Destroy The Devil's Work

Prayer: Father God, Lord Jesus, hallowed is your holy name. Lord, we humble ourselves before your mighty throne with a grateful heart and joyful spirit. Thank you for forgiving our sins and encouraging us to forgive others. Gracious God, today, we remember and pray for the souls of the brave men and women who gave their lives that others might live. Lord, we thank you for their courage, dedication, and selfless service—glory to Your holy name. May their sacrifices remind us of the precious gift of freedom, and may their spirit inspire us to live lives of purpose and service. We pray for their families and ask that your comfort and peace surround them. We pray for the human race and ask that your love touch the heart of every human being. May my words and attitude please You. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen!

Message: Destroy the Devil’s Work

Who do you work for, God or Satan? If you work for God, your mandate is to expose evil and destroy the devil’s work. If you work for Satan, your mandate is the reverse: to oppose whatever God proposes. If you are a Christian, God created you to do good work. God also instructed His children to “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom. 12:9, ESV). If you want something to hate, try hating evil, not people. So, who are you and who do you work for? Let the Apostle John help you, he says, "The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work" (1 Jn. 3:8, NIV). This plainly says that those who follow the Son of God are to destroy the devil’s work. Do not be deceived, Satan is doing his job. He is working hard to steal, kill, and destroy God’s work and anyone carrying out God’s work.

We do not sin because God has given us the Holy Spirit as an eternal counselor. The devil is doing everything he can to quench the Spirit of God. The devil is a liar, trapping people with half-truths and flowery words. He appealed to Eve’s pride, telling her she would be like God, all-knowing, if she ate the fruit. He encouraged her to doubt God’s instruction about death, telling her, “You will not surely die” (Gen 3:4, NKJV). Paul feared for the Corinthians, and we share his fear, which is still applicable to us today because “just as the serpent’s cunning deceived Eve, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3), with deceptive tactics.

This is not an exaggeration. Daily, we witness people being led astray, sometimes unbeknownst to them, carrying out the devil’s desires. The devil is a tempter. He tried to tempt Jesus, daring him to “tell these stones to become bread” (Matt. 4:3). Jesus resisted. Can you resist when someone dares you to do something unconscionable? Violence is often escalated by instigators who dare someone to do something in a situation they have already decided to leave. A Christian knows that one method of destroying the devil’s work is to walk away. Confrontation is not always the best option; walking away does not make you a coward.

We must never forget that the devil is God’s enemy. He tracks vulnerable Christians because he knows that "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God" (1 Jn. 3:9, NIV). So, he intervenes quickly, before they are grounded in Christ, and tries to convince them that it is okay to sin because they are under grace. Before the old completely passes away and the body becomes dead to sin, the devil tries to corrupt us with deceitful desires, pushing money, fame, vanity, and the like.

So, strive to always “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:16-17). The devil knows the flesh and the Spirit are opposing forces that are in a constant battle to destroy God’s temple. If we know Christ, we must resist walking back into darkness and reclaiming our old self, “which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires” (Rom. 4:22). Choose, on this day, who you are and let the Lord live and abide in you, and we will destroy his works. We can overcome all things because the Spirit of the Lord is greater than the spirits inhabiting this world.