Has The Devil Taken You Captive?

HAS THE DEVIL TAKEN YOU CAPTIVE?

2 Timothy 2:24-26

TEXT VERSE: 2 TIMOTHY 2:24-26 “AND THE SERVANT OF THE LORD MUST NOT STRIVE; BUT BE GENTLE UNTO ALL MEN, APT TO TEACH, PATIENT, IN MEEKNESS INSTRUCTING THOSE THAT OPPOSE THEMSELVES; IF GOD PREADVENTURE WILL GIVE THEM REPENTANCE TO THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE TRUTH; AND THAT THEY MAY RECOVER THEMSELVES OUT OF THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL, WHO ARE TAKEN CAPTIVE BY HIM AT HIS WILL.”

That was great scripture but I want to point out to you verse 26: “that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” I want to preach to you for just a few minutes on being taken captive by the devil. Now I want to go back up to verse 24 because I want you to notice two words: The servant. Because it says the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those...and in verse 26 that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.”

I want to tell you what Paul said in Romans 7:21 “...when I would do good, evil is present with me.”

There’s a lot of evil in this world. I’m not preaching necessarily to those that are lost, I’m preaching to those that have been saved by the Grace of God and are not living it. There’s a lot of Christians today that claim to be saved by the Grace of God but their not living that Godly life. Has the devil taken you captive today? I’ll say this...the devil can’t get your salvation. If you’ve been saved by the Grace of God there’s no way the devil can take that from you. The Bible says we’re sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise until the day of redemption. It’s engraved in the palm of God’s hand and nobody can take it away. But the devil can capture you. And it says he can do it at his will. A lot of times he captures us in our minds. Sometimes he can even capture us in our heart. I remember reading in the book of Acts where Annanias and Saphire, Peter said, “Why has Satan filled your heart that you’d lie to the holy ghost.” Listen, the devil is not someone to be messing around with if you’re not strong enough to take him on. You better stay just as close to God as you can. Because if you don’t, you’ll falter and fail and fall short of the glory of God. Let me make this statement here: There’s no way that we can simultaneously follow the Lord and the devil. There’s no way! We cannot serve the Lord and Satan. I remember reading in Matthew 12:30, Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me. And he that gathered not with me scattered abroad.” The Bible says we cannot serve two masters. Either you’ll hate the one and love the other. There are too many Christians in the world today trying to follow the Lord and Satan at the same time. The devil has a lot of power and I want to share these things with you.

1. The devil wants to confuse you. The Lord started dealing with someone and the old devil came along and said that ain’t real. He said these people in here is crazy. He said everybody laughs at the preachers and deacons. He was trying to tell someone that there was no way that you needed to go down to an old fashioned altar and give your heart and your life to Christ when he had everything. He was trying to throw a big confusion block in front of someone. I’ll say this though....GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION. If you’re confused you can bet it’s not coming from God.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:14 “For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” He’s trying to confuse people. He’s trying to paint a pretty picture and trying to let you think that everything he’s telling you is right and what you’re doing is right but if you cannot support the life that you’re living Biblically, it’s not right. The devil wants to deceive you. That’s how he confuses you. I’ll say this, God wants to deliver you. God wants to set somebody free today. If you don’t get it today it’s not my fault, it’s your fault. Too many people come into the house of God and don’t even have the mentality of what worship really is. I’m going to tell you what worship is. It’s the overflowing of a Godly life. Get it on the inside and it’ll show up on the outside. That’s what worshiping the Lord is all about. There’s a lot of people wandering afar off. You remember old Peter when they came and got Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to lead him over to pilots hall? The Bible says that Peter followed him afar off. There’s a lot of Christians like that today. They don’t know what it’s like to get in the fire!!!! You get your life right with God and you’ll be right.