God's Truth About Satan's Lies
By TogaOga. Tuesday, 19. August 2008, 22:39:29
“God's Truth About Satan's Lies”. The outline is as follows:
I- The Picture
II- The Pattern
III- The Present
The picture that we have painted includes nine areas of conflict between the Christian and the world. There are 26 lies that Satan tells that have corresponding biblical truth.
The pattern that has emerged is very important. Overlaying these lies with Satan's overt attacks in the garden and in the wilderness, we can discern the keys to what he can stand and what he cannot stand. We can also discern what his methods are. By knowing this, we can hopefully meet him head on.
The present refers to the events that are unfolding now. Satan's lies are now upfront. The age in which we live now becomes the most exciting time in history to be a Christian. It also surfaces Satan's greatest lie of all and God's most beautiful truth. This is where we are heading. Fasten your spiritual seatbelts, and we will proceed.
What has emerged in these last fourteen lessons? Nine areas of conflict have emerged in which Satan has declared war on the truth of God. Within those nine areas, we have talked about 26 lies. These are lies that you and I must reject as Christians. We have pointed out the 26 corresponding truths that we must accept as convictions.
What are convictions? Convictions are the principles of Scripture that you would rather die for than compromise. See how many you can remember as I review very quickly.
I- Satan's lies about the character of man.
The first area concerns Satan's lies about the character of man. There are three lies.
a- Man is innately good. It says, left to ourselves, we will do basically that which is moral, just and upright. It is a lie. The truth says, among other places, in Romans:
5:12 Wherefore by one man sin entered the world and death by sin, so then death is passed upon all men for all have sinned.
This is the truth about the goodness of man.
b- Man is his own authority. If man is basically good, he is free to develop his own devices to represent truth. We decided that science says that we define the truth. Education says that we teach the truth. Philosophy says that we interpret the truth. Psychology says that we apply the truth. History says that we confirm the truth. But all of them say, there is no truth. Even as Pilate asked the question, “What is truth?” John answered in John:
1:17 The Law was given by Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In John 14, Jesus added, “I am the truth.”
c- Man, therefore, can control his own destiny. “I am the captain of my own fate.” This is a lie. The great I AM is the captain of our fate. The Scripture says,
John 3:27 A man can do nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Proverbs 16:1 We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God's hands. (the Living Bible)
II- Satan's lies has to do with man's relationship with God.
a- There are many ways to get to God. Satan wants us to believe that it doesn't matter what you believe, only believe something. Jesus answered,
“I am the Way. No man cometh to the Father but by Me.”
In Matthew 7 He said,
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
b- Satan says that eternity is a vague uncertainty. In John 14 Jesus says,
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me for in My Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. Now I am going to prepare a place for you. When I do that, I will come back again and take you with Me.
This is the truth about eternity. In 1 Corinthians 15 says,
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men miserable. Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave where is thy victory?
c- Man has freedom to choose which also includes the freedom to make no choice at all. This is a lie. The truth is that Jesus said,
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.
This is why God demanded of Israel to “choose ye this day whom you will serve”. If you choose God, then serve Him. If you choose the devil, then serve him. You can just serve one. This is why Jesus said, No man can serve two masters.
d- The church is irrelevant is another lie. The church of Jesus Christ is neither dead nor dying. As He said to Elijah, God would say, “I have thousands, yea perhaps millions, who have not bowed their knee to Baal.” The church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.
III- Satan's lies regarding man's happiness. We discussed several lies in this area.
a- Happiness comes from the good life. We need good times, good friends and good food. The truth is that God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. What should it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose all that counts, his own soul?
b- Money brings happiness. This is a lie. Not only does it not bring happiness, the truth that is found in 1 Timothy 6 states that the love of money is, in effect, the root of all evil.
c- Physical attractiveness brings happiness is another lie. The truth is found in the first few chapters of 1 Peter. He talks about the fact that real beauty comes from the inside out. The truth is again found in 1 Samuel 16:7 where it says that man looks on the outward appearance, but that God doesn't. God looks on the heart.
I Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his contenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart.
IV- Satan's lies that involve morality.
a- The first lie is that morality is relative, and there are no absolutes. The truth is that morality is absolute. Stealing is a sin, absolutely. Lying is a sin, absolutely. Homosexuality is a sin, absolutely. Drunkenness is a sin, absolutely. This has not changed and it will not change. Morality is absolute. Malachi 3:6 says,
I am the Lord, I do not change.
James 1:17 says,
In Him there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning.
b- Sex outside of marriage is acceptable. This is a lie. The truth is that sex outside of marriage is abominable. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul says that no other sin affects the body as this one does. This is the truth. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says,
This is the will of God, that you abstain from sex outside of marriage.
c- Divorce is a reasonable option and marriage is not a permanent relationship. This is a lie. Jesus said in Matthew 19,
Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses allowed you to have a writ of divorcement, but from the beginning it was not so. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
V- Satan's lies regarding the area of the home.
a- Satan wants us to believe that the home is not the center of society. This is a lie. The Word of God tells us that the home is the two-fold center of God's plan. First of all, it is a training ground for real discipleship. When your children sit, when they walk, when they go to bed and when they rise up are the times that you need to teach your children. As we see in Deuteronomy 11, the home should be heaven on earth,
b- Fathers are not important in the home. This is a lie. The home is God's picture book of His most precious relationship— the Father to Son relationship. John 3:35 says
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon the Son.
You will remember that we studied 25 illustrations from the Scripture regarding how a father to son relationship teaches spiritual truth.
c- Men and women have no definable roles. The world's solution is ERA, which literally means, give me my rights so that I can lose my identity. But God's program is EDA, which is Equality, Diversity, Authority. Neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female the Scripture tells us. Total equality at last has come through Christ yet with total diversity. Physically, the man is stronger. I believe emotionally that the woman is stronger. Spiritually, they are both equal, but yet different. Total equality with diversity under authority is God's plan. Husbands love your wives the way Christ loved the church. He loved with no limits. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as unto the Lord. Wives need to do this with no limits. This is the picture that God has for the roles of men and women. Satan hates it.
d- Parental authority threatens a child's freedom. This is a lie. Children are to obey their to parents that it may go well with them and that they might prosper.
VI- Satan's lies is in the area of authority. There are many lies here.
a- Discipline is outdated. This is a lie. Whom the Father loves, He disciplines.
b- Rebellion is an acceptable means to an end. This is a lie. Rebellion is to God is as the sin of witchcraft, and it is never an acceptable means to an end.
c- National loyalty has no virtue. This is a lie. God reveals His purposes through the nations. We are to honor the nation. We are to pray for its leaders. We are to submit to its authority as unto God.
d- The Bible is not the infallible Word of God. This is a lie. 1 Timothy tells us that it is God-breathed. Psalm 19 tells us it is perfect. Every word proves true is a statement that we read in Proverbs 30. We determined that there are three things in life that really last. It is the Word of God, the Word of God, the Word of God. The Bible is infallible.
VII- Satan's lies about responsibility.
a- Satan says that we can blame society for our failures. This is a lie. We discussed 8 things that man is responsible to do no matter what comes at him in life.
b- We can blame our parents for our weaknesses. This is a lie.
c- We can blame God for our defects. This is a lie.
d- We can blame Satan for our besetting sins. This is a lie.
VIII- Satan's lies regarding heroes.
Satan wants us to glorify those who entertain us and glorify the flesh. God says,
I will make the godly of the land My heroes and will invite them into My home.
IX- Satan's lies about alliances and relationships.
Satan says that Christians and non-Christians can be aligned together. Nations can unite with their enemies in treaties. Dating and marriage are the child's responsibility. These are all lies. The truth is, How can two walk together except they be agreed? The truth is, What fellowship can light have with darkness? What fellowship can idols have in the temple of God? What fellowship can there be between God and Satan? It is the parent's responsibility to take charge of who their children date. We are to teach them line upon line upon, precept upon precept. Every area of their lives is our responsibility.
These are the lies and the corresponding truths that we have been wrestling with in this study. To know them and to recognize them and to respond to these lies is not enough. These are but the polluted streams from which continually springs shades of deceptions. Subtleties that come our way in part come from Satan's five basic areas of attack. These areas are the media, secular education, secular counseling, entertainment and organized religion. All of these report, teach, reinforce, demonstrate and accept the standards of the world.
What are the patterns? Is Satan stupid? Does He always work from the same battle plan? I am here to tell you this morning from the Word of God that he is not stupid. The Scripture says that he is more subtle, more cunning and more deceptive than any other creature. He is no dummy. But, he does have a one-track mind or at least a four-track mind. There are four ways or places that he always surfaces. This is what I want to deal with in this lesson.
We have a great deal of information in the Scripture about how Satan works. In Matthew 13, we know that he is a tare sower. He loves to put fakes among the real thing. He is a seed snatcher. He loves to steal the truth before it takes root in the Christian's life. In 2 Corinthians 4, we are told that Satan loves to blind the eyes of unbelievers so that they cannot see the truth. In John 8, we are told he is the father of lies, the father of all unbelievers and he cannot tell the truth. 1 Timothy 3:6 tells us that he is the perfect illustration of what happens when you try to be your own god. In Luke 13, we are told that he binds men through their physical circumstances. In Luke 22, we read that he desires to sift Christians until they fall. In Acts 5, we see that he fills men's hearts to lie. In 1 Corinthians 7, we see that he loves to destroy marriages through temptation. In 2 Corinthians 2, we read that he battles to keep Christians from seeking forgiveness from one another. In Revelation 12, we see that he knows that his time is short.
How Satan Works
While we have much information regarding how he works, there are really only two major confrontations in Scripture between Satan and man that are recorded. I think if we super-impose those confrontations on one another and examine them in the light of this study, we can reach a few conclusions about how he works and what he loves to do. I want to first list 9 things that Satan loves to do.
1- His timing is generally, carefully planned. In the garden, he waits until Eve is alone and until she is in the position to listen to the voice of a stranger. At the point of her greatest emotional need, he comes at her. In the wilderness, he waits for Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights. At the point of Jesus' greatest physical need, after fasting for that entire time, Satan approaches him. Your greatest spiritual tests will come at the point of your greatest emotional and physical need. He knows when the lies should come.
2- He is a master of overkill and unanswerable questions. He said to Eve, “Hath God not said that you cannot eat anything?” In our modern times that can be translated into, “Is God trying to put you on Weight Watchers?” Satan puts different questions in our minds such as, “How can a God of love allow war to go on? How can a God of love allow death to go on?” Satan asks questions that the natural mind cannot answer.
3- He is a master at innuendo that undermine the character of God with “if”s. He says such things as, “IF Thou are the Son of God,” as we see in Matthew 4. Twice he said this statement. Have you ever heard him say that? “IF you really are a Christian... ” “IF your conversion was real... ” “IF God answers prayer... ” “IF Jesus were coming again... ” Satan is the master of the “IF”.
4- He loves to question the reasonableness of God's Word. “How can God be so narrow? He says, ÔEat this but don't eat that.' What difference can a tree make?” Satan says, “What do you mean that you cannot lie? Even here? How unreasonable.” This causes people to think, “Why can't I steal? I am hungry. How unreasonable.”
5- He loves to get the Christian on the defense. Eve had to come back and say, “God did say that, I heard Him.” She was now defending God. Three times, Jesus had to come back with the statement, “It is written... ” “It is written... ” “It is written... ”
6- He always minimizes the consequences of disobedience. He told Eve, “Thou shalt not surely die.” “You've got to be kidding. God is teasing you.” “No God of love would follow through.” This is a lie. No, a God of love would not keep His Word.
7- He ultimately questions the motives of God. He said to Eve, “You can be just like God. The problem is that God wants to keep you His slave.” This is true. The point that Eve did recognize is that we were designed in the image of God to reflect the will of God. Every man and woman was designed to be a slave to someone. The question was, “Choose you this day whom you will serve” not “If you will serve.” If you are not a slave to God, you are automatically a slave to His enemy.
8- Before long, Satan will always focus on satisfying the flesh. He said, “Look at that food, Eve.” He said to Jesus, “I will give you all of this.”
9- He is never around when it is all over.
Satan's Common Denominators
If these are the ways he works, we can reach some conclusions about how he works. We can learn the things that Satan cannot stand. If you will notice these 26 lies, you will notice that there are at least 4 common denominators. There are 4 things that the devil hates. Everywhere he surfaces these 4 things surface.
1- He cannot stand absolutes. He says to Eve, “Life is not that simple. Eat of this tree. Don't eat of that tree. It is not that easy. God is a god of love. He understands your heart. Just because He told you not to eat that tree doesn't mean that is absolute. You have to reason it out. It is all relative.” Satan tempted Moses. He struggled with this when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Satan said to David, “What is one indiscretion?” He said to Ananias, “Just bend the truth a little.” Lie? Not at all? Steal? Not at all? Commit adultery? Is it always wrong? There are no absolutes because if there are absolutes, he is absolutely finished.
2- He cannot stand authority. You always see Satan's lies surface when authority is brought into the picture. He cannot stand God's authority. He cannot stand anyone else's. This is his lie. He claimed, “I will be like the Most High.” This was his line to Eve. He told her, “You can be like God. You don't need anybody to rule over you. You don't need a boss. You can be your own boss.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7 in the Amplified Bible talks about the mystery of lawlessness. It describes it as the hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority which is already at work until the Restrainer has been taken away.
3- He cannot stand an awareness of open spiritual conflict. This is why we have spent so much time studying alliances these past few lessons. Satan doesn't want us to know who the enemy really is. He doesn't want us to know what the issues really are. He doesn't want us to know that the issues are the pulling down of spiritual strongholds. He doesn't want us to know that good and evil cannot coexist. He doesn't want us to know that we cannot trust the enemy, which is him. You are supposed to reprove a liar. You don't listen to a liar, you flee from him.
4- He wants to do battle in the physical realm, as he cannot stand to do battle in the spiritual realm, because God is spirit. He wants you to read your spirituality by experiences. He wants you to trace your growth by legalism. He wants you to trace your progress by numbers. He wants you to think physical. He wants your priorities to be in the physical realm. He wants your goals to be in the physical realm. This is his territory. God is spirit, and God is after character and spiritual transformation.
Satan said, “Jesus, do a miracle. God will save You.” “Jesus, eat the rock, God will turn it into bread.” “Jesus, all of this physical kingdom can be Yours.” “Eve, eat of the tree, that is what we are here for. Eat, drink and be merry.”
Satan also wants to destroy the deep, spiritual truths that lie beneath those physical conflicts. For instance, we dealt with a deeper truth when we were talking about sexual purity. The reason that sex outside of marriage is always wrong, is not just because of what it does to the commandment of God, but because it violates the spiritual principle that a man cannot find God without a commitment to Jesus Christ. A man cannot find physical satisfaction without a commitment to marriage. It is the picture, the portrait of salvation.
Then there is the picture of the home, the heavenly home with the heavenly Father. This is why Satan wants to destroy the home. Why does Satan want to destroy marriage? Because he wants us to believe that there is no security in Jesus Christ. He wants us to believe that the marriage that represents the relationship between Christ and the church can be broken. Why is it that he wants to do away with discipline? He wants us to believe that there is no divine discipline. He wants us to believe that there is no hell. Why is it that he wants to do away with responsibility and rewards through accomplishments? He wants us to believe that there is no Bema Seat, that there is no reward for the believer beyond this life. He wants to do away with the Bible, because he wants us to believe that there are not absolutes. He wants us to do away with national security, because he wants us to believe that in the spiritual realm there are no real enemies, no real conflict, no real conclusions and no real distinctions. He wants to do battle in the physical realm, but he wants to destroy spiritual truth.
The real conflict, oversimplified, is that the Christian is standing on absolute truth under absolute, God-derived authority. He must then recognize truth that comes only from God. Only a lie comes from the enemy. We must recognize that what comes from God is totally eternal, and there are spiritual promises for a spiritual kingdom. We must recognize that what comes from the world is totally temporal and that there are physical promises for a physical kingdom. To try to pull into focus and enjoy both is double vision. It does not work.
The four things that Satan cannot stand are: absolute truth, God-derived authority, an understanding of the battle, and the spiritual conflict that is involved. Watch for Satan in these four areas.
As we bring this series to a close, we must recognize that in no age in history since the cross has Satan battled so openly, so fiercely, and with such reckless abandon. You would almost think that he knows the game is about over, and he is going to lose.
Imagine if you will, a prisoner who is sentenced to be executed for a horrible crime. Time after time, he has been granted a stay of execution. Finally, the day dawns, and he is escorted down the corridor to the gas chamber. He hears the roar of the crowd. In a huge grandstand, seemingly, all of humanity is gathered to watch. As they round the corner, they take off his chains, not because he is free, but because there is no place left for him to go but to his death. Can you imagine what he would do? He would be in a frenzy, putting on the show of his life. Pretending to be showing the authority a thing or two, he would rant and rave and swing and hurl himself at anything in his way. It would be the game of pretense at its most ridiculous level. The prisoner is playing king, until having bruised and battered himself in this meaningless show of self, at the precise moment scheduled, the crowd goes silent. The gas chamber is filled, and he will meet his prescribed death. All of his last minute frenzy did nothing to alter his ultimate fate.
Satan, in these last days, is determined to behave just like that. He is a defeated foe. The clock of history is at 11:55. Like a mad man, he is frantically ranting and raving to the delight of the crowd. But, at the prescribed moment in history, the song of victory that was penned on that Roman cross, will break forth from those grandstands. The executioner will step forward to complete the pre-ordained role.
Have you ever looked at a timetable or a time line of Satan's life to see how close to the end he really is? Let's look at a chart of that. At the top you will see Satan's fall which is a result of his refusal to submit to the authority of God. He was then cast out of heaven.
Below that, we see his conflict with Eve in the garden. She, too, acknowledges his philosophy. No absolutes. No authority. Unaware of the real conflict, she chooses the physical pleasure rather than the will of God. She became her own boss just long enough to become Satan's slave. All mankind was thus cursed with sin.
Four thousand years or so pass, and we see Satan's conflict with Jesus in the wilderness. He tried to play “Let's Make a Deal” with God. It is his last ditch effort to avoid a sentence, but it didn't work. About three years later, on a Roman cross, Satan's death knoll was finally complete. His future was sealed. It was all over for him.
We then see some 2,000 years or so below that, the Church Age. This is the age in which we live. Now the Holy Spirit has been placed in the believer. Now demonic warfare goes on between the agents of the enemy and the spirit of God within the Christian. The pressure begins to build and build and build as the 2,000 years pass. By the end of the age, the struggle gets intense. The conflict heightens more and more as the age draws to a close. We hear, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Decadence, open rebellion, the outpouring of the wrath of Satan.” But, also there is the potential that God would anoint His people with the Spirit. There will be an awakening of the saints, a revival in the church, and an outpouring of God's power throughout the world as people come to know Christ as never before.
We see that as this age draws to a close and to a climax, it builds and builds and builds. The lies of Satan become more visible. The spiritual conflict becomes more intense. There are more natural disasters. There are more emerging cults and false Messiahs. There is the re-emergence of Israel. There is the hatred in the Mideast as it boils and festers like a cancer.
This is the exciting part. At this time in history, the church of Jesus Christ gets a phone call. It is God on the line, and He says, “Come home. I am waiting for you.” No matter how you place this in the scheme of events, it will make no difference in what I am trying to share in this lesson. I am placing this at the beginning of the tribulation, because I believe this is when the church will be raptured. The tribulation period comes. It will be seven years of Satan's power as he flings himself against the prison walls. Death is imminent, and he fights for all he is worth. The Restrainer is gone, at least for the moment.
Then comes Armageddon. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ in all of His glory follows. Satan is then thrown into the bottomless pit. During the millennial reign of Christ, He will rule on the earth for 1,000 years. At the end of that, Satan will be loosed, but only for a season. Then he will be cast into the lake of fire forever and forever and forever. This is the truth. This is where Satan is headed.
Satan's biggest lie of all is that he will always be in charge of this world. It is not true. His time is running out. 2 Peter 3:3 says, “knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers walking after their own lusts.” Here comes Satan's story saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? It has been so long. Maybe the Father has been asleep all of these years. Things continue as they were since the beginning of creation. What is going to happen?” Peter goes on to say,
2 Peter 3:4 And saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God's most blessed truth is that except for the mercy of God, it would have been all over for Satan a long time ago. He is on borrowed time. Because of the righteousness of God, the promise of God will not fail. Christian, listen, some golden daybreak, Jesus will come. Do you believe that? First, He will come for us. We read in 1 Thessalonians 4,
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
That is a long time. Not only that, Jesus will come with us. We see in Matthew 16:27,
For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels.
Matthew 25:30 says,
When the Son of Man shall come in His glory with the angels, then with Him, He shall sit on the throne in His great glory.
Colossians 3:4 says,
When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye appear with Him also in glory.
1 Thessalonians 3:13 says,
To the end, He might establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints.
The Scripture teaches us that on that day, every knee will bow. On that day, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is God to the glory of the Father.
When this happens, we won't have to listen to Satan's lies anymore. Revelation 20:10 says,
...then the devil will again be thrown in the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever.
This is why Satan is fighting so hard. His executioner stands before him. That is why it is such an exciting time to be alive, if you are a Christian.
If you are not a Christian, this is not an exciting time to be alive, is it? There is depression. There is economic instability. There is the threat of war. Inflation is spiraling. We really don't know what the future holds, but it doesn't look good from the world's perspective. I would just like to tell you that there is Good News. This world is not our home. The King of kings is poised on the pedestal of history, just about to emerge to take His children home forever. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can do that right now by simply acknowledging the fact that you cannot be your own boss, that you cannot be your own god. You need to admit that you have been separated from God because of the sin in your life. Once and for all right now, you can accept the payment He made for your sins for all of eternity. Because He is, praise God, coming back.
I- The Picture
II- The Pattern
III- The Present
The picture that we have painted includes nine areas of conflict between the Christian and the world. There are 26 lies that Satan tells that have corresponding biblical truth.
The pattern that has emerged is very important. Overlaying these lies with Satan's overt attacks in the garden and in the wilderness, we can discern the keys to what he can stand and what he cannot stand. We can also discern what his methods are. By knowing this, we can hopefully meet him head on.
The present refers to the events that are unfolding now. Satan's lies are now upfront. The age in which we live now becomes the most exciting time in history to be a Christian. It also surfaces Satan's greatest lie of all and God's most beautiful truth. This is where we are heading. Fasten your spiritual seatbelts, and we will proceed.
What has emerged in these last fourteen lessons? Nine areas of conflict have emerged in which Satan has declared war on the truth of God. Within those nine areas, we have talked about 26 lies. These are lies that you and I must reject as Christians. We have pointed out the 26 corresponding truths that we must accept as convictions.
What are convictions? Convictions are the principles of Scripture that you would rather die for than compromise. See how many you can remember as I review very quickly.
I- Satan's lies about the character of man.
The first area concerns Satan's lies about the character of man. There are three lies.
a- Man is innately good. It says, left to ourselves, we will do basically that which is moral, just and upright. It is a lie. The truth says, among other places, in Romans:
5:12 Wherefore by one man sin entered the world and death by sin, so then death is passed upon all men for all have sinned.
This is the truth about the goodness of man.
b- Man is his own authority. If man is basically good, he is free to develop his own devices to represent truth. We decided that science says that we define the truth. Education says that we teach the truth. Philosophy says that we interpret the truth. Psychology says that we apply the truth. History says that we confirm the truth. But all of them say, there is no truth. Even as Pilate asked the question, “What is truth?” John answered in John:
1:17 The Law was given by Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
In John 14, Jesus added, “I am the truth.”
c- Man, therefore, can control his own destiny. “I am the captain of my own fate.” This is a lie. The great I AM is the captain of our fate. The Scripture says,
John 3:27 A man can do nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Proverbs 16:1 We can make our plans, but the final outcome is in God's hands. (the Living Bible)
II- Satan's lies has to do with man's relationship with God.
a- There are many ways to get to God. Satan wants us to believe that it doesn't matter what you believe, only believe something. Jesus answered,
“I am the Way. No man cometh to the Father but by Me.”
In Matthew 7 He said,
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
b- Satan says that eternity is a vague uncertainty. In John 14 Jesus says,
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me for in My Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. Now I am going to prepare a place for you. When I do that, I will come back again and take you with Me.
This is the truth about eternity. In 1 Corinthians 15 says,
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men miserable. Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave where is thy victory?
c- Man has freedom to choose which also includes the freedom to make no choice at all. This is a lie. The truth is that Jesus said,
You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.
This is why God demanded of Israel to “choose ye this day whom you will serve”. If you choose God, then serve Him. If you choose the devil, then serve him. You can just serve one. This is why Jesus said, No man can serve two masters.
d- The church is irrelevant is another lie. The church of Jesus Christ is neither dead nor dying. As He said to Elijah, God would say, “I have thousands, yea perhaps millions, who have not bowed their knee to Baal.” The church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.
III- Satan's lies regarding man's happiness. We discussed several lies in this area.
a- Happiness comes from the good life. We need good times, good friends and good food. The truth is that God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. What should it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose all that counts, his own soul?
b- Money brings happiness. This is a lie. Not only does it not bring happiness, the truth that is found in 1 Timothy 6 states that the love of money is, in effect, the root of all evil.
c- Physical attractiveness brings happiness is another lie. The truth is found in the first few chapters of 1 Peter. He talks about the fact that real beauty comes from the inside out. The truth is again found in 1 Samuel 16:7 where it says that man looks on the outward appearance, but that God doesn't. God looks on the heart.
I Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his contenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart.
IV- Satan's lies that involve morality.
a- The first lie is that morality is relative, and there are no absolutes. The truth is that morality is absolute. Stealing is a sin, absolutely. Lying is a sin, absolutely. Homosexuality is a sin, absolutely. Drunkenness is a sin, absolutely. This has not changed and it will not change. Morality is absolute. Malachi 3:6 says,
I am the Lord, I do not change.
James 1:17 says,
In Him there is neither variableness nor shadow of turning.
b- Sex outside of marriage is acceptable. This is a lie. The truth is that sex outside of marriage is abominable. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul says that no other sin affects the body as this one does. This is the truth. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says,
This is the will of God, that you abstain from sex outside of marriage.
c- Divorce is a reasonable option and marriage is not a permanent relationship. This is a lie. Jesus said in Matthew 19,
Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses allowed you to have a writ of divorcement, but from the beginning it was not so. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
V- Satan's lies regarding the area of the home.
a- Satan wants us to believe that the home is not the center of society. This is a lie. The Word of God tells us that the home is the two-fold center of God's plan. First of all, it is a training ground for real discipleship. When your children sit, when they walk, when they go to bed and when they rise up are the times that you need to teach your children. As we see in Deuteronomy 11, the home should be heaven on earth,
b- Fathers are not important in the home. This is a lie. The home is God's picture book of His most precious relationship— the Father to Son relationship. John 3:35 says
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon the Son.
You will remember that we studied 25 illustrations from the Scripture regarding how a father to son relationship teaches spiritual truth.
c- Men and women have no definable roles. The world's solution is ERA, which literally means, give me my rights so that I can lose my identity. But God's program is EDA, which is Equality, Diversity, Authority. Neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female the Scripture tells us. Total equality at last has come through Christ yet with total diversity. Physically, the man is stronger. I believe emotionally that the woman is stronger. Spiritually, they are both equal, but yet different. Total equality with diversity under authority is God's plan. Husbands love your wives the way Christ loved the church. He loved with no limits. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as unto the Lord. Wives need to do this with no limits. This is the picture that God has for the roles of men and women. Satan hates it.
d- Parental authority threatens a child's freedom. This is a lie. Children are to obey their to parents that it may go well with them and that they might prosper.
VI- Satan's lies is in the area of authority. There are many lies here.
a- Discipline is outdated. This is a lie. Whom the Father loves, He disciplines.
b- Rebellion is an acceptable means to an end. This is a lie. Rebellion is to God is as the sin of witchcraft, and it is never an acceptable means to an end.
c- National loyalty has no virtue. This is a lie. God reveals His purposes through the nations. We are to honor the nation. We are to pray for its leaders. We are to submit to its authority as unto God.
d- The Bible is not the infallible Word of God. This is a lie. 1 Timothy tells us that it is God-breathed. Psalm 19 tells us it is perfect. Every word proves true is a statement that we read in Proverbs 30. We determined that there are three things in life that really last. It is the Word of God, the Word of God, the Word of God. The Bible is infallible.
VII- Satan's lies about responsibility.
a- Satan says that we can blame society for our failures. This is a lie. We discussed 8 things that man is responsible to do no matter what comes at him in life.
b- We can blame our parents for our weaknesses. This is a lie.
c- We can blame God for our defects. This is a lie.
d- We can blame Satan for our besetting sins. This is a lie.
VIII- Satan's lies regarding heroes.
Satan wants us to glorify those who entertain us and glorify the flesh. God says,
I will make the godly of the land My heroes and will invite them into My home.
IX- Satan's lies about alliances and relationships.
Satan says that Christians and non-Christians can be aligned together. Nations can unite with their enemies in treaties. Dating and marriage are the child's responsibility. These are all lies. The truth is, How can two walk together except they be agreed? The truth is, What fellowship can light have with darkness? What fellowship can idols have in the temple of God? What fellowship can there be between God and Satan? It is the parent's responsibility to take charge of who their children date. We are to teach them line upon line upon, precept upon precept. Every area of their lives is our responsibility.
These are the lies and the corresponding truths that we have been wrestling with in this study. To know them and to recognize them and to respond to these lies is not enough. These are but the polluted streams from which continually springs shades of deceptions. Subtleties that come our way in part come from Satan's five basic areas of attack. These areas are the media, secular education, secular counseling, entertainment and organized religion. All of these report, teach, reinforce, demonstrate and accept the standards of the world.
What are the patterns? Is Satan stupid? Does He always work from the same battle plan? I am here to tell you this morning from the Word of God that he is not stupid. The Scripture says that he is more subtle, more cunning and more deceptive than any other creature. He is no dummy. But, he does have a one-track mind or at least a four-track mind. There are four ways or places that he always surfaces. This is what I want to deal with in this lesson.
We have a great deal of information in the Scripture about how Satan works. In Matthew 13, we know that he is a tare sower. He loves to put fakes among the real thing. He is a seed snatcher. He loves to steal the truth before it takes root in the Christian's life. In 2 Corinthians 4, we are told that Satan loves to blind the eyes of unbelievers so that they cannot see the truth. In John 8, we are told he is the father of lies, the father of all unbelievers and he cannot tell the truth. 1 Timothy 3:6 tells us that he is the perfect illustration of what happens when you try to be your own god. In Luke 13, we are told that he binds men through their physical circumstances. In Luke 22, we read that he desires to sift Christians until they fall. In Acts 5, we see that he fills men's hearts to lie. In 1 Corinthians 7, we see that he loves to destroy marriages through temptation. In 2 Corinthians 2, we read that he battles to keep Christians from seeking forgiveness from one another. In Revelation 12, we see that he knows that his time is short.
How Satan Works
While we have much information regarding how he works, there are really only two major confrontations in Scripture between Satan and man that are recorded. I think if we super-impose those confrontations on one another and examine them in the light of this study, we can reach a few conclusions about how he works and what he loves to do. I want to first list 9 things that Satan loves to do.
1- His timing is generally, carefully planned. In the garden, he waits until Eve is alone and until she is in the position to listen to the voice of a stranger. At the point of her greatest emotional need, he comes at her. In the wilderness, he waits for Jesus for 40 days and 40 nights. At the point of Jesus' greatest physical need, after fasting for that entire time, Satan approaches him. Your greatest spiritual tests will come at the point of your greatest emotional and physical need. He knows when the lies should come.
2- He is a master of overkill and unanswerable questions. He said to Eve, “Hath God not said that you cannot eat anything?” In our modern times that can be translated into, “Is God trying to put you on Weight Watchers?” Satan puts different questions in our minds such as, “How can a God of love allow war to go on? How can a God of love allow death to go on?” Satan asks questions that the natural mind cannot answer.
3- He is a master at innuendo that undermine the character of God with “if”s. He says such things as, “IF Thou are the Son of God,” as we see in Matthew 4. Twice he said this statement. Have you ever heard him say that? “IF you really are a Christian... ” “IF your conversion was real... ” “IF God answers prayer... ” “IF Jesus were coming again... ” Satan is the master of the “IF”.
4- He loves to question the reasonableness of God's Word. “How can God be so narrow? He says, ÔEat this but don't eat that.' What difference can a tree make?” Satan says, “What do you mean that you cannot lie? Even here? How unreasonable.” This causes people to think, “Why can't I steal? I am hungry. How unreasonable.”
5- He loves to get the Christian on the defense. Eve had to come back and say, “God did say that, I heard Him.” She was now defending God. Three times, Jesus had to come back with the statement, “It is written... ” “It is written... ” “It is written... ”
6- He always minimizes the consequences of disobedience. He told Eve, “Thou shalt not surely die.” “You've got to be kidding. God is teasing you.” “No God of love would follow through.” This is a lie. No, a God of love would not keep His Word.
7- He ultimately questions the motives of God. He said to Eve, “You can be just like God. The problem is that God wants to keep you His slave.” This is true. The point that Eve did recognize is that we were designed in the image of God to reflect the will of God. Every man and woman was designed to be a slave to someone. The question was, “Choose you this day whom you will serve” not “If you will serve.” If you are not a slave to God, you are automatically a slave to His enemy.
8- Before long, Satan will always focus on satisfying the flesh. He said, “Look at that food, Eve.” He said to Jesus, “I will give you all of this.”
9- He is never around when it is all over.
Satan's Common Denominators
If these are the ways he works, we can reach some conclusions about how he works. We can learn the things that Satan cannot stand. If you will notice these 26 lies, you will notice that there are at least 4 common denominators. There are 4 things that the devil hates. Everywhere he surfaces these 4 things surface.
1- He cannot stand absolutes. He says to Eve, “Life is not that simple. Eat of this tree. Don't eat of that tree. It is not that easy. God is a god of love. He understands your heart. Just because He told you not to eat that tree doesn't mean that is absolute. You have to reason it out. It is all relative.” Satan tempted Moses. He struggled with this when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Satan said to David, “What is one indiscretion?” He said to Ananias, “Just bend the truth a little.” Lie? Not at all? Steal? Not at all? Commit adultery? Is it always wrong? There are no absolutes because if there are absolutes, he is absolutely finished.
2- He cannot stand authority. You always see Satan's lies surface when authority is brought into the picture. He cannot stand God's authority. He cannot stand anyone else's. This is his lie. He claimed, “I will be like the Most High.” This was his line to Eve. He told her, “You can be like God. You don't need anybody to rule over you. You don't need a boss. You can be your own boss.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7 in the Amplified Bible talks about the mystery of lawlessness. It describes it as the hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority which is already at work until the Restrainer has been taken away.
3- He cannot stand an awareness of open spiritual conflict. This is why we have spent so much time studying alliances these past few lessons. Satan doesn't want us to know who the enemy really is. He doesn't want us to know what the issues really are. He doesn't want us to know that the issues are the pulling down of spiritual strongholds. He doesn't want us to know that good and evil cannot coexist. He doesn't want us to know that we cannot trust the enemy, which is him. You are supposed to reprove a liar. You don't listen to a liar, you flee from him.
4- He wants to do battle in the physical realm, as he cannot stand to do battle in the spiritual realm, because God is spirit. He wants you to read your spirituality by experiences. He wants you to trace your growth by legalism. He wants you to trace your progress by numbers. He wants you to think physical. He wants your priorities to be in the physical realm. He wants your goals to be in the physical realm. This is his territory. God is spirit, and God is after character and spiritual transformation.
Satan said, “Jesus, do a miracle. God will save You.” “Jesus, eat the rock, God will turn it into bread.” “Jesus, all of this physical kingdom can be Yours.” “Eve, eat of the tree, that is what we are here for. Eat, drink and be merry.”
Satan also wants to destroy the deep, spiritual truths that lie beneath those physical conflicts. For instance, we dealt with a deeper truth when we were talking about sexual purity. The reason that sex outside of marriage is always wrong, is not just because of what it does to the commandment of God, but because it violates the spiritual principle that a man cannot find God without a commitment to Jesus Christ. A man cannot find physical satisfaction without a commitment to marriage. It is the picture, the portrait of salvation.
Then there is the picture of the home, the heavenly home with the heavenly Father. This is why Satan wants to destroy the home. Why does Satan want to destroy marriage? Because he wants us to believe that there is no security in Jesus Christ. He wants us to believe that the marriage that represents the relationship between Christ and the church can be broken. Why is it that he wants to do away with discipline? He wants us to believe that there is no divine discipline. He wants us to believe that there is no hell. Why is it that he wants to do away with responsibility and rewards through accomplishments? He wants us to believe that there is no Bema Seat, that there is no reward for the believer beyond this life. He wants to do away with the Bible, because he wants us to believe that there are not absolutes. He wants us to do away with national security, because he wants us to believe that in the spiritual realm there are no real enemies, no real conflict, no real conclusions and no real distinctions. He wants to do battle in the physical realm, but he wants to destroy spiritual truth.
The real conflict, oversimplified, is that the Christian is standing on absolute truth under absolute, God-derived authority. He must then recognize truth that comes only from God. Only a lie comes from the enemy. We must recognize that what comes from God is totally eternal, and there are spiritual promises for a spiritual kingdom. We must recognize that what comes from the world is totally temporal and that there are physical promises for a physical kingdom. To try to pull into focus and enjoy both is double vision. It does not work.
The four things that Satan cannot stand are: absolute truth, God-derived authority, an understanding of the battle, and the spiritual conflict that is involved. Watch for Satan in these four areas.
As we bring this series to a close, we must recognize that in no age in history since the cross has Satan battled so openly, so fiercely, and with such reckless abandon. You would almost think that he knows the game is about over, and he is going to lose.
Imagine if you will, a prisoner who is sentenced to be executed for a horrible crime. Time after time, he has been granted a stay of execution. Finally, the day dawns, and he is escorted down the corridor to the gas chamber. He hears the roar of the crowd. In a huge grandstand, seemingly, all of humanity is gathered to watch. As they round the corner, they take off his chains, not because he is free, but because there is no place left for him to go but to his death. Can you imagine what he would do? He would be in a frenzy, putting on the show of his life. Pretending to be showing the authority a thing or two, he would rant and rave and swing and hurl himself at anything in his way. It would be the game of pretense at its most ridiculous level. The prisoner is playing king, until having bruised and battered himself in this meaningless show of self, at the precise moment scheduled, the crowd goes silent. The gas chamber is filled, and he will meet his prescribed death. All of his last minute frenzy did nothing to alter his ultimate fate.
Satan, in these last days, is determined to behave just like that. He is a defeated foe. The clock of history is at 11:55. Like a mad man, he is frantically ranting and raving to the delight of the crowd. But, at the prescribed moment in history, the song of victory that was penned on that Roman cross, will break forth from those grandstands. The executioner will step forward to complete the pre-ordained role.
Have you ever looked at a timetable or a time line of Satan's life to see how close to the end he really is? Let's look at a chart of that. At the top you will see Satan's fall which is a result of his refusal to submit to the authority of God. He was then cast out of heaven.
Below that, we see his conflict with Eve in the garden. She, too, acknowledges his philosophy. No absolutes. No authority. Unaware of the real conflict, she chooses the physical pleasure rather than the will of God. She became her own boss just long enough to become Satan's slave. All mankind was thus cursed with sin.
Four thousand years or so pass, and we see Satan's conflict with Jesus in the wilderness. He tried to play “Let's Make a Deal” with God. It is his last ditch effort to avoid a sentence, but it didn't work. About three years later, on a Roman cross, Satan's death knoll was finally complete. His future was sealed. It was all over for him.
We then see some 2,000 years or so below that, the Church Age. This is the age in which we live. Now the Holy Spirit has been placed in the believer. Now demonic warfare goes on between the agents of the enemy and the spirit of God within the Christian. The pressure begins to build and build and build as the 2,000 years pass. By the end of the age, the struggle gets intense. The conflict heightens more and more as the age draws to a close. We hear, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Decadence, open rebellion, the outpouring of the wrath of Satan.” But, also there is the potential that God would anoint His people with the Spirit. There will be an awakening of the saints, a revival in the church, and an outpouring of God's power throughout the world as people come to know Christ as never before.
We see that as this age draws to a close and to a climax, it builds and builds and builds. The lies of Satan become more visible. The spiritual conflict becomes more intense. There are more natural disasters. There are more emerging cults and false Messiahs. There is the re-emergence of Israel. There is the hatred in the Mideast as it boils and festers like a cancer.
This is the exciting part. At this time in history, the church of Jesus Christ gets a phone call. It is God on the line, and He says, “Come home. I am waiting for you.” No matter how you place this in the scheme of events, it will make no difference in what I am trying to share in this lesson. I am placing this at the beginning of the tribulation, because I believe this is when the church will be raptured. The tribulation period comes. It will be seven years of Satan's power as he flings himself against the prison walls. Death is imminent, and he fights for all he is worth. The Restrainer is gone, at least for the moment.
Then comes Armageddon. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ in all of His glory follows. Satan is then thrown into the bottomless pit. During the millennial reign of Christ, He will rule on the earth for 1,000 years. At the end of that, Satan will be loosed, but only for a season. Then he will be cast into the lake of fire forever and forever and forever. This is the truth. This is where Satan is headed.
Satan's biggest lie of all is that he will always be in charge of this world. It is not true. His time is running out. 2 Peter 3:3 says, “knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers walking after their own lusts.” Here comes Satan's story saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? It has been so long. Maybe the Father has been asleep all of these years. Things continue as they were since the beginning of creation. What is going to happen?” Peter goes on to say,
2 Peter 3:4 And saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?” For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
God's most blessed truth is that except for the mercy of God, it would have been all over for Satan a long time ago. He is on borrowed time. Because of the righteousness of God, the promise of God will not fail. Christian, listen, some golden daybreak, Jesus will come. Do you believe that? First, He will come for us. We read in 1 Thessalonians 4,
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
That is a long time. Not only that, Jesus will come with us. We see in Matthew 16:27,
For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels.
Matthew 25:30 says,
When the Son of Man shall come in His glory with the angels, then with Him, He shall sit on the throne in His great glory.
Colossians 3:4 says,
When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye appear with Him also in glory.
1 Thessalonians 3:13 says,
To the end, He might establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all of His saints.
The Scripture teaches us that on that day, every knee will bow. On that day, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is God to the glory of the Father.
When this happens, we won't have to listen to Satan's lies anymore. Revelation 20:10 says,
...then the devil will again be thrown in the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever.
This is why Satan is fighting so hard. His executioner stands before him. That is why it is such an exciting time to be alive, if you are a Christian.
If you are not a Christian, this is not an exciting time to be alive, is it? There is depression. There is economic instability. There is the threat of war. Inflation is spiraling. We really don't know what the future holds, but it doesn't look good from the world's perspective. I would just like to tell you that there is Good News. This world is not our home. The King of kings is poised on the pedestal of history, just about to emerge to take His children home forever. If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you can do that right now by simply acknowledging the fact that you cannot be your own boss, that you cannot be your own god. You need to admit that you have been separated from God because of the sin in your life. Once and for all right now, you can accept the payment He made for your sins for all of eternity. Because He is, praise God, coming back.
(69%)
