Actually, when it comes to advice, someone made this wise statement, "Advice is never appreciated. If it turns out well, the recipient thinks it was his own idea; and if it turns out badly, he eternally blames you."
Still, we should never be afraid of receiving good advice.
The Bible is filled with good advice, and the advice that is given in THIS BOOK, whether we heed it or not, will determine the outcome of our lives. It has a great deal to say about receiving good counsel. For example:
-Proverb 11:14, "Where no counsel is, the people fail: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety."
-Proverb 12:14, "A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompense of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him."
-Proverb 19:20, "Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end."
What we do with the counsel of God's Word has everything to do with the way our lives will turn out.
For example, the apostle Paul, in Ephesians 4:27, gives some of the best advice that can be given to Christians. He tells every Christian, "Neither give place to the devil."
We need to consider why Paul would give such advice. We really cannot comprehend why he did until we consider TWO THINGS. First, we have to consider...
I. THE DESIRES OF SATAN
We are well aware that we humans have all kinds of desires, but what we generally do not give much thought to is that Satan has some strong desires of his own.
For example, basically there are two categories of people when it comes to desires.
They are:
-Those with GODLY DESIRES, whose desires come from God. That is, when they were born again, they received a deep urge in their heart to want to please the Lord.
-Those with UNGODLY DESIRES, whose desires are of Satan. That is, since they have never been born again, they still have a sinful nature and they want to live in sin. And, unless they ask the Lord to save them, that is exactly what they will do until the day they die.
But when Paul was writing to the church at Ephesus, he was not addressing the SINNERS, he was addressing the CHRISTIANS, and his advice to them is, even though they were saved by the grace of God, "Neither give place to the devil." It would have been a waste of time for Paul to have written to sinners and tell them not to give place to Satan because they have already given him all kinds of places in their life.
Why does Paul give such advice to Christians?
Because he knows that it is the DESIRE OF SATAN TO DESTROY THE HAPPINESS AND TESTIMONY of Christians everywhere. And Satan knows if they will give him the place he wants in their life, he will destroy their HAPPINESS and TESTIMONY.
We have a good example of that in the life of Samson.
Illus: Samson was like so many Christians today. That is, he felt he could give place to the devil and he could still maintain his testimony and be used of God. God gave very specific orders that he was to live a holy, separated life from sin. However, he ignored God's commands and began to associate with the ungodly and play around with sin as if it was a toy to play with. In his situation, his playing involved a woman named Delilah. But, Delilah was not playing. In the short time he played around with sin, that great man of God, that God had so greatly used, let Satan destroy...
-His testimony.
-His eyesight.
-His life!
If Samson had only known what Paul knew, that Satan is not one to play around with, he would not have suffered such a great loss.
Proverb 6:27 says, "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?"
Paul also said, "Neither give place to the devil," for another reason; that is, Satan will never settle for the small place that a Christian will give him. He NEVER HAS and NEVER WILL!
Illus: There is a story of an Arab and his camel that illustrates how Satan will not settle for just a small place in a Christian's life. As the Arab and the camel were crossing the desert, it got so hot that the Arab stopped the camel and pitched his tent there in the middle of the desert so he could have some shade. While he was relaxing in the tent the big ugly camel struck his head inside the tent and said that it was too hot for him to be outside. First the Arab refused to listen, but then he agreed that the camel could put just his head inside the tent. The Arab went to sleep and woke up later and discovered not only did the camel have his head inside, but also his neck. The Arab, in a disgusted mood, went back to sleep. In a little while he woke up again and this time the camel had his head, his neck, and his front legs inside the tent. The Arab angrily told him, "Wait a minute. You are beginning to crowd me out of my tent." The Arab was really upset, but the camel pleaded with him to let him stay inside because the sun was so hot outside. The Arab dozed off again and suddenly woke up out in the hot sunshine. He told the camel, "Now you have gone too far!" The camel replied, "No, you fool! You have gone too far!"
Many Christians have gone too far in giving place to the devil and now, for the rest of their lives they will pay for it.
Illus: A Christian young lady started dating a popular young man at the school she attended, but the young man was not a Christian. Her Christian parents and her Christian friends counseled with her and told her the dangers of dating a fellow who was not saved. She chose to ignore all the godly advice and continued to date that young man. Everyone who knew her and loved her could tell a gradual change in her. After months of dating that young man, she would hardly ever attend church any more. Then the news got out that she was pregnant. Everyone's worst fears were realized. The young man agreed to marry her to give the child a father, but he was not a good father. Now she realizes what a mistake she has made, because now, while she is home taking care of her child, guess who is running around with other young women...
Listen, it doesn't take but a small place to be yielded to Satan for him to ruin your TESTIMONY and your LIFE, which is what SATAN DESIRES to do. This is why Paul said, "Neither give place to the devil."
Another reason Paul advises us, as Christians, not to GIVE PLACE TO THE DEVIL, is because of...
II. THE DEVICES OF SATAN
There are TWO ways we can give place to Satan in our lives. That is, Satan has TWO DEVICES he uses over and over to destroy the lives of Christians. First, he attacks...
A. Our mind
It does not matter how great a Christian you may be, if you start giving place to Satan in your mind you will soon find out that you made a mistake that will cost you greatly.
For example, look at what happened to King David. He was a man who dearly loved the Lord.
We read in 2 Samuel 11:1-2, "And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon."
Notice, that great man that God had so greatly used through the years having his thoughts filled with the right kinds of thoughts, NOW was looking at a woman in a lustful manner.
Something we need to explain is that it is not a sin when a man just looks at a pretty woman and just admires her beauty, but when he looks at one with a lustful eye, it would be best that he "pluck" his eyes out.
Illus: A Christian man had not been saved very long when he came to his pastor one day with a problem that had been disturbing him greatly. He explained to his pastor that he was a truck driver, and he said that all day long as he drove around town he saw pretty women. He said that he constantly had to turn his head so he would not be able to see them and that it made his job difficult. His pastor explained that he did not need to turn his head away every time he saw a beautiful woman walk by as long as she was dressed decently and he could just admire the beauty God had blessed her with, there was nothing wrong with that. The pastor went on to explain though that if a woman was dressed so as to seduce a man, he had better turn his head. The young convert was relieved when he discovered he was not sinning when he saw a beautiful woman and admitted to himself she was a beautiful woman.
But this is not what David did. He looked at a beautiful woman who was bathing herself, and his mind was filled with lustful thoughts. He "gave place" for the devil to fill his mind with lustful thoughts and that is exactly what Satan did.
One of the fastest ways for Satan to get into our lives is for us to GIVE PLACE TO HIM IN OUR MINDS.
Illus: In this age of movies, televisions, and magazines everywhere we go, we have to make sure that we guard our minds from things that we know will displease the Lord.
Why do we need to guard our minds against giving place to Satan? Because if we let him have room in our minds, we will soon be giving him a place in...
B. Our time
What is time? Time is life. When our time runs out, that means our life has come to an end.
And, once we allow Satan to have a PLACE IN OUR MINDS, he will soon have a place in our LIVES.
In verses 3-4, we read, "And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house."
Notice that once David made the place for Satan in his mind, then he made a place for sin in his life.
Every day there is a battle in the lives of Christians. That is, God and Satan are battling for our MINDS and our TIME. Many Christians lost that battle a long time ago. They started making time for the things that Satan wanted them to make time for. Now Satan has them so involved in the world they do not have time for the things of God.
How can we keep Satan from monopolizing our lives: The only way is to take Paul's advice and NOT GIVE PLACE TO SATAN. It is harder for Satan to find a place in our lives if we fill them with the things of God, such as Bible study, and doing useful jobs at the church for the Lord. For many Christians this comes easily, for others it is not so easy.
One of the reasons that some people will not find a job in the church serving God is because there are only certain jobs they are willing to do, and they won't do any others. For example...
Illus: In the secular world we see this every day. There are many who do not work. In fact, if you ask them if they have a job they will tell you, up front, they do not have one. As you listen to them talk, you would think that every job in America has been taken and there is not one job left for them, but what they are really saying is that of all the jobs that are available, they do not want any of those.
That attitude has crept into the church. We realize not everyone has a talent to do every job, but there are plenty of jobs available and many of them are not filled because the people just do not want them. God has told us in Eccl. 9:10, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might..."
Every Christian needs to find some kind of job that will occupy his MIND and his TIME.
-There are some who could wash the windows and this would keep them busy in their spare time.
-There are some who could take a certain flower bed on the church property and keep it free from grass for the Lord.
-There are some who could paint and do repairs and some carpentry work for the Lord.
-There are some who could maintain the plumbing for the Lord.
-There are some who could volunteer some time in the office each week for the Lord.
-There are some who could work in the church kitchen for the Lord.
-There are some who could work in the church nursery for the Lord.
And there is one thing that everyone is called to do, that is to ACTIVELY DO ALL THAT WE CAN TO WIN THE LOST TO CHRIST.
There are so many things that Christians could do that would keep their MINDS and TIME occupied with the things of God. In fact, we can stay so busy for the Lord that we do not have any place left for Satan to step into our lives.
Conclusion:
Be on guard against Satan and...
I. HIS DESIRES
II. HIS DEVICES
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger on Youtube. Type Youtube Lykesland
