.
I want to start this morning on a light note. Translations from English to a native tongue can be especially difficult. Here are a few examples.
Sign in a Tokyo hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel toweles please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not to read this notice.
In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: "Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists".
When translated into Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin’ good" came out as "eat your fingers off".
Denmark: in a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions
Apparently skiers (and their ski-boots) were making lots of noise after hours in this Austrian hotel, so they posted this sign: "Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.”
Sign in a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily
Serbia: in a Belgrade hotel elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.
This last one is my favorite. A warning sign to motorists in Tokyo: "When a passenger of the foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet at him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage, then tootle him with vigor."
When I read this I thought this is what we need to do with Satan. When he becomes an obstacle, we should “tootle him with vigor.”
As we discussed last week, Satan doesn’t have a bag of tricks. Rather he takes a more forward approach by building a road straight into our minds. Once this road is established he brings in deception so he can play mind games with us. If this deception lingers, it will become destructive. We are to build roadblocks across this road by taking every thought captive. We saw how Satan was able to destroy Ananias and Sapphira by building a road of pride and greed into there minds. This deception led to their destruction at the feet of the disciples. And it’s just not individuals that can be deceived by Satan. Large groups can be also. We see an example of this in 1 Samuel 17.
On one mountain top is the Philistine army. On the other mountain top is the Israeli army. In the valley between them stands a man 9 feet 9 inches tall. His name is Goliath. He is wearing an armor that weighs 125 lbs. He is holding a spear that weighs 17 pounds and the pointed head of the spear weighed 16 pounds. All told estimations are that his weaponry was more than 700 lbs. Goliath was not unnoticeable by any means.
But what really struck fear into an entire army were his constant threats. Everyday he challenged them to send a man to fight him in a battle for all the marbles. “When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.”
Satan had used this one man to build a road into the mind of an entire nation. He was able then to play mind games with them.
Satan challenges us the same way. He will make claims that we are not tough enough to handle what he will throw at us. He threatens to take circumstances and beat the stuffing out of us. His goal is to cause enough fear and confusion in our minds that we no longer think rationally. His desire is to destroy our faith and the ministry that God has called us to be apart of. Allowing Satan to play those mind games will cause us to live on the down side of our victory.
1 Samuel 17:8-9 “Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. ‘Why are you all coming out to fight?’ he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!’”
In this particular case Goliath was telling the truth. These were the rules of warfare in the days of David. If you allowed one warrior to represent the entire nation and that one warrior lost, then that nation would be enslaved. These rules still apply in spiritual warfare. If you allow Satan to defeat you in your minds he will attempt to hold you captive while you are in the flesh.
Let’s look at what Goliath yelled next. 1 Samuel 17:10 “I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!”
Satan proclaims that at us today. “I defy you to believe God for good health. I defy you to believe that things are going to get better financially. I defy you to think your ministry will ever be more than what it is.” Satan doesn’t have to attack us on the physical realm. He attacks us spiritually by constantly threatening us. Goliath never charged the Israelites. He just used intimidation to keep them at bay. The concentration was on the threats of their enemy rather than the promises of God. However, as we have already learned, in spiritual warfare the flesh counts for nothing.
Upon the scene comes a young shepherd boy named David. David was not a warrior. He had never served in the army. However he understood warfare. 1 Samuel 17: 34 “But David persisted. ‘I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,’ he said. ‘When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.’”
This is the correct approach to spiritual warfare. When Satan comes to rob you of your joy, you go after it. When Satan wants to rob you of your peace, you snatch it away from him. If need be club him with the word of God.
Back to the story. At first David is shocked. He doesn’t understand why everyone is frightened. He knows first hand the power of God. So he goes around asking individuals if they will fight this man. Finally he makes the decision to fight him.
King Saul was more than willing to allow this shepherd boy to be slaughtered. He could declare that David was not one of his fighting men, therefore they were not defeated. And if by chance David did win, then they could rout the Philistines.
Saul tried to dress David in his armor. He wanted to replicate what Goliath was wearing. But David refused. He would go into battle dressed as always. He felt no need to depend on metal when he had God.
When Goliath saw David he scoffed. Goliath was insulted by a young kid daring to come at him with no armor or sword. But David informed him that he needed no sword or spear because he was coming in the name of the Lord. Then he made this observation.
1 Samuel 17:47 “And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
David recognized something that everyone else was missing. This was not a physical battle. It just appeared to be. This was a spiritual battle. Saul could have sent warrior after warrior into that battle and they would have been slaughtered. David went into the battle prepared spiritually based on what he knew about God. And notice David’s approach to Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:48 “As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.” We should be going out to meet Satan when he is attacking us. Too often we cower down, arms lifted, trying to deflect his blows. All it took was Goliath taking one step toward David and it was on. David ran toward him, pulling out a stone, loading his sling shot, and letting it fly. Down went Goliath.
Look what happened next. 1 Samuel 17: 51 “Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.”
David used Goliath’s own sword to behead him. The Philistines turned and ran.
As I stated earlier Satan can influence not only individuals but also groups. Goliath convinced King Saul that he could not be defeated. Once Saul was convinced the entire nation became convinced. David arrives and Goliath cannot convince him that he is invincible. David slays Goliath and the entire nation becomes convinced that the Philistines can be beaten. The victory becomes theirs.
Churches split at times because Satan is able to sow dissension in one mind. That dissension soon spreads to others. Soon a faction of like minded individuals is formed. The road built into the thoughts of one has now become roads built into the thoughts of many. Mind games are played and a divisive force emerges.
We can influence our families, friends, and co-workers the same way. We can allow a spirit of defeat to begin causing us to become hopeless and depressed. That spirit of defeat soon attacks the minds of those around us. They too become hopeless and defeated. Like the Israelites listening to Goliath, they tremble in fear.
Or, we can be like David. We can walk into the midst of turmoil with the correct mindset and attack the spirit of defeat with the word of God. This doesn’t mean shouting the word of God in other people’s faces. That usually makes them feel worse. It means fighting this on the spiritual plain. It means you having the correct mindset, speaking words of encouragement to others, and not allowing your thoughts to be captured by Satan. You capture your thoughts and make them submissive to God’s word.
Satan goes by many names. One of these names is the devil. Understanding the meaning of his name will expose his mode of operation. The name “devil” is never mentioned in the Old Testament. The devil is a New Testament term. It would suggest a change of tactics on the part of Satan. Devil is formed from two words in the Greek. Dia meaning by the means of and ballo meaning to throw.
From his name we can deduce his means of attack on us. He will repeatedly throw lies, suggestions, accusations, allegations, whatever he can find to destroy any roadblock you have established on his road to your mind. If he is able to breach that roadblock, he will strike with all of his fury to penetrate and take captive your thoughts once again. This is a constant battle. It rages every moment that we are awake. His goal is to deceive to the point that his threats become your perceived reality. Goliath convinced an entire nation that he could not be defeated and that became their reality. David looked at Goliath as no bigger threat than the threats he had faced before and he killed him. That was David’s reality.
When fighting a spiritual battle of any kind remember that this battle is no greater than any other battle you have fought.
Look at 1 Corinthians 10:13 “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
A temptation is a test. The devil is constantly putting our faith to the test by hurling doubts and fears at our roadblock. But, like David, God wants us to look at the devil’s attacks from his perspective.
Number one, these attacks are nothing new. Others are experiencing them also. The devil has not changed his tactics for just you. He is hitting you with the same old junk he hit you with yesterday and the day before that.
Number two, God is faithful. The devil will try his best to convince you that God has abandoned you but he hasn’t.
Number three, He would never allow the devil’s attacks to be successful. If they are, it’s because we allowed them to be. He has given us the tools and the knowledge to win all spiritual battles. It is up to us to use them.
Number four, if we pray the Holy Spirit will deliver us from the attacks of the devil. When we fix our thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. And think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise, the roadblock to our mind becomes impenetrable.
Let’s look at Ephesians 6:11 “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”
Let me paraphrase this verse based on the Greek meanings of words that we have learned. “Clothe yourself with the entire spiritual protection that God has made available to you, so that you will have explosive and dynamic power to stand proud and upright, face to face, against the roads that the slanderer would try to pave into your mind.” We are overcomers. Let’s reflect it in our lives.
