THE WILES OF THE DEVIL

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: EPHESIANS 6:11



INTRODUCTION:


  1. No military commander can expect to be victorious unless he understands his enemy. For example, should he attack by air or send in ground forces, or both?
  2. Or will bombing the enemy just infuriate him and increase the bloodshed?
  3. Here is my point: As Christians, as members of a local church, we are in a fierce battle with the devil. He is our enemy. In fact, the word Satan means "adversary."
  4. And unless we understand his philosophy, his methods of operation, his devices, his program, and his strategies, we can never hope to be victorious. We hear very little preaching these days on Satan. And when we do it is usually very abstract.
  5. To most people, Satan is this horrible, ugly creature, someone we would expect to recognize immediately. But this is not true. The Bible teaches just the opposite.
  6. For example, according to the Bible, Satan is not ugly, but beautiful (cf. Ezek.28:12-15).
  7. According to the Bible, Satan transforms himself into "an angel of light" (II Cor.11:13-15).
  8. According to the Bible, Satan is a deceiver (cf. Eph.6:11; I Tim.2:14; Rev.12:9). And this is what I want to focus on today.
  1. SATAN IS A DECEIVER WHO DENIES THE TRUTH
    1. You may recall that Jesus told the Pharisees, the religious hypocrites, that the devil "is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44).
    2. Satan is a deceiver. He has to operate in the realm of denial of the truth or in the realm of a lie. How did he deceive Eve? By lying to her.
    3. He had the audacity to tell Eve that God was a liar and as incredible as it sounds, she believed the devil rather than God. This shows how effective a deceiver Satan is. And he has had thousands of years experience!
    4. How was he able to persuade the angelic hosts to abandon God and the glories of heaven, and to follow him? By lying. If he told them the truth that they would wind up spending eternity in the lake of fire, do you think they would agree to follow him?
  1. ALL OF ADAM AND EVE’S DESCENDANTS ARE BORN WITH A SIN NATURE (ROM.5:12).
    1. Because Eve was deceived, we are deceived. And just because a person gets saved, it does not mean he or she will never be deceived by Satan (cf. II Cor.11:1-4).
    2. I am emphasizing this aspect of Satan – he is a deceiver. He deceives people, who in turn go out and deceive others (cf. II Tim.3:13).
    3. This deceitfulness is a mark of the devil. Satan cannot, under any circumstances, operate in the realm of truth. Satan must always operate in the realm of a lie.
    4. The devil deceives vulnerable people. In the church at Corinth, Satan deceived some of the members into believing that the apostle Paul was wrong and the false teachers were right.
    5. In II Cor.4, the apostle Paul’s authority was being questioned in the Corinthian church by those who despised his doctrine and his authority (cf. II Cor.4:1-5).
    6. "Craftiness" (4:2) means hypocrisy. These hypocrites handle the Word of God "deceitfully" (4:2).
    7. I have been pastor of this church for several years. People need to ask themselves: Does Pastor Barker handle the Word of God deceitfully or is he a false teacher? Am I a liar? Am I "crafty" or am I honest? Am I being deceived by the devil? Am I deceiving others?
    8. I can say with Paul, I "have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness…" (4:2).
  1. THE DEVIL IS OUT TO DESTROY CHURCHES (I PETER 5:8)
    1. I think most people recognize that the devil hates the local church. He hates Christian schools. Some of you may recall that he tried to close it down our very first day. And the person he used was a lady who professes to be a Christian.
    2. Then our school moved to Franklin Square. Before we even moved into that building, the devil started his attack by leaving dead animals and voodoo garbage in front of the building.
    3. So it is obvious that the devil is out to hinder God’s work and hurt his churches. And one of the ways he does this is by infiltrating the churches with his children (Matt.13:24-30,37-43).
    4. Satan is seeking to reproduce his character in his children. It is also God’s purpose to reproduce His character in His children. So this is part of the conflict of the ages.
    5. Every time a man lies he is following the devil. And one lie leads to another lie. And to bigger lies. And all liars shall be cast into the lake of fire (Rev.21:8).
    6. Be careful. If you let the devil get his foot in the door, he will soon kick it open and destroy you.

CONCLUSION:

  1. We need to put our emotions aside and look at things from God’s point of view.
  2. This means looking at things according to the Bible.
  3. If we are not careful, we could fall into one of Satan’s traps.

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