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This morning I urge you to re-examine what you are doing each day in life and why. Hold up all of your habits, desires, hobbies, spare time, recreation, sports, pursuits, collections, appetites, and all else to the scrutiny of God’s Word.
To help us all to do that spiritual check-up, think with me through how God has revealed Satan and what that implies as to his attacks upon us. Here are the top dozen or so ways that Satan is at work against us as believers this morning…
1. Satan the father of lies (as he is revealed in John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.) wants to snatch the Word of God from your mind. Do the pursuits and activities you have chosen help Satan to snatch God’s Word from your mind? Is it hard to read the Word after you watch certain movies? Is your music collection more precious than your Bible? Do you seem to NEVER get anything out of the Bible or church anymore? That is Satan the father of lies snatching God’s Word from your mind!
2. Satan as the evil one (as he is revealed in Matthew 6:13 NASB ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil. one [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.]’) wants you to think little-by-little that sin is not so bad. Do the movies you watch, the TV shows you watch, the music you watch and listen to, the web explorations you make, the books and magazines you read make you think little by little that sin is really not that bad? That is Satan the evil one tampering with your thinking!
3. Satan the unholy one (as he is revealed in I John 2:13 ‘wicked one’ I write to you, fathers Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.) wants you to slowly learn to laugh at sin on television and in the movies. Do you laugh at shows and movies where there is sexual innuendo, and God’s absolute holiness and righteous standards are mocked? That is Satan the unholy one teaching you to laugh at sin!
4. Satan the deceiver (as he is revealed in II Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.) wants to destroy your conscience bit-by-bit so it will no longer warn you. Did words that used to offend you no longer offend you? Do images that used to trouble your conscience as displeasing to God no longer trouble you? Do places you used to feel dishonored the Lord no longer feel that way? Do immoral, godless activities no longer make righteous indignation rise? Are you sitting in the gates of Sodom like Lot with evil just playing out in front of your eyes—without your righteous soul being vexed? That is Satan the deceiver destroying your conscience bit-by-bit!