Satan’s Battle Tactics Part 6
Scriptures: John 10:10; Acts 4:1-21; Matthew 10:28
Last week we traveled home to bury Nikki’s grandmother. Grandma Bea was one hundred years old when she died and she never once that I know of ever lost her faith in God. In the worst circumstances that I witnessed her experiencing, she always gave God praise and was thankful for each day. She was unmovable in her faith in God and in her belief that He had her in His hands. I mention this today because she was of that old school that believed that God’s word did not change with society’s beliefs and if you asked her about what was happening and her thoughts, she would tell you. What I really want you to know about Grandma Bea is that God taught her through experiencing and hearing the Word. She never learned to read so she valued the Word that she heard as others read the Bible in Church and when she listened to it on CDs. Because she placed so much value on God’s Word and she believed so very strongly in Him, she could not be shaken, broken or threaten. This is part six of my series dealing with the Satan’s battle tactics and I want you to think about what I told you about my Grandma Bea as you listen and take notes this morning.
Today I will share the final tactic of this series and next week I will conclude the series with how we can defend ourselves against these tactics. The final tactic that I will cover in this series is his tactic of using threats to keep us silent. I want you to ask yourself two questions this morning: “Based on how I am living, can I be threatened; and “Am I being threatened?” I told you previously that Jesus said “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) If Satan cannot outright steal the Word from you he will try to get you to sacrifice it on his altar (making in null and void in your life)? When he can silence us through his utilization of threats we, not him, make the Word of God void in our life because we will not speak the Word in our circumstances and thus the Word lies dormant within us.
I want to share with you the definition of the word threat. Threat is defined as, “the declaration of intent to cause harm; a sign of something bad.” The threat of harm can include physical, emotional, and mental pain. Keep in mind that a threat is only viable if the person making the threat has the power to carry it out. Today Christians are threatened into silence by society (we no longer speak against what society believes when their beliefs contradict the Word of God) and we are silenced by the threat of our past and current sins coming to light. These are the two primary ways that our enemy is using to threaten us into silence making the Word void in our life. Let’s start with the threat of exposure from our past and current sins because I want to spend most of my time talking about the threats from society.
Last week it was in the news that a governor was indicted and charged with invasion of privacy. He had an affair with a woman and took pictures of her in a compromising position. He told the woman that he would release those photos if she ever spoke of their affair. He was threatening her to keep her silent about the affair. How many of us have things in our past and present that Satan has used to silence the Word of God in our life? I once asked someone why they would not speak out about the life one of their family members were living and they told me that they could not say anything because they used to do the same thing. Even though they no longer lived that life, they did not feel that they had a right to say anything because of their past. This is an example of how our enemy will use our past to nullify our use of the Word of God to help someone else come out of sin. It is hard for us to stand against sins that we ourselves have participated in. Luke 8:17 says, “For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Our secrets allow Satan to keep us quiet unless we move beyond them. We must live in the Light so that when our past is used to threatened us, we are able to say “By the grace of God that was who I was, not who I am.” We must live our life in such a way that we cannot be threatened into silence. We can rise above the failures of our past and walk before God as His servant. Don’t let the enemy silence you when you could be the instrument that God uses to bring someone out of darkness into His marvelous light!!! Remember, it’s the Word of God that can change a life and that is why our enemy does not want us to have or use it! I was talking recently with someone who, like me, grew up in the Church and has attended Church all of his life. However, even though he was actively going to Church, he would still participate in the things of the world. After experiencing some difficult situations in his life, he decided to rededicate himself to God. He started reading the word and really giving God some quality time. Through this he lost his desire to do the things he was doing which included drinking, smoking, etc. He said through the Word God removed the desire! We have all sinned and in some cases lived lifestyles that we would never want others to know about, but the greatest mistake of all is to live in the shadow (threat of exposure) of those sins to the point where we will not rightly act on or walk in the power of the Word of God. So if there are things in your life that Satan can threaten you with, it’s time to get rid of them. Put them in your past and leave them there. Do not have anything in your life that Satan can use to threaten you into silence. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” If we are to be bold as lions, we have to walk in the truth of God’s word!
Let’s move on to the second threat. Remember what Jesus said about the seeds that fell among the thorns? These were those who heard the Word but the worries of life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things choked the Word so that it became unfruitful. Those desires for other things that I discussed previously include our desire to be accepted by society, to fit in. When our desire to fit in is stronger than our desire to obey God’s word we open the door to be silenced by the same “society” that we are trying to fit in with. We must realize that while we are on this earth we are visitors. This world is not our home, heaven is. If heaven is my home, I must live like I am a resident of heaven. Let me make this clear. I live at my house with my family. When I visit your house, I do not act like it’s my house. I try to be respectful of your house because I am a visitor in your home. There are many things you can do in your home that I am not allowed to do because I do not live there. This should be the way we live here on earth. If heaven is truly our home and we are visitors here, we must live like we are a visitor and thus there are some things that we choose not to participate in. So enters our need to fit into society and face the threat of persecution from family, friends, co-workers, and strangers when we say the Bible is right and someone else is wrong. While this threat is always present, we must make a decision – stand on the Word and accept the threat, or hide the Word and minimize the threat. This is not an easy thing to do when society tells us what it believes to be right and pass laws to support that belief. I will tell you that you will live much longer with God than you could ever live here on earth. Let me share an example from Acts chapter four.
Acts chapter four really starts in the neighborhood of Acts 2:41 after Peter concludes his sermon on the Day of Pentecost where three thousand souls were added to the Church. In Acts chapter three verse one, Peter and John have gone to the temple and they see the man sitting at the gate begging for alms. And the guy looks at them expecting to receive money. But Peter says “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk!” (Acts 3:6) Peter and John did not have money but they had the same Spirit of God operating in their lives as we should have in ours. This is what they gave the man, what had been given to them! So what does the man do? Does the man get up leaping and praising Peter and John? No! He’s leaping and praising God! When the people see the man, Peter explains to them that it was not him that healed the man, but Jesus! And guess what, as you continue to read you find out that the religious leaders became very unhappy. Now you would think that a miraculous healing would make them happy. But no they were not happy because these men were changing how people thought about religion and what it meant to truly serve God. That brings us up to chapter four.
“As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent.” (Acts 4:1-6) Ladies and gentlemen, what Peter and John did was a big deal! Five thousand men (and their families) accepted Christ and were saved. Five thousand!!! This did not sit well with the religious leaders. Examine the gathering that took place? Annas. Caiaphas. John. Alexander. These individuals were “priestly royalty”. Annas had five sons who became high priests. Caiaphas was Annas’ son in law. Rome had authorized that the priesthood could pass down to the sons, so it had become a family business (similar to what we see happening today). These are the priests before whom Peter and John stood and faced. Now we will see what it means to not live under the shadow of being threated.
“When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, ‘By what power, or in what name, have you done this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by this name this man stands here before you in good health.” (Acts 4:7-10) You have all of these high priests sitting and you have poor little John and poor little Peter standing before them. So they are asked by what power or what name are you doing this in. Do you remember the story of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19? They decided they were going to cast out devils in the name of Jesus. And the devil said, Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you? And the devil beats them up. A person’s name represents something. Your name represents something based on how you are living before others. Depending on the name you will have credibility or you will not have credibility. And that’s what the high priests are talking about. Whose name were you using that’s greater than ours?
I want you to listen to what Peter is saying. Peter tells them outright that the name in which the man was healed was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He was not shy, scared or intimidated! Whereas they were calling them on the carpet for preaching Jesus, Peter turns the table on them and calls them out for crucifying Him. He also points out that God raised Him from the dead. This response was not expected by the priests. They fully expected Peter and John to be intimidated in their presence. Peter tells them with full confidence that this man was healed because of their risen Savior, Jesus Christ! He took a stand and drew a line in the sand! How many in the Body of Christ would do that today? How many would take a stand like that? How many would draw a line in the sand like that knowing what it could cost them in society?
“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, ‘What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.’ And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.’ When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened.” (Acts 4:13-21)
They observed the confidence of Peter and John meaning the men was listening to what they were saying and “how” they were saying it. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men but marveled and recognized that they had been with Jesus. Peter and John spoke with boldness and there was no hesitancy within them! If that was the Body of Christ today, what we’re seeing happening in this country would not be happening because we would not compromise when facing unbelievers (and I use that term for anyone who does not believe the Word of God even while confessing their spirituality.)
What was it that the priests did not want to spread any further? Jesus. It wasn’t the miracles. The miracles were a result of preaching Jesus. They reasoned that if they could stop the preaching of Jesus they could stop the miracles. If we stop speaking the Word, we will stop the manifestation in our life what the Word can produce. Do you understand this? The world wants us to stop speaking what the Bible says because when we stop speaking what the Bible says what the Bible can produce in our lives will not be produced and Jesus will not be able to do signs, miracles and wonders through us. This is why the devil does not want us speaking what the Bible says. He wants us to be afraid to speak the truth to whomever because we want to satisfy them rather than satisfy God. If we are unwilling to let a person know that Jesus is the only way to heaven, regardless of what they believe, we’re satisfying that other person because we’re not giving them the Word of God. We’re living in compromise. Verse seventeen said, “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” The word “warn” is the same word translated as threaten. Remember what I told you about a threat being real if the person does not have the power and/or authority and/or influence to carry it out? Do you think these religious leaders had the power and/or authority to make good on their threats? You better believe they did. And yet, we see how Peter and John stood in the face of these threats? Do you think most of the Body of Christ could withstand such threats? Do you see where the persecution is coming from? It’s the religious leaders. Where do those of us, who are doing our best to stand on what God says in His Word, get the most persecution? Other Christians!!! Now look again at Peter and John’s response in verses nineteen and twenty: “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Peter is saying “Let me make sure I understand you correctly. I will do what you tell me to do or I will do what God tells me to do. Is that about right? Well, let me say this, I’m stepping out of this decision. You’ll have to make this one. But let me tell you what my decision is.” On the surface it sounds like Peter is saying that I can only speak what God says. It goes deeper than that. Do you see the word “cannot”? It’s the combination of two Greek words. The first is “dunamis” which means “to be able, to have power, whether by virtue of one’s own ability or resources, by permission of law or custom, or simply because they can.” The second Greek word is “ou”, and it means “an absolute negation.” This is what Peter and John are saying: “We cannot but speak what we’ve seen and heard. We have no other choice.” They are telling the religious leaders they have no choice. Why did Peter and John not have a choice? There is no name in heaven and earth by which salvation is available. There is no other name in heaven and earth that you can get born again. We believe that. We have seen Him. We have lived with Him. We have walked with Him. We have no choice!
I want to close this morning with this. If someone walked in this building and aimed a gun at my head right now and tell me that unless I denounce Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior that they would pull the trigger, I would have no choice. It’s not an option. I have no choice. My Lord and Savior said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) This is the premise under which Peter and John operated. They did not fear what could happen to their bodies. Peter and John are doing what Jesus did. Jesus said “My will is to do the will of the one who sent me.” Jesus said “I had no choice.” If we don’t have a will, what do we not have? We don’t have a choice! What is it going to take for us as a body to realize that when we make a decision that we don’t have a choice? It’s truly about what God’s Word says? However, if we do not know, and or retain, God’s Word we will continue to make decisions based on what we think or what the world thinks. This is how our enemy wants us to operate in this world because our decisions will not always line up with God’s if we do not know His word. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
What is the difference between us and Peter and John? Conviction! Because of their conviction that Jesus Christ was the one and only way they did not fear what man could do to them. Because they did not fear what man could do to them, the threats made against their life were meaningless. They simply did not care about being threatened! It did not matter. All that mattered to them was serving Christ.
What matters most to you? Christ or people? If you are living a life where you are giving our enemy something to threaten you with, you can change today. There should be nothing that this world can threaten us with to move us off of what the Word of God says. If you are not so convicted in your spirit that Jesus Christ is the way to the point where you are willing to be shunned for His Word, you can change today. When you know that you know what you know and there is no doubt within you, you will stand on what you know. When we get to this place there is nothing that can threaten us, even the sins of our past. Accept the Word and protect it with everything within you. The next time the enemy breathes threats, tell him “You have nothing you can threaten me with. I am God’s son. I am God’s daughter. You have nothing. You have nothing that can draw me away from the table of my Father.” When this is you it’s game over for Satan. And then you’ll start living differently too. You will begin to walk the same way Jesus walked.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
