At a party like that a person can be in a room full of people they know, yet they may not know a person there. Only when the masks are removed can they know for sure who the people are.
Did you know that Satan has always worn a mask? He knew from the beginning if anyone recognized him for who he was no one would serve him even one day. However, he comes as “an angel of light.” Who can refuse an angel of light? He LIES and DECEIVES.
Illus: This is why we, as Christians, should always strive to tell the truth. When we lie we are like Satan, the deceiver!
Jesus said to those Satan had deceived so they would not believe in Him, John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil...When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Yes, the Bible tells us that “...he is a liar and the father of it.” There has never been a time, since the creation of mankind, that Satan has not lied. Look at Genesis 3:1-6 to see four lies that he told Eve. Not only did he lie to Eve, he wants to tell us these four lies also.
I. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK NEGATIVELY ABOUT GOD.
Look at verse 1. We read, “...Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” If you think about that statement, it makes God sound like a real “party pooper.” Satan has convinced people today that God is just that--a “party pooper.” That is, he would have you think you can not enjoy life if you serve God. The real enjoyable life comes in serving Satan--and many have fallen for this lie!
Illus: I can just imagine hearing Satan saying this with his voice full of disgust -- “...hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
Satan would not make it clear that when God tells us to do, or not do, anything it is for our own good, whether we understand it or not.
Illus: God did not just sit in heaven, make man, and then randomly decide one thing would be sin and another would not. Sin is sin because it is wrong in the sight of God because He knows it is not in our best interest.
Again, Satan has convinced millions that God is a real “party pooper.”
But, God HAS NOT ruined people’s lives, SATAN HAS! This is not hard to prove. Just look at all the miserable people around us who are serving him.
Satan said to Eve, “...hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” In other words. God is certainly mean isn’t He? But, that was not what God had said at all.
Look at Genesis 2:16-17. We read, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” God placed Adam in this beautiful garden and told him he had placed him there to enjoy it. He told him HE COULD EAT OF EVERY TREE EXCEPT ONE.
Isn’t God generous! Isn’t God a good God!
Illus: God says to us, every week, that we can take the income He has blessed us with and keep 9/10 of it, and only give Him 1/10.
God is such a generous God.
Satan wants us to think of God in a negative way--as being a mean, cruel God. But you know what? I have discovered, like the author of the song, “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”
Do not ever let the devil tell you any lies that make you think negative thoughts about God! SATAN IS A LIAR! He told Eve this lie! SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK NEGATIVELY ABOUT GOD. The next lie is...
II. SATAN WANTS YOU BE SKEPTICAL OF GOD.
Look at verses 2-4. We read, “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Now evidently Eve did not believe the first lie Satan told her. She answered the serpent’s suggestion by telling him what God had said, “...We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, YE SHALL NOT EAT OF IT,..”
Did you know that if Satan tells you one lie and you do not believe it, he will tell you another one? Satan wants to discredit what THIS BIBLE TEACHES.
Maybe you do not know this, but there is a spiritual war going on today and it is because Satan would have us question whether or not this Bible is the Word of God.
Oh how clever the devil is. Look at verse one. The Bible says, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made...” In other words, Satan is a CRAFTSMAN WHEN IT COMES TO LIES, HE IS A MASTER DECEIVER.
Illus: The Mormon church today is one of the fastest growing religious groups in the world, yet it is a cult. That is, the Mormon church does not preach, nor teach what this Bible teaches. But you would never know that from the deceptive advertisements this cult produces. They will tell you they believe in the Jesus of the Bible, BUT THEY DO NOT! They would have you believe Jesus was once like us, and that if we are good and faithful Mormons we can one day become a god, like Him.
This cult does not believe what this Bible teaches, yet they advertise on television, day after day, they will give a King James Bible to anyone who will call their toll-free number.
When you call, they get your name and address and in a few weeks one of the Mormons, probably on a bicycle, will come to your door and deliver the Bible you requested, but only after they try to get into your home and talk to you about the Mormon church and the book of Mormons.
It is ironic that the Mormon church has probably done more to violate scriptures than any other cult, yet they give Bibles away. This is to deceive people into believing they are a Bible-believing church.
Notice, the Bible says of the serpent (the devil), in verse 1, that he was (and still is) “...more subtil than any beast of the field...” Do not ever underestimate the cleverness of Satan!
He wanted Eve TO BE SKEPTICAL OF GOD!
Look at verses 3-4. We read, “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” In other words, you really do not believe that a loving God will punish sin, DO YOU! “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”
SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK NEGATIVELY ABOUT GOD AND BE SKEPTICAL OF HIM, also...
III. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK LIGHTLY ABOUT GOD.
We live in a generation that does not believe God will punish sin. In II Peter 2:9, we read, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to BE PUNISHED:” Peter was addressing Christians. He told them God knew how to deliver them OUT OF TEMPTATION.
Illus: Notice, there are at least two things we learn from this verse:
(1) God knows “...how to DELIVER THE GODLY OUT OF TEMPTATION...”
(2) God knows how “...to RESERVE THE UNJUST UNTO THE DAY OF JUDGMENT TO BE PUNISHED.”
Listen, the WHEAT and the TARES are growing in the same field. To be honest with you, a lot of times I do not know the difference between the two, BUT GOD KNOWS!
One day He will separate them.
- He shall take His own.
- He shall set aside the ungodly for the judgment, to be punished.
One of the biggest lies Satan tells people, and millions believe the lie, is that YOU CAN SIN AND GET AWAY WITH IT. Millions are living in sin. They act as if they are not going to give account to God for them, BUT THEY ARE!
Some will say, “God loves us too much to punish sin.” They have it backwards. God loves us too much NOT to punish sin.
Satan said, in verse 4, “Ye shall not surely die.”
The day Adam partook of that fruit, he died spiritually. When Adam died, all mankind was in his “loins.” We all “died” spiritually that day. That is why we must be born again!
IV. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK SUSPICIOUSLY ABOUT GOD.
Look at verses 4-5. We read, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” That was the same as telling Eve that God was holding out on her. He was telling Eve that God had just not opened her eyes yet, but that she could just eat and she would be as God was.
Listen, God does not want us to be gods. He wants us to become holy as He is holy.
Conclusion/Summary: Satan has always hated God’s Word. I believe he hates every verse of scripture in this Bible, but he especially hates Genesis and Revelation. Why?
Because Genesis tells of his doom.
Revelation shows us his doom.
Revelation 12 tells us how we can overcome him. We overcome by three things, Rev. 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” The word translated “overcame” is a military word meaning that we defeat him. How? Let me briefly show you four things.
(1) The Method. “By the blood of the Lamb.” The song, “There Is Power In the Blood,” is a good expression of this.
(2) The Testimony. “By the word of their testimony...” Those who belong to Christ can not deny Him. In Matthew 10:33, we read, “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
They WALKED IT and they TALKED IT. Listen, if you do not walk it, please do not talk it.
Illus: A lady who talks the talk, but does not walk it, invited some of her relatives to church with her. Her relatives said, “We tell you what, you go to church, get on your knees, and get right with God, then come back and pick us up and we will go with you--all right?”
No one wants to hear anyone TALK IT if they DO NOT WALK IT! But, it is strengthening to us to give our testimony.
Illus: The early church was very vocal about their relationship with God.
(3) The Commitment. “They loved not their life unto death.” The Lord Jesus was first in their lives.
If you have not been:
- Washed in the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST,
- Giving your testimony to others.
- Giving Christ first place in your life,
then you have very little chance of OVERCOMING SATAN.
But, if you have, YOU CAN OVERCOME HIM!
I. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK NEGATIVELY
ABOUT GOD.
II. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK SKEPTICALLY
ABOUT GOD.
III. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK LIGHTLY
ABOUT GOD.
IV. SATAN WANTS YOU TO THINK SUSPICIOUSLY
ABOUT GOD.
