2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
This morning, we begin a new segment of this series of messages on spiritual warfare: Believe Satan? God leads me to tackle the question: Should we believe anything Satan tells us? It might be simple to just answer this question, “no,” and move on, but the Lord has given us citations He wants us to examine for a more profound understanding of why it is valuable to spend some time on it. We must remember that no word, phrase, punctuation mark, name or number in the word of God is there without God’s purpose. 2 TIM 3: 16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, correction, rebuking, and instruction for righteous living, so that the person who serves God may be fully equipped to do every kind of good deed.” So, let’s look at this question through God’s word and see what illumination He gives to it.
To understand how Satan tries to frighten and deter mankind, we need to look at two key Scriptures. 1 PET 5: 8, “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” That is what one might expect from a hate-monger, whose sheer delight is to cause trouble. When he can’t find it in one quarter, he will move to whatever quarter where he can. I have seen some people who were led by the devil and his followers to do just that. Lies, false accusations, scare tactics, working behind people’s backs (underhandedness), and temptation are some of Satan’s favorite tools. We need to be on to him in a big way and not forget that God gave us the power to thwart his efforts. As I have said at length in the beginning of this series, the first step is recognizing when Satan is doing his dirty work. 1 PET 5: 9, “Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of suffering.” God’s will is clear here. We are not to put up with Satan’s tactics, nor are we to give in to them. An important phrase in this citation is “because you know your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of suffering.” All too often, we feel like we are the only one having a problem. It seems easier to us to hold our pain in and not invite the assistance and emotional/spiritual support of a trusted friend. Satan loves it when we try to shoulder a problem that is best put on the Lord’s shoulders which were designed to bear it. He loves it when we don’t go to the Lord in the first place and lean on His understanding instead of our own [MT 11: 28-30; PR 3: 5-6]. He wants us to believe that he can defeat, frighten, stop, or destroy us. But, Satan’s power is bogus. He is a counterfeit and evil spiritual being [EPH 6: 12].
I’m going to go out on a limb this morning and offer what are in my view some examples of Satan’s dirty work in today’s world. It is of concern to me that Islam is the fastest growing belief system in the world. Please believe that my problems with this religion have nothing to do with some decent people who are Muslims. My problem comes from reading excerpts in the Koran [Islam’s sacred writings]. These are teaching that Muslims are expected to engage in “Islamic jihad,” holy war against “infidels” [all people that do not believe in Islam]. There are many moderate Muslims who would never think of doing terrorist acts, and these people are not the ones of which I speak today. It is the Islamic fundamentalist fanatics who form organizations like Hamas, Hisbollah, Al Aqaeda, the Talibans, and others that I believe are firmly entrenched in Satan’s leadership. These are the people who teach their children from time they are kindergarten age that committing suicide by bombing “infidels” is an honorable way to die. It is the people who believe that their heaven will be a sexual orgy with whom I have a problem.
I also believe that Satan was firmly entrenched in the minds of the people who blew up three synagogues in Sacramento, CA a couple of years ago. This senseless act destroyed a hugely valuable library in the largest synagogue in Sacramento that contained priceless books and tapes. More of Satan’s scare tactics and dirty work can be seen in the recent bombing of a church near the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan in which two relatives of people in our own congregation were killed and another 47 were injured during a Sunday morning service. The letters infused with anthrax that infected people at the US Post Office and shut down government offices for a time are the work of the devil. That same can be said of the three hate letters that arrived at the offices of Precepts Ministries in Chattanooga, TN a few years ago. Those in the American Press that are blaming Israel for the conflict between Israel and the PLO are being deceived by the devil. The “Intafada” which began a long while ago was begun by Arab terrorists. It is the adversary’s idea that convinces people of different cultures that they should fear each other and remain apart. This is what the devil does best; he deceives and urges people to prejudice. Since reconciliation is God’s way, that is the way we should take. We must each examine our own life and see how we can find ways to thwart the devil in the name of Christ. And Dear Ones, that's a powerful name!
PRAYER: O Lord, the account of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness in MT 4: 1-11 has a great lesson for us. It not only reveals Your will for us, but it also shows us our power over Satan, the power Christ gives to us when we endure in faith as He did. JAS 4: 7 also reveals Your will. “So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.” The apostle John addresses himself to this issue too in 1 JN 4: 4, “But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit Who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.” What great comfort these verses have for us, and what a gift from You they are! We don’t have to fear Satan, nor do we have to believe his lies. You know, Dearest Abba, that the pain, suffering, and loss we feel at his hand is sometimes great. Yet, You have shown us that the test to which we are put by him is nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that is too great for us to overcome [1 COR 10: 13]. We must realize that Your will is for us to seek You out and to not feel like we must tackle Satan’s arrows by ourselves. That is why You want us to put You at the center of our lives, get to know You better through prayer and the Scriptures, and why You have put us into congregations for emotional and spiritual support from other believers. Today, we come before Your altar to offer You our confession, to present ourselves with vessels emptied so the Holy Spirit can enter them and work freely through us, and to ask You to fill our vessels with Your Spirit. We also offer You utmost and eternal praise for Who You are in our lives and thanks for what You do for us. We repeat the words of PS 63: 2-5 to reveal the content of our hearts. “Let me see You in the sanctuary; let me see how mighty and glorious You are. Your constant love is better than life itself, and so I will praise You. I will give You thanks as long as I live; I will raise my hands to You in prayer. My soul will feat and be satisfied, and I will sing glad songs of praise to You.” In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to revisit EPH 2: 1-3 and, if there is space, GN 2-3, to see what God has to say about the lost and see His insights on how Satan works to cause trouble in people’s lives. I don’t believe that we waste our time, because our examination of His word allows us to see things from His perspective better than we ever could on our own. Our Lord makes this possible out of His unparalleled love for us, love which we don’t deserve but which is given out of His most excellent grace. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn