We are living in a world that is rapidly changing and as the world is going through a process of change, we the body of Christ need to put on the whole armour God according to Ephesians 6: 11 - 18 that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
1 Peter 5:8
Records this amazing word from the Lord
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
In the contemporary version
Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack.
The Devil is going around looking for the people that he can lie to, he is always there and the first place he attacks is the mind. And once the Devil can tell us a lie and we accept it as the truth, we as the body of Christ are in a dilemma and from the place of that lie, that we have unfortunately accepted we see that things starts going wrong in our lives.
The mind is the battlefield of the enemy and because we are not full of the word, we are in a place of not knowing what to say to the Devil that came to lie to us. Remember that Jesus said this to us in John 8: 39 - 44
John 8: 39 - 44
Your Father Is the Devil
The people said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father!”
Jesus replied, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did. Instead, you want to kill me for telling you the truth that God gave me. Abraham never did anything like that. But you are doing exactly what your father does.”
“Don’t accuse us of having someone else as our father!” they said. “We just have one father, and he is God.”
Jesus answered:
If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and only from him. He sent me. I did not come on my own. Why can’t you understand what I am talking about? Can’t you stand to hear what I am saying? Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is also the father of all lies.
This is who the devil is - a liar
Jesus called him a liar and he only comes to lie to us because we are not fully aware of the truth of who we are, and do not stand in the word of God enough to counteract the lies of the devil. It took me a while to understand that the word is the weapon we need to use to defeat the lies of the enemy. Once we know our position as the body of Christ and believe in what God as called us to be, we can then stand and claim our rights as children of God.
Jesus rightly said in John 8: 31 - 32
The Truth Will Set You Free
Jesus told the people who had faith in him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
The only way that we can come against the lies of the devil is to take a stand against his lies, no matter what is going on in our lives, we are called to be strong in the the Lord and in the power of his might.
Ephesians 6: 10 - 18
Armour of God
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. So stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. Above all, lift up the [protective] [d]shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.
This is exactly what the Lord is expecting from us as the body of Christ and with the help of His Spirit we can actually get to a place of coming against every lie of the devil and be victorious in life to his glory.
God is a good God and faithful to his promises.
The word records this in 2 Corinthians 10:5
We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ. (AMP)
Some translations records it this way
And we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ .(ERV)
Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. ( NKJV)
We all have a part to play in all this and that is to know the word of God and do what it says. The word of God says faith without works is dead in James 2: 14 - 26
Faith Without Works Is Dead
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
And in 2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
We are born of God - 1 John 5:1 and we are called to be like God, calling those things that are not as if it were - Romans 4:17.
Therefore, we are to cast down every evil imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God in our lives by bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ in his name. And how do we achieve this?
- Having Jesus Christ as our Savior
- Having a relationship with the Holy Spirit
- Knowing the word
- Praying at all times
- Mediation of the word of God
- Knowing who we are in Christ
- Speaking in tongues
Scriptures' on thoughts and the mind
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Proverbs 4: 23
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Romans 8: 5 - 8 : 10 - 15
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
We are spirit beings like I wrote in the last sermon. And as spirit beings we are not to let our flesh dominate us but we are to let our spirit dominate our flesh. By so doing we can overcome every lies of the devil, who only comes to steal, kill and destroy - John 10: 10 -29.
The word of God says we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us - Philippians 4: 13. Let us pull down every lie by picking up the word of God and speak the truth back to the devil and as we continue to do that, he eventually from us because we are standing on the word of God that can never lie - Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:13.
Stand in faith when speaking the word of God, like we said faith without works is dead. Therefore by faith put the devil to silence and keep on standing. God loves you - John 3:16 and will also stand by you at all times.
Remain blessed in the presence of God always.
