Illus: For those who will say such a thing someone said:
• “When you meet the devil, you know you are not going his way.
• If you never meet him, you must be going in the same direction.”
The reason some do not believe in the devil is because they are going the same way he is going, but the children of God meet this rascal every day of their life.
It is difficult to believe anyone could not believe in the existence of Satan if they read the daily newspaper or watch the news.
For example, basically in the same week some time back, look at what we have read in our newspaper:
• WE READ OF AN ATTACK BY HIM ON THE SANCTITY OF LIFE, in the beautiful city of SARASOTA, Fla. (Feb. 6), the body of an 11-year-old girl was found after a man in his 30’s brutally raped and killed her.
• WE READ OF AN ATTACK ON DECENCY, when Janet Jackson exposed herself to 100 million viewers at the Super Bowl half-time show.
• WE READ OF AN ATTACK ON THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE, when the homosexuals filed a lawsuit stating they wanted the right to be recognized the same as HETEROSEXUALS. They want to deny that God created marriage for a man and a woman.
When we read of these constant attacks of Satan, how can anyone say there is NO DEVIL!
The Word of God says there is a DEVIL.
Look at 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Notice THREE things God wants us to consider in this verse of Scripture.
1. God’s Word says, “Be sober”. This means to think rationally, not foolishly.
2. God’s Word says, “Be vigilant”. This means to be alert, take appropriate steps to make certain that we do not stumble
3. God’s Word also says that Satan goes about, “like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”
The Bible not only tells us he exist the Bible list many characteristics of the devil.
For example…
(1)He has the Ability to Organize
Look at Revelation 20:7-8, we read, And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle; they are as numerous as the sands of the sea.
The fact that he can organize his forces shows that he exist
(2) He has Knowledge
when he is thrown down to the earth during the Great Tribulation period, in Revelation 12:12 the Bible says the Devil knows his time is short. The fact that he has this knowledge reveals he is a personal being.
(3) He has Intelligence
Satan is able to form plans, use cunning, and deceive people.
We read in II Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ.
(4)He Can Reason
The fact that Satan quoted Scripture to the Lord Jesus during the temptation, shows that he is a personal being. He was able to reason with Jesus by quoting an obscure verse of Scripture out of context.
(5) He Has Choice
Satan has the power of choice. In the beginning he chose to rebel against God, and he has been making that same choice ever since. Choice is an obvious sign of personality.
(6)Satan Has Emotions
The Bible speaks of the Devil showing emotions. He has shown the emotion of hatred for the things of God.
Among the emotions he shows is burning anger.
Revelation 12:12 we read Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the Devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.
The Word of God tells us HE EXIST and the Bible gives us a list of his attributes.
We can’t do much for people who do not believe what the Bible teaches about the existence of Satan, but I believe you who have come to this worship service believe what the Bible teaches about his existence.
HOW DO WE AVOID HIS TRAPS EACH DAY?
There are many things we can do, but I want to give you TWO things to consider:
I. WE MUST NOT STRAY
Look at Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted I WENT ASTRAY: but now have I kept thy word.”
When we do not keep His Word we are going to stray from His Word.
Satan realizes Christians know he exists, so he knows he is wasting his time attacking His existence.
So he goes to PLAN B with us.
He knows how effective we can be for the Lord if we put the Lord first in our life so he attacks us in two ways.
WHAT IS “PLAN-B”?
A. HE TRIES TO SIDETRACK US
Illus: When I say SIDETRACK, it is like a train that is on the main track, but when it comes to a side track, a switch is thrown and the train goes off the main track!
There are folks today who are saved, but the devil has sidetracked them. They use to be on fire for the Lord but they have become like a Christian that the Apostle Paul was associated with.
Paul said, “Demas hath forsaken me loving this preset world.”
In other words Demas now had other INTEREST!!!
They do not see their life as being sidetracked, but this is exactly what has happened to them.
For example, they no longer:
• Have time for private prayers each day
• Have time for daily Bible Study each day
• Have time to attend all the church services
• Have money to give unto the Lord anymore
The devil has sidetracked them giving them many excuses for disobeying the Word of God so they will not feel guilty disobeying the Word of God.
Once they did all these things, but now they have been sidetracked by Satan, and he knows they are no longer a threat to his kingdom. He has them exactly where he wants them!
If he cannot SIDETRACK us he will use another tool he uses.
(2) The next way he attacks Christians who knows he exists, is to cause them to STRAY.
HE TRIES TO GET US TOO BUSY TO SERVE THE LORD
Illus: Legend has it that Satan called a worldwide convention of demons to cause Christians to stray.
In his opening address he said:
• “We can't keep Christians from going to church.”
• “We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth.”
• “We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with the savior.”
“Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."
• "So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ."
• "How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.
"Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.
(1)"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."
(2)"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive...to keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home, and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."
(3)"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes."
(4)"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so the husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. That will fragment their families quickly!"
(5)"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas. Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death."
(6)"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive...have them return from their recreation exhausted. Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead." "Keep them busy, busy, busy!"
(7)"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek the power of Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."
When Satan gave them Plan-B the demons in hell cried "That will work for sure!"
Sure enough we have Christians that believe in the EXISTENCE OF SATAN and they have fallen for PLAN-B hook line and sinker!!!
It was quite a plan!
The demons went eagerly to their assignments, causing Christians everywhere to have little time for their God or their families.
Satan wants to SIDETRACK every Christian and get them so BUSY so they will not have time to serve the Lord.
Did you know God’s church is filled with Christians?
• Who will go week after week and they will talk to lost sinners about everything they can think of but NEVER TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE LORD
• Who will go week after week and never invite someone to attend church with them.
• Who will go week after week and they do not make time to talk to the Lord each day.
Illus: You have heard the old saying, “Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”
But he knows we are no threat to his kingdom if he can attack us in such a way as to SIDETRACK us, or get us SO BUSY we do not have time for the Lord in our lives.
If we are going to fight off the attacks of Satan, we have to be devoted to the Lord and not allow Satan to cause us TO GO ASTRAY.
We must NOT STRAY and -
II. WE MUST NOT STRUT
Look at Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
This is a powerful verse of scripture for Christians.
Notice, it tells us “Pride goeth before destruction…”
Illus: Someone said, “Pride is a ticking timebomb.”
Pride has destroyed lives. We live in a society where many people seem to think very highly of themselves.
It is not bad to think highly of ourselves, but the Bible warns us about thinking TOO HIGHLY.
Look at Romans 12:3, we read, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think...”
• For example, there are men and women today who think they are God’s gift to the opposite sex.
• We have men and women in our society that strut around in PRIDE as if they are SUPER DUDES!
• They are not super dudes; they are just SUPER DECEIVED, waiting for destruction to take place in their life.
The Bible says, “Pride goeth before destruction…” Watch out for those who are always bragging about themselves.
Illus: A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and carrying a ball and bat. "I’m the greatest hitter in the world," he announced.
Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed. "Strike One!" he yelled.
Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!" He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!" Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!"
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!"
Satan wants to attack us and make us PROUD, because he knows a man can become so PROUD he will live his life as if he is God and does not need God in his life!
Did you know that ALL SIN can be traced back to PRIDE?
Pride is an attitude that focuses undue attention on self, and opens the door to a host of other sins.
Illus: C. S. Lewis says of Pride:
• “There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular,
• And no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves.
• And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others…
Pride leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind…”
A proud person wants ALL THE ATTENTION and ALL THE PRAISE, and they are not even willing to share the ATTENTION or PRAISE with God almighty.
Illus: The story is told of a turtle in Georgia who wanted to spend the winter in Florida, but he knew he could never walk that far.
He convinced a couple of geese to help him, each taking one end of a piece of rope, while he clamped his vise-like jaws in the center.
The flight went fine until someone on the ground looked up in admiration and asked, "Who in the world thought of that?"
Unable to resist the chance to take credit, the turtle opened his mouth to shout, "I di…..d!"
The opposite of PRIDE is HUMILITY. Some FIND IT HARD TO BE HUMBLE WHEN THEY FEEL THEY HAVE SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF IN THEIR LIVES.
Listen, we can humble ourselves or the Lord will humble us.
And when the Lord humbles us, it’s rough!
Sometimes God will use our spouse to humble us.
Illus: A minister received a Christmas card with a note in it from a lady in his congregation. She was very complimentary about his preaching, and compared him with Billy Graham.
She finished by writing, "I think you are one of the really great preachers of all time."
Later that day, when he showed the note to his wife, she asked, "Who is that woman?"
He replied, "She is a very intelligent woman in the congregation who loves great preaching."
He then asked his wife, "How many great preachers do you suppose there really are in the world?"
She replied, "One less than you think." (Contributed by: MELVIN NEWLAND (www.sermoncentral.com)
Illus: A young woman went to her pastor and said, "Pastor, I have a besetting sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and I can’t help thinking I’m the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not to think that, but I cannot help it. I want you to help me with it."
The pastor replied, "Mary, don’t worry about it. In your case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake." (Haddon Robinson, "Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Us Guys,")
God’s Word teaches that we are to overcome pride with humility.
DID YOU KNOW THAT GOD HATES PRIDE?
We all have things that we hate, for example:
• I hate it when people will break in line.
• I hate it when people will wash their mouth at the water fountain.
• I hate it when people will blow their nose with a napkin at the dinner table.
• I hate it when parents allow children to go to a buffet bar and handle the food.
• I hate it when people stop at an intersection and carry on a conversation on their telephone when there is a string of cars behind them. Before the light change to red they take off and you have to wait a complete change of lights before you can go.
• I hate it when trains cross main streets in the busy hours of the day.
• I hate it when people have more than 10 items in the express lane.
We all have things we HATE…don’t we!!!
The Bible says God hates PRIDE.
Look at Proverbs 6:16-19, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Illus: Compliment is like chewing gum, it is made to be chewed not swallowed.
Notice, Pride is first on the list of things that God hate.
Illus: “Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick but the one who has it.”
Pride is overcome by humility.
Twice in Proverbs we find the statement, “Before honor is humility” (15:33, and 18:12).
Peter wrote, “Be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5), a helpful phrase when we consider that our clothes are often the first thing people see of us.
Conclusion:
Illus: A very wealthy and proud man called the church and asked if he could speak to the Head Hog at the Trough.
The secretary said, "Who?"
The man replied, "I want to speak to the Head Hog at the Trough!"
Sure that she had heard correctly, the secretary said, "Sir, if you mean our pastor, you will have to treat him with more respect. We treat him with respect and do not even call him by his first name. We refer to him as Pastor, Minister or Reverend. But certainly you cannot refer to him as the Head Hog at the Trough!" “You proud snob, just who do you think you are, calling our pastor that?”
The man responded, “Well, I have $100,000 and I was thinking about donating it to the building fund."
The secretary exclaimed, "Oh my! Hold the line, I think the big pig just walked through the door!"
We need to remember that every day; Satan is setting SNARES to keep our lives from bringing glory to the Lord.
He attacks us every day: trying to make us STRAY and trying to make us STRUT.
The Lord is powerful enough to help us.
Illus: Harold Kushner said, “The next time you go to the zoo, notice where the lines are longest and people take the most time in front of the cages.”
“We tend to walk briskly past the deer and the antelope, with only a passing glance at their graceful beauty.”
“If we have children, we may pause to enjoy the antics of the seals and the monkeys.”
“But we find ourselves irresistibly drawn to the lions, the tigers, the elephants, the gorillas.
Why?
I suspect that without realizing or understanding it, we are strangely reassured at seeing creatures bigger or stronger than ourselves.”
“It gives us the message, at once humbling and comforting, that we are not the ultimate power. Our souls are so starved for that sense of awe, that encounter with grandeur which helps to remind us of our real place in the universe, that if we can’t get it in church, we will search for it and find it someplace else.” (Harold Kushner, Who Needs God)
We can get it in church today, and if we come to recognize HIS GREATNESS, it is a humbling experience.
I. WE MUST NOT STRAY
II. WE MUST NOT STRUT
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