeper relationship is needed, a prayer, a time to seek God, His grace, and His forgiveness.
And the other is condemnation, I have been heard to say that it is the devil who is in charge of this.
He stands there with his whistle, with his red card, pointing and accusing. He tells us things like, who are you kidding, look at yourself, and you say you are a Christian? Why don’t you just give up, go live like everybody else in Berlin is living. You will never be able to save yourself, every time you are going good you fall right on your face. You are too weak, just give up and enjoy the time you have.
But as of late I have become more and more aware of a part that I had failed to mention. And that is us.
Some of you were born going to church, some of us have just started our walk with God, and some of us don’t really know anything about God whatsoever.
Does your being a lifelong church member give you an advantage in your walk with God over those who have just come to know God? Is being a Christian like being an employ for a company, after you put in enough years you can retire and go fishing?
Does the devil ever retire?
The part containing us, is really two sided, we can get so comfortable with the knowledge we have about God that we stop seeking more enlightenment.
You know it’s a shame that we don’t go through group temptations. Then when the powers of darkness come with their lies we as a group would know the way to handle them.
But we are not tempted as a group are we? You know it is a shame that I cannot go a lot deeper. Things like “the new you”, “spiritual battles”, and being “dead to sin”, these are deep subjects that take deep study to understand just how victorious we are in Christ.
A sister that I listen to on the God Channel is fond of saying.
“If the devil ain’t bothering you, then you ain’t bothering him.”
I heard some one else say that if most Christians of the world today were arrested for being Christians there wouldn’t be enough evidence to convict them.
Is there enough evidence in your life for others to accuse you of being a Christian? Has any one ever asked you, “what are you a Christian?”
If not then I would suggest you start doing some serious self-examination, it just could be that you are passing in with the rest of the world a little too well.
Back to the us, the other side to the us, is when we learn from the devils accusations so well that we get to the point that we don’t need his whistle and red card any more. We point out our own shortcomings, we say we will never be worthy, we say we are too weak, we say why should I even try I’m never going to be good enough.
What does the devil or any of his evil angels need to spend time on us for, we are beating ourselves up so bad that we are down for the count.
Of course either side of the “us” is a dangerous place to live. One is so self confident that it’s only a matter of time before our feet are snatched out from under us. And if you don’t think so read
1 Co. 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! In truth you should read the whole 10 chapter, take a look at Israel’s pride and see what it cost.
But I believe the other side of “us” is far worse. By us condemning ourselves we knowingly or not are calling God a liar. We, in our self-accusations are saying that the blood of Christ is not strong enough to clean away our sins. We don’t trust God, we are saying that if God’s word says
1 Co 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, ‘He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Knowingly or not we are saying “Hogwash” there is no way God can help me, He can’t provide a way out for me. I know, I have tried and I just keep on falling on my face.
The question I would like for us to consider is WHY, why if God says we can, do we say we can’t, why, when the Bible says God will provide the way do we keep looking at giant walls on a dead end street and screaming there is no way?
I believe that part if not all of our problem lies within the religious system of the world today.
How often in our defeat and failure have we come crawling to God and begged, please God, make the devil leave me alone? I want to serve You, I want to be obedient, but he just keeps beating me up. Boo Hoo make him stop.
And our well-meaning brothers and sisters say things to comfort us like, be strong, you’re not the only one who goes through this. Just hang on, don’t give up, sooner or later God will come through for you. And if He doesn’t that is O.K. too, because at the resurrection you will be raised to a new life. A life where there is no sin, there is no devil, there is no pain. You will be able to ask God directly for answers to these puzzling questions.
Have you ever heard such statements? Sounds like what you would hear in any church, sounds religious, sounds humble. BUT what does the Bible have to say about the devil and his power over us?
Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, He (Jesus) too shared in their humanity so that by His (Jesus’) death He (Jesus) might destroy him (satan) who holds the power of death- that is the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by fear of death.
Now wait a minute, if what I am saying here is that the devil is beaten then why you might ask do we have Bible verses like
Eph. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Sounds pretty bad for us humans doesn’t it. But just what is the power of these evil forces?
We know that we are strangers here right? We know that we are waiting on Christ to come and make this world all clean and new. But if we read Ephesians we see we have a serious battle now.
I was in the military, and when you have to go against an enemy you need to know their strengths. You have to find their weaknesses so you know where to attack in order to assure victory. So lets take a second to examine our enemy the powers of darkness. Lets take a look and see if the Bible describes for us their powers.
Please people do not reject what I will share with you without digging in God’s word for yourself and seeing what the Word of God has to say about the whole matter. I know that this goes against years of teaching for some people.
Lets look at Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He (Jesus) made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. That is from the NIV,
The Amplified Bible reads, 15[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].
And the King James reads, 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
All three of these translations say that the devil is defeated, our problem comes when we don’t understand what it means for the devil to be defeated by Christ sacrifice on the cross.
The KJ translation used a couple of very old English words, one is spoiled and the other is shew.
Lets take a close look at these words, first we will look at spoiled. The archaic or ancient Biblical meaning of this word in this verse is “to plunder, despoil”. What this means is that after Jesus defeated satan, He stripped him of everything he had, specifically the keys of death and hell.
You can read this in Revelations 1:18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
In plain language that means that the devil has no power to imprison anyone.
And the Greek word that was translated to “shew” is deigmatizo, which means to display, or to make spectacle of.
Let me put one more word to this list, and that is “triumphing,” this word is especially important.
It comes from Greek word that means “to make an acclamatory procession” referring specifically to the way the Romans had a “triumphant procession” after they had defeated their enemies.
In Biblical history we know they did not have radio or TV, an attacking Kingdom and the ruins to people and property they would leave in their trail would be transmitted by word of mouth. A King that had a reputation of being vicious and deadly would strike fear in the hearts of people who heard his name mentioned. What the Romans would do, which is the comparison that 2Col 2:15 is making, is they would take the defeated King and lead him bound hobbling down the street for all to see. He would be hobbling because they cut off his big toes. And they cut off his thumbs.
Then they stripped him completely naked and paraded him in front of all the people so they would know he was indeed defeated.
If he was not defeated he would not be naked for all to see. Plus with no big toes he couldn’t chase anybody, and even if he could with no thumbs he could not raise a weapon to attack or defend. No matter what a reputation he had before, after this shew, of defeat no one would ever fear him again.
If this is the type of defeat Christ laid on satan then why you might ask does the Bible tell us in
Ephesians 6:10-18 from the Amplified Bible;
10In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
11Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
12For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
13Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
14Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,
15And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.
16Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
18Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).
I can imagine some of you are going yea now tell me satan isn’t a worthy foe. And I would say yea O.K. satan is a worthy foe, but why, where is his power over us if Christ has taken back ownership, if Christ has the keys to death, if Christ has defeated him like a human King with his thumbs and toes cut off, exsposed to all creation as the father of liars. Where then I ask again is his power?
Lets look a little closer at the armor of God, 1st is the belt of truth, truth pretty self-explanatory. Then 2nd is the breastplate of righteousness, well now righteousness over our hearts, and where do we get this righteousness?
1 John 3:7 reads Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He (Jesus) is righteous.
3rd your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. We use our feet for getting around right? If we are walking in peace through the Gospel…!
4th the shield of faith, this is what Christ used in the wilderness when satan came to him, and no matter what satan tried it fell to the ground like broken arrows shot from a broken bow.
5th is the helmet of salvation, a helmet protects our head, that is where we do our thinking.
6th the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.
And then we are told to pray, keep these things in mind and be alert.
God’s armor is designed to protect us from frontal assaults, not one piece covers our back side.
God never expected us to run from satan or He would have protected our rear as well.
No God said we should “Stand Firm”
O.K. lets put it all together then, the devil is defeated, and yet we are to wear God’s armor to ward off the attacks of the devil. How can the devil attack us if he is defeated? What are his weapons?
We read that in verse 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Schemes meaning secret plans or plot. O yes the devil and his angels are still alive today, but they are no more dangerous to us then a five year old standing at your door and threatening you.
Satan’s power has come from years of us telling each other about how powerful he is. He has taken our fear and used it against us. That and our lack of knowledge about the real beating he received at the cross of Christ. We are the ones who decide just how powerful satan is when it comes to us. We can believe his lies and empower him to walk all over us and our faith.
Or we can have faith in Jesus and what he came to this world to do. He has defeated the prince of darkness, He has knocked him off his thrown and showed him to be a lying coward.
Do we empower him with our fears or do we order him as Christ did, get thee behind me satan.
In closing I would just like to say that satan in his self has no power, he uses the authority and power that our misdirected faith gives him.
Think about it, where is your faith?
God Bless
Brother Jerry-The Berlin Bear