The Devil isn’t Real– Lies
of the Enemy #8– Purity 1020
Purity 1020 04/18/2023 Purity 1020 Podcast
Purity 1020 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of the fading light of day over the
St. Vincent Gulf comes to us from author Liisa Grace Baun (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086786471730)
who shared this view from the lounge room window of her home in Adelaide, South
Australia commenting that “Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for where I
live!” With a view like this it’s not surprising that why they “never close those
curtains.”
Well, It’s Tuesday and I share Liisa’s photo and sentiments
about always being grateful for where she lives and how she never closes the
curtains on this spectacular view as a reminder to be intentional about being
grateful for what God has given us and by never “the closing the curtains” on
the truth that can give a continual source of peace and joy.
I just happen to have been blessed with a view of
the Hudson River which diverts into the Schodack Creek in front of my home and
it never fails to remind me of how good God was in brining me through the
aftermath of my divorce to give me a home, a hope, and a future. But unlike Liisa, I do pull the blinds over
my windows, (I have neighbors and I like my privacy) and because I do I can sometimes
completely forget about that awesome view and just how blessed I am by where I
am.
We can take the good things we have for granted and
when we aren’t practicing gratitude the enemy loves to come in to give us a
negative perspective about the things we once were very happy to receive. This can happen with our possessions and with
our relationships. The people and
things in our life can become familiar and underappreciated or even viewed as
problematic when the enemy sows the seeds of discontent in our minds.
We can even see the dark train of our thoughts that
paints the world black and wonder what
is wrong with us. Why do I hate everything? Why has my heart grown cold? What’s
wrong with me?
Familiarity may cause us to naturally take things
for granted and if we aren’t careful with managing our thoughts we could become
anxious, discontented, or depressed but when these negative mind states persist
we should wonder if those thought cycles are products of ourselves or a demonic
campaign to steal our peace and joy and lead us into the temptation of finding
happiness through circumstantial means.
These negative thoughts could be the condemnation of the enemy as a
precursor for setting us up for sin.
However, if we don’t believe in the spiritual forces
of darkness or their ability to affect our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors,
we would have probably come to the conclusion that we are slipping into mental
illness which would further depress us and may cause us to seek a medical
solution to a spiritual problem.
However, the good news is that the word of God warns
us of the reality of the demonic and when we ‘put on the whole armor of God”
which is analogous to intentionally living according to our identiy in Christ,
we can “stand against the devil’s schemes”.
But we have to know this and do this. We have to be on guard and take
every thought captive.
But the enemy seeks to have us “close the curtains”
on the spiritual realities of our lives and his existence in particular. His schemes are far more effective when we
aren’t on guard against his attacks.
And so that brings us to our current series, which
is an examination of some of the common lies the enemy tells us to cause us to
doubt our faith, steal our peace, or to choose not to follow the Lord with the
way we live our lives.
So today’s big lie is:
Lie # 8: The
Devil isn’t Real.
It’s foolish to fight someone who doesn’t exist and as
much as the enemy is prideful enough to want to be God, he is also wise enough
to circumvent the authority that Christians have to resist him by convincing
the world that he doesn’t exist.
Surprisingly, the enemy is not only successful in
convincing the world he doesn’t exist, he has also convinced a significant
portion of people who identify themselves as Christians that he isn’t real.
In 2009, the Barna research group conducted a survey and their results concerning
Satan stated that: “Four out of ten
Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but
is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they
“agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated
that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter
(26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The
remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan. (https://www.barna.com/research/most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exist/)
So even among “Christians”, according to this survey,
done in 2009 mind you, only 35% would strongly agree or even “somewhat” agree that
Satan is real. And that was before “our
present distress” of the post Covid-19 mass departure of the faith and social
and moral slippage that indicates that Satan is alive and well in his efforts
to lead humanity astray.
People are abandoning the faith and increasingly
identifying themselves as “non-religious” so it’s no wonder that they doubt the
existence of Satan. However, paradoxically there are indications that Satanism –
the worship of Satan – is on the increase in Great Britain (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/29/satanism-devil-worship-rise-according-census-data/)
– with a reported 167% increase in people identifying as Satanists between 2011
and 2021.
So some people don’t need to be convinced!
For Biblical support of the existence of Satan, I am
providing a link to the Open Bible.ifo’s 100 bible verses about Satan (https://www.openbible.info/topics/satan)
and for those interested in overcoming the enemy’s affects in your life, I would direct you read to Dr. Neil Anderson’s
the Bondage Breaker and the Steps the Freedom in Christ or Dr. Karl Payne’s “Spiritual
Warfare: Christians, Demonization, and Deliverance” for information and methods
for resolving personal and spiritual conflicts that may be influenced by
demons.
I don’t want to just point to the Bible and tell you
that the devil is real. I want to direct you to the resources that intelligently
guide you through the scriptures to validate the enemy’s existence and his
effects on mankind as well as point you to resources that have methods that are
proven to be effective in overcoming those demonic influences through repentance,
renunciation, and prayer.
Through my journey of faith on the path of Christian
discipleship and through going through the Steps to Freedom in Christ, I have overcome
addictive behaviors and negative mind states that I now realize that were at least
partially influenced by the spiritual forces of darkness. I never knew what freedom was available to me
until I was lead by the Lord to follow Him and to cast out and resist the
spiritual forces that sought to keep me in bondage to sin and the lies about God,
myself, and the world that kept me from knowing the peace, joy, and abundant
life that God gives to all who place their faith in Christ.
I myself have been delivered from the effects of the
enemy and through my volunteer work with Freedom in Christ ministries, I have
seen other people delivered as well.
So I encourage to not believe the lie that “The
devil isn’t real.” But to also know that he is a defeated foe, who is powerless
to afflict us when we put our faith in Jesus and act out of the power and authority
that Christ has given to us.
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse is:
2 Timothy
3:16 (NLT2)
16 All Scripture is inspired
by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is
wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what
is right.
Today’s verse reminds us that all scripture is inspired by God to teach and correct us to do what is right.
Our resource shared this verse under the heading of “When you want to know the truth…” and it rightfully points us to the word of God – scripture!
IF we want to overcome the
lies of the enemy, we have to know what the truth is and the source for truth
is the word of God. Beyond facts and figures, the Bible teaches us the truth of
the spiritual nature of our universe and through it the Lord teaches us what is
right and wrong.
When we heed the wisdom of the Bible and apply it to our lives, we correct our wrong thinking and change our poor choices to align with the truth according to God. And because God wouldn’t lead us astray, when we follow His word we increasing grow in the fruit of the Spirit and the assurance of God is good and word is true.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
CONCLUSION
continues
It now remains for us
to offer a few closing reflections and our happy task is finished.
God foreordains everything which comes to
pass.
His sovereign rule extends throughout the entire Universe and is over every
creature. “For of Him, and through
Him, and to Him, are all things” (Rom. 11:36). God initiates
all things, regulates all things, and all things are working unto His eternal
glory. “There is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him” (1
Cor. 8:6). And again, “According to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11).
Surely if anything could be ascribed to chance
it is the drawing of lots, and yet
the Word of God expressly declares “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the
Lord” (Prov. 16:33)![1]
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