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Devotions from Gospel Chapel Ministries HOME SERMONS SERMON NOTES
SATAN TRIES TO DECEIVE US
The New Testament church is not excluded from Satan’s crafty tricks. Even those who have been delivered from the curse of the law by becoming part of the flock of Christ are not fully delivered from the crafty designs of Satan. Satan wants to bring the bride of Christ back into the bondage of the broken law through rebellion against the authority of God’s Holy Word. The Apostle Paul warns us in 1CO 10:12, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Why? Satan goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, Cf. 1PE 5:8.
Every descendant of Adam’s fallen race is exposed to the "wiles of the devil," Cf. EPH 6:11. The word "wiles" comes from the Greek word "enduo" which means "the sly tricks, the beguiling trickery, to lure away." How better can he accomplish this than through a state of confusion by wresting and perverting the Word of God? To get man to rebel against God is to accomplish his purpose of bringing man back into confusion. God’s reward for rebellion is confusion. If you don’t believe that, look at the world today. God sent confusion at Babel as the reward for rebellion. To break their rebellion, God confused their languages, Cf. GEN 11:1-9. Anytime we rebel against God’s authority, we will end up in confusion.
Look around at the churches today. Do you see any in a state of confusion? Ask the local pastor where the confusion comes from. Is he preaching submission to the will of God? Is the pastor guiding his charges to turn from their evil ways and walk in the ways of the Lord? If that message is being faithfully preached, there should be no confusion. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is no confusion, Cf., 2CO 3:17.
GEN 3:1 teaches that Satan appeared in the form of a serpent because, "The serpent was more subtil [subtle, crafty] than any beast of the field." In order to escape being lured away by a flood of mass confusion, each individual must be aware of the sly tricks most commonly used by Satan as recorded in Holy Writ. Old Satan has not changed a bit; he is still just as crafty. That is why it is so important that we search God’s Word to be conscious of his designs. He would like to catch you and me off guard and cause us to rebel against God’s Word. The end result is the flood of mass confusion seen in our day.
As we prayerfully search the Word of God to be aware of Satan’s crafty designs, we should notice that Satan’s first trick in Eden was to cast doubt upon the authority of God’s Word. Satan has never learned any new tricks. This is the very same place he begins in his attempt to trap man today. It is important to search the Word of God that we may be aware of Satan’s crafty tricks. It is awesome how many people today gainsay the Word. They will barter its authority for that of some theologian or other human authority. God’s Word then takes second place, and human reasoning is used to decide what is right or wrong. This puts God’s authority in question, and Satan has the person in the same snare into which Eve fell. One of the subtle approaches used by Satan is to twist one word, thereby losing the meaning of the authority of God’s Word.
GEN 3:4-5 is the first use of Satan’s subtle tricks: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die…" Satan’s implication was that the threat was not to be taken literally. By adding his private interpretation to God’s Word, he effectually made God the liar instead of himself. He went on to qualify his private interpretation by saying, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" GEN. 3:5. Satan was denying the literal meaning of God’s Word by his private interpretation as is so often done by the most honored theologians today.
No person on the face of the earth, including the very apostles of Christ who wrote the Scriptures, has ever been given permission to add their own private interpretation to the Word of God. See what we read in 2PE 1:20-21: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The Scriptures mean exactly what they say. Satan was promoting the usurpation of God’s place in the first chariot. In effect, Satan was trying to sell the idea that God didn’t mean what He said, implying that it was just a scare tactic.
The principle that Satan taught in Eden, that is most common today, is against God’s goodness, teaching that His restrictions are unkind. He wanted Eve to believe, again so common with fallen man today, that a woman should have a right to choose, that God’s prohibition of the one tree was unkind. Satan implied it was beyond His authority.
Satan encouraged rebellion against God with a lie saying in GEN 3:1-7, "Ye shall not surely die," assuring that man would be as God. This principle of freedom from all God’s restrictions would enable them to decide for themselves what was right or wrong. Isn’t this the philosophy of the world today? People say, "Yes, the Bible says this, but what I believe…" or "what I want" is more important. Often these attempts are phrased in the manner of another person’s opinion. "This old writer says...," "That certain commentator says...," or "This certain theological authority says…" are used to explain away the Word of God. We must watch that the Word of God is not altered. Amen.
Our sermons and devotions are a ministry of Gospel Chapel located in Conrad, Montana. We also have a daily devotion and sermon notes on-line. We pray this devotion has been a blessing to those who read it. Thank you.